Feminism Is for Everybody

Table of Contents

Introduction Come Closer to Feminism
1 Feminist Politics: Where We Stand
2 Consciousness-Raising: A Constant Change of Heart
3 Sisterhood is Still Powerful
4 Feminist Education for Critical Consciousness
5 Our Bodies Ourselves: Reproductive Rights
6 Beauty Within and Without
7 Feminist Class Struggle
8 Global Feminism
9 Women at Work
10 Race and Gender
11 Ending Violence
12 Feminist Masculinity
13 Feminist Parenting
14 Liberating Marriage and Partnership
15 A Feminist Sexual Politic: An Ethics of Mutual Freedom
16 Total Bliss: Lesbianism and Feminism
17 To Love Again: The Heart of Feminism
18 Feminist Spirituality
19 Visionary Feminism

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Excerpt

from Chapter 1, Feminist Politics: Where We Stand

Simply put feminism is a movement to end sexism. This was a definition of feminism I offered in Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center more than ten years ago. It was my hope at the time that it would become a common definition everyone would use. I liked this definition because it did not imply that men were the enemy. By naming sexism as the problem it went directly to the heart of the matter. Practically, it is a definition which implies that all sexist thinking and action is the problem, whether those who perpetuate it are female or male, child or adult. It is also broad enough to include an understanding of systemic institutionalized sexism. As a definition it is open-ended. To understand feminism it implies one has to necessarily understand sexism.

As all advocates of feminist politics know most people do not understand sexism or if they do they think it is not a problem. Masses of people think that feminism is always and only about women seeking to be equal to men. And a huge majority of these folks think feminism is anti-male. Their misunderstanding of feminist politics reflects the reality that most folks learn about feminism from patriarchal mass media. The feminism they hear about the most is portrayed by women who are primarily committed to gender equality — equal pay for equal work and sometimes ...

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Praise

"Passionately argues that our ability to deal with the interrelation of gender, race, and class must be addressed in order to move toward true feminism. hooks succeeds in taking feminist theory from the academy and giving it back to the communities from which it sprang— redefining it in lucid, accessible, everyday terms. A radical act, indeed."
—Ms. Magazine

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Breaking News

http://www.beyondchron.org/articles/Tucson_Schools_Bans_Books_by_Chicano_Native_American_Authors_9817.html

Outrage was the response to the news that Tucson schools has banned books, including "Rethinking Columbus," with an essay by award-winning Pueblo author Leslie Marmon Silko, who lives in Tucson, and works by Buffy Sainte Marie, Winona LaDuke, Leonard Peltier and Rigoberta Menchu. The decision to ban books follows the 4 to 1 vote on January 10 by the Tucson Unified School District board to succumb to the State of Arizona, and forbid Mexican American Studies, rather than fight the state decision.

Students said the banned books were seized from their classrooms and out of their hands, after Tucson schools banned Mexican American Studies, including a book of photos of Mexico. Crying, students said it was like Nazi Germany, and they were unable to sleep since it happened.

The banned book, "Rethinking Columbus," includes work by many Native Americans, as Debbie Reese reports, the book includes:

Suzan Shown Harjo's "We Have No Reason to Celebrate," Buffy Sainte-Marie's "My Country, 'Tis of Thy People You're Dying" Joseph Bruchac's "A Friend of the Indians," Cornel Pewewardy's "A Barbie-Doll Pocahontas", N. Scott Momaday's "The Delight Song of Tsoai-Talee," Michael Dorris's "Why I'm Not Thankful for Thanksgiving," Leslie Marmon's "Ceremony," Wendy Rose...

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