...FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY Passionate Politics bell hooks South End Press Cambridge, MA CONTENTS Copyright © 2000 by Gloria Watkins Cover design by Ellen P. Shapiro Cover illustration by Laura DeSantis, © Artville Any properly footnoted quotation of up to 500 sequential words may be used without permission, as long as the total number of words quoted does not exceed 2,000. For longer quotations or for a greater number of total words, please write to South End Press for permission. INTRODUCTION Come Closer to Feminism 1. 2. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hooks, Bell. Feminism is for everybody: passionate politics / Bell Hooks. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-89608-629-1 - ISBN 0-89608-628-3 (pbk.) 1. Feminist theory. 2. Feminism - Philosophy. 3. Feminism Political aspects. 4. Sex discrimination against women. 1. Title. FEMINIST POLITICS Where We Stand 1 CONSCIOUSNESS-RAISING A Constant Change of Heart 7 3. SISI:ERHOOD IS STILL POWERFUL 4. Vll 13 00-036589 South End Press, 7 Brookline Street, #1, Cambridge, MA 02139 06 05 04 7 8 9 Printed in Canada 19 OUR BODIES, OURSELVES Reproductive Rights 25 6. HQl190 .H67 2000 305.42'01 - dc21 FEMINIST EDUCATION FOR CRITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS BEAUTY WITHIN AND WITHOUT 31 7. FEMINIST CLASS STRUGGLE 37 8. GLOBAL FEMINISM 44 5. 9. WOMEN AT WORI( 48 10. RACE AND GENDER 55 ...
Words: 37459 - Pages: 150
...© Guillaume Herbaut © Guillaume Herbaut Feminism & FEMEN Abstract Through feminism protest, women have been trying to get equal rights to men for decades. Different movements have appeared through the years. Radical feminism is one of them. Where does it come from? What differences does it have from “classical” feminism? For a few years now, we can often see in the media pictures of those bare breasts women protesting, the FEMEN. Where do they come from? What are they fighting for, or against? In this paper, we will have a closer look at where from comes their movement and what defines their ideology in order to understand their message and what they protest against. Methodology For this work, I used what the FEMEN movement wrote, its manifesto and different articles, and tried to find feminist theories on radical feminism in order to understand the basis of the FEMEN movement. Table of content Abstract 2 Methodology 2 Introduction 4 What is radical feminism? 4 The notion of patriarchy 4 The Marxist feminism 5 The FEMEN movement 6 Brief history of the FEMEN movement 6 Bare breasts as a weapon 7 Manifesto 7 FEMEN 8 Ideology 8 Objective 8 Missions 8 Exigencies 8 Tactics: sextremism 8 Symbols 9 Structure and activity 9 Financing 9 Information 9 Controversy 9 Ethical points of view on feminism 10 Conclusion 10 Afterword 11 References 12 Introduction Already at the beginning of the 15th century, a woman, Christine...
Words: 3337 - Pages: 14
...Perhaps the largest misconception about modern feminism is that it is a negative ideology with women against men, the domination of one sex over another, etc. Though named for the sake of proclaiming women’s rights, feminism is an all-encompassing ideology; in short, feminism is for everybody. Feminism, as a faction of liberation ideology in general is about social equity in the form of equal opportunity. We live in an age where many people have forgotten that while women have obviously surpassed significant limitations, we as a gender are still trying to forge an easier trail for those who follow; the wage gap is real, and the stigmatization of women in certain career fields is certainly still a problem. Ultimately, feminism itself has been...
