Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Hooks,-Bell Feminist Class Struggle

    Uploaded by

    alvaroneder
    12 views5 pages
    Hooks,-Bell Feminist Class Struggle

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document
    Hooks,-Bell Feminist Class Struggle

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    12 views5 pages

    Hooks,-Bell Feminist Class Struggle

    Uploaded by

    alvaroneder
    Hooks,-Bell Feminist Class Struggle

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 5
    36 FEMINISM IS FOR EV? bodies and ourselves and love aware of the pitfalls and dange tale beauty, we are not doing enough to eliminate chose dange:s — 10 create aleraatives, ‘Young girls and adolescents will not know that feminist think ers acknowledge both the value of beavcy and adomment if we con- tinue co allow pateiacchal sensibilities to inform the beauty industy inal spheres, Rigid feminist dismissal of female longings for beauxy bes undermined feminist politics, While this sensibility is moce tise dia as the way feminists em. Although all females are more of embracing sexist notions of fe- common, it is often presented by mass 1 think, Until feminists go back co the beauty industry, go back to fashion, and creace an ongoing, sastained revolution, we will not be fice. We will not know how t0 love our bodies 2s ourselves, bet hooks Feminis~ ts Oc Wer bod x FEMINIST CLASS STRUGGLE Chas ‘women in feminist movement ralked about long before sace. In the ‘ce and the way in which fe divides women was zn issue mostly w of a newly formed women’s liberation move- ment the most glacng separation berween women was that of clas, Whice working-ciass women recognized tha class Present in the movement. Conflcs sre between the reformist vi. sion of women’s liberation which basically demanded equal rights for women within the existing cass srucrare, and more cadica! and/or revolutionssy models, which elle for fsadamencal change in the existing stucmue 40 that models of munuaisy ad equality could replace the old paradigms. However, as feminist movement progressed and pz enbe- san 0 achieve equal access to class power with thei male cou s, forinis clas struggle was no longer deemed impo: From the onset of the movement wome lasses were able to make this concems “the” isues that should be focused on in par because they were the group of women who te- ceived public atention. They esuacted mass media, The issues chat hies were from privileged ‘were most relevant to working women or masses of women were sever highlighted by mainstream mate media. Bey Friedaa's The Fominist Mystign idecified “the problem that has no name” as the a 38 FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY distacsCaction females felt about being confined and subordinated lathe home as housewives, While cis issue was preseaced asa isis fer women it ealy was only a crisis fora small group of well-educated white women. White they were complaining sbout the dangers of ‘confinement in the home a huge majority of women in the nation ‘were in the workforce And many of these working women, who putia Jong houcs For low wages while sell doing all the work in the domes ‘ic houschold would have seen the sgt to etay home as “freedom.” Tewas not gender discimination or sexist oppression that kepe “ged women of ll races ftom working outside the home, ewes the face thatthe jobs that would have been available to them would have been the same low-paying unskilled bor open to al working women. Elie groups of highly educated females stayed at home fdile-class and working-class women were doing. Occasionally, a few of th sather than do the type of work large numbers of lowe women defied convention and worked outside the home ps lng tasks way below their educetional sls and facing resistance from husbands and family, 1c was this resistance chat sarned the is- sue of their working outside the home i of gender dis. as with men of their class the political platform that chose feminism: rather then clees struggle. From the outset, reformise white women with eless peivilege ‘were well aware that the power and freedom they wanted was the freedom they perceived men of thet class enjoying. Theis resistance ‘o patriarchal male domination in the domestic household provided them with a connection they could use to unite across class with other women who were weary of male domination. But only privi= leged women had would actually provide them with an iacome which would enable crimination and mace opposing pawiacchy and seeking e wxany (0 imagine working oucside the home them to be economical self-sufficient. Workingcless'women al FEMINIST CLASS STRUGGLE » ‘ead Knew shac the wages they ceceived would not liberate them, Reformist efforts on the part of privileged groups of women to change the workforce so that women workers would be paid more and face less gender-based discrimination and haeatément on the job had positive impact on the lives ofall women. And these gains privileged gained in dass power while messes of women still do nor receive wage equity with men is an indication ofthe way in which class inzezests superceded ferninist I are important. Yer the fact that «efforts to change the workforce so that women would receive equal ay for equal work, Lesbian feminist thinkers were among the first cetvists to aise the issue of clas in feminist movernent expressing thei viewpoines 2 accessible language. They were a group of women who bad not ad on husbands to support them. And arts of imagined th shey were often much more awate than their steaight counter the difficulties all women would face in the workforce. Jn the early "70s anthologies Uke Clas: and Faminiom, edited by Chaslozte Buinch ad Nancy Myron, published work written by women from diverse class backgrounds who were confronting the issue ia ferninist ce- cles. Each essay emphasized the fact that case was not simply quescion of money. In “The Last raw" Rita Mae Brown (who was oc famous writer atthe time) cleutly stated could (Glass much move then, Man's definivon of reltonship tothe ‘means of production. Cass involved your behavior, your basie Sssumptions, how you are taught to behave, whet you expect from yourself and fom others, your conceptofs fuure, how you Undecstend problems and solve them, how you think fet, ac, These women who enceced feminist groups made up of diverse classes were among the first to see that the vision of a politically based sateshood where al females would unite together to fight pa- FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY tacchy could not emerge until che issue of class wes confronted Placing class on feminist agendas opened up the space where the inc Jnstinutionalized race, sex, class soclaleystem in ovr sociery blac ‘males were clearly ar the bottom of the economic totem pole. Ini- ally, well-educated white women from working class backgrounds ‘were more visible than black females ofall lasses in feminist move ent. They were aminosity within the movement, but eheize was the rience. They knew beter chan theis privileged. class comrades of any race the costs of resisting race, class, and gender domination. They knew what ic was like to struggle to chenge one’s economic situation, Berween them and theic prvileged-class com. sides chere were ongoing conflicts éver appropriate behavior, over ‘he issues that would be presented 26 fundemental feminist con- from privileged-class tions of cass and race were made appatent. Within the voice of expe: cems, Within feminist movement womer backgrounds whe had never before been involved in lest freedom, ing learned the concrete politics of class struggle, confronting challenges made by less privileged women, and also learning in the cope with con- flict, Despite constmctive intervention many privileged white women continued to act a¢ though feminism belonged to them, as though chey were in charge. Mainstream petcae of ‘women ftom prvileged-cass groups were the only ones worthy of ‘ectiving attention. Feminist efocra med r0 guin social equality for thin the existing structure. Privileged women wanced class. Despite sexism among their class process assertiveness skills and constructive way equality with men of ch they would not have wanted to have the lot of working class men, Femiinis: effores to grant women social equality with men of theic less neadly coincided with white supremacist capitalise patriarchal i power would diminish if nonwhite people gained a FEMINIST CLASS STRUGGLE a eda! access to economic power and privilege. Supporting what in ‘effect became white power reformist feminism enabled the main. stream white supremacist patiachy :0 bolster is power while ‘ukaneously undemmining che radical politics of feminism, Orly tevolutionaty feminise shinkers expressed outeage at this

    You might also like