a black woman. hooks, who prefers for her name to be lowercased,
continues to write about feminism today, well into the Fourth Wave. In her
work, she writes about the oppression of women and how the patriarchal
system is oppressive not only to women but to many men as well. In her
introduction to her 2014 book,
Feminism is for Everybody
, hooks argues
that feminism benefits everyone and that equality for women benefits
everyone. She takes feminism out of academia and relates it to everyday
life for people. She explains that
many men do not like being a
part of a patriarchal system that
oppresses women: “Most men
are disturbed by hatred and fear
of women, by male violence
against women, even the men
who perpetuate this violence.
But they fear letting go of the
benefits [of patriarchy]. They are
BELL HOOKS
Gloria Jean Watkins is better known by her pen name, bell hooks. She is an
author, scholar, feminist, educator, and social activist. She has published more
than thirty books and often writes about issues of race, gender, and capitalism.
She was born in 1952 and grew up in racially segregated Kentucky. After high
school, she went to Stanford University, earning her bachelor’s degree there in
1973. She earned her doctorate in literature from the University of California,
Santa Cruz in 1983. bell hooks began her teaching career as an English professor
at the University of Southern California and published
Ain’t I A Woman?: Black
Women and Feminism
in 1981. Her 1984 work,
Feminist Theory: From Margin
to the Center
, noted the lack of diversity in the most popular feminist theories.
Her efforts have helped bring intersectionality to the women’s movement in the
United States and provided feminists with important perspective. She advocates
for women to understand and accept their differences but to work together to
fight against oppression. bell hooks also advocates that feminism must focus
on helping all genders and must work with men to end oppression of people in a
patriarchal capitalistic society.
“Most men are disturbed by hatred and
fear of women, by male violence against
women, even the men who perpetuate
this violence. But they fear letting go of
the benefits [of patriarchy]. They are not
certain what will happen to the world
they know most intimately if patriarchy
changes.”
17
—bell hooks, writer
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