Words: 337 - Pages: 2
...There are numerous types of literary criticism including archetypal, Marxist, and readers-response. The theory of feminism criticism, another type of literary criticism, originated in France and the Netherlands and emphasizes on gender inequality and female's social roles. Feminism criticism can be seen as many forms of literary expressions such as poetry, essays, short stories, and novels. Feminism can also be examined through current events, fictional, and how those two are correlated. W.E.B. DuBois was an author who wrote the essay, "Double Consciousness." One can interpret feminism criticism from his text. "After the Egyptian an Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh-son..." This can be interpreted as females come after everybody else. In other words, society puts all others -- Caucasians, African-Americans, Hispanics, and Asians -- ahead of females. For example, as terrible as they were treated, African-Americans received the privilege to vote in 1868, fifty years previous to the women receiving similar rights. As seen above, feminism is not always directly displayed so one must interpret it from the text. "Karintha," written by Jean Toomer, is a fictional story about a young lady who was the object of desire to many of the gentlemen in the town. Fiction is another form of literature that one can interpret feminism criticism from. In the story, Karintha was often objectified by the older gentlemen because of her attractiveness...
Words: 354 - Pages: 2
...Same sex marriage is already taboo, but same sex couples raising children is mostly not considered acceptable by the public because of the misconception that they are not qualified to bring up children in accordance with proper social values. The public is not certain if children will receive proper education about society and behavior to fit in as responsible members. However, several recent movements, such as Feminism and Post-modernism, argue about equal rights for everybody. Feminism is mainly concerned about the equality of men and women in society while Post-modernism is mainly concerned with ending all forms of discrimination in society. Feminism is actually a subdivision of Post-modernism because Post-modernism is against all discriminations while Feminism specializes in pointing out women's rights in the society and the equal status of women and men. Among other things, both ideologies re-evaluate the meaning of love and marriage in modern society. Besides the social movements, several scientific research was made regarding children who grow up in same sex marriages. Children raised in a same sex marriage share the same core values with the society, maybe even higher because they never learned about sexual discrimination in their home, and the only reason why they are restrained is because of the public opinion on these situations. In accordance with scientific research, the American Psychological Association (APA) claims that there are should be no concerns with same...
Words: 2232 - Pages: 9
...IS FEMINISM HARMFUL OR BENEFICIAL TO AMERICAN SOCIETY? Running head: IS FEMINISM HARMFUL OR BENEFICIAL TO AMERICAN SOCIETY? Is Feminism Harmful or Beneficial to the American Society? Name Institution Is Feminism Harmful Or Beneficial To American Society? Feminism refers to the constant advocacy of woman rights, which seeks to make women equal to men in many areas including social, political, economic and even cultural. The American Society has embraced it by reducing the barriers that women come across in the workplaces or when vying for political posts (Sandberg & Scovell, 2013). Apparently, it seeks to ensure that women also have a say in the country’s dealings, and they have equal rights to education. As a matter of fact, feminism is highly beneficial to the American society because it has enabled women prosper in businesses, schools, and marriages. It is now possible for women to vie for political positions and be heard. Hooks (2000) asserts that when one empowers a woman, the whole society is empowered. Besides, it has improved the quality of lives for most women who now have access to various public forums. Thus, it is possible to find women leaders, doctors, professors, or even mothers who are good in whatever they do. They are also given equal opportunities in their workplace when it comes to a job application and even career advancement. The women in the workplaces earn...
Words: 594 - Pages: 3
...Taylor Kelley AP English 4 Mrs. Almack- 2nd Period 1st Six Weeks The Scarlet Letter; Feminism Feminism is the social, political, and economic equality of women. There are many types of feminism but the three that I am going to talk about are Amazon Feminism, French Feminism, and Equality Feminism. The Feminist Literary Theory is the complex theory that combines all of the branches of feminism into one when analyzing a piece of text. This theory is what a lot of feminist authors; Nathaniel Hawthorne, use to appeal to the female population. Amazon feminism is a branch of feminism that strives to show the power of the women in reaching the ultimate goal of women equality to women. Some authors that use amazon feminism when writing would be...
