Tálamo Performance, performed in Fortaleza, Brazil

Gender and ethnicity

If feminism is to liberate women, it must virtually tackle all forms of oppression. From this perspective we can say that black feminism, created within the context of multi-racial, multi-cultural and racist communities such as are found in Latin American societies, revolves predominantly around racism and the impact it has on gender relations as a determining factor in societal gender hierarchies. In general terms, unity in the struggle of women in today’s society does not depend solely on our ability to overcome inequalities created by a historically masculine hegemony, but rather calls for society to overcome related ideologies such as racism. Racism establishes the social inferiority of the black segments of the population in general, and of black women in particular, and acts as a divisive factor in the struggle for privileges that have been traditionally reserved for white women. From this perspective, the opposition of black women to gender and race oppression works to create new profiles for feminist and anti-racist political action, enriching both racial and gender discourse.