Fluent Essays

On Fri, Sep 14, 2018 at 7:24 AM Alice Walker <[email protected]> wrote: NOTE: This document contains protected information. You may not upload, copy, or share these notes (complete or incomplete) with any organization, company, or person who is not currently enrolled in the course without the written consent of the instructor. Violators may be sanctioned. WMST 100 13 May 2017 Critical Reflection Essay The lesson this week, the history of feminism, was very interesting to me, but also overwhelming. I had no idea about the different waves of feminism, or much about Susan B. Anthony’s work, before diving into this week’s lesson. Just a few days ago, I decided to enroll in this course out of sheer curiosity. Although I did not need any more general education classes, I had been sorting through textbooks at the bookstore where I work, and stumbled across Feminism is for everybody. The title struck me, and I leafed through it. I learned that it was used for Women Studies 100, and made the decision to enroll. I’m graduating next year and want to take every opportunity to learn about new topics that interest me while I have the chance. Prior to this week, I did not even really have a solid definition of feminism. I knew that it had to do with gender equality, and I had heard of people attending the women’s march earlier this year, but I did not understand the issues or reasons for it. Although I still have a ton to study and learn, I feel that this lesson really helped me understand what life was like for women in the early-mid 1900’s and how we have gotten to where we are today. In this paper, I am going to focus on the first wave of feminism, including how it came about, its struggles, and its successes. As mentioned in our lecture, the first wave of feminism began in 1792 with Mary Wollstonecraft’s publication of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. This book addressed many issues including the rights of mankind, modesty, parental affection, and national education. In the 18th and 19th centuries, women were viewed only as daughters and wives, to be owned by a man. They had very few rights in any aspect of life. The first wave of feminism gained power when the world Anti-Slavery Convention occurred in 1840. Although permitted to attend, women were not allowed to be viewed or heard. This is when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott met and both were appalled at women’s treatment at the convention. Eight years later, the two women happened to be visiting the same area. They decided that now was the time to fight for the rights of women and called for a meeting which became the Seneca Falls Convention of 1848. Three hundred people, including 40 men attended. James Mott (Lucretia’s husband) led the first convention because no woman felt capable of presiding. They proposed that women were equal in all spheres. Women’s suffrage was ridiculed, even initially by Lucretia Mott. Many attendees were not only suffragists, but also abolitionists. A lot of the supporters for women’s rights believed in equality for everyone, and were simultaneously fighting for the freedom of slaves. As a result, these two movements are heavily intertwined. The first National Women’s Rights Convention occurred in 1850, with efforts to “secure…political, legal, and social equality with man” (NPS). They also sought sexual and reproductive rights. As mentioned in Sanger’s paper “My Fight for Birth Control,” women were not able to care for the amount of children they were having. They had illegal and dangerous abortions, infants were dying, and poverty levels were increasing. In 1900, six to nine of every 1000 women died during childbirth, and one in five children died in the first 5 years life. Distributing information about contraception was illegal under both federal and state laws. The timing of ovulation, length of fertile period, and other reproductive facts were unknown (CDC). At the meeting, resolutions and speeches were made, strategies were debated, and letters were read. Mott and Stanton worked to “hold local meetings, raise funds, gather facts, and publicize the movement through the press, tracts, books, and speakers” (NPS). They posed the idea that women could potentially contribute just as much, if not more, to society than men. A year later, a second national convention occurred, and they seemed amidst “a great moral civil war.” This meeting was much larger than the first, and additional topics were debated including access to paid labor, education, political rights, and social equality. By the group’s fourth meeting in 1853, they had attracted over 1,500 participants. However, in addition to gaining numerous supporters, a large group of opponents had also surfaced. Screeches and hisses prevented women’s rights advocates from being easily heard. Additionally, interpretations from the Bible were announced in objection to proposals for women’s rights. At the time of the 10th convention in 1860, women had just earned the right to joint custody of their children, as well as sole use of their personal property and wages! This was a huge step in the direction of equality. This meeting focused on the right for a woman to divorce her husband in the case of drunkenness, insanity, desertion, or cruelty. The Civil War brought to an end the annual Women’s Rights Conventions, and thus the first wave of feminism, as women focused on the war efforts. Susan B. Anthony was “sick at heart,” but failed to convinced Stanton, Mott, and others to continue to hold conventions during war time. In 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified. It acknowledged women as full citizens and gave them a right to vote. One thing that I found particularly interesting was that many arguments for women’s rights cites from the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. Supporters state that official documents clearly imply equality and suffrage for all people. As Susan B. Anthony mentions on page 607 of Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions, the preamble of the Federal Constitution begins with “We, the people…” not we, the male citizens. The speakers at the women’s rights conventions also used these facts and documents that were written prior to their time, to support their fight for rights. Mary Wollstonecraft also uses the basic principles in Chapter 1 of her book. These “God-given rights” are protected by these documents for the whole of the United States, not the chosen few. This first wave of feminism was imperative to the second, third, and where we are today. The bravery that these women showcased is admirable. They certainly had many opponents and struggles along the way. But, if they had not stood up to question the morality and reasoning of society’s rights, who would have? Bibliography “A Brief History: The Three Waves of Feminism.” Progressive Women’s Leadership. N.p., 24 Sept. 2015. Web. 12 May 2017. “Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Family Planning.