Womanism: Definition and History

Abstract

The twentieth century has witnessed great upheavals on many levels, scientific as well as social. Among these upheavals were civil rights and liberation movements all around the world, particularly in the United States. These types of civil movements were the grassroots for diverse Feminist movements in the world in general and specifically in the United States. Although feminism has helped women make great strides towards equality in the USA, many women, especially African-American ones, feel the inadequacy of feminism to deal with the problems of African-American women. As a way to further dissociate themselves from the radical feminists, African-American women writers look for other terms to better describe their own struggle. Although they do not want to throw out the advantages feminism has given them, they do not, at the same time, want to take on the narrowness of the feminist viewpoint. They have tried to form a new vision, a vision that has been described as holistic rather than narrowly monolithic. Some African-American women choose “black feminist” as a label to differentiate their ideology from  Department of English, Faculty of Arts, Minia University. َّ لجم َّ مَّةعماجَّة َّ ص َّ ر َّ َّ دلل َّ تاسا ر َّ َّ يناسنلإا ة َّ ََََّّّّ َّ للا( َّ يوغ َّتا )بادلآاو َََّّّ َّ َّ َّدلجم 2 َّ َّددع 3 َّ ويلوي َّ َّ ( 2022 َّ ) (WOMANISM: DEFINITION....) PROF. MOHAMMAD DEYAB 289 radical feminists. Still, the “black feminist” label does not satisfy the whole gamut of African-American women, and, as a result, some totally reject it. Instead of calling themselves “black feminists,” some African-American women, like Walker, use the term “womanist.” Thus, this paper attempts to introduce the term "Womanism" and its various definition and its long history in the United States of America.