Word: womanist
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Dates: during 1984-1984
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...BEGINNING of her new collection of essays, Womanist Prose: Alice Walker defines the word she coined to describe her world view of enlightened Black feminists, a view that goes beyond the limits of typical feminism...
...Womanist 1. From Womanish (Opp. of "girlish," i.e., frivolous, irresponsible, not serious.) A black feminist or feminist of color... 2 Also: A woman who loves other women, sexually and/or nonsexually. Appreciates and prefers women's culture, women's emotional flexibility (values tears as natural counterbalance of laughter), and women's strength. Some-times loves individual men, sexually and/or nonsexually...
...this tongue-in-cheek but highly self-descriptive definition. Walker hints at many of the key issues she addresses in the essays that follow. Womanist Prose is as much about mothers and daughters as it is about American social history: it is as much about race relations as it is about the need to express one's creativity...
...individual expression has shaped the ideas and actions of Blacks, women, and artists throughout a history of hardship. However, at is the manner in which Walker portrays particular stories, most notably her own, and the wisdom with which she evaluates such a wide range of topics, that make Womanist Prose fresh and vital Both entertaining and sobering, yet always full of an organic wisdom worthy of Shug Avery, it is highly recommended reading for all who would like to consider themselves enlightened feminists...