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Since the last century, we have seen feminists rise to fight for women’s right on the basis of gender equality. While feminists did have an impact in this world on feminism, not all feminists had the same point of view. A well-known example of this statement is two texts that had an impact for feminism on a national level and yet one contradicted the other: “Lean In: What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” by Sheryl Sandberg and “Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In” by bell hooks. Sandberg shares her anecdote as reasons for her points on feminism and hooks writes an article that contradicts Sandberg’s view on feminism. Even the title (Sandberg’s book is “Lean In” and hooks’ article is “Beyond Lean In”) of each text is evidence enough for the contradiction. …show more content…
While feminists did have an impact in this world on feminism, not all feminists had the same point of view. A well-known example of this statement is two texts that had an impact for feminism on a national level and yet one contradicted the other: “Lean In: What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” by Sheryl Sandberg and “Dig Deep: Beyond Lean In” by bell hooks. Sandberg shares her anecdote as reasons for her points on feminism and hooks writes an article that contradicts Sandberg’s view on feminism. Even the title (Sandberg’s book is “Lean In” and hooks’ article is “Beyond Lean In”) of each text is evidence enough for the contradiction. “Lean In” here refers to women, that they lean into their …show more content…
According to Sandberg all women feel “the holy trinity of fear”, where women, fear of being a bad mother, wife, and daughter (656). She feels it’s because of this “fear” that women think more about family than consider having a dream careers as their job. That’s why Sandberg questions, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” (656). Sandberg points at a women’s lack of courage for her misfortunes. Sandberg writes, “Career progression often depends upon taking risks and advocating for oneself – traits that girls are discouraged from exhibiting” (646). Sandberg said “traits”; she considers women to have the same qualities or traits as man but are discouraged from exhibiting. While women had their share to do with gender inequality (that is being afraid), Sandberg believes it’s mainly the society to blame. According to society aggressive and hard charging women violate unwritten rules about acceptable social conduct; Also, “most leadership positions are held by men, so women don’t expect to achieve them” (Sandberg 653). In all, Sandberg finds women and society at fault if women just want equal rights, but doesn’t lean into good high position careers and society doesn’t support those who do lean
“I have no idea what a feminist is although I have heard the term before,” said Stewart. I told her not to feel bad because I did not know the meaning of the term until I took the class and gave her bell hooks’ definition. Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Although they do not have to be an activist, they should be pro-choice. “With that being said I don’t consider myself a feminist but I am pro-choice. I give advice and let others learn from experience. A person is going to do what they want so I don’t push my opinion off on others.” While others have a clue to what a feminist is but do not fully understand their purpose. “I think a feminist is someone who wants more equal rights for women but take it to the extreme,” said Nia. I explained to her that a feminist does not have to be an extreme activist. Her response was “I still don’t consider myself a feminist because I don’t really care about trying to make a change for women’s rights. I think it’s as good as it is going to get,” said
bell hooks is a woman who does not concern herself with establishing credibility among her audience or critics. What is important to hooks is that she reaches the people who most need to hear what she has to say. As hooks tells us, "It is important that we know who we are speaking to, who we most long to move, motivate, and touch with our words" (90). hooks has, however, established credibility through her many achievements, such as, attending school at Stanford University, teaching at Yale, writing the book Ain't I a Woman: black women and feminism, and by starting a black women's support group. Although these are great accomplishments, no matter what your race or sex, I feel she best establishes her credibility through her character. hooks tells us that while she often may have needed money, she never had the need for new beliefs or values. She shows great strength in her ability to combine her past life with her new "privileged" life. As hooks says, "