from margin to center
yesterday was bell hooks' birthday!
i think a lot of people - certainly myself - owe A LOT to bell hooks' writing and example. "feminist theory from margin to center" and "ain't i a woman" have both shaped so much of my own understanding of feminism/feminist movement and gender and race and radical politics in general. every time i (re-)read anything by her i'm struck by the relevance and clarity of her analysis, how wise and thorough her arguments are and how well they go to the heart of issues, the practicality of her ideas for addressing injustice. i know that people can only reach that kind of "wisdom" and level of understanding by looking around them with eyes wide open and truly living what they believe - making that their priority, always.
bell hooks is someone whom i read, appreciate and absorb, then later return to with my own experiences only to find that there's new meanings, new relevance... it always amazes me, this relevance: how does she know to speak about all these things, and speak with so much truth?!
bell hooks, for me, is the epitome of a truth-speaker.
feminist theory from margin to center
[if you haven't read this book you are missing out, go out and get a copy now]
the backcover of my old south end press edition says that "this carefully argued and powerfully inspirational work is a comprehensive examination of the core issues of sexual politics, including political solidarity among women, men as partners in struggle, and the feminist movement to end violence. always engaging and frequently provocative, hooks combines an accessible style with critical insight to offer a vision of feminism rooted in compassion, respect, and integrity." or, as the ak press blurb says: "the classic criticism of white middle-class feminism remains a passionate call to overcome the personal and political barriers raised by differences of class, race, sexual orientation. hooks' call to put poor women and women of color at the center of any feminist analysis or politics is still a necessary reminder. a new preface by the author introduces this new edition of this essential classic to a new generation of feminist readers, while reminding seasoned activists of the need for continual, critical reflection."
table of contents:
1. black women: shaping feminist theory
2. feminism: a movement to end sexist oppression
3. the significance of feminist movement
4. sisterhood: political solidarity among women
5. men: comrades in struggle
6. changing perspectives on power
7. rethinking the nature of work
8. educating women: a feminist agenda
9. feminist movement to end violence
10. revolutionary parenting
11. ending female sexual oppression
12. feminist revolution: development through struggle
there's too many great quotes to list, so here's just a few of the classics:
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feminism, as liberation struggle, must exist apart from and as a part of the larger struggle to eradicate domination in all its forms. we must understand that patriarchal domination shares an ideological foundation with racism and other forms of group oppression, and that there is no hope that it can be eradicated while these systems remain intact. this knowledge should consistently inform the direction of feminist theory and practice. ... i suggest that defining feminism broadly as “a movement to end sexism and sexist oppression” would enable us to have a common political goal.
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justice demands integrity. it’s to have a moral universe — not only know what is right or wrong but to put things in perspective, weigh things. justice is different from violence and retribution; it requires complex accounting.
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as all advocates of feminist politics know most people do not understand sexism or if they do they think it is not a problem. masses of people think that feminism is always and only about women seeking to be equal to men. and a huge majority of these folks think feminism is anti-male. their misunderstanding of feminist politics reflects the reality that most folks learn about feminism from patriarchal mass media.
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a central tenet of modern feminist thought has been the assertion that “all women are oppressed.” this assertion implies that women share a common lot, that factors like class, race, religion, sexual preference, etc. do not create a diversity of experience that determines the extent to which sexism will be an oppressive force in the lives of individual women.
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feminist solidarity rooted in a commitment to progressive politics must include a space for rigorous critique, for dissent, or we are doomed to reproduce in progressive communities the very forms of domination we seek to oppose.
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even the most subjected person has moments of rage and resentment so intense that they respond, they act against. there is an inner uprising that leads to rebellion, however short-lived. it may be only momentary but it takes place. that space within oneself where resistance is possible remains.
and one more, a beautiful comment from a tv appearance:
visionary feminist thinkers ... have always understood one of the ways that we heal the gender warfare between men and women is to teach both groups, as girls and as boys, how to be loving people. a self-loving man is automatically a feminist. because he's automatically going to have to resist patriarchy to be self-loving in the first place. feminism, in its best sense, is a movement that calls girls and boys, women and men, to deeper understandings of the meaning of love.
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