bell hooks: feminism, race and class

Overview

Feminism as a political struggle rather than a lifestyle, the ideology of domination, overlapping oppressions, the lower-case name, and how the position reads music video and magazines.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1. 1

   How does bell hooks define feminism?

   Model answer

   The writer bell hooks defines feminism as a struggle to end sexist and patriarchal oppression. Ending the ideology of domination is part of that struggle.

2. 2

   Why does bell hooks insist that feminism is not a lifestyle choice?

   Model answer

   For bell hooks, feminism is a political commitment rather than an identity to adopt. Commitment is measured by action against oppression.

3. 3

   State bell hooks' proposition about race and class.

   Model answer

   According to bell hooks, race and class weigh as heavily as sex in how far a person is exploited. Sex alone cannot explain a person's position.

4. 4

   What is meant by the ideology of domination?

   Model answer

   The ideology of domination is the belief that one group is naturally entitled to rule another. Racism, sexism and class exploitation share that logic in her account.

5. 5

   What term is used for the analysis of overlapping oppressions?

   Model answer

   Intersectionality is the term for that analysis. Kimberlé Crenshaw named it and bell hooks argued along the same lines about race, class and gender.

6. 6

   Why does bell hooks criticise mainstream feminism?

   Model answer

   The writer bell hooks argued that mainstream feminism centred the concerns of white middle-class women. Black and working-class women's experience was largely excluded.

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