Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics - bell hooks

Feminist politics aims to end domination to free us to be who we are -- to live lives where we love justice, where we can live in peace. Feminism is for Everybody

I have finally finished this. It’s a ridiculously short book to have taken me so long but I had to read it short bursts to stop myself copying it all out into my notebook. I need everyone I know to read this so that we can discuss how wonderful it is and then make bell hooks our queen. I don’t think she’d be down with being a queen, but I’m sure we could work something out.

I think bell hooks is the only feminist author that I’ve never seen anyone criticise and bad-mouth. Now I know why. 

I don’t even know what to say about it. JUST READ IT.

I guess that won’t do.

 

Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression

 

bell hooks wrote Feminism is for Everybody because she wished she had a book she could give to people when they said things like “I’m not a feminist but....” and clearly miss the point of what feminism and the feminist movement are all about. She wanted it to be an accessible book for people outside academia, one that simply explains all of the issues around feminism, and how it intersects with race and class and religion etc. without alienating people with complicated terminology. I think she does a pretty good job of explaining all the terms that she uses and making it accessible for all readers*.

 

Where Feminism is for Everybody is different from traditional introduction to feminism books is that it’s not all about pay gaps and white girls. I've borrowed a copy of The Equality Illusion by Kat Banyard and (as far as I can tell from the back) it seems to be about pay gaps and unequal numbers of women in top jobs in the city. While this is obviously important stuff, it seems to me, and bell hooks, that this is really just tinkering with a system that is inherently wrong. The system is unfairly stacked in favour of white men, not because it is broken, but because it is working exactly as it was designed. Helping some women, inevitably privileged white women, will not further the cause of feminism for all women. This book is about how feminism is truly for, and will benefit, everybody whether they are male, female, straight, queer, working-class, middle-class, white, non-white etc. And most of all, how we need to change our society because it is built on domination and oppression. But rather than depress me about how much oppression their is in the world, this book has made me feel excited to imagine a world built on justice and love respect.

Who's coming to smash this white supremacist capitalist patriarchy with me?

Because my review made NO SENSE here are some quotes:

We do know that patriarchal masculinity encourages men to be pathologically narcissistic, infantile, and psychologically dependent on the privileges (however relative) that they receive simply for having been born male. Many men feel that their lives are being threatened if these privileges are taken away, as they have structured no meaningful core identity.

 (on feminism being associated with hatred and anger:)
In actuality we should have been spreading the word that feminism would make it possible for men and women to know love. We know that now. 

Sexually conservative feminists, gay and straight, found and continue to find consensual rituals of domination and submission inappropriate and see them as betraying feminist ideals of freedom. Their absolute judgement, their refusal to respect the rights of all women to choose the sexual practice they find most fulfilling, is in actuality the stance which most undermines the feminist movement.

If any female feels she needs anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency.

When we accept that true love is rooted in recognition and acceptance, that love combines acknowledgement, care, responsibility, commitment, and knowledge, we understand that there can be no love without justice. With that awareness comes the understanding that love has the power to transform us, giving us the strength to oppose domination. To choose feminist politics, then, is the choice to love.

 

*I am a very bad judge of this because I love reading anything with words like “Diaspora” or “hegemony” and everything seems beautifully simple after trying to decipher Judith Butler. 

Happy International Women's Day!

Source: fuckyouverymuch.dk via Frances on Pinterest

This year International Women's Day is making me want to make lots of cool t-shirts like this one. I'm thinking I could embroider FEMINIST KILLJOY across a t-shirt? 

Be nice to the women in your life (and to yourself if you are a woman)

There is an International Men’s day but you missed it because men don’t really need extra championing and celebration.

We need feminism and International Women’s Day because misogyny kills. Everyday women and girls are murdered and beaten because of misogyny.

(if you need to be convinced further: read this and look at this and this and this and this for just the tiniest sample of the feminists get angry about and you should be angry about too) 

p.s. I've started reading bell hooks Feminism is for Everybody and there is a (possibly naughty?) PDF of it here. 

