Tower of Babel in Black Female: Innerracial and Innergender Conflicts in Girl, Woman, Other

Girl, Woman, Other depicts the intergenerational life experiences of twelve women, showing their multiple differences in terms of gender, class, culture and sexual orientation. Although they all have feminist consciousness and share the same feminist discourses, these discourses demonstrate highly heterogeneous semantic directions and practical paths among different characters, revealing deep divisions and ruptures within the group. Based on Audre Lorde’s and Bell Hooks’ theories of the politics of difference, this paper will illustrate the differences and conflicts that exist under the superficial unity, and emphasize that true feminism should recognize and respect the differences rather than cover them up. Moreover, combining Lorde’s and Hooks’ critiques of the discourse of “sisterhood,” it is pointed out that the so-called unity will be reduced to an empty slogan if black women ignore their historical and identity differences in the face of structural oppression. Through a close textual reading, the paper will reveal the hidden divisions behind the three shared discourses of “sisterhood,” “empowerment” and “freedom”: Although the discourses are the same, their meanings are contradictory. The black female community is not a homogenized whole, and there are also racial and gender conflicts within it. The purpose and conclusion of this study are to challenge the traditional feminist representations of black women and to reiterate the necessity of difference in order to build an inclusive feminism.