Intersectionality in Terry McMillan’s Mama: A Critical Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35516/hum.v51i3.3746Keywords:
Intersectionality, sexism, racism, classism, domestic violence, Terry McMillan’s MamaAbstract
Objectives: This research aims to analyze Terry McMillan’s Mama, paying close attention to the concept of intersectionality. It also aims to analyze the multiple components of identity that cause suffering to women of color.
Methods: This research uses close reading to analyze Terry McMillan’s Mama as a case study.
Results: This research argues that intersectionality has a lot of dangerous effects on families and communities such as domestic violence, unemployment among women, and depriving women of their basic social and political rights. As a result, identity components such as gender, race, ethnicity, educational background, and social status work together as a source of suffering for women. Accordingly, the intersectionality that prevents women from enjoying their rights should be discarded.
Conclusions: The research concludes that intersectionality seriously harms women and has ever-lasting effects not only on their families but also on the whole community. The research, therefore, recommends that victimized women need to support themselves with a strong will, self-confidence, solidarity, and education to better the social and financial levels of their lives.
Downloads
References
Alani, Z. (2022). Exploring intersectionality: an international yet individual issue. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases, 17(71), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13023-022-02255-3
Albright, M. Suntai, H. & York. (2021). Pregnancy and Binge Drinking: An Intersectionality Theory Perspective Using Veteran Status and Racial/Ethnic Identity. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 25, 1345–1351. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-021-03171-x
Alkuwari, B. (2022). Human Rights of Women: Intersectionality and the CEDAW. Qatar University Press, 11(2), 223–237. https://b.alkuwari@qu.edu.qa
Campbell, J., Campbell, D., Gary, F., Nedd, D., Price-Lea, P., Sharps, P., & Smith, C. (2008). African American Women’s Responses to Intimate Partner Violence: An Examination of Cultural Context. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma, 16(3), 277–295. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926770801925684
Collins, Patricia. (2000). Gender, Black Feminism, and Black Political Economy. American Academy of Political and Social Science, Sage Publications, 568, 41–53. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1049471
Collins, P. (2002). Black Feminist Thought. (2nd ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis e-Library.
Crenshaw, K. (1991). Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color. Stanford Law Review, 43(6), 1241–1299. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1229039
Crenshaw, K. (1989). Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics. The University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989(1), 139-167. http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/uclf/vol1989/iss1/8
Evans, M. & Williams, C. (Eds.). (2013). Intersectionality. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/86427/. http://eprints.lse.ac.uk
Gardner, J., & Ashleigh, M. (2020). Embodying Inequality: Using Ethnographic Data to Teach Intersectionality. American Sociological Association, 48(3), 184–195. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X20922896
Hooks, B. (2015). Ain’t I a Woman Black Women and Feminism. New York: Routledge.
Humann, H. (2014). Domestic Abuse in the Novels of African American Women: A Critical Study. McFarland & Company, Inc. https://www.macfarlandpub.com
Intersectionality: A Tool for Gender and Economic Justice. (2004). Women’s Rights and Economic Change, (9), 1–7. https://doi.org/http://www.awid.org
Konkol, A., & Ossei, M. (1997). Voices from the Gap. The University of Minnesota. https://core.ac.uk/download/76349045.pdf
Lorde, A. (1982). A New Spelling of My Name. New York: Crossing Press.
Lutz, H. Vivar, M. & Supik, L. (2011). Framing Intersectionality Debates on a Multi-Faceted Concept in Gender Studies. England: Ashgate Publishing Limited.
Lykke, N. (2010). Feminist Studies A Guide to Intersectional Theory, Methodology, and Writing. New York: Routledge.
McMillan, T. (2005). Mama. U.S.A.: New American Library a Division of Penguin Group.
Osman, J. (2018). Navigating Intersectionality: How Race, Class, and Gender Overlap. Enslow Publishing, LLC.
Patil, T., & Khavare, N. (2020). Self-Assertion of Women in Terry McMillan’s Mama. The Criterion: An International Journal in English, 11(V), 250–156. http://www.the-criterion.com/fa/
Pawar, P. (2021). Reunion with self in Terry McMillan’s I Almost Forgot About You. RUDN Journal of Studies in Literature and Journalism, 26(1), 85–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.22363/2312-9220-2021-26-1-85-91
Pawar, P., & Thorat, R. (2018). Exploration of Self in Terry McMillan’s Semi-Autobiographical Novel Mama. ResearchGate, 9(2), 319–324. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358275650
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Dirasat: Human and Social Sciences

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2023-07-10
Published 2024-06-30