The Caitlin Day & All the Horror: Part 1

 Source: shakai-shugi.tumblr.com via Cuyler on Pinterest

Remember when I said I was going to see Caitlin Moran and I was genuinely worried I would wet myself? And then how I never mentioned it ever again? That was odd.

Here is the story of meeting Caitlin Moran and why I felt weird about it. Told backwards. Enjoy. 

Just two days after the Caitlin day, a crazy twittershitstorm broke out which led to the whole of twitter sharpening their pitchforks and baying for Caitlin Moran’s blood. This ruined my Caitlin joy quite a lot.

I didn’t feel like writing an excitable account of meeting Caitlin Moran and how SHE TOUCHED ME (not in an inappropriate way...) while there was so much angst going on. I wasn’t sure how I felt about it myself. 

For those* who may have been magically unaware of the horror of that weekend, here are the facts: 

One: Caitlin Moran had interviewed Lena Dunham (writer, director and star of TV show Girls and the film Tiny Furniture) and the interview came out in the Times the Saturday after Caitlin day.

Two: Lena Dunham has been criticised for having an entirely white cast in Girls, when there are a hell of a lot of people of colour in New York. 

Three: Caitlin Moran was asked (in a really irritating and goading way) if she had brought this up with Dunham. She said “Nope. I literally couldn't give a shit about it” Meaning that she likes girls and Dunham and doesn’t think it such in interesting show should be destroyed because of its flaws. 

Four: Twitter went mad talking about intersectionality and privilege and how feminism isn’t just for white women – all things that are true and important. There was a lot of anger.

I agree that it was a flippant and very very stupid thing to tweet. But I think all of us could do this at some time. I think that I could be tempted to write “I couldn’t give a shit” if I was being asked why my interview with an interesting and talented person I admired wasn’t just me yelling: WHY DIDN’T YOU WRITE A BLACK CHARACTER? YOU SELFISH, PRIVILEGED, WHITE GIRL. 

I felt sick and conflicted for a week after it happened – could my hero be a blithe privilege-denying racist?

So much hatred was spewed out. People had obviously waited a long time to have an excuse to vent all this Moran-hate. I felt like I had to have a really serious position on it. Did it make me complicit and secretly (even from myself) racist if I thought it was just a mistake and didn’t need to be taken too seriously? If I thought it was awful, would I have to renounce Caitlin? Burn my newly signed books and hate her forever? We can't accept feminism that only cares about how white, straight, cis women are portrayed. But does this mean that every single tv show has to represent everyone? of course not. But it does matter. And when feminism is so linked with class and race that to be a woman of colour can be so different to being a white woman, we can't ignore race when we talk about feminism. Worrying about shaving your armpits or the feminism (lack there of) of cupcakes is pretty fucking sickening when you think of other feminist issues, like FGM or education, abortion rights and the experiences of women in war zones and in extreme poverty. In the face of that, how can a tv show that gives a voice to a very small group of white girls in the richest country in the world be important for feminism? 

(I hope that made some sense) 

But I remembered sitting in a tiny bookshop so close to Caitlin Moran that I accidentally bumped her shoe as I re-crossed my legs, hearing her talk about 'Normal'. How our society makes anyone feel abnormal if they aren’t white, or male, or cis, or straight etc. How white men are the default and everyone else is other. I realised that she is a human and not perfect and no one should expect her to be. 

This is a really excellent piece by Bim Adewunmi: What the Girls spat on Twitter tells us about feminism she makes more sense than me. 

*Ha 1. at the idea of having more than one reader and 2. that it could be anyone but Laura who definitely knows all about this. 

This month-late post was brought to you by NaNoWriMo procrastination

No More Page 3

                                                                                Source: Uploaded by user via Frances on Pinterest

I'm not writing this because I believe I have any great insights or revolutionary arguments to make, I just wanted to write this to add my voice to all the others. So many supporters of page 3 go, “most women don’t care about page 3" or "loads of women love page 3!" I want write this as evidence that there are plenty of women who DO care.

