Bell Hooks Black Women Shaping Feminist Theory

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REACTION PAPER WEEK 8

Bell Hooks ‘Black Women Shaping Feminist Theory’ first published 1984 edited by Kum-Kum Bhavnani (2001) Outlines a different theoretical and epistemological attitude in gender studies, ideal work at exposing the ruins of feminism as a liberal movement by privileged whites. The basis of hooks’ method are fundamentally Marxist approach, the conflict amid the oppressors and the repressed that exists in this case, she claims that Black women are discriminated also their status as being the most oppressed in the feminist theory is ignored by the paradigmatic epistemology, led by White women like Friedan.

White Western upper or middle class feminist theorists maintained mistakenly that gender is formed separately of class …show more content…

In other words, she is saying the shared experiences above mentioned are lesser important than the cultural and economic domination of the rich over the poor, the Whites over the "People of Colour".

Hooks assertion of race and class differences produce a difficult challenges or even impossible for all women to share mutual platform, even in the feminist movement. Although she is cautious to blame Friedan without stating her work to be useless, Hooks is nonetheless direct in arguing that Friedan misrepresents women's matters and is one-sided portrait of the upper/middle class women, who emancipates herself by the consumption of material goods a Black or other lower class woman services (Maid, nanny, cleaner), or and that are repressive towards other …show more content…

Brah and Phoenix analysis Sojourner Truth’s speech, “Ain’t I a Woman?” which the article title is named, they draw attention the significance of the subjectivity and social, political, economic and cultural “Othering” within. They claim that identity is a process “constituted in and through power relations” (77)

El-Tayeb, outline Europeanisation the struggle of minority groups/ migrant. All the readings of the week are speaking about populations that are disadvantaged within a broader social environment, that have access to both the dominant form of knowledge and the particular specific knowledge to their own community, therefore can’t avoid confrontations between the two, and these might give an insight to how both work, in a ways that might not happen if each is looked in isolation.

Hooks, bell (2001) ‘Black Women Shaping Feminist Theory’, in Feminism & Race, ed. by Kum-Kum Bhavnani. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.

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