Wednesday, 23 October 2024

A brief introduction to bell hooks


Feminism is for everybody???

The idea that feminism can be for everybody, regardless of gender identity, sexuality, ethnicity and social class puzzles some people. How can an ideology that is clearly about women have anything to offer men? however, hooks was clear in her no-nonsense academic approach that she championed that "Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression"

From the first page of the introduction of Feminism is for Everybody:

Everywhere I go I proudly tell folks who want to know who I am and what I do that I am a writer, a feminist theorist, a cultural critic. I tell them I write about movies and popular culture, analyzing the message in the medium. Most people find this exciting and want to know more. Everyone goes to movies, watches television, glances through magazines, and everyone has thoughts about the messages they receive, about the images they look at. It is easy for the diverse public I encounter to understand what I do as a cultural critic, to understand my passion for writing (lots of folks want to write, and do).

But feminist theory - that's the place where the questions stop. Instead I tend to hear all about the evil of feminism and the bad feminists: how "they" hate men; how "they" want to go against nature and god; how "they" are all lesbians; how "they" are taking all the jobs and making the world hard for white men, who do not stand a chance. 

When I ask these same folks about the feminist books or magazines they read, when I ask them about the feminist talks they have heard, about the feminist activists they know, they respond by letting me know that everything they know about feminism has come into their lives thirdhand, that they really have not come close enough to feminist movement to know what really happens, what it's really about. Mostly they think feminism is a bunch of angry women who want to be like men. They do not even think about feminism as being about rights - about women gaining equal rights. When I talk about the feminism I know - up close and personal- they willingly listen, although when our conversations end, they are quick to tell me I am different, not like the "real" feminists who hate men, who are angry. I assure them I am as a real and as radical a feminist as one can be, and if they dare to come closer to feminism they will see it is not how they have imagined it.

So how could feminism address the issues that plague men as well as women?

Feminism addresses ideas and expectations of toxic masculinity; the idea that men must show no emotions and must be strong, independent, macho. This ultimately opens up the possibility of true equality. 

Men who cry are often insulted with certain words; pussy, weak, coward, bitch. These words are emasculating and these words are often gendered. It is also an example of dehumanisation (through removing what makes us inherently human, through removing a freedom of choice and expression), and reinforces the ideological perspective that women are weak. It is a way of hegemonically policing behaviours and attitudes.


What does bell hooks have to say about feminism?


Women must have choice and agency over their bodies, for example reproductive freedom, e.g. the freedom to choose to have an abortion

However, one cannot be a feminist if one forces their opinions on other women, and removes this right from others

Feminism is something we must fight for, hooks is angry about the state of the world, and we must use radical methods to change the way in which women (and men!) are treated