Last year, though, some scholarly feminist friends offered me a list of “30+ Feminist Must-Reads,” which would take me from the 70s through the present day. I didn’t really know where the stairway was to feminism’s Ivory Tower, and no one came down to give me a map. Aside from Ms., Steinem’s books and Susan Faludi’s Backlash, I garnered my feminism through experience, conversation and popular media rather than going to primary sources.
magazine (I especially loved Jo Freeman’s essay “The Tyranny of Structurelessness”), Chrysalis and Heresiesmagazines, and anything Gloria Steinem wrote.īut since those days, I’ve gotten way behind in feminist theory. Hooks argues that feminism's goal of seeking credibility and acceptance on already existing ground - rather than demanding the lasting and more fundamental transformation of society - has shortchanged the movement.Ī sweeping examination of the core issues of sexual politics, Feminist Theory argues that contemporary feminists must acknowledge the full complexity and diversity of women's experience to create a mass movement to end women's oppression.I’m your classic Second Waver–I came to feminism reading this familiar canon: The Feminine Mystique, Sisterhood is Powerful, The Female Eunuch, Lesbian Nation, The Second Sex, Against Our Will, Women and Madness, Sexual Politics, Towards a Recognition of Androgyny, Ms.
In this beautifully written and carefully argued work, hooks maintains that mainstream feminism's reliance on white, middle-class, and professional spokeswomen obscures the involvement, leadership, and centrality of women of colour and poor women in the movement for women's liberation. This edition includes a new preface by the author, reflecting on the book's impact and the development of her ideas since it was first published. Still very relevant, and recommended.' įeminist Theory established bell hooks as one of international feminism's most challenging and influential voices. The experience of ordinary people, rather than largely white female academics, is at its heart. A very good book, promoting a feminism which includes women of all classes and colours, and which does not exclude men either. ' intelligently critical, inclusive, personal and very accessible feminist polemic.
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