Discuss the Ways in Which Gender and Race Intersect with Each Other. Make Reference to the Film "Falling Down"

This essay argues that the concepts of femininity and masculinity are culturally and racially specific and can not be read as universal. The notion that there are commonly held ideas about what constitutes being a 'woman' across cultures and races will be rebuffed in this essay using the arguments put forth by Ien Ang. Ang's article, 'I'm a feminist but ... 'Other' women and postnational feminism' puts forth the arguments that mainstream feminism is embodied in white/western culture and that there are incommensurable differences between women resulting from their position as racialized subjects. These arguments will be analyzed and discussed within this essay to further strengthen the argument that femininity is culturally specific. Ang's example of American women's reactions to the artist Madonna's sexualized performativity will be analyzed and discussed as an example of the differences between the performance of sexuality between white and black American women. Rita Felski in 'The Doxa of Difference' counter argues to Ang that the different reactions to Madonna's sexual performativity are the result of overlapping frameworks and discursive regimes. …