“The Other Within the Other: The Role of Women in Racialized Populations and the Impact of Feminism on Diversity in the United States”

Simone de Beauvoir argued in her book The Second Sex that historically Men have been written as the
default and Women as the Other, “Thus humanity is male, and man defines woman not herself but as
relative to him.” While observing Takaki’s division of chapters in his book, male migration is defined by
their group: African, Native, Asian, Jewish, Irish. Meanwhile, when women appear, it is usually as a subgroup within the chapter: Chinese-Women, Japanese-Women, Jewish-Women, Italian-Women, IrishWomen, Mexican-Women, etc.… In addition, while Gupta and Takaki shows us that women in most
instances where the most active members in strikes within racialized groups, and often the first ones to
cross racial barriers between groups, women only conquered the right to vote with the 19th Amendment
in 1920, 50 years after vote restrictions based on race were declared unconstitutional with the 15th
Amendment in 1870. Explain the role of women in the different racialized populations coming to the USA
and discuss the political role of feminism and its impact for diversity in the United States.