“Asian Women as Leaders” in Roots: An Asian American Reader (UCLA Asian American
“Asian Women as Leaders” in Roots: An Asian American Reader (UCLA Asian American Studies Center, 1971). Reprinted from Rodan (Northern California Asian American Community News, April 1971). Page 2 (not printed in Roots, text found in Asian Women journal [Berkeley, 1971]): -tions, they find that their ideas are usurped by the men, who then take credit for the idea as being their own. Women are often heard but not listened to. Many times the women must play her old role in order to get things done: “Oh, please, can you help me carry this. It’s much too heavy for little old me…” How can these problems be solved: People must recognize that women are half of the working force in the movement against oppression, exploitation, and imperialism. They are half of the working force in creating the new revolutionary lifestyle. Men and women in the movement must therefore begin to live the ideals and goals they are working for. To do this, they must not let chauvinist acts slide by. People cannot work together effectively if there are hidden tensions or if people let little annoyances build up inside themselves. They must deal with sexism on the same basis as they would deal with racism and imperialism. They must be able to develop as human beings, not subject to categorizations and stereotypes. Developing as people confident in themselves, in their ideas, they will not be afraid of criticism; they will see the need for criticism, self-criticism in order to move forward. The struggle is not men against women or women against men, but it is a united front striving for a new society, a new way of life. If I go forward, Follow me. Push me if I fall behind. If I betray you, Kill me. If they take me, Avenge me then in kind. -- source link
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