Words: 1344 - Pages: 6
...Feminists’ argued that gender roles were created by men for their benefit, and they described this type of society as “patriarchal”.They argued the nuclear family performed two key functions which oppressed women a) the family socialised girls to accept subservient roles within the family, whilst socialising boys to believe they were superior – this happens through children witnessing then recreating the parental relationship; and b) it socialised women into accepting the “housewife” role as the only acceptable role for a women. Essentially, feminists viewed the function of the family as a breeding ground where patriarchal values were learned by an individual, which in turn created a patriarchal society. I will use different types of Feminism to explain their understanding of the family . The first type is Liberal Feminists. They believe in a “March of Progress” view of the family. This means that they believe that the family is gradually changing for the better over time by becoming more democratic and more equal. They also argue that men and females share democratic labour ( i.e childcare, cleaning the house). Liberal Feminist believe this happened thanks to new law reforms such as the Divorce Act 1969 and Equal Pay Act 1972. Jennifer Somerville believes that women are still disadvantaged in families . She criticises radical and marxist feminists for failing to accept that progress has been made in some ways. However Marxist Feminist criticise against this by saying...
Words: 573 - Pages: 3
...P1: Explain the principle sociological perspectives. In this assignment I will be explaining some of the different sociological perspectives in today’s society. The sociological perspectives which I will be explaining will be Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism, and interactionism, Collectivism, Postmodernism and The New Right. The first perspective which I will be explaining will be Functionalism. Functionalism is the view that our society is based onagreed norms and values. A norm is social rules that define correct behaviour in society. An example of a norm can be an individual attending school until they are the age of 18. Values are what are important to an individual and this differs in class, culture, ethnicity and gender. An example of a value which is important to most of our society is going to school, going to church or volunteering. Functionalists see social structure or the organisation of society as more important than the individual itself. They say that people are born into society and become the product if all social influences around them because they’re socialised by different institutions such as family, education, media and religion. Sociologist Talcott Parsons sees society as a system that works together to keep things running smoothly just like the human body. Social consensus is a key belief of functionalism. It allows society to continue to progress because the theory believes that we have shared norms and values in society which we must follow. Another...
Words: 1069 - Pages: 5
...Sociology 1 5/15/2014 Final Exam: Short Answer Questions 1. Class Stratification Describe the social class system in the U.S. In United States have six social classes, from the top to low, there are upper classes which is top-level executives, celebrities, heirs, income over fifty thousands and have highly education, second is new money class which is people inherit a huge money from their family. Thirdly is middle class which is people having highly educational and also have their professionals like lawyer and doctor. Fourthly is working class which is people have low educated or technical training, they always is blue-collar worker and worker. Also they have a union. Fifth is working poor class which is people have lower educational, usually work in the lowest-paying jobs. The last one is poverty level which is people can’t meet their basic needs. Discuss how class shapes life chances using segments from the film, People Like US: Social Class in America below: The working class vs. the middle class In the work, the working-class people more easy to injury at work than the middle class t. And, the working class people are least possibly have the extra money to buy essential, moreover luxurious things and holiday. The social class in US, the middle class family has the better survival qualifications, therefore they have the social activity, and their child can have a better education compared to the working class people. “Bourgeoisie Blues” – the black middle class ...
Words: 4264 - Pages: 18
...White Feminism: the Self-Appointed Savior of the World The movement of (Eurocentric) feminism has been superglued to its privilege ever since the term “féminisme” was first coined in 1837 (source). Marked by its relentless, unapologetic, prioritization of the voices of middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual, white women over the experiences of queer women, women of color (third world women) , transgendered women; the movement has become an obstacle for equal rights in the broader sense. While “white” feminism is absolutely vital today and has produced outstanding achievements for women in the Western world, the byproducts of its undeniable privilege has been detrimental, to say the least, to women of third world countries in particular. Western...
Words: 1892 - Pages: 8
...My approved topic is liberal feminism, and I will be discussing its’ presence in the talk called A Saudi woman who dared to drive by Manal al-Sharif. Liberal feminism is the belief that women should have the same opportunities as men; it is based on a desire to promote equal opportunity between male and female. Liberal feminism produces arguments that women are just as rational as men and therefore should have equal opportunity to make their own choices. Liberal feminism seeks to erase gender-biased distinctions in law. Manal al-Sharif was a Saudi-Arabian woman, in which country women are not allowed to drive; this is not law, but more of a taboo. Manal al-Sharif decided to challenge this and it resulted in her being imprisoned for daring to break the taboo and be seen behind the wheel, as well as her brother being detained for handing over his car keys. This was followed by a huge media outrage and women took to the streets to drive (none of whom were arrested). Manal al-Sharif was released after nine days, and the talk she gives is describing the events, and the reasoning behind this, and the effects and consequences which her actions have had in Saudi Arabia. In her talk, Manal al-Sharif states that she believes “a society will not be free if women of that society are not free”. This demonstrates the argument often proposed by liberal feminists, that women should have the same rights as men. In effect, she is saying that women should be free; that they should not be oppressed...