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 Dec. 1999. Web. 12 May 2017. Four Waves of Feminism. Four Waves of Feminism | Pacific University. N.p., 25 Oct. 2015. Web. 11 May 2017. “More Women’s Rights Conventions.” National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d. Web. 11 May 2017. Formal Discussion and Critical Reflection Essay Rubric Formal Discussion Question and Critical Reflection Essay Grading Rubric Draw on the assigned readings to introduce an issue or topic and then situate that particular topic within a broader current context. Aim the discussion in a certain direction by posing critical questions. Note: Your formal discussion question and critical reflection essay will be graded together using the evaluation criteria below in this rubric. Formal Discussion Question Grading Rubric Criteria Excellent (A range; 54-60 points) (90-100\%) Good/Very Good (B range; 48-53.9 points) (80-89\%) Fair/Needs Work (C range; 42-47.9 points) (70-79\%) Poor (D range; 36-41.9 points) (60-69\%) Unacceptable (F range; <36 points) (<60\%) Poses a Question to Elicit Discussion of Class Material (48 points) (80\%) (43.2-48 points) Poses a critical and thoughtful question to the class that elicits discussion; the post includes a clear feminist standpoint on the topic to enable the class to practice discussing the issue from a feminist perspective; post is clear, well argued, and supported with direct material from the class readings/lecture and reliable outside sources, which are all referenced correctly. (38.4-43.1 points) Poses an interesting question, but the post doesn’t contextualize the topic in a feminist way to elicit adequate discussion; ideas or arguments were vague or not clear; connections between class material, outside sources, and the post are not sufficient;  post isn’t adequately supported with direct course material or an outside source, or sources were not referenced or weren’t reliable. (33.6-38.3 points) Post failed to pose a question on a topic from a feminist perspective in a way that stimulated discussion; the post is a summary of the material but no real analysis or argument is made; there are inadequate connections to the class material or outside sources; outside sources aren’t reliable. (28.8-33.5 points) A question is not posed in a way to elicit discussion; post shows little or no understanding of the course content;  course readings/lecture or outside sources not used or are not reliable. (0 points) No post made on time. Clarity of Question (12 points) (20\%) (10.8-12 points) Carefully crafted; concise and clearly expressed; presented in a style easy to read and understand; grammatically and mechanically error free. (9.6-10.7 points) Effort at writing evident; reasonably concise and clear; no major difficulties hampered reading and understanding; a few grammatical, mechanical, or spelling flaws detracted from effectiveness. (8.4-9.5 points) Carelessly crafted; unclearly expressed; difficult to read; too many grammatical, mechanical, and/or spelling errors. (7.2-8.3 points) Carelessly crafted;  inarticulate or rambling; impossible to read because of poor writing or abundant errors. (0 points) No post made on time.   Critical Reflection Essay Grading Rubric Criteria Excellent (A range; 225-250 points) (90-100\%) Good/Very Good (B range; 200-224.9 points) (80-89\%) Fair/Needs Work (C range; 175-199.9 points) (70-79\%) Poor (D range; 150-174.9 points) (60-69\%) Unacceptable (F range; <150 points) (<60\%) Introduction (Summary of topic & Thesis Statement) & Conclusion (50 points) (20\%) (45-50 points) Well-developed introductory paragraph contains a concise summary of the topics from the class readings/lecture and demonstrate an understanding of the issues from a feminist perspective; thesis statement specifies the purpose of the paper in a clear and overt way. Conclusion summarizes the main topics of the paper and returns to the thesis statement. (40-44.9 points) Introduction summarizes the class readings/lecture, but an understanding of a feminist perspective on the topic is unclear or lacks detail; there is a thesis statement but it’s not clear or purpose-driven. Conclusion summarizes main topics, but does not address the thesis statement. (35-39.9 points) Introduction summarizes the class readings/lecture, but an understanding of a feminist perspective on the topic is unclear or lacks detail; thesis statement is vague.  