Bell Hooks Feminist Politics Where We Stand Summary
The essay I am analysing is by Bell Hooks, a published author of over 30 books, a teacher and a very successful activist. Her early education was in the still racially segregated schools of the United States in the 60’s. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in English and then continued to earn her doctorate in the literature department. She has been teaching since 1973 and published the essay Feminist Politics: Where We Stand, in 2003. Her thesis being “Feminist politics is losing momentum because feminist movement has lost clear definitions. We have those definitions. Lets reclaim them.” She defines feminism as a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. In the essay Feminist Politics: Where We Stand by Bell Hooks, bell hooks …show more content…
Though the writing is essentially very solid with lots of evidence to match the claims, there is a lack of evidence for the claims about those she references as the “christian” masses who listen and control media, not stating clearly what being “christian” entails. A second weakness is the author's personal experience which could be interpreted as biased. The author, being a black woman in the world, has a much different experience in patriarchal society than a white woman. This perceived bias could be interpreted incorrectly and misconstrued as the negative forms of feminism Hooks’ is trying to veer away from. However, I believe that the basis of the author’s own experience is evidence to the claims she makes. She also makes quite a few calls to authority, to credible sources. In context to her own experiences, white feminism is an everyday thing for her and many other women of colour. She inserts somewhat evidence to her claims of the white and monetarily privileged by insisting that even though black women did the same amount of activism, they were often treated as radicals because they were not only oppressed for their sex but also for their race. Though there is perceived bias, that is only from one side of the story. White women would not have the same experience as Hooks’, therefore the bias would exist on all ends. I believe that the idea of defining a form of feminism which is a privileged form of
Analysis Of No More Nice Girls By Ellen Willis
1267 Words | 6 PagesShe sets up the essay so that proving her opponents wrong, in this case other feminist, will strengthen her proposed solution. Willis “somehow always imagined feminism was about rebelling, not adapting” (Lust Horizons 8), which differs from the idea of traditional feminists. Unlike cultural feminism, Willis believes that the goal of feminism is to create a change that allows sexual orientation to become irrelevant; men and women are the same and considered equals. By using the words rebelling and adapting, Willis creates a tension in the sentence that implies that feminism will be an ongoing conflict of rebelling and adapting, indicating that perhaps a solution lies in a compromise between the two. Willis believes in rebelling while traditional feminists argue that adaptation is key, thus showing that a mix of both will allow Willis and the feminists to reach an agreement on the debate.
Roxane Gay's Rhetorical Analysis: Bad Feminist
1269 Words | 6 PagesCamille Yates Dr. Paige ENGL 1113 21 April 2023 Rhetorical Analysis Essay Unit #2 Bad Feminist is a book written by American writer Roxane Gay published in 2014 that became a New York Times Best Seller. Gay exemplifies her “bad” feminist traits and contrasts them with her “good” feminist traits. The purpose of this formal essay is to broaden the definition of what a “feminist” actually means. Many women do not fall underneath the certain opinions of what “feminist” would be. Gay discovers her definition of what a feminist is by utilizing her use of rhetorical appeals and elements that ultimately successfully contributes to her purpose in writing Bad Feminist.
Ethos Pathos And Logos
877 Words | 4 PagesHooks point is that Sandberg emphasizes more on the lack of achievement of women than inequality between the two genders. She has a good point; Sandberg never mentions how successful she is being the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook. Hooks concern is that most women will never have the opportunity Sandberg has. Another thing she has a concern for is Sandberg’s dependability on men and racism. The crowd to which Sandberg is addressing is upper white women of companies and highly educated women from privileged classes.
The Declaration Of The Rights Of Woman And Bell Hook's Sisterhood Is Still Powerful
1135 Words | 5 PagesFeminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. Throughout history, many very influential women have contributed to the rise of the feminist movement and distinguished what it meant to be a feminist. It is very important to recognize that the goals of feminism have changed vastly over time. We see this in the documents written by Olympe de Gouges in France, 1791, who some recognize as the world’s first feminist, and bell hooks in the United States in 2000, who is known for her feminist theory focused on intersectionality. The goals of feminism have changed over time, which can be seen in Olympe de Gouges's Declaration of the Rights of Woman, and bell hook’s Sisterhood is Still Powerful.
Karen Crenshaw Intersectionality
670 Words | 3 PagesShe states that Lafree’s article is a classic example of how social science studies fail to, “Examine the ways in which racism and sexism converge” (Crenshaw, 1993, 1275). Lafree focuses on the face that men of color are prosecuted more harshly depending on the race of the victim, but he fails to really go into detail on the experiences of those victims who were women of color. While he talks about men of color a great deal, he leaves out issues for women of color and makes racism to seem like inequality between men
Bell Hooks On Whiteness Analysis
1596 Words | 7 PagesIntersectional analysis still matter because race still matters in this generation. Intersectional analysis is a theory of discrimination with an individual identity, race, sex, age, and other characteristics. I personally think that not only women face intersectionality but men do as well. In this essay, I will argue that bell hooks’ main argument is how white people do not know what people of colour are going through and how “whiteness” has more privileges then the blacks. hooks approach is intersectional because people of colour are being treated as slaves to the “white” just because of their race and at times their gender.
