There
are many similarities between today’s culture and the institutions described in
the Young Lords and Black Panther Party readings. In the Position Paper on
Women, it is stated that “a woman who curses, drinks and runs around with a lot
of men is considered dirty scum, crazy, and a whore.” Today, women are still
held to similar standards, and are called whores or sluts for things that are,
“considered natural for a man to do.” Thanks to progressive thinking, such as
Title IX, women are now allowed to be more than a stay at home
mom/cook/housekeeper, yet we are still looked down upon whenever we act like a
man would, such as having multiple sexual partners or a high raking job.
The
Puerto Rican and Black cultures, however, make being a woman even more
degrading. “All the anger and violence of centuries of oppression which should
be directed against the oppressor is directed at the Puerto Rican woman.”
Because it is culturally acceptable to beat and devalue women, their roles in
society were pounded into their minds, creating self-esteem and worth issues
that are still a prevalent issue today.
Thankfully,
as time went on it became clear that these acts of aggression were
unjustifiably discriminatory. These kinds of realizations lead to the creation
of groups such as the Black Panther Party and the Young Lords. The Black
Panther Party created self-defense opportunities for disadvantaged minority
groups to alleviate the threat of physical brutality. These kinds of groups encouraged
women to stand up to “machismo” and become leaders in their own circles. The
women involved in these movements created the liberties and opportunities that
led to today’s more accepting society.
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