Today in academic circles much of the most celebrated feminist theory is written in a sophisticated jargon that only the well-educated can read. While visionary feminist thinkers have understood our need for a broad-based feminist movement, one that addresses the needs of girls and boys, women and men, across class, we have not produced a body of visionary feminist theory written in an accessible language or shared through oral communication. Working-class women already knew the wages the received would not liberate them. But only privileged women had the luxury to imagine working outside the home would actually provide them with an income which would entitle them to be economically self-sufficient. Their resistance to patriarchal male domination in the domestic household provided them with a connection they could use to unite across class with other women who were weary of male domination. It’s a great introduction to feminism if you’re interested in learning more about the theory and practice, especially since feminism is all too often defined by its opponents.įrom the outset, reformist white women with class privilege were well aware that the power and freedom they wanted was the freedom they perceived men of their class enjoying. It’s also a personal book as hooks recalls her own feminist journey from the earliest consciousness raising through various conflicts. hooks makes an interesting distinction between feminism that seeks to advance individual women in careers, education, and politics without challenging the system within which they exist – what hooks defines as “reform feminism” and notes is beneficial mostly to privileged white women – and a “revolutionary feminism” which seeks to overturn patriarchal systems and create feminist alternatives. It’s a book that at times is also very critical of some ways in which feminism is practiced. hooks lays down the basic concepts and theory on feminism and how it intersects with race, class, and lesbianism, among other things.
This book is a short primer on feminism that bell hooks always wanted but had to write it since it didn’t exist. Previously read by the same author: All About Love: New Visions Publication Info: Cambridge, MA : South End Press, c2000. Title: Feminism is for everybody : passionate politics
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