http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/09/07/10-years-of-feminism-is-for-everybody/
So, I've more recently become comfortable and proud of being a feminist. This summer I was alllll over the internet reading all sorts of things that just made me mad. One day a cool thing happened when one of my friends posted a picture of her newest read on Instagram. It was a book with an almost laughably simple title. "Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics". So I googled it, and the author bell hooks seemed pretty cool and dedicated to the cause (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_hooks --she doesn't capitalize her name because she wants the focus to be on her work, not herself). I checked it out from the library as soon as possible (it's at Pius!), and eventually bought my own copy. As the article I linked above explains, it is an incredibly cool, quick crash course in feminism. She defines feminism simply as, "Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression", which I love for its inclusiveness. This book is cool since it's not so academic and fairly jargon-free, as its meant to be accessible to, well, everybody, not matter their education level or background or whatever.
So if you've been looking for some interesting contemporary feminists, I think bell hooks is a cool one, she has written a ton of books, which I can't wait to get into. She's written things on masculinity and as a black feminist, she writes a lot about racial issues and how they deal with feminism.
One last little tidbit from her:
Imagine living in a world where there is no domination, where females and males are not alike or even always equal, but where a vision of mutuality is the ethos shaping our interaction. Imagine living in a world where we can all be who we are, a world of peace and possibility.
:)
Claudia I love that last tidbit! I spent the majority of my summer on the internet as well on sharing websites that garnished a lot of "feminism means femnazi" and that feminism should just be eliminated because "we're already equal" or "the problems here aren't bad at all compared to other societies" as though because worse things are happening that negates other bad things. I think I'll probably have to make a trip to Pius to check the book out!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds super interesting Claudia! I'll definitely be checking out this book at Pius! Thanks for the intersting info
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of getting into contemporary feminism! It almost seems like the challenge these days isn't getting the vote, or being able to run in a marathon, it's how to maintain that equality in a healthy and educated manner. How to develop feminism in a fast paced and modern world, while trying to keep intact the integrity of the past movement! Looks fascinating, I'll definitely be reading up on her.
ReplyDeletebell hooks is my english, french, spanish, swahili. still need to read and understand more but she is great with inter-sectioning issues
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