The conclusion doesn’t revisit the main arguments of the paper or the thesis. (30-34.9 points) There is no clear thesis statement; there is not an adequate summary of class readings/lecture or the summary is a seemingly random collection of information, unclear, or not related to the lesson. There is no clear conclusion. (0 points) No essay submitted on time. Critical Reflection & Feminist Analysis (125 points) (50\%) (112.5-125 points) Feminist analysis of the topic is overt, clear, and well developed; a  strong argument  is made by providing supporting details (readings, lecture, outside sources) for the thesis; clear connections are made between the thesis statement, class topics, and outside sources; synthesis and analysis of the topic using feminist concepts and class material is thorough and impressive. (100-112.4 points) Feminist ideas or concepts are used in the topic, but the analysis of the topic falls short; connections between the topic and class materials/outside sources aren’t clear enough; a connection between the thesis statement and body of the essay isn’t overtly clear. (87.5-99.9 points) A feminist analysis is not clear enough;  there is not enough depth to the connections made between class material and the main topics of the essay; the argument established in the thesis is not effectively made. (75-87.4 points) There is no feminist analysis; class readings aren’t synthesized into a clear argument that is woven throughout the paper; the thesis doesn’t guide the paper. (0 points) No essay submitted on time. Organization & Writing Mechanics (50 points) (20\%) (45-50 points) Logical, compelling progression of ideas in essay; clear structure which enhances and showcases the central idea or theme and moves the reader through the text. Organization flows so smoothly the reader hardly thinks about it. Effective, mature, graceful transitions exist throughout the essay.  Sentence structure is correct. Punctuation and capitalization are correct. There are no spelling errors. (40-44.9 points) Overall, the paper is logically developed. Progression of ideas in essay makes sense and moves the reader easily through the text. Strong transitions exist throughout and add to the essay’s coherence. Sentence structure is generally correct. Some awkward sentences do appear. There are one or two errors in punctuation and/or capitalization. (35-39.9 points) Progression of ideas in essay is awkward, yet moves the reader through the text without too much confusion. The writer sometimes lunges ahead too quickly or spends too much time on details that do not matter. Transitions appear sporadically, but not equally throughout the essay. Work contains structural weaknesses and grammatical errors. There are three or four errors in punctuation and/or capitalization. (30-34.9 points) Arrangement of essay is unclear and illogical. The writing lacks a clear sense of direction. Ideas, details, or events seem strung together in a loose or random fashion; there is no identifiable internal structure and readers have trouble following the writer’s line of thought. Few, forced transitions in the essay or no transitions are present.  Work contains multiple incorrect sentence structures. There are four or more errors in punctuation and/or capitalization. (0 points) No essay submitted on time. Work Cited (25 points) (10\%) (22.5-25 points) Source material from both the course and outside sources is smoothly integrated into the text. All sources are accurately documented in the essay and on the Works Cited page. (20-22.4 points) Source material is used. All sources are accurately documented, but some sources lack credibility. (17.5-19.9 points) Source material from the course is used, but integration may be awkward. All sources are accurately documented, but some may lack credibility. (15-17.4 points) Lacks sources and/or sources are not accurately documented; sources used are not credible. (0 points) No essay submitted on time. Argumentative essay rubric. Adapted from Yale University. Retrieved from http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/pier/classroom-resources/Argumentative\%20essay\%20rubric.pdf L06 Critical Reflection Essay and Formal Discussion Question Instructions: If you were assigned to this lesson, attach and submit a text document to this drop box. If needed, refer to the Critical Reflection Essay/Formal Discussion Question Assignments document to see which lesson you were assigned (This document can also be found in Lesson 01: Course Orientation.). Use one of the following file types: DOC/DOCX, PDF, or RTF. In order to receive full credit, do the following: · Include your Formal Discussion Question at the beginning of the Critical Reflection Essay. · Connect the question to your essay and the lessons lecture and readings. · Cite at least one direct quote from a reading or the lecture. · Include at least one relevant hyperlink that supports your question and relates to the lesson content. · Upload your Critical Reflection Essay, including your Formal Discussion Question, to this drop box. Note: · Post your Formal Discussion Question to the L06 Discussion forum  as you will be one of the students leading the lesson discussion. In order to get full credit for the Formal Discussion Question, you need to include it in your Critical Reflection Essay and post it to the lesson discussion forum. · And dont forget that in addition to posting your formal discussion question, you must contribute to the discussion by making a reply to a classmate or making another post. This is due later in the week, similar to those who are NOT leading the discussion. Grading Rubric Refer to the Formal Discussion and Critical Reflection Essay Rubric  for grading expectations. This rubric can be viewed within each Critical Reflection Essay assignment and also within the Orientation section of the course. As a reminder, you will need to submit your Critical Reflection Essay and post your Formal Discussion Question at the beginning of the week (refer to the Course Calendar for due dates). L06 Lecture: Inscribing Gender on the Body—Women and the Media Ah, the media. From Reality TV to the pages of Glamour Magazine, we repeatedly see thin and mostly white womens bodies as normal, standard, accepted. And most of the time, we cant get enough of it. We pour billions of dollars into an industry that keeps us enthralled with skinny girls and their celebrity successes. Because without the media, where would we learn about how to get a guy, how to drop 10 pounds, how to apply blue eye shadow and all those other tricks that make one an officially successful woman? Its common knowledge that the images that bombard us dont reflect reality (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 . Images can be digitally doctored; camera angles can distort and alter—all of it leads to a media culture that inundates us with the perfect body. I know that. You know that. We all get it. Why, then, do these images have such power over us? I