The Feminist Combining Process
created by:
Sangeeta Ahmed, Ashley Howard, and Hiywete Solomon
Internal Combining
Internally, combing recognizes and seeks to integrate subgroups within or otherwise relevant to the feminist movement. Many of which were polarized by hierarchical polarizations active within the movement or even cast aside as ‘fringe’ movements. In doing so, combining reaches beyond the traditional definitions of the feminist causes to champion the struggles of other marginalized peoples who are not necessarily women and/or directly oppressed by gender.
It is important to recognize though that Internal Feminist Combining is almost always initiated by multiply-oppressed members of the group. For example, women who are of color, lesbians, working class, and/or disabled have spent decades protesting against racism, homophobia, classism, and able-ism within the women’s movement, as well as its organizational structures as well as its definition of women’s/feminist issues.
Internal Feminist Combining can also happen within other identity groups, such as the gay movement or anti-racist movement, when lesbians and women of color force these groups to take on gender oppression.
As a result of this leap in education, generic women’s groups such as the National Organization for Women have committed themselves to struggling against racism, homophobia, and economic injustice.
External Feminist Combining
External Feminist Combining happens when a group combines with other groups in solidarity with their struggles because it shares their values and/or goals. This External Combining can happen among different women’s groups, as well as between women’s/feminist groups and other groups not identified as women’s and/or feminist. For example, generic feminist groups have combined with women of color groups in their struggles for reproductive rights; this combining involved created a shared anti-racist analysis of women’s reproduction and a platform that involved the issues of poor women, women of color, and middle class white women (March for Women's Lives). Similarly, feminist organizations have joined coalitions of groups struggling for living wages (Living Wage). At the same time, the Feminist Movement has Externally Combined with Pro-feminist Movements led by men (Pro-feminist Men) to oppose specific social issues formed around gender polarization such as men’s violence against women and gender oppression as it applies to men women and society at large.
Multi-faceted Feminist Combining
It merits recognition that in the case of Feminist Combining, just as how the dialogue of distinction between the Personal and Organizational is more often than not dominated by the potential overlaps between the two, so is the case for Internal and External Combining. The dynamic nature of these alliances allows us to understand that a coalition between two movements and/or groups can be characterized as both Internal and External: for instance, when members of an oppressed group within a group – who are also members of subgroups - demand their issues be incorporated into their group's platform. This is phenomenon is hardly a distinct case but is rather widespread as demonstrated by the following example: INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence