2010 Reports

Issue Brief: Women/Gender Issues and Bi/Multiracial Identity

Miyares, Nicholas; Smith, Raymond Arthur

Women are often considered to share a similar experience in their struggle against institutionalized and de facto sexism. However, it is often overlooked that "women", just as much as men, form an enormously diverse bloc of society—and that fraught with such racial and ethnic diversity, comes equally diverse experiences. Within this context, when analyzing women/gender issues in the United States it is paramount that one take into account the multiple layers of identity—specifically racial and ethnic—that comprise a woman and the formulation of her political and social views. Furthermore, it is equally important to analyze the experiences of women of various ethnic and racial identities—especially considering the rise in multi-racial individuals in the United States and the complications fraught with classifying them in broad categories.