On feminism
Rich wrote several pieces that address the rights of women in society. In Snapshots of a Daughter-in-Law she offered a critical analysis of the life of being both a mother and a daughter-in-law, and the impact of their gender in their lives. Diving Into the Wreck was written in the early 'seventies, and the collection marks the start of her darkening tone as she wrote about feminism and other social issues.[56] In particular, she wrote openly about her outrage at the patriarchal nature of the greater society. In doing so, she became an example for other women to follow in the hopes that continued proactive work against sexism would eventually counteract it.[57]
Her poems are also famous for their feminist elements. One such poem is "Power", which was written about Marie Curie, one of the most important female icons of the 20th century. In this poem, she discussed the element of power and feminism. Curie was slowly succumbing to the radiation that she absorbed in her research, to which Rich refers in the poem as her source of power. The poem discusses the concept of power, particularly from a woman's point of view.[58]
Besides poems and novels, Rich also wrote nonfiction books that tackled feminist issues. Some of them were: Of Woman Born, Motherhood as Experience and Institution, Blood, Bread and Poetry, etc. Especially, Bread and Poetry contains the famous feminist essay entitled "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence", and Feminism and Community.
Her works, interviews, and documentaries demonstrated Rich's in-depth perspective on feminism and society.
For one, Rich had something to say about the use of the term itself. She preferred using the term "women's liberation" rather than feminism. She thought the latter term was more likely to induce resistance from women of the next generation. Also, she feared that the term would amount to nothing more than a label if used extensively. On the other hand, using the term women's liberation means that women can finally be free from factors that can be seen as oppressive to their rights.[59]
Rich also wrote in depth about "white feminism" and the need for intersectionality within the feminist movement. In Blood, Bread, and Poetry, Rich wrote that "feminism became a political and spiritual base from which I could move to examine rather than try to hide my own racism, recognize that I have anti-racist work to do continuously within myself". She went on to write that "so long as [feminists] identify only with white women, we are still connected to that system of objectification and callousness and cruelty called racism". Rich implored white feminists to consider the fact that "[they], as victims of objectification, have objectified other women" through their role as the oppressor, and through the white privilege they inherently possess under a racist regime.
Rich's views on feminism are evident in her works. She says in Of Woman Born that "we need to understand the power and powerlessness embodied in motherhood in patriarchal culture." She also speaks regarding the need for women to unite in her book On Lies, Secrets and Silence. In this book, she wrote:
"Women have often felt insane when cleaving to the truth of our experience. Our future depends on the sanity of each of us, and we have a profound stake, beyond the personal, in the project of describing our reality as candidly and fully as we can to each other."
Given the feminist conditions during the 1950s–1970s, it can be said that Rich's works on feminism were revolutionary. Her views on equality and the need for women to maximize their potential can be seen as progressive for the time. Her views strongly coincided with feminist thinking during that period. According to Rich, society was founded on patriarchy and limits the rights of women. For equality to be achieved between the sexes, the prevailing notions must be readjusted to accommodate the female perspective.[60]
On racism
Rich wrote at length on the topic of white feminism and intersectionality within the feminist movement. Citing such prominent black feminist activists and academics as Gloria T. Hull, Michele Russel, Lorraine Bethel, and Toni Morrison in her works, Rich dedicated several chapters of her book Blood, Bread, and Poetry to the subject of racism. Of her essay Of Woman Born, Rich wrote that it "could have been stronger had it drawn on more of the literature by Black women toward which Toni Morrison's Sula inevitably pointed me."[61][62]
Touching on the privilege conferred to her as a white feminist author, Rich wrote in Blood, Bread, and Poetry that she "is probably going to be taken more seriously in some quarters than the Black woman scholar whose combined experience and research give her far more penetrating knowledge and awareness than mine. I will be taken more seriously because I am white, [..] and because the invisibility of the woman of color who is the scholar/critic or the poet or the novelist is part of the structure of my privilege, even my credibility."[63]
In 1981, Rich co-presented the keynote address for the National Women's Studies Association Convention in Storrs, Connecticut, along with Audre Lorde, delivering her speech entitled "Disobedience is What NWSA is Potentially About." The theme of the convention was "Women Respond to Racism", and Rich noted the homophobia and racism that still existed "in the enclave of Women's studies itself, where lesbians are still feared and women of color are still ignored". Rich went on to say that "women of color who are found in the wrong place as defined at any given time by the white fathers will receive their retribution unseen: if they are beaten, raped, insulted, harassed, mutilated, murdered, these events will go unreported, unpunished, unconnected; and white women are not even supposed to know they occur, let alone identify with the sufferings endured." Rich asked the audience: "how disobedient will Women's Studies be in the 1980s; how will this Association address the racism, misogyny, homophobia of the university and of the corporate and militist society in which it is embedded; how will white feminist scholars and teachers and students practice disobedience to patriarchy?" Rich implored the audience to rid themselves of the idea that "by opposing racist violence, by doing anti-racist work, or by becoming feminists white women somehow cease to carry racism within them", asserting that white women are never absolved of their white privilege and must continually commit to anti-racist work while they are still in the role of the oppressor.[64]
In 2009, Rich came forward with a statement in support of the U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI), criticizing Israeli occupation and expressing her “continued solidarity with the Palestinian people’s long resistance.”[53]