Here are some reasons page 3 should go (there are MILLIONS more):

1. On a personal level, I feel there is a direct link between the objectification of women on page 3, and the men who feel they have a right to yell and whoop as they drive past me. On a much more serious level, there is a direct link between the objectification of women in our media and society, and violence against women and girls. Surely this is more important than perves getting to drool over some breasts?

2. Tits aren't news. There is no way they need to be at the front of a daily newspaper.

3. The fact that it’s been going a long time is no reason to keep it. Slavery was an institution, we got rid of that.

4. It alienates women and makes them feel uncomfortable. The very few times I have looked at the sun, I have felt quite sick as a quickly turned past page 3. It makes you immediately feel like your body is there for others to judge. It says: Women, you are just a garnish on top of the important stuff. Look pretty and shut up. Not attractive? You don’t have large yet magically perky breasts? Fuck off then.

5. There is no real argument to keeping it. If it didn't exist there is NO WAY that you could argue for its introduction.

Umm, well, I think there should be some bare breasts in the paper.

Why?

Um, well, I think our readers would like to see them.

But this is a newspaper. If people want to see breasts, they can buy a magazine for that*.

Yea, but I like breasts.

Good, I like breasts too.

But we need to have more women in the paper! We could ask a different woman her views on the news and feature her in the paper...

Um...

...and she could have her tits out!

Why?

I like to look at them?

If I'm having a clear out**, I (try) to go by this rule: If I didn't own it already and I saw it in a shop, would I have to have it? If not, I chuck. Same applies to page 3.

Here is Lucy Anne Holmes talking about why she decided to start the campaign.

Sign the petition here. They also have t-shirts! Buy me one here (the link is right down at the bottom).

*magazines like Nuts etc, are a whole other issue. **I know idea of me having a successful clearout is hilarious to people who know me IRL. 

In which I reveal my unhealthy obsession with Caitlin Moran...

Caitlin Moran’s new book Moranthology has just come out and I still don’t have a copy.

I am not just torturing myself like a crazy, I do have a proper reason for it – I AM SEEING CAITLIN TWO WEEKS TOMORROW. I will actually be in the same room as her. There will be no tv or radio or computer screen between us. I am more excited than I can express. I am going with Laura and all of our conversations have become variations of: CAITLIN CAITLIN! I CAN’T BELIEVE WE GET TO SEEEE HER! Our tickets include a signed copy of the book so I’m fairly excited about that element. Our main plan is to get her to adopt us and get us drunk in the pub. We can live in hope. 

Luckily, Caitlin is EVERYWHERE at the moment, so it’s pretty easy to get your Moran fix if you don’t have the book or can’t go and see her in the flesh.

Here are some things to amuse you:  

1)  Here's the video of her book launch Q&A

2)  Here she is in Stylist talking about Trolls

3)  A video of Caitlin reading part of her book

4)  Here is her “my life on a plate” from Sunday’s Observer Food Monthly

5)  Caitlin on Annie Mac’s show last night (this will only be up until wed 26^th)

from how-tobeawoman.com

  

(Me raving on about How to Be a Woman)

Backlash. Yawn.

my twitter feed earlier

I’m getting bored of the anticipation/hate-filled backlash cycle tv has got into. It’s US tv more than UK tv. (Do we make boring telly here? Or maybe I just read to too many American sites. ) We had it with New Girl – everyone seemed overexcited before it started overcome with Zooey Deschannel love...until it aired and there was a MASSIVE backlash. The world went mad with MPDG (Manic Pixie Dream Girl) hate. It pretty much went: We all love Zooey Deschannel! This looks silly and fun! WOOOO! And then: ERGH she’s just the one girl who comes in and lives with these guys and she’s so girly I might vom erghhh.  The backlash prompted a scene in the show [just send I spent 20 mins trying to find it youtube] where Jess defends herself:

‘I brake for birds. I rock a lot of polka dots. I have touched glitter in the last 24 hours. I spend my entire day talking to children. And I find it fundamentally strange that you're not a dessert person. That's just weird, and it freaks me out. And I'm sorry I don't talk like Murphy Brown. And I hate your pantsuit. I wish it had ribbons on it or something to make it just slightly cuter. And that doesn't mean I'm not smart and tough and strong.’