Words: 1245 - Pages: 5
...Feminism is the fight for equal rights of both genders. Feminists try to gain the rights that women have been deprived of, but men have always seemed to have. Much of the world portrayed women as dispensable house wives before the turn of the 20th century. It wasn’t until the idea of a global war that women started to gain importance and value throughout society. Women worked in the factories and other various jobs during the war. They enjoyed the independence they experienced from receiving their own paycheck. Preceding the war, women began to riot and march as groups that stood for equal rights of both genders. These women impacted today’s society and the rights of women with their perseverance for change. They liberated and gained civil rights for women that lead to equal rights in many countries throughout Western Europe. Women changed the social, economic, and political factors of the world with their movements, which in turn, entirely changed the way they were perceived and valued. Socially, women suffered in the pre-war era. Women worked in their homes for most of their lives. They had no control over matters like reproduction or daycare because no methods were presented to them. Birth control was non-existent and day care wasn’t needed because women were expected to be at home during the day. Women had no control over their own body; they were forced to have children they didn’t want because of conflict with their spouse and were also forced into having illegal abortions...
Words: 1847 - Pages: 8
...Vintage Fashions are a way of retaining individuality in the age of fast fashion-discuss In the age of fast fashion and mass production of garments vintage fashions have become increasingly popular as a way of escaping contemporary stereotypes and retaining individuality. However the acceptance of this ‘vintage look’ has made the fashion industry adopt it as a way of creating new collections therefore making it more accessible and less individualising than it originally was. The meaning behind vintage fashion has changed drastically in the last 50 years, formally being associated with poverty and the lower class, due to the fact that second hand clothing was very dirty and was often contaminated with diseases such as the plague. Even though this was the case second hand clothing was necessary for many people before the rise of ready to wear fashion, as emphasized by Caroline Evans (2007) “Second-hand dress has historically been associated with low economic status and class; long before there was a ready-to-wear industry, the second-hand trade clothed the poor, often in third-, fourth- and fifth-hand clothing”(2007:249). Clothes were very highly valued; they were passed down in wills and given as gifts, this was due to the fact that clothes were very expensive as all clothing was hand made. However in the 1960’s with the introduction of mass production when clothes were no longer as expensive they were also no longer one of a kind. After WW2, the age of make do and mend...
Words: 1982 - Pages: 8
...A women's activist, to me, is somebody who advocates for the social balance amongst men and ladies. Today, contemplates propose that exclusive 16 percent of men and 23 percent of ladies recognize as women's activists (Shire). Given these insights, it might appear that many are as yet loath to the thought that ladies can be equivalent to men, however truly, individuals simply don't comprehend what the term woman's rights really implies. Many trust that ladies' suffrage is not any more fitting, however ladies' rights is an issue that is more pertinent than any other time in recent memory since a stunning number of ladies in America are totally unmindful to the basics of woman's rights. In the article "You Don't Hate Feminism. You Just Don't Understand It," Emily Shire concentrates on give a false representation of confusions about woman's rights. She needs to enable individuals to comprehend what being a women's activist genuinely implies; therefore, her intended interest group incorporates the individuals who are uneducated about the genuine beliefs and objectives of woman's rights. Incidentally, Shire additionally makes a decent showing with regards to of achieving the individuals who are exceptionally acquainted with women's liberation and its notoriety. Woman's rights has been forced to bear contention since it has been marked "against men."...
Words: 975 - Pages: 4
