FEMINISM IS FOR EVERYBODY: Passionate Politics

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Second, and most importantly, is her foundational beliefs in intersectional feminism. Again, her critique as a feminist isn’t to blame all the world’s ills on white women, but she strongly supports action that white women learn to accept responsibility for the damage they’ve done, since the inception of feminism in the early 18th Century, by letting go of their personal agendas for material success at the expense of women of color. She is also very critical over the fact that sexism isn’t a “man” thing. Women have also been conditioned to perpetuate sexist beliefs or simply choose to do so conscientiously.

If I had been a newcomer the aforementioned issues would have immediately turned me off and I'd have abandoned this book. As someone who is more familiar with feminism I finished it out of spite.Also, while I appreciate the personal and historical context, one has the feeling she is often airing personal complaints against the wrong version of feminism taking over. Her complaints about feminism are kinda hard to cover in a brief review. She makes some interesting points, but still seems to harbor a lot of resentment toward those feminists who have it all wrong (according to her). This would be the substance of an interesting essay, and her personal experiences within feminism would make for an interesting memoir. But then that brings us to the issue of, is this really the right context? Honestly, I could go on for quite a while here pointing out the inaccurate, offensive and nonsensical bits, but I won't. Yang paling fatal menurutku ada pada kalimat "Perempuan-perempuan heteroseksual yang memilih hubungan sesama jenis karena benar-benar merasa kecewa dengan laki-laki sekarang bergabung dengan para lesbian radikal."

She merely chooses to use 'white supremacist capitalist patriarchy' as a refrain so as to hammer this information into our brains. Yes the recurrence of this phrase gets dull after a while, yes it is somewhat annoying but no it is not irrelevant. Especially since bell hooks seems to support the branch of feminism which brings the concept of equality for everyone (including homosexuals) in all walks of life - sexual, economic, social and religious - under its envelope. A genuine feminist politics always brings us from bondage to freedom, from lovelessness to loving....There can be no love without justice.—from the chapter "To Love Again: The Heart of Feminism" Selesai baca ini, aku ingin mengulik lebih jauh tentang feminisme terutama dalam konteks pemikiran dan praktiknya di Indonesia. Ada satu buku incaran yang sudah kucatat yang ditulis oleh seorang Indonesia. Setidaknya sudah tiga buku dengan buku ini yang kubaca perihal perempuan dan feminisme. Semakin ke sini, aku semakin sepakat dengan pemikiran-pemikiran feminisme yang ternyata salah-kaprah disampaikan oleh media massa sehingga membuat orang awam melipir lebih jauh dari konsepsi dasar feminisme.

Butuh beberapa waktu untuk menyelesaikan buku 160 halaman ini. Selain begitu serius membicarakan paham sosialisme yang satu ini, buku ini menjelaskan perintilan-perintilan kecil tentang pemikiran dan praktik feminisme. Dengan begitu, pembaca seakan-akan diajak menguliti feminisme. We have not amassed enough testimony to let the world know the sexual pathologies and horrors women endured prior to the existence of dependable birth control. It evokes fear within me just to imagine a world where every time a female is sexual she risks being impregnated, to imagine a world where men want sex and women fear it. In such world a desiring woman might find the intersection of her desire and her fear. We have not amassed enough testimony telling us what women did to ward off male sexual advances, how they coped with ongoing marital rape, how they coped with risking death to deal with unwanted pregnancies. We do know that the world of female sexuality was forever changed by the coming of feminist sexual revolution."

For instance, in the chapter on reproductive rights, hooks states that to be anti-choice is to be anti-feminist. So far, so good. But then she goes on and on about how she is personally opposed to abortion. Why? Why is that important in a book that is NOT hooks' memoir or diary, but claims to be an introduction to feminist theory. hooks own stance on abortion is irrelevant and shouldn't have been elaborated upon. Especially not when she spews nonsense about repeat abortions causing health problems etc. Or the chapter on radical lesbians, where she claims that some women "chose" bisexuality, as if a person can choose their own sexuality. Ci troverete, rivelata in modo innocuo, la definizione di ogni vostro dolore la cui causa va ricondotta al patriarcato. As a consequence, by not providing any material that would support her statements the author can (and does) disguise her personal opinions as facts a bit too often for my liking. She builds questionable arguments and throughout the book develops the problem of stating things that are historically inaccurate. As a scholar I find it unacceptable.

