Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics

“Sisterhood could not be powerful as long as women were competitively at war with one another.”

hooks openly discusses the danger of internalized sexism amongst women, a phenomenon not often presented by the mass media. This acknowledgement of the existence of sexist women challenges the familiar stereotype of feminists who express frustration only with men, a stereotype that ignores the impact of patriarchy on the attitudes and behaviors of the women who seek to dismantle it.

“Feminists are made, not born. One does not become an advocate of feminist politics simply by having the privilege of having been born female.”

By pointing out that being a woman does not preclude being a feminist, hooks sets a standard for women who want to contribute to the feminist movement; intentional learning about sexism and raising one’s own consciousness are prerequisites to becoming a feminist. hooks is adamant that being a woman who wants equal pay and equal treatment in the workplace is not enough.

“Without males as allies in struggle [the] feminist movement will not progress.”

hooks explains that the consciousness-raising efforts of women must also be offered to men, so that everyone can become more aware of the existence of sexism and the negative consequences of patriarchy. hooks believes that men are not necessarily programmed to be sexist or to be patriarchs; rather, they are sometimes fearful of losing the benefits of patriarchy. Once men become allies, however, hooks believes this fear will dissipate, as a world without sexism benefits everybody.

“Since masses of young females know little about feminism and many falsely assume that sexism is no longer the problem, feminist education for critical consciousness must be continuous.”

Education is powerful, and hooks advocates for constant and regular education because she has observed that the feminist movement lost momentum when the opportunities for education faltered. hooks challenges the notion that the pursuit of equal treatment in the workplace is sufficient in order for young women to understand that there is plenty more to be done once equal pay for equal work has been achieved.

“Indeed, when black women and other women of color raised the issue of racial biases as a factor shaping feminist thought there was an initial resistance to the notion that much of what privileged class women had identified as true to female experience might be flawed, but over time feminist theory changed.”

hooks identifies a rift amongst early feminists who spoke from a position of white privilege, unaware of the unique challenges that women of color face. Feminist theory, which influences feminist politics and all that stems from the movement, is changing to reflect the experiences of women of color, as well as the experiences of women of all classes and backgrounds.

“Children’s literature is one of the most crucial sites for feminist education for critical consciousness precisely because beliefs and identities are still being formed.”

Education in all guises has great potential, and children’s literature is one approach that hooks believes is effective. Sexism is learned, so it is possible for young boys and girls to grow up without sexist attitudes, and the books they read are an ideal place from which families can begin to cultivate open communication about identity and power.

“Many of us were the unplanned children of talented, creative women whose lives had been changed by unplanned pregnancies; we witnessed their bitterness, their rage, their disappointment with their lot in life.”

hooks’s emotional and political investment in reproductive rights for women originates in her own personal experiences with women who did not have the freedoms most American women enjoy now. Access to safe contraceptives and legal abortions was limited until recently, and hooks, like other “women of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s,” places great significance on these freedoms.

“It has never been a simple matter for women to unite a love of beauty and style with comfort and ease.”

hooks reminds readers that feminist thinkers can actually value beauty and style, while she warns women, especially young women, about the patriarchal influences that currently shape the fashion industry. Fashion for women has long encouraged women to suffer pain and discomfort at the expense of styles that please men, and this history has led many women to reject fashion as a political statement. hooks believes that women can choose comfort and beauty without sacrificing their feminist ideals.

“While this issue was presented as a crisis for women it was really only a crisis for a small group of well-educated white women.”

hooks calls attention to the problems that arose early on in the feminist movement when issues relevant only to privileged women drew the attention of mass media. The issue mentioned here is the one of life as a housewife, which was a problem for the women who felt “confined and subordinated” (38) by this domestic role. hooks points out that this lifestyle may have been something a lot of working class women would have seen as a freedom, but the feminism motivating this particular complaint was not inclusive of these other perspectives.

“Lesbian feminist thinkers were among the first activists to raise the issue of class in [the] feminist movement expressing their viewpoints in an accessible language. They were a group of women who had not imagined they could depend on husbands to support them.”

hooks credits lesbian feminists with a heightened awareness of the impact of class and money-earning potential on women, which led to their “confronting the issue in feminist circles” (39). Thanks to this early work by lesbian feminists, women of all classes gathered to talk about a “vision of a politically based sisterhood where all females would unite together to fight patriarchy” (39).

“Since the first people on planet earth were nonwhite it is unlikely that white women were the first females to rebel against male domination.”

hooks’s characteristically direct tone emphasizes the case for global feminism, not just American or western feminism. Her reference here to nonwhite inhabitants of the earth combines her focus on the importance of race to the feminist movement with a global perspective.

“However feminist women in the West are still struggling to decolonize feminist thinking and practice so that these issues can be addressed in a manner that does not reinscribe Western imperialism.”

hooks identifies neocolonialist attitudes in some feminist circles, acknowledging that words like “colonialism” and “neocolonialism” are not often employed by feminists. hooks warns against the appropriation of feminism as a “luxury product from the West” (47) and encourages instead the connection between “sexist practices in relation to women’s bodies globally” (46). This perspective may ensure that class bias does not interfere with the aims of a global feminist movement.

