Critically analyse Angela Harris’ discussion of feminism and essentialism in her article “Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory.”
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My name is Alice Williams, I’m 22 and I’m originally from Harrogate, Yorkshire but I grew up in Malaga.
Having studied intersectional feminist literature across a series of modules, and most extensively in my dissertation, I became interested in understanding the concept of essentialism and how this is often incorrectly defined and overly criticised. Appreciating the need for individuality across the feminist movement, and the need to encourage women to speak about their unique experience, learning about this topic taught me the difficulties of theorising feminism. Looking towards the future, I anticipate that feminist theories will be replaced with feminist methodologies, with academia driving change with a practical outlook.
-Alice Williams, Author
Introduction
Angela Harris’ article presents an interesting contribution to the feminist movement. By observing how feminism tends to reject the experiences of black women, Harris argues against the concept of essentialism through the works of Mackinnon and West. Harris’ argument, however, is diminished by her explicit rejection of essentialism throughout her article. This essay will seek to distinguish between soft essentialism and hard essentialism, in order to defend a soft essentialist approach against Harris’ claims. Concluding that this approach will avoid fragmentation within the movement whilst encouraging individualism. In order to achieve this, this essay will begin by highlighting how Harris misconceives essentialism, as she assumes that it must fall into a deep essentialist approach, thus neglecting to address the benefits that a soft essentialist approach can have. In defending soft essentialism, this essay will continue to draw parallels between soft essentialism and other feminist approaches, reiterating how they all seek to collectivise women whilst appreciating their differences. Finally, this essay will expose how various aspects of Harris’ multiple consciousness theory may be problematic for the feminist movement, comparing how soft essentialism may function in a superior manner. This is demonstrated through the example of rape and how reform has been discussed in England and Wales.
