bell hooks by Bollmeyer, Jada

Title IX

bollmeyj — 2025-01-25 23:32:53 UTC

Although bell hooks did not play a direct rule in the passage of Title IX, I believe she influenced it after inspiring a generation of people, particularly women and educators. The law forbids sex-based discrimination in education, and seeing as she advocated for both feminism and better education practices, there is no doubt she had an influence in inspiring the people who passed this law.

bell hooks on "Bad Feminists"

bollmeyj — 2025-01-25 23:40:12 UTC

Generally, I find most people perceive bell hooks as the epitome of feminism and what it means to advocate for women of all types; however, some have critiques on her opinions on "bad feminists". Critics argue, in some ways, she is telling women what to think, believe, and feel, which completes goes against the entirety of the feminist movement. The comments on this video highlight this well.

Beyonce

bollmeyj — 2025-01-25 23:43:19 UTC

https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/news/a19232/bell-hooks-beyonce-terrorist/

Specifically, bell hooks has called out Beyonce during her "Lemonade" era, calling her an "anti-feminist—that is a terrorist, especially in terms of the impact on young girls".

bollmeyj — 2025-01-25 23:46:19 UTC

Before this course, I had never heard of bell hooks. In school, we were taught of historical women such as Susan B. Anthony, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but rarely mentioned the women today who are still feminist advocates. I believe this is because they want us to feel everything is now "okay" and "equal", but in truth, there is still much to fight for.

bollmeyj — 2025-01-25 23:52:58 UTC

bell hooks was born in 1952 in a KY town that was "race-neutral, neither pro- nor anti-slavery". She mostly attended racially segregated schools, which gave her an interesting perspective when she went on to write her first novel after graduating with her bachelor's and master's degrees. The novel, Ain't I a Woman?: Black Women and Feminism, completely reshaped the way feminism is seen today.

Brown v. Board of Education & Women's Rights Movement

bollmeyj — 2025-01-25 23:58:08 UTC

Despite the 1954 ruling of the Supreme Court in Brown vs. Board of Education that public school segregation is illegal, hooks did not attend an integrated school until the late 1960s.

Feminism in the 1950s was also considered to be in a "dormant" state as the women were expected to stay home. hooks' mother also fed into this narrative and discouraged her from doing otherwise.

bollmeyj — 2025-01-26 00:03:42 UTC

To rebel against the judgement of her family and the South, hooks channeled her ancestors' "defian[ce] in their need to achieve speech" by adopting her great grandmother's name as a pen name.

Grammatical Choice of "bell hooks"

bollmeyj — 2025-01-26 00:08:34 UTC

bell hooks "chose to use lowercase letters to get away from the ego associated with names. She has provided commentary on a wide range of topics from popular culture and writing to self-esteem and teaching."

Relevancy to Postmodern Epistemology

bollmeyj — 2025-01-26 00:15:41 UTC

bell hooks' ideas of white women using feminism to further their own personal agendas relate to the ideas of post-modern epistemology.

Post-modern epistemology: totalizes theories of women as attempts to dominate rather than attempts to liberate

When white middle-class women pursue their own interests in the name of "feminism", it is hurtful to the cause. Feminism is not personal, and should not be treated as such. It is a political movement that not only combats sexual oppression, but racial and classist oppression as well.

bollmeyj — 2025-01-26 00:21:44 UTC

Performative feminism also compromises the true activism for non-white, non-middle class women who have a more difficult time finding a platform to advocate with. It is normal, and useful, for women to use their own experiences to inspire motivation, but it should not be the motivation. They should not be fighting for equity and equal opportunity in their own life to achieve their own goals, for they should be fighting for the advancement of all women everywhere beyond the oppression of class, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity, nationality, age, etc. Women should be seeking the experiences of other women to dillute their cultural and society beliefs formed by the norms in their own lives. Per postmodern epistemology, they must seek the interpretations of other women as everything we know is subject to the influence of power around us.