“Lots of women engage feminist thinking, choose liberation, but are economically tied to patriarchal males in ways that make leaving difficult if not downright impossible.”

hooks presents the realities of low wages and limited welfare options that keep women trapped in unhealthy and potentially damaging relationships with men who think in sexist ways. Women who work long hours at a low-paying job only to then work long hours at home are unable to experience the freedom presented by the feminist utopian vision of meaningful work.

“Individual white women who had attempted to organize the movement around the banner of common oppression evoking the notion that women constituted a sexual class/caste were the most reluctant to acknowledge differences among women, differences that overshadowed all the common experiences female (sic) shared. Race was the most obvious difference.”

hooks offers the perspective of women of color that includes racist bias within feminist thinking. This perspective allows hooks to understand that having only womanhood in common is not a sturdy enough foundation for feminist theory. When feminists failed to consider the implications of race, many women of color felt marginalized, which disrupted the momentum of the movement to end sexist oppression.

“Significantly, I am among those rare feminist theorists who believe that it is crucial for [the] feminist movement to have as an overriding agenda ending all forms of violence.”

hooks includes violence by women, against children specifically in her list of unacceptable forms of violence. In this chapter, hooks discusses abuses in the home and risks for children in the context of parenting. Mothers just as capable as fathers of violence against children, which reflects exactly the kind of patriarchal influence the feminist movement seeks to eradicate.

“Feminists who called for a recognition of men as comrades in struggle never received mass media attention.”

hooks addresses the unfortunate nature of this phenomenon, which renders the image of feminism incomplete. The false images of anti-male feminists have set back the movement, as many Americans still believe that feminism is not at all concerned with the rights of boys and men. hooks states that feminist theory must incorporate the situations of boys and men, who suffer under patriarchy and sexist oppression as much as girls and women.

“In a culture of domination, where children have no civil rights, those who are powerful, adult males and females, can exert autocratic rule of children.”

hooks asserts that parents must be aware of the potential for autocratic rule within their roles as authority figures over their children. This style of parenting, which “embraces an ethic of domination” (74) inspired by patriarchy, opens the door to verbal, psychological, physical, and emotional abuse. This abuse, potentially carried out by both mothers and fathers, teaches children such treatment is normal, and the cycle of abuse carries on.

“Early on feminist activists focused so much attention on private bonds and domestic relationships because it was in those circumstances that women of all classes and races felt the brunt of male domination, whether from patriarchal parents or spouses.”

hooks points out that in families of origin, parents who model sexist behaviors often set their children on a path that means later sexist behaviors by spouses are normalized; amongst early feminists, this discovery led to a feeling that marriage was “yet another form of sexual slavery” (79) and something to be avoided if a woman wanted autonomy.

“Individual women who moved from having relationships with men to choosing women because they were seduced by the popular slogan ‘feminism is the theory, lesbianism the practice’ soon found that these relationships were as emotionally demanding and as fraught with difficulty as any other.”

hooks confronts a naive assumption that sex between two women is guaranteed to be free of sexism and patriarchal influence. Within any relationship, the potential for “outmoded sexist notions” (88) exists, and lesbian relationships are no different.

“One of the women accused of being a lesbian chose to mentor me; a professional woman, a reader, a thinker, a party girl, she was a woman I admired.”

When hooks was growing up in a “small, segregated black community” (94), gay women were usually married. hooks’s attachment to her mentor dismayed her father, who thought the mentor was “‘funny’” (94), but her mother was supportive. The admiration hooks felt for her mentor reveals an insight into hooks’s personal connections in her early life.

“Early on the feminist critique of love was not complex enough. Rather than specifically challenging patriarchal misguided assumptions of love, it just presented love as the problem.”

Because early consciousness-raising groups attracted women who were often victims of domineering mothers, fathers, and spouses, pain and heartache were frequent discussion points. Instead of reacting to emotional traumas inflicted by sexist behaviors in a nuanced way, early feminists rejected love altogether, because love makes a person vulnerable. hooks argues that this rejection of love is a mistake; feminism is actually the way to love, not a hindrance to love, as feminism seeks to eradicate domination, the true enemy of love.

“More than any other religious faith Christian doctrine which condones sexism and male domination informs all the ways we learn about gender roles in this society.”

Unlike Eastern faith traditions like Buddhism and Hinduism, which contain female deities as well as male deities, Christian dogma is distinctly male dominated. hooks points out that contemporary right-wing fundamentalists “demonize” (107) feminists who want to protect the reproductive rights of women, a modern-day phenomenon that reflects the patriarchy’s need to control the bodies of women justified by spiritual practice.

“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.”

Throughout the book, hooks points out that the development of feminist thought within primarily academic environments has not been helpful to the masses of men and women who cannot access the feminist jargon that emerges from this world. hooks has written this jargon-free handbook specifically for this audience, perhaps to inspire other feminists to write in accessible language as well.