mean, why are over half of thirteen year old girls unhappy with their bodies, and why are over three-quarters of seventeen year old women expressing similar sentiments? (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 And while the majority of Americans seem to be getting chubbier and are increasingly struggling with obesity, actresses and models seem to be getting younger, thinner and taller (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 . So why are women hating the fact that we(for the most part) dont resemble these lanky women that gaze out from the glossy pages and strut across the silver screen? Why do women care about these unobtainable beauty standards? Well, lets start with the obvious answer: money. The media sells more than just products, right? It sells the idea of normalcy—who we are and who we should be. We learn unconsciously that thin is success, fat is failure (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 . (link not working) So, the media keeps us running scared of fat, and continually consuming thinness (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 in any way, shape or form. Are we surprised, then, that the diet, fashion, cosmetic and beauty industries all thrive, making billions by exploiting womens body insecurities?  The 2016 publication The Beauty Industry Analysis, Costs & Trends (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 indicates that the beauty industry is largely unaffected by economic recessions, and in 2015 the beauty industry generated $56.2 billion of profit in the United States alone. In other words, even when US women are in financial distress they continue to buy products designed to improve their physical appearance.   But it doesnt end with the money. In a society where women are still struggling for professional and social equality, the message “control your body, control your life” has very powerful implications. I see this message as a metaphor, substituting body and size control for control lacking in other areas? Were told that if we just diet and exercise enough, if we just work hard enough, we can accomplish anything. Were told that the perfect body is rewarded with success. And as more women enter the ‘male dominant world of higher education and employment, we all seem to strive for perfection. The perfect body is our new status symbol in todays world. Weight consciousness has become part of our campaign for upward mobility—because you can never be too rich or too thin, right? But what happens when women find that they cant diet or exercise their way into thinness? Many take extreme measures—either throwing up the food they eat or not eating at all. Anorexia and bulimia (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 are no longer conditions that affect women in their teens and twenties, but large numbers of women of all ages are suffering from a seriously disordered relationship with food. Others resort to plastic surgery, opting for face-lifts, tummy tucks, breast implants, and liposuction. Womens bodies are regularly reduced to parts or objects (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 , and women have come to relate to their bodies as tools or even weapons to win the war and achieve social success. So the media teaches us that we are always in need of modification—womens bodies are objects to be perfected. And while we continue to search for that illusive perfection, we forget what real womens bodies look like; we judge ourselves by the standards sold to us (at huge profits) by the beauty industry, the popular media, our friends and lovers and parents. It seems like women have always been encouraged to manipulate their bodies to conform to a beauty ideal. Think of those Victorian corsets (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 or the Chinese tradition of foot binding (链接到外部网站。)链接到外部网站。 . The world has always foisted its twisted conception of beauty onto the bodies of women. Consider how femininity is constructed today and the ramifications of this for women and men, girls and boys. Feminism Is for Everybody What is feminism? In this short, accessible primer, bell hooks explores the nature of feminism and its positive promise to eliminate sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. With her characteristic clarity and directness, hooks encourages readers to see how feminism can touch and change their lives—to see that feminism is for everybody. A cultural critic, an intellectual, and a feminist writer, bell hooks is best known for classic books including Ain’t I a Woman, Bone Black, All About Love, Rock My Soul, Belonging, We Real Cool, Where We Stand, Teaching to Transgress, Teaching Community, Outlaw Culture, and Reel to Real. hooks is Distinguished Professor in Residence in Appalachian Studies at Berea College, and resides in her home state of Kentucky. 2 Feminism Is for Everybody Passionate Politics bell hooks 3 First published 2015 by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2015 Gloria Watkins The right of Gloria Watkins to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First edition published by South End Press 2000 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data hooks, bell, 1952– Feminism is for everybody : passionate politics / bell hooks. — [Second edition]. pages cm Includes index. 1. Feminist theory. 2. Feminism—Political aspects. 