But this rambling post is about the backlash against Girls. Before Girls was on I had heard nothing but good things about it. Everyone seemed excited about it: here was this show about non-fabulous twenty-somethings in New York who have awkward sex and ridiculous, messy lives. All the people who had seen previews were excited because it seemed so honest and different. Add to that the fact it is written by and stars a twenty-something woman (who looks like a normal girl). I was excited to see a show about lost and dysfunctional twenty-somethings. 

Now it’s been on, every site I read regularly has had a piece highlighting all the inadequacies of the show: the characters are spoiled; there are no black, asian or latina characters, there are no gay characters. Some writers have complained that the show wasn’t magically their life. People keep referring to a scene where Lena Dunham’s character Hannah, eats a cupcake in the bath while talking to their friend: “I don’t do that! Girls sucks because it’s not my exact life.”(to paraphrase massively). 

I am definitely NOT saying that those unhappy about the lack of diversity in tv should pipe down. I am just saying that it seems unfair for them to target Girls. I know that all the main characters are white. But that is true for a lot of tv but most new shows don't have this much rage directed towards them. Look at what IS good about girls: it’s a show written and created by a young woman about young women. Yes, a young, privileged and white woman about young privileged white women, but let’s not lessen the achievement of Lena Dunham.

When a show is so hyped and so anticipated, it is bound to cause disappointment. Somehow everyone got it into their heads that Girls was supposed to be completely about them so when they watched it they were naturally disappointed. The problem is that we have got so used to having very little that is produced FOR women BY women and subsequently we want each book or film or TV show to have a little of us all in. We need to stop this. We don't need one show that is filled with ALL types of women, we need LOTS of shows that are filled with ALL kinds of women in different combinations. When How to be a Woman came out, Caitlin Moran said that she didn’t want hers to be the only voice, she wanted others to join in. She wanted more women and more variety. WE NEED MORE WOMEN EVERYWHERE, IN ALL OUR GLORIOUS VARIETY!

thank you and good night. 


p.s. it is 1.14 am so this might just be sleepy crazies. 


p.p.s. there are MILLIONS of things about Girls on XOJane, The hairpin, Jezebel and HelloGiggles these pieces are written by proper writers and not sleep deprived nutters.. you probably should have read them in the first place. 

For every teenage girl...

When I read How to be a Woman I had two thoughts 1. I LOVE CAITLIN MORAN and 2. Why couldn’t I have read this when I was thirteen! Then I read Bossypants and wished I’d been given them both as a teenager. When the adolescent awkwardness is at its height, and you feel slightly sick and uncomfortable most of the time (perhaps that was just me), what you need is proof that it can and will get better! 


So I thought it would be nice if we could send a special care package to all 12/13 year old girls. Something that was nothing to do with school or parents. Nothing to do with tampon or sanitary companies. Something that would just say 'Being a teenager is shit. Here are some presents.'


My care package would include:

How to be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

-Because “I do know, that in this case, it really was not suppressed desire that made those boys throw gravel at me while I ran up a hill – but I don’t want my diary to pity me. As far as my diary will know, I  had the philosophical upper hand there. This diary is for glory only.”
My review

Bossypants by Tina Fey

-Because: “I had noticed something was weird earlier in the day, but I knew from commercials that one’s menstrual period was a blue liquid that you poured like detergent onto maxi pads to test their absorbency. This wasn’t blue, so...I ignored it for a few hours.”
I've not written a review yet (bad Fran) 

Vanilla Fountain bath bomb from Lush

-Because they smell INCREDIBLE 

Space girl bath bomb from Lush

-Because they smell INCREDIBLE and THEY HAVE GLITTTER

A big wedge of brie 

-You need something to eat in the bath while reading the books. 






It could come in a nice screenprinted bag like this or this or this 

What would you add?