Examples Of Sexism In Antigone
742 Words | 3 PagesAccording to Eastern Kentucky University on women and gender studies, “feminism is the issue of equality based on gender, gender expression, gender identity, sex, and sexuality as understood through social theories and political activism”. Feminism
Come Closer To Feminism For Everybody Analysis
659 Words | 3 PagesIn the introduction “Come Closer to Feminism” Hooks describes the conversations she tends to have with people who are interested in what she does. The misconception that feminism is hatred towards men by women is one that is constant according to her. As she explains most men and even women have the idea that feminist hate men, that they are all lesbians and they take jobs away from white men to make their lives harder, but when asked what they have read or know of feminism most will answer saying that they have never read a book. Their ideas of theories have arrived from that of what others say or mention. Before reading Bell Hooks “Feminism is for Everybody” I did not understand what feminism truly meant, I had the definition that I had seen online of feminist women being what they called "feminazi".
Summary Of Independence Sentiments And Sojourner Truth
1633 Words | 7 PagesTruth was not the main focus during her time and was not seen as important as the white women who was fighting for equality, but the contributions that she brought were some of the most revolutionary and key arguments used in the fight. Truth would think that what Hook’s is saying is not wrong. Truth doesn’t hate men, she just hates how they treat women, and Hooks mentions that in her book; she says how most feminists do not hate males, they do not like all the people that oppress them through sexism. Truth would probably agree with Hook’s idea of black women being the unsung hero of the feminist movement because Truth experienced the racial oppression and understood how hard it was for women to be heard, let alone black women. Truth would also understand Hook’s comment on status and that a wealthier more materialize women will not be as willing to fight the fight as the lower class women.
Rhetorical Analysis Of Understanding Patriarchy By Bell Hooks
1060 Words | 5 PagesBell Hooks, is Gloria Jean’s pen name. Bell Hooks is an American author, socialist, and feminist. Her rhetorical purposes, are to inform and persuade. In her essay she is informing her audience about patriarchy. The definition of patriarchy is “a system of society or government in which the father or eldest male is head of the family and descent is traced through the male line” (Dictionary).
Talking Back Thinking Black Analysis
318 Words | 2 PagesIn reading Bell Hooks “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black” outlining her own discovery of herself and the place in society where she stands as a woman or even as a black woman. Hooks distinguishes the importance of “taking back” for the oppressed and the dominated to recover oneself. I felt the writing of Bell Hook in “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black” is an audacious act by underlining the problem of woman and reveal Hooks path of rediscovery. Hooks writing “Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black” is an audacious act that underlines the problem of woman.
Summary Of America Swastika
2034 Words | 9 Pages“The feminist theory criticizes the hierarchical structures in society that treat women and minorities unfairly; sociology has traditionally been male dominated; feminist theory is rooted in conflict and symbolic interactionism” To look at it in the Aryan’s perspective, they consider themselves as the minority, for they believe other races are out to kill them and the whites are becoming the minority. As I watched videos and interviews with people who associate themselves with the KKK, they believe that, President Barack Obama, is ignoring them. They do not feel heard, protected, or present in America. This theory affects the points raised in the book by putting the readers in an Aryan’s perspective. Even though the Feminist theory could be a theory used as a basis, but the Symbolic Interaction Theory would be better to use to study this issue.
Gloria Steinem Intersectional Feminism
1090 Words | 5 PagesIt either includes all women, or it’s not feminism” (Makers). She frequently reminds individuals that it was disproportionately women of color, especially black women, who created the feminist movement. She contends that erasing black women’s integral contributions disgraces the founders of the movement and eradicates the efforts of feminism’s true founding
Crenshaw's Mapping The Margins Analysis
1376 Words | 6 PagesShe uses data from a field study on a battered women’s shelter in Los Angeles to back up her claims on structural intersectionality, explaining how women of color often face many structural barriers that keep them stuck in abusive relationships. The field study examines how most women at the shelter were struggling with language and financial barriers and facing racism, Crenshaw uses this information to propose that the struggles women of color face are often left unconsidered in the subject of feminism. In the fourth page of her essay, Crenshaw says, "WOC are differently situated in the economic, social and political worlds" (1250) . In making this claim, Crenshaw makes a warrant that all women of color are facing these same struggles, which is most likely true, but she only refers to the field study to support her claim, which is a generalization strategy. Making a claim about all WOC (women of color) based on the data from a single field suggests to the reader that every woman of color can be compared to the women at this one shelter in Los Angeles and all women can be properly represented by one region.
Feminism In The Novel 'Sula' By Toni Morrison
2006 Words | 9 PagesAccording to an Arizona Law Journal from 1994, “Feminism is the set of beliefs and ideas that belong to the broad social and political movement to achieve greater equality for women” (Fiss, 512). This quote is salient because feminism is a “broad social and political movement” meaning that striving for gender equality can be achieved in a plethora of ways. In the novel Sula, author Toni Morrison utilizes characters like Hannah and Sula Peace to create a feminist novel as both characters are the antithesis of conventional women who are oppressed and dependent upon men. This novel takes place in a town in Chicago referred to as The Bottom from 1919-1965 during a time of racism and sexism when women were seen as property.
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