Feminism is for Everybody Chapter Summary 3 -4 compiled by Briauna Mckizzie
Chapter 3: Sisterhood is Powerful To be honest, this chapter is a little superfluous. Maybe bell had a word count she needed to abide by? Maybe she forgot she already said this things before? I really don’t know, but the main point here is that “sistas,” irregardless of their genitals, class, or educational background need to stick together. None of us are free until all of us are -- and we are stronger together. We all need to be willing “to divest of [our] power to dominate and exploit subordinated groups of women.” Chapter Four: Feminist Education for Critical Consciousness In its beginning, feminism was learned, not in classrooms, but on the front lines -- in groups. However, as hooks noted in the introduction, it was quickly co-opted and became something that “elite” women were interested in. “[people] outside the academic domain were no longer considered an important audience...as a consequence the academization of feminist thought undermines feminist movement.” This quote is funny because it definitely is riddled with academic speak, HOWEVER, what she’s saying is that feminism is worthless unless it is accessible for ALL people. Who are you writing for if you’re not writing for the masses, if you will? Feminism needs to be written and talked about in a variety of ways -- so that everyone, no matter what their educational background, can learn from it and relate to it. “We need feminist studies that is community-based.” Regarding these things, the most interesting thing about this chapter might be the fact that hooks brings up the lack of feminist books for children. While more writers are employing progressive ideology, there is definitely room for more stories to be written. Importantly, hooks also says that when we fail to create accessible feminist texts for all people -- we’re allowing the “mainstream patriarchal media to remain the primary place where folks learn about feminism, and most of what they learn is negative.”