3. Sex discrimination against women. I. Title. HQ1190.H67 2014 305.4201—dc23 2014023012 ISBN: 978-1-138-82159-0 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-82162-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-74318-9 (ebk) Typeset in Galliard by Apex CoVantage, LLC 4 5 Contents preface to the new edition 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 6 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 index 7 Preface to the New Edition Engaged with feminist theory and practice for more than forty years, I am proud to testify that each year of my life my commitment to feminist movement, to challenging and changing patriarchy has become more intense. More than ever before, I work to share the liberating joy feminist struggle brings to our lives as females and males who continue to work for change, who continue to hope for an end to sexism, to sexist exploitation and oppression. From the very onset of my engagement with feminist practice, I was most excited about building a mass feminist movement. Believing at twenty years old that it was feminist movement for social justice that could change all our lives I worked to envision ways of bringing the meaning of feminist thinking and practice to a larger audience, to the masses. And while much of my work did reach folks who had not yet thought about feminism, especially black folks, the fact that almost all my work was written while I was a student or a professor meant that it did not always reach that larger audience. The primary way that the reading public knows that a book exists is either they see it displayed in bookstores and/or they read reviews of the work. When work is dissident and progressive it is unlikely to receive very many mainstream reviews. I have been fortunate to have published books that although they were rarely reviewed, they found an audience. Definitely course adoptions became one of the ways books that received little mainstream attention found an audience. And of course when writing books that readers proclaim “this book saved my life,” word of mouth sharing about the work sells copies. As I look back at forty years of writing feminist theory I am awed that my work still finds readers, still educates for critical consciousness. Through the years as more diverse female and male voices have come to the table writing awesome feminist theory and cultural criticism, academic settings became and have become the primary settings for the dissemination of feminist thought. This trend has had positive impact for college students as it provides greater opportunity for folks to learn the power and significance of feminist thinking and practice, but it has impacted negatively on the work of broadening 8 the engagement of a large public in feminist movement. I came to full feminist consciousness as an undergraduate, my mind changed and altered by women’s studies classes, by the books we read. However born into a family with six girls and one boy, I wanted my mama, my siblings, everyone I knew to be as intoxicated with feminist thinking as I was. The picture on the cover of this book is of me and my best friend from our first year of college. Race did not stand in the way of our bonding as it was shared working class issues that brought us together. We are in our late teens, almost twenty, in this photo. When I became excited about feminism April came with me to feminist conferences to learn what it was all about. After more than forty years we are still attending feminist lectures together. We learned the truism that “sister is powerful” by learning and experiencing life’s journey together. When thinking of what to write I have always worked from the space of concrete experience, writing about what was happening in my life and the lives of females and males around me. For years I would listen to folks within the academy and without share their sense that they did not understand the theory and practice of feminism. Often students taking women’s studies classes who had developed critical consciousness would share the reality that it was difficult to explain their new ways of thinking to family and friends. Listening to all of the complaints that feminist theory was just “too academic” or “too full of words folks could not understand” I just felt that somehow the movement had failed if we could not communicate feminist politics to everyone. I would often say that we needed to go door to door to share feminist thinking (that never happened.) Then it occurred to me that I should write an easy to read book that would explain feminist thinking and encourage folks to embrace feminist politics. There has never been a time when I believed feminist movement should be and was a woman-only movement. In my heart of hearts I knew that we would never have a successful feminist movement if we could not encourage everyone, female and male, women and men, girls and boys to come closer to feminism. I would tell my students I intend to write a book that will explain feminist thinking, one that you can take home and share with relatives, with your parents, your grandparents, your church members. The title Feminism is for Everybody was like a slogan proclaiming all that the book was about. Clear, concise, easy to read, for me it was a dream come true. For it does invite us all to come closer to feminism. 9 Introduction: Come Closer to Feminism Everywhere I go I proudly tell folks who want to know who I am and what I do that I am a writer, a feminist theorist, a cultural critic. I tell them I write about movies and popular culture, analyzing the message in the medium. Most people find this exciting and want to know more. Everyone goes to movies, watches television, glances through magazines, and everyone has thoughts about the messages they receive, about the images they look at. It is easy for the diverse public I encounter to understand what I do as a cultural critic, to understand my passion for writing (lots of folks want to write, and do). But feminist theory — that’s the place where the questions stop. Instead I tend to hear all about the evil of feminism and the bad feminists: how “they” hate men; how “they” want to go against nature — and god; how “they” are all lesbians; how “they” are taking all the jobs and making the world hard for white men, who do not stand a chance. When I ask these same folks about the feminist books or magazines they read, when I ask them about the feminist talks they have heard, about the feminist activists they know, they respond by letting me know that everything they know about feminism has come into their lives thirdhand, that they really have not come close enough to feminist movement to know what really happens, what it’s really about. Mostly they think feminism is a bunch of angry women who want to be like men. They do not even think about feminism as being about rights — about women gaining equal rights. When