Sue
The term ‘women and minorities’ aims to include women of all backgrounds and to mitigate the isolating effects of the word ‘women.’ Up until not so long ago, the term ‘woman’ in the women’s movement denoted middle class and white. As such, women of color attempted to forge their own movements based on experiences that were overlooked and/or pushed aside by the dominant (white) women of the movement. While the term ‘women and minorities’ attempts to include all women, its language indicates division and quite possibly that women of color aren’t considered to be true women. One explanation to the term’s existence may be the continued absence of unity and harmony within the movement. Studies show that women do not identify with each other on the basis of gender as much as they do of race, implying that racial lines are stronger than gender lines.