Introduction A prime theoretical contribution of the contemporary feminist analysis can be captured in the slogan 'the personal is political.' What this means is that the subordination of women by men is pervasive, that it orders the relationship of the sexes in the private spheres of the family, ordinary social life and sexuality as in the traditionally public spheres of government and the economy. My attraction to anthropology has coincided with my metamorphosis as a feminist. I feel as though I have embarked upon a long journey, which may lead me to discover 'truths' about myself and the world I live in and to gain a better understanding of humankind. For this reason, through the medium of this essay, I would like to examine some of the ideas and questions with which I have come to the discipline, with a view to determining whether I can fit within the frame of anthropology, and more so, whether anthropology can help me to find reasonable answers and the means to achieve certain objectives - to improve the lives of women in the Caribbean, specifically. As a Black woman from a developing country, now living as an immigrant in Europe, I have become extremely conscious of oppression, and recognise it as touching numerous aspects of my existence. Indeed, in the past three years, I have become more cognisant of the pervasiveness of male dominance, a force I have lived under for my entire life, without being able to properly identify its origin and articulate its effect until recently. Given my relative socio-cultural isolation, I feel a need to situate myself and my politics within a frame of reference, now more than ever. Feminist theory and anthropology have given me encouraging clues, helping me to make better social observations and to put them into context. Identity, culture and power are three themes central to both feminism and anthropology, and so it is fitting that I explore them in this essay, with a view to determining how they have affected me and shaped my activist ideology. These themes are closely interwoven, and as this essay took shape I realised that my attempt to discuss them separately was not only artificial, but also somewhat inconvenient, so for this reason I have used a fluid structure, allowing them the freedom to intermingle and evolve. The starting point of this essay is that reaffirming my racial identity and becoming a feminist, are responses to oppression, attempts to transform my perceptions and challenge the power structures which have cast me as the underdog, limiting my social, political options, but most of all, had for a long time affected my inner view of myself. Considering identity, I look generally at the way in which individuals conceive and experience their identity and their relationship to larger communities. The scope of 'identity' is extremely wide, and I would be unable to give an adequate analysis of any group within the limitations of this essay, and so I focus on a personal perception of identity - mine. Given my specific history, I am especially interested in the ways that identity has been defined along and across racial, gender and class lines. I will examine how political, economic, historical, and social forces have shaped my identity in stages. Using the tools of anthropology and feminist theory I will try to demonstrate how my identity has been represented, repressed, altered, and acknowledged with a view to better understanding my perception of myself and my politics. Regarding culture, I pay close attention to how culture is used as a means to transmit hegemonic values and to achieve dominance. Coming from the Caribbean, the influence of colonialism plays a significant role. Following on from this is the overarching theme of power. Here I continue to explore the relationships of dominance, hierarchy and resistance. Looking specifically at the Caribbean I will examine how male patriarchy has established and manifests itself, with a view to contextualising the oppression of women in the region. …