Homophobia and Racism

In Enke's Finding the Movement it is evident that racism isn't the only oppressive force bearing down upon the black minorities in the U.S during the 1960s. Lesbian groups are discriminated against brutally, with children being alienated by other children, whose parents refuse to let their children hang out with homosexuals, fearing that their children will adopt homosexual tendencies.

The unique aspect of this particular feminist movement is the fact that these black women tried to take control of a public domain: a softball field. While this may not seem like a huge deal in a logical sense, one must think about the implications behind this tactic. These sports fields have been established by society as "men only" baseball fields. The idea of women trying to force their way into these fields shocked and confused a large number of white middle-class citizens, as well as these black women's fellow lower class citizens. Even black citizens thought that this was wrong at first, but eventually they warmed up to the courage of these young women and their athletic ability, so this softball team gained a large group of fans in Detroit(at the same time making quite a few enemies). The reason the public domain makes them unique is because before this, women had private spaces to reside, and society could safely leave them to their own devices, basically forgetting about this small minority. However, if these women are controlling public domains, they cannot be easily ignored. This high-risk/ high reward tactic can cause many outrages and internal conflict, but it also raises awareness to the public about the problems these lesbians/feminists face.

However, this turn of events also revealed more homophobic tendencies, this time in the softball team's coach! He refused to let them style their hair a certain way that was interpreted as being a lesbian style, the coach also separated the younger girls from the older girls, fearing that the older girls would influence the younger girls with the idea of being a lesbian. These irrational fears caused various internal conflicts in the team, and some of these girls rebelled against these rules. If they found out a certain element made them seem like a lesbian, they would intentionally reinforce and perform this element to drive their sexual identity home into the minds of others. They cared not for the consequences, they felt their very identities were being challenged so they lashed out at the offenders. In conclusion, these brave young women challenged their oppressors by taking advantage of their paranoid, homophobic(as well as sexist) ideas, and using them against them. This helped the lesbian feminist movement greatly as it rose awareness and helped give courage to oppressed women that had little hope to cling to