But all the conventionally known preachings of the book aside, she makes another very pertinent point about stripping the verbiage of jargon from all the academic work on feminism to make them more accessible to students and laymen alike, and working together to raise awareness of how feminism isn't inherently 'anti-men' or 'anti-religion' or even simply restricted to serving the interests of women in civilization, how feminism is for everybody. Ketiga, hal yang menurutku fatal dan berulangkali terjadi di buku ini dan membuatku akhirnya memutuskan untuk tidak melanjutkan buku ini, Bell Hooks seolah menyatakan bahwa seksualitas bisa dipilih. Hal ini terlihat jelas pada essay Politik Seksual Feminis: Etika Kebebasan Bersama. Her book, “Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics,” was written in a very similar tenor as the previous book I posted about, “Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center.” The difference is that the former is a discussion of multiple aspects of intersectional feminism, where as the latter mostly examines its theory. If I were to advise which book to read first, “Passionate Politics” is a little shorter and more accessible if you’re new to the topic. Either way, they are both excellent and consistent. Most citizens of this nation still do not understand the link between male domination and male violence. And that failure to understand is underscored as our nation is called upon to respond to violent murders of family members, friends, and schoolmates by young males of all classes."

It is neither particularly accessible, nor does it really help as a guide. Thankfully, I know history fairly well, particularly the history of feminism, so I knew what the author was talking about in most cases, but for a person who does not know much history this book will be a torture. It is jumbled, inconsistent and badly written, but let me start at the beginning. Wow, for a short book, without too many five dollar words, this work is extremely thorough and requires a lot of work and contemplation on the part of the reader. Problematically, for the most part feminist thinkers have never wanted to call attention to the reality that women are often the primary culprits in everyday violence against children simply because they are the primary parental caregivers. While it was crucial and revolutionary that feminist movement called attention to the fact that male domination in the home often creates an autocracy where men sexually abuse children, the fact is that masses of children are daily abused verbally and physically by women and men. Maternal sadism often leads women to emotionally abuse children, and feminist theory has not yet offered both feminist critique and feminist intervention when the issue is adult female violence against children. In a culture of domination where children have no civil rights, those who are powerful, adult males and females, can exert autocratic rule of children. All the medical facts show that children are violently abused daily in this society. Much of that abuse is life threatening. Many children die. Women perpetuate this violence as much as men if not more. A serious gap in feminist thinking and practice has been the refusal of the movement to confront head-on adult female violence against children. Emphasizing male domination makes it easy for women, including feminist thinkers, to ignore the ways women abuse children."On top of that, I have some major issues with hooks' academic approach. The entire book has no citations, footnotes, or leads to secondary reading about the many topics hooks touches upon. As a person who's new to feminism (maybe even reluctant about it) – hooks' intended audience for the book – one can only assume that hooks' assertions are factual, but there's no way to prove it. hooks positions herself as the leading authority on every issue she writes about, which is why the only citations you will find are from her own previous work. This is actually bogus. How the hell is that okay? hooks continuously presents her own opinion as fact, no matter how questionable or historically inaccurate, and it's driving me insane. In the introduction, she presents this book ostensibly as a primer, as a means for those who know less about feminism, who are interested but full of misconceptions, can understand what it's all about and develop some understanding of theory without all the academic jargon. The case she makes for this is compelling, and I definitely see the need for that book. Even though the internet has made this information widely available, there's still need to put it in a contained, succinct format like a short book. En cuanto a por dónde empezar a leer libros feministas, es decir, de qué libros nutrirnos para tener una toma de conciencia feminista, “El feminismo es para todo el mundo” es una de las mejores opciones que vais a encontrar. Yo llego tarde a él, no lo conocía hace dos años cuando empecé a leer feminismos, y quizá por ese motivo a mí no me ha resultado un libro mágico y de descubrimiento. Sin embargo, sí es un libro mágico y maravilloso si acabas de empezar a leer feminismos, o has leído pocos, o no has leído desde la diversidad, y solo has leído feminismo blanco y europeo. «Antes de que las mujeres pudiéramos cambiar el patriarcado, teníamos que cambiarnos a nosotras mismas, teníamos que tomar conciencia.»