I talk about the feminism I know — up close and personal — they willingly listen, although when our conversations end, they are quick to tell me I am different, not like the “real” feminists who hate men, who are angry. I assure them I am as a real and as radical a feminist as one can be, and if they dare to come closer to feminism they will see it is not how they have imagined it. Each time I leave one of these encounters, I want to have in my hand a little book so that I can say, read this book, and it will tell you what feminism is, what the movement is about. I want to be holding in my hand a concise, fairly easy to read and understand book; not a long book, not a book thick with hard to understand jargon and academic language, but a straightforward, clear book — 10 easy to read without being simplistic. From the moment feminist thinking, politics, and practice changed my life, I have wanted this book. I have wanted to give it to the folk I love so that they can understand better this cause, this feminist politics I believe in so deeply, that is the foundation of my political life. I have wanted them to have an answer to the question “what is feminism?” that is rooted neither in fear or fantasy. I have wanted them to have this simple definition to read again and again so they know: “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” I love this definition, which I first offered more than 10 years ago in my book Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. I love it because it so clearly states that the movement is not about being anti-male. It makes it clear that the problem is sexism. And that clarity helps us remember that all of us, female and male, have been socialized from birth on to accept sexist thought and action. As a consequence, females can be just as sexist as men. And while that does not excuse or justify male domination, it does mean that it would be naive and wrongminded for feminist thinkers to see the movement as simplistically being for women against men. To end patriarchy (another way of naming the institutionalized sexism) we need to be clear that we are all participants in perpetuating sexism until we change our minds and hearts; until we let go of sexist thought and action and replace it with feminist thought and action. Males as a group have and do benefit the most from patriarchy, from the assumption that they are superior to females and should rule over us. But those benefits have come with a price. In return for all the goodies men receive from patriarchy, they are required to dominate women, to exploit and oppress us, using violence if they must to keep patriarchy intact. Most men find it difficult to be patriarchs. Most men are disturbed by hatred and fear of women, by male violence against women, even the men who perpetuate this violence. But they fear letting go of the benefits. They are not certain what will happen to the world they know most intimately if patriarchy changes. So they find it easier to passively support male domination even when they know in their minds and hearts that it is wrong. Again and again men tell me they have no idea what it is feminists want. I believe them. I believe in their capacity to change and grow. And I believe that if they knew more about feminism they would no longer fear it, for they would find in feminist movement the hope of their own release from the bondage of patriarchy. It is for these men, young and old, and for all of us, that I have written this short handbook, the book I have spent more than 20 years longing for. I had to write it because I kept waiting for it to appear, and it did not. And without it there was no way to address the hordes of people in this nation who are daily bombarded with anti-feminist backlash, who are being told to hate and resist a movement that they 11 know very little about. There should be so many little feminist primers, easy to read pamphlets and books, telling us all about feminism, that this book would be just another passionate voice speaking out on behalf of feminist politics. There should be billboards; ads in magazines; ads on buses, subways, trains; television commercials spreading the word, letting the world know more about feminism. We are not there yet. But this is what we must do to share feminism, to let the movement into everyone’s mind and heart. Feminist change has already touched all our lives in a positive way. And yet we lose sight of the positive when all we hear about feminism is negative. When I began to resist male domination, to rebel against patriarchal thinking (and to oppose the strongest patriarchal voice in my life — my mother’s voice), I was still a teenager, suicidal, depressed, uncertain about how I would find meaning in my life and a place for myself. I needed feminism to give me a foundation of equality and justice to stand on. Mama has come around to feminist thinking. She sees me and all her daughters (we are six) living better lives because of feminist politics. She sees the promise and hope in feminist movement. It is that promise and hope that I want to share with you in this book, with everybody. 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. Feminist revolution alone will not create such a world; we need to end racism, class elitism, imperialism. But it will make it possible for us to be fully self-actualized females and males able to create beloved community, to live together, realizing our dreams of freedom and justice, living the truth that we are all “created equal.” Come closer. See how feminism can touch and change your life and all our lives. Come closer and know firsthand what feminist movement is all about. Come closer and you will see: feminism is for everybody. 