How Feminism Evolved To Be For Everybody (and Not Just Women) To create such a world, all forms of oppression need to end – sexism, racism, classism, homophobia, transphobia, ageism, ableism, etc. It aims to create a world where there is no domination, where people are valued for being who they are fully and freely. Feminism strives to free people of these beliefs. Living in patriarchal, homophobic, racist, and classist societies, we are conditioned to perpetuate sexism, homophobia, racism, and classism.īoth men and women can try to dominate each other and be dominated, rewarding and punishing according to how much they fit into traditional definitions of gender, sexual orientation, race, and class. It helps us stand up against oppression and demand justice.īy engaging in feminist thinking and action, we can free ourselves to make meaningful choices in how we live our lives and pursue what makes us happy and fulfilled as human beings.įeminism identifies discrimination, exploitation, and oppression - and not men (contrary to a wildly incorrect popular belief)- as the problem. It helps us to understand why some people hate, abuse, exploit, discriminate, and silence certain individuals and communities. It supports us in questioning what we’ve been taught about forcing people into traditional roles and valuing some groups less than others. This is because most feminists focus on the problem, not the solution.Feminism strives to end the discrimination, exploitation, and oppression of people due to their gender, sexual orientation, race, class, and other differences and supports people in being free to determine their own lives for themselves. Hooks goes in this direction by giving out the past mistakes of feminism and the misleading beliefs that feminists have associated with. for such oppression given that it took time for the so-called oppressed to spearhead change (Hooks, 2007). The basis can be seen on the idea of categorizing man as the enemy, categorizing man as the oppressor and woman as the oppressed is the main reason behind the second wave of feminism, however, it does take away the fact that women are equally responsible. The debate over whether feminism is a philosophical belief or a political cause can also be sparked by one of the book's chapters on oppression of the sexes. Hooks asks whether the feminist is a philosophical belief or a political cause, given that the author attacks the arguments of radical feminists.

The historical context of feminism is given in order to emphasize the error that has occurred along the way and to make room for the new concept of the movement.

Feminism is for everybody sparknotes