Feminism Is for Everybody

hooks, 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.

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