12 Feminist Politics: Where We Stand Simply put, feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. This was a definition of feminism I offered in Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center more than 10 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 women and men sharing household chores and parenting. They see that these women are usually white and materially privileged. They know from mass media that women’s liberation focuses on the freedom to have abortions, to be lesbians, to challenge rape and domestic violence. Among these issues, masses of people agree with the idea of gender equity in the workplace — equal pay for equal work. Since our society continues to be primarily a “Christian” culture, masses of people continue to believe that god has ordained that women be subordinate to men in the domestic household. Even though masses of women have entered the workforce, even though many families are headed by women who are the sole breadwinners, the vision of domestic life which continues to dominate the nation’s imagination is one in which the logic of male domination is intact, whether men are present in the home or not. The wrongminded notion of feminist movement which implied it was anti-male carried with it the wrongminded assumption that all female space would necessarily be an environment where patriarchy and sexist 13 thinking would be absent. Many women, even those involved in feminist politics, chose to believe this as well. There was indeed a great deal of anti-male sentiment among early feminist activists who were responding to male domination with anger. It was that anger at injustice that was the impetus for creating a women’s liberation movement. Early on most feminist activists (a majority of whom were white) had their consciousness raised about the nature of male domination when they were working in anti-classist and anti-racist settings with men who were telling the world about the importance of freedom while subordinating the women in their ranks. Whether it was white women working on behalf of socialism, black women working on behalf of civil rights and black liberation, or Native American women working for indigenous rights, it was clear that men wanted to lead, and they wanted women to follow. Participating in these radical freedom struggles awakened the spirit of rebellion and resistance in progressive females and led them towards contemporary women’s liberation. As contemporary feminism progressed, as women realized that males were not the only group in our society who supported sexist thinking and behavior — that females could be sexist as well — anti-male sentiment no longer shaped the movement’s consciousness. The focus shifted to an all-out effort to create gender justice. But women could not band together to further feminism without confronting our sexist thinking. Sisterhood could not be powerful as long as women were competitively at war with one another. Utopian visions of sisterhood based solely on the awareness of the reality that all women were in some way victimized by male domination were disrupted by discussions of class and race. Discussions of class differences occurred early on in contemporary feminism, preceding discussions of race. Diana Press published revolutionary insights about class divisions between women as early as the mid-’70s in their collection of essays Class and Feminism. These discussions did not trivialize the feminist insistence that “sisterhood is powerful,” they simply emphasized that we could only become sisters in struggle by confronting the ways women — through sex, class, and race — dominated and exploited other women, and created a political platform that would address these differences. Even though individual black women were active in contemporary feminist movement from its inception, they were not the individuals who became the “stars” of the movement, who attracted the attention of mass media. Often individual black women active in feminist movement were revolutionary feminists (like many white lesbians). They were already at odds with reformist feminists who resolutely wanted to project a vision of the movement as being solely about 14 women gaining equality with men in the existing system. Even before race became a talked about issue in feminist circles it was clear to black women (and to their revolutionary allies in struggle) that they were never going to have equality within the existing white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. From its earliest inception feminist movement was polarized. Reformist thinkers chose to emphasize gender equality. Revolutionary thinkers did not want simply to alter the existing system so that women would have more rights. We wanted to transform that system, to bring an end to patriarchy and sexism. Since patriarchal mass media was not interested in the more revolutionary vision, it never received attention in mainstream press. The vision of “women’s liberation” which captured and still holds the public imagination was the one representing women as wanting what men had. And this was the vision that was easier to realize. Changes in our nation’s economy, economic depression, the loss of jobs, etc., made the climate ripe for our nation’s citizens to accept the notion of gender equality in the workforce. Given the reality of racism, it made sense that white men were more willing to consider women’s rights when the granting of those rights could serve the interests of maintaining white supremacy. We can never forget that white women began to assert their need for freedom after civil rights, just at the point when racial discrimination was ending and black people, especially black males, might have attained equality in the workforce with white men. Reformist feminist thinking focusing primarily on equality with men in the workforce overshadowed the original radical foundations of contemporary feminism which called for reform as well as overall restructuring of society so that our nation would be fundamentally anti-sexist. Most women, especially privileged white women, ceased even to consider revolutionary feminist visions, once they began to gain economic power within the existing social structure. Ironically, revolutionary feminist thinking was most accepted and embraced in academic circles. In those circles the production of revolutionary feminist theory progressed, but more often than not that theory was not made available to the public. It became and remains a privileged discourse available to those among us who are highly literate, well-educated, and usually materially privileged. Works like Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center that offer a liberatory vision of feminist transformation never receive mainstream attention. Masses of people have not heard of this book. They have not rejected its message; they do not know what the message is. While it was in the interest of mainstream white supremacist capitalist patriarchy to suppress visionary feminist thinking which was not anti-male or concerned with getting women the right to be like men, reformist feminists were 15 also eager to silence these forces. Reformist feminism became their route to class mobility. They could break free of male domination in the workforce and be more self-determining in their lifestyles. While sexism did not end, they could maximize their freedom within the existing system. And they could count on there being a lower class of exploited subordinated women to do the dirty work they were refusing to do. By accepting and indeed colluding with the subordination of working-class and poor women, they not only ally themselves with the existing patriarchy and its concomitant sexism, they give themselves the right to lead a double life, one where they are the equals of men in the workforce and at home when they want to be. If they choose lesbianism they have the privilege of being equals with men in the workforce while using class power to create domestic lifestyles where they can choose to have little or no contact with men. Lifestyle feminism ushered in the notion that there could be as many versions of feminism as there were women. Suddenly the politics was being slowly removed from feminism. And the assumption prevailed that no matter what a woman’s politics, be she conservative or liberal, she too could fit feminism into her existing lifestyle. Obviously this way of thinking has made feminism more acceptable because its underlying assumption is that women can be feminists without fundamentally challenging and changing themselves or the culture. For example, let’s take the issue of abortion. If feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression, and depriving females of reproductive rights is a form of sexist oppression, then one cannot be anti-choice and be feminist. A woman can insist she would never choose to have an abortion while affirming her support of the right of women to choose and still be an advocate of feminist politics. She cannot be anti-abortion and an advocate of feminism. Concurrently there can be no such thing as “power feminism” if the vision of power evoked is power gained through the exploitation and oppression of others. Feminist politics is losing momentum because feminist movement has lost clear definitions. We have those definitions. Let’s reclaim them. Let’s share them. Let’s start over. Let’s have T-shirts and bumper stickers and postcards and hip-hop music, television and radio commercials, ads everywhere and billboards, and all manner of printed material that tells the world about feminism. We can share the simple yet powerful message that feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression. Let’s start there. Let the movement begin again. 16 Consciousness-Raising: A Constant Change of Heart Feminists are made, not born. One does not become an advocate of feminist politics simply by having the privilege of having been born female. Like all political positions one becomes a believer in feminist politics through choice and action. When women first organized in groups to talk together about the issue of sexism and male domination, they were clear that females were as socialized to believe sexist thinking and values as males, the difference being simply that males benefited from sexism more than females and were as a consequence less likely to want to surrender patriarchal privilege. Before women could change patriarchy we had to change ourselves; we had to raise our consciousness. Revolutionary feminist consciousness-raising emphasized the importance of learning about patriarchy as a system of domination, how it became institutionalized and how it is perpetuated and maintained. Understanding the way male domination and sexism was expressed in everyday life created awareness in women of the ways we were victimized, exploited, and, in worse case scenarios, oppressed. Early on in contemporary feminist movement, consciousness-raising groups often became settings where women simply unleashed pent-up hostility and rage about being victimized, with little or no focus on strategies of intervention and transformation. On a basic level many hurt and exploited women used the consciousness-raising group therapeutically. It was the site where they uncovered and openly revealed the depths of their intimate wounds. This confessional aspect served as a healing ritual. Through consciousness-raising women gained the strength to challenge patriarchal forces at work and at home. Importantly though, the foundation of this work began with women examining sexist thinking and creating strategies where we would change our attitudes and belief via a conversion to feminist thinking and a commitment to feminist politics. Fundamentally, the consciousness-raising (CR) group was a site for conversion. To build a mass-based feminist movement women needed to organize. The consciousness-raising session, which usually took place in someone’s home (rather than public space that had to be rented or donated), was the meeting place. It was the place where seasoned feminist thinkers and activists could recruit new 17 converts. Importantly, communication and dialogue was a central agenda at the consciousness-raising sessions. In many groups a policy was in place which honored everyone’s voice. Women took turns speaking to make sure everyone would be heard. This attempt to create a non-hierarchal model for discussion positively gave every woman a chance to speak but often did not create a context for engaged dialogue. However, in most instances discussion and debate occurred, usually after everyone had spoken at least once. Argumentative discussion was common in CR …