Summary, part 1

Chapter 1: Feminist Politics

“Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (p. xii). 

hooks first offered this definition more than 10 years ago in her book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. This definition is one she still adheres to since it clearly states that the movement is not anti-male.

As the movement progressed, it became clear that the problem is the overarching patriarchy, sexism and sexist thinking in both men and women. Women cannot group together under a single banner unless they confront their own sexist thoughts. She also highlights the importance of intersectionality in her discussion, focusing on the impossible nature of a united sisterhood if women continue to oppress other women for their varying overlapping marginalized identities, such as race or class. To learn more about the origins of intersectionality, visit our study guide here.

She draws a distinction between the women in the movement:

1. Reformist thinkers: those who simply wanted to emphasise gender equality and work within the existing structure

2. Revolutionary/visionary thinkers (identifying as one herself): those who wanted to do away with the patriarchal superstructure entirely

Used as a tool for class mobility, reformist feminism can lead to fellow women trampling on other women to acquire higher societal standing. Thus, allowing these women to lead double lives where they get to choose their roles as oppressors and oppressed while living comfortably within the existing sexist structure. 

This is what hooks calls “lifestyle feminism,” or the idea that no matter your politics, you could still be a feminist (e.g., an anti-abortionist could still be a feminist). Lifestyle feminism allows for the removal of politics from a fundamentally political and radical movement, pushing radical feminism into an esoteric academic circle and delineating it from public life. hooks believes that this loss of values led to the loss of momentum in the movement, and argues that reformist feminism has to change for the movement to begin anew.

Chapter 2: Consciousness-raising (CR)

In a sexist society, everyone is encultured to uphold sexist views, and so feminists are not born, they need to be made. They are made through the rejection of patriarchal paradigms by the politically conscious. Therefore, to change the patriarchy, women have to first change themselves. 

This essential unlearning is revolutionary feminist consciousness-raising. It involves careful analysis of the importance of learning about patriarchy as a system of domination, its institutionalization, and its maintenance. 

In the beginning, consciousness-raising (CR) groups were used therapeutically by women to vent their frustration and anger without any structures in place for affirmative action. They then became places of conversion where feminist thinkers could find new recruits afterward replaced by women's studies classes in universities. To learn more about consciousness-raising, visit our study guide about the Stonewall protests here.

This caused radical thinkers who were not white, rich, or middle class to be sidelined in public discussions since universities are conservative corporate structures. Hence, by the 1980s, “lifestyle feminism” came into play which “suggested any woman could be a feminist no matter what her political beliefs” (p. 11). 

hooks’ call is for CRs to attain their original importance, this time including CRs for men, since the anti-sexism goal of feminism cannot be fully realized without male comrades.

Chapter 3: Sisterhood is Still Powerful

Feminist thinking helped women unlearn the “enemy within” of sexist thinking and self-hatred. It created grounds for female solidarity, especially since female bonding is an act of treason within the patriarchy, unlike male bonding, which is the expected norm (p. 12). 

The bond created was not anti-male. The feminists of the time understood that the bond went beyond mere shared sympathy. They belived, “Feminist sisterhood is rooted in shared commitment to struggle against patriarchal injustice, no matter the form that injustice takes”(p. 15).

As long as women are using class or race to dominate other women, feminist sisterhood cannot be fully realized. Bonding is only possible when women in dominant positions let go of their power to unite with their fellow women. 

As women (particularly privileged white women) began to acquire class power without divesting of internalized sexism, divisions intensified. White women turned their backs to the critiques offered by Black women which called to attention the need to confront class and race in society and the feminist movement which alienated disappointed radical feminists and stratified the hard-earned ‘sisterhood.’ Hence, older feminists need to teach the younger ones to reignite political solidarity and the renewed movement must once again raise the banner,“Sisterhood is powerful” (p. 18).

Chapter 4: Feminist Education for Critical Consciousness

Creating a body of feminist literature along with the demand for the recovery of women’s history was one of the most powerful and successful interventions of contemporary feminism. The entry of academic feminist studies bolstered the dissemination of feminism in the youth of the time. 

Simply being victimized and oppressed by the patriarchy does not give one the cognitive tools to understand why it exists and how to go about changing it. Hence, preceding Black studies, it was the one place to learn about gender and women from an unbiased perspective. To its credit, by the late 80s, feminist theory had become aware of race and class in its discussions.

The academization of feminist theory also created a new set of problems. It deradicalized and decoupled feminism from public life. Suddenly, feminism became an elite, jargon-heavy, academic ‘in group.’ This had greatly hurt the movement since sharing the thoughts and practice of feminist knowledge was supposed to sustain the movement. 

hooks is critical of the standard (patriarchal) education system and offers suggestions for spreading feminism through community-based feminist studies:

1. Creating a mass-based movement where people go door to door, explaining the principles of the movement (like religious groups do)

2. Creating a feminist curriculum in public schools

3. Making feminist books available in all possible formats in songs, TV, and radio shows. She particularly emphasized the need for a feminist TV network.

Chapter 5: Our Bodies, Ourselves

“One of the first issues which served as a catalyst for the formation of the movement was sexuality — the issue being the rights of women to choose when and with whom they would be sexual” (p. 25).

Historically, white women with class privilege have had access to safe, effective birth control and abortions care while most other women in the United States did not. Pioneering feminist thinkers were firm in their belief that before hoping to accomplish any gender equity, both women and men needed access to safe abortions and birth control.

The abortion issue gained attention over all other reproductive issues as it affected white women the most and, was a direct challenge to the fundamentalist Christian thinking of the U.S. 

The right has now become endangered again due to the fall of an organized, radical feminist movement and backlash from the religious fundamentalist right-wing political front.

While she does not seek to trivialize the importance of providing access to legal, safe, and affordable abortions, hooks wants to bring to the forefront other issues as well such as basic sex education, preventive health care, etc.

“Feminist focus on reproductive rights is needed to protect and sustain our freedom” (p. 30).

Source

Hooks, B. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Pluto Press.

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