Files
Download Full Text (499.5 MB)
Publication Date
Summer 2025
Digital Publisher
Digital Commons at St. Mary's University
Collection
McNair Scholars Symposium
Keywords
Oppression, Colonization, Exploitation, Modernity, Latin American Philosophy
Description
This paper examines Maria Lugones' theory of the colonial/modern gender system as a foundation for her framework of decolonial feminism. Lugones argues that because of colonialism, our society has gendered hierarchies. These hierarchies dehumanize Indigenous women and enforce European heterosexual norms. Drawing from Anibal Quijano’s concept of coloniality of power, Lugones expands the idea with the coloniality of gender. She emphasizes how race, gender, and sexuality are constructed by colonial violence. Lugones offers a powerful critique of traditional feminism’s Eurocentric bias. This paper aims to investigate the overlooked concept of class oppression to achieve a decolonial feminism. Applying the work of Iris Marion Young’s theory of structural injustice and the concept of the “Five Faces of Oppression, "specifically exploitation and powerlessness, this work shows how economic hierarchies intersect with colonial and gendered structures. A case study on women garment workers in Bangladesh is used to illustrate how global capitalism reinforces the gendered labor hierarchies that are rooted in colonialism and patriarchy. This expanded framework accounts for the lived experiences of marginalized women and offers a more inclusive approach to feminist resistance.
Disciplines
Gender and Sexuality | History of Gender | Inequality and Stratification | Latina/o Studies | Native American Studies | Race and Ethnicity | Women's History | Women's Studies
Format
MOV
Medium
Video
Size or Duration
11 minutes 46 seconds
City
San Antonio, Texas
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
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