Review: Hood Feminism
Hood Feminism: Notes From the Women That a Movement Forgot
Mikki Kendall
Synopsis: An in depth look at the gaping blind spots within the feminist movement.
If you consider yourself a feminist, I would strongly urge you to read this book.
This book was not written to make people comfortable, in fact it issues a warning in the beginning that it will make you uncomfortable. It’s not lying. The thing is, it is the wake up call that the feminist movement has been missing.
Our need for feminism goes so much deeper than I ever realized. And there are so many more issues tied to feminism than I ever would have thought.
Hood Feminism taught me so much about feminism that I had never considered. Granted, while I have considered myself a feminist, I hadn’t thought too deeply into what exactly that means, apart from true equality for women. When I thought about feminism, I pictured the Women’s March on Washington, pink hats, and the #MeToo movement. Those are just the tip of the iceberg.
We cannot be racist and feminist. We cannot look down on poor mothers and be a feminist. Feminism is not about “you”. It’s about all women. If we can’t show up for women of color, or poor women, trans women, educated women, women who dropped out of high school, or any other woman, then we do not deserve to call ourselves feminists. We need to listen to the needs of all women, particularly those who are regularly overlooked and silenced. We are all in this together. We have to be.
I thoroughly enjoyed Hood Feminism. It is smart, insightful, honest and direct. I feel like I’m a better person for having listened to it, and I know I’m a better feminist for it. Read the book, friends!
The meaning is right there in the word, feminist, but I never considered that it needs to mean *all* women. I guess I took that for granted, but clearly I shouldn’t have. Thanks for this book to read and idea to mull.