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v mixed feelingsnot really an intro to feminism like the description suggests, it’s more like a brief summary of the rise and fall of second wave feminism and definitely requires some prior feminist readingbut the main reason i’m docking a few points is that hooks suggests that gay women ‘choose’ their sexuality a few too many times to be a coincidence, which was v jarring to read from such a respected scholar!the chapters varied in quality and some excellent points were made, but some of it was...
REST IN POWER, bell hooks (September 25, 1952 – December 15, 2021) “I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance.”
Introduction to intersectional feminist theory peppered with personal anecdotes.“If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency.”"Today in academic circles much of the most celebrated feminist theory is written in a sophisticated jargon that only the well-educated can read. Most people in our society do not have a basic understanding of feminism; they cannot acquire that understan...
Right at the beginning the author states that the book's goal is to provide an accessible "guide" to feminism for all. It is neither particularly accessible, nor does it really help as a guide. Thankfully, I know history fairly well, particularly the history of feminism, so I knew what the author was talking about in most cases, but for a person who does not know much history this book will be a torture. It is jumbled, inconsistent and badly written, but let me start at the beginning. I have one...
Tough book to rate. Take the first and last chapter, and you have an incredibly well written book that perfectly sums up feminism, where it's been, where it lacks, and where it could go. Feminism in theory is about respect, about choice, about re-evaluating beliefs and including and affirming everyone. 5-star all the way.The hundred pages in between are full of humble bragging (the only time she doesn't use generalizations is to either slam a particular target or quote her own books), lamenting
There's really not a lot I can add to the title. Feminism is for Everybody. This book is especially good for people who denounce feminism, or don't think we need to shout about it any more. It's the sort of book that should be on every school syllabus, to open discussions and make young people think about these issues. To realise that talking about feminism goes beyond wanting equal rights in the workplace. It's not a woman only book, it's not man hating, it's very intelligent, insightful and re...
'"Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression." I love this definition...I love it because it so clearly states that the movement is not about being anti-male. It makes it clear that the problem is sexism. And that clarity helps us remember that all of us, female and male, have been socialized from birth on to accept sexist thought and action. As a consequence, females can be just as sexist as men. And while that does not excuse or justify male domination, it does m...
Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who we are - to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace. Feminism is for everybody. 4.5, though I could change the rating later to a 4 because I'm not quite sure yet of the rating.I really liked this book. It was short and to the point, and though it was very basic (because is supposed to be more like a guide or manual), I really liked it.
Bell Hooks (I will not entertain her nor E. E. Cummings) attempted to make feminism a broader idea than simple female empowerment. To this end, issues of race and class (in that order too) were brought in to what might not be the foundational text of intersectionality, but certainly one of the seminal ones. Although jargon heavy, Hooks is accessible compared to other books and the brevity of this work suits its purpose well. Where I stand unconvinced is the idea that feminism is for "everybody."...
Not until recently had I emerged out of the rock I was living under and located the @everydaysexism twitter account. Keeping an eye on their retweets for a little less than two weeks enabled me to discover that women are not only forced to endure the lecherous male gaze (often called 'stare rape' these days) on public transportation, made the object of innuendo-laced, denigrating remarks since puberty but also masturbated at in public without their consent (not even women over 60 had been spared...
I'm very glad I read this book. The intersectional discussion of feminism was really interesting and made a lot of sense. There's a big emphasis on intersectionality in feminism nowadays, which I appreciate and agree with, but it's been a little difficult for me to envision how everything would work together in terms of policy and activism. This book was so helpful in this regard, and in that sense it was very valuable to me. I also really appreciated the more personal bits where bell hooks talk...
i kind of live-blogged this book while i was re-reading it. yes, i originally read it shortly after it was released, because i loved bell hooks back then & felt she could do no wrong as a feminist theorist. this book was my first hint that she can do some pretty serious wrong. in the decade since, her writing has gone steadily downhill & is currently almost completely unreadable, incoherent, hippie weirdness. there are little hints of the man-pandering mega-christian hooks was to become here, bu...
I love bell hooks! She is a little less hardcore and not so angry in this book, which makes it more accessable to the masses.... I guess she did that on purpose, given the title of the book "Feminism is for Everybody." Her earlier works are great if you want a taste of angry lesbian, black feminist. And who wouldn't want a taste of that?
I read this because I'd like to be better read on feminist theory and wanted a quick/easy "refresher." Also, I recall reading Hooks in a collection of feminist essays way back in 1999 or so and appreciating her particular perspective. I can't now recall what the title of the book was (I'll need to ask the friend who lent it to me) or even what the essay was about, but I do know that Hooks is an instrumental figure in bringing race and class into the discussion and has rightly criticized white mi...
i'm not sure how to express my distaste for this book. clearly i am not an expert on feminism considering i am reading this for a 101 course in women's and gender studies and ik bell hooks is a respected writer on the topic.she makes a few good points, usually about how race impacts feminism and about how men also can be affected negatively by a patriarchal society.but this book didn't do what it said it would - intro to feminism - and was full of literally nothing but her opinions of 'who count...
I liked this book and would absolutely recommend it, but I think the title was misleading and it didn't serve hook's purpose, as I understood it. She calls for the creation of feminist children's books, door-to-door chats, accessible explanations of feminism to those for whom "feminism" is the other "f" word. This is just another example of the academization of feminism hooks critiques; Its language is not exactly easy to follow, it assumes sympathy to feminism from the first page, and relies on...
Review will come up soon - Till then check this passage out - "We have not amassed enough testimony to let the world know the sexual pathologies and horrors women endured prior to the existence of dependable birth control. It evokes fear within me just to imagine a world where every time a female is sexual she risks being impregnated, to imagine a world where men want sex and women fear it. In such world a desiring woman might find the intersection of her desire and her fear. We have not amassed...
This had some interesting parts, and filled in some gaps of the feminist movement's history for me, but it gets a low rating for one reason: it states its goal at the beginning - to be a primer on feminism accessible to all - and then fails miserably at it. I would never recommend this as a feminism primer to someone. It doesn't talk much about feminism or the need for it but rather dissects the in-fighting within the feminist movement. It's also extremely poorly written - too academic and with
I read this for my Intro to Gender and Women's studies course and I absolutely loved it. It's the perfect place to start if you're interested in diving into feminist studies or even if you're already well versed in the subject. It really is for EVERYBODY (pun very much intended).
One of the things I love about bell hooks is that she writes radical books for widely different audiences. This book is for both for an audience that hasn't thought much about feminism and has misconceptions of what "feminism" is, and also for feminists who aren't coming from movements that include an analysis of race and class at their centers. I've used this book in first year writing classes to teach about feminist politics and it's been really successful. It's a great book for any sort of in...