Feminism Is for EverybodyJoin now to read essay Feminism Is for Everybodyhooks, bell. ed., Feminism Is For Everybody Passionate Politics (South End Press, 7 Brookline Street, #1, Cambridge, MA 02139).Feminism is for everybody is a political book that addresses the ideas of women’s rights as a whole entire gender as well as individually. The book also ties the Civil Rights Movement as a catalyst for a feminist movement. The book is mainly written chronologically which shows the progression in thinking of the world. She writes about when she first saw and experienced sexist actions and how she had to cope with it at Stanford University. She touched on the bra burning period as a form of rebellion from sexist clothing companies. She also talked about how rappers degraded women and found nothing wrong with it.
The book’s time period started with the 60’s and 70’s and progressed from there. The book touches on the whole United States of America and the general sexist actions, whether verbal or non-verbal, that women have to endure. Her thesis was clearly stated at the beginning and at the very end of the book: feminism is for everybody. Bell Hooks’s purpose for writing this book is dispelling rumors that feminism “is a bunch of angry women who want to be like men” (vii-viii). She also wants to educate individuals that “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression” (viii). Her original name is Gloria Watkins, but she changed her name to bell hooks to honor her mother and grandmother. She uses lower case letters to put emphasis on her writing rather than her name.
The main points of her book were way to combat sexism and sexist ways through anti-male bashing. She writes that sexism was taught through media and over generations, handed down from father to son and generally accepted by women. One way to combat this, she offers, if “feminist consciousness-raising for males is as essential to revolutionary movement as female groups. Had there been an emphasis on groups for males that taught boys and men about what sexism is and how it can be transformed, it would have been impossible for mass media to portray the movement as anti-male” (pg. 11).
It is unfortunate that her idea that “…we have created no schools founded on feminist principles, for girls and boys, for women and men” (pg. 23) is, I think, an unattainable cause. Modern society is not going through a strong feminist movement right now. Parents would be reluctant to send their kids to a feminist based school when there are schools with proved academic prestige already. Adults would not attend these unnecessary institutions because they would prefer to put their money into something more worthwhile that would be able to help them in the long run or that would help them gain more money.
I understand and agree on her feminist stand on abortion. She wrote that “anti-choice movement is fundamentally anti-feminist…feminist focus on reproductive rights is needed to protect and sustain our freedom” (pg. 29-30). The fact that the government, predominantly and historically male dominated, tries to eliminate choices available for women is a very sexist act. This is a controlling act that is perpetuated not only through abortion choices, but it also stems to other subject matter that she addresses.
In 2005 I have noticed a change in advertisement that seems to resemble the early 60’s and 70’s movement when it comes to women’s clothing and makeup. The fashion world thrives on teens and adults trying to keep up with societies’ trends. “I have a friend that worked two jobs to keep up with the fashion trend…she ended up with ulcers because she was stressed out trying to maintain bills, work, and fashion” (Guzman). Females, under the pressure of a male dominated society, purge their stomachs in order to maintain their thin frame. “Challenging the industry of sexist-defined fashion opened up the space for females to examine for the first time in our lives the pathological, life-threatening aspects of appearance obsession” (pg. 33). This obsession is unfortunate because it takes control of our everyday lives. We base what we wear and how we look on what we hope is acceptable in general society.
”Brief Summary
”The new ‘gaps’ in the modern world are creating a number of problems.
”Toward a “First Way of Life Modeling” (pp. 38–39). The most interesting and well known of these is the movement for a model of beauty as a function of experience. This model is based on the observation that women typically have fewer choices to make about their bodies when it comes to appearance. The current model uses research and a number of experiments to demonstrate the importance of experience in fashion and fashion models in the post–baby boom years.
”The new “gaps” in the modern world are creating a number of issues such as the increasing role of personal agency in shaping our appearance. These include: 1) the lack of personal agency (with the exception of professional beauty stores and websites) to change our appearance and 2) a lack of personal control in the management of our appearance, as evidenced by the lack of gender-neutral fashion-focused ads.
”Women today, because of high birth rates, often lack agency and can be easily distracted by clothing. This is a major concern in women today as a group. One researcher, an American mother who participated in the research described as “an excellent model of agency” , found she had a significant number of women leaving the store just before the beginning of pregnancy. According to another survey and research from a decade ago, 51% of women who left their husbands at 30 or earlier say they feel insecure about their sexuality and they don’t want to be in close touch with others or their body. The new “gaps” in the modern world are creating a number of issues such as the increased role of personal agency in shaping our appearance.
”Toward a “First Way of Life Modeling” (pp. 59–61). The new “gaps” in the modern world are creating a number of issues such as the increased role of personal agency in shaping our appearance. These include: 1) the lack of personal agency (with the exception of professional beauty stores and websites) to change our appearance and 2) a lack of personal control in the management of our appearance, as evidenced by the lack of gender-neutral fashion-focused ads. 1) I am afraid that the new “gaps” are coming from some sort of pre-conditioning. The idea that body positivity becomes more important when we are thin stems from this idea that we tend to be shy/nervous and when we are thin we are embarrassed/nervous. It follows that our health can be more helpful to show our “fibre.” In reality, body positivity is not our problem. The message is, don’t fear the new Gaps, come to us. We do want to have fun or we want to feel healthy. This means that we want to use our physical body more than our body identity.
”Toward a “First Way of Life Modeling” (pp. 62–70). Another researcher, Sarah M., said that she believes we will experience a “first age modelization” of beauty that involves a greater understanding of our bodies, an understanding of how you look to see how you look, and a greater appreciation for diversity, social justice, and non-judgmental, non-violence.
The book is not written to be presented to the masses. High school reading ability is definitely needed in order to retain and acknowledge the knowledge in this book. “Parasitic class relations have overshadowed issues of race, nation, and gender in contemporary neocolonialism…in white supremacist capitalist patriarchal Western culture neocolonial…”(pg. 44). The wording is deterring a large majority of readers either female or male, due to the word selection. Most human beings do not have a large vernacular and therefore cannot comprehend the message she is trying to relay. If she wants the book to be more effective