#guillaumin

Das Tal der Sedelle, 1897 von Jean Baptiste Armand Guillaumin

Just as Black people are not oppressed because of their bodies (their race) women are not oppressed because of their bodies (their sex) but instead these myths of Blackness and Womanhood were created and emphasized to justify an ongoing oppression and solidify these “differences” as a natural and a continuous phenomenon.

There are (neutral) physical differences between groups of people but these differences are ascribed meaning by the oppressor class relating to the social function of the oppressed class (i.e slavery).  Also, these groups are not homogeneous even though they are described as being so.  Consequently, Black people were not enslaved because of physical characteristics such as skin color, physical stature, etc. but these “differences” were created and/or highlighted to justify their enslavement.  These groups (i.e woman, Black, etc.) as they have been defined in history have been exploited not for their somatic features but for their labor.  Furthermore, the notion or race and sex (gender) is a reflection of an ideological analysis of social relations and NOT to concrete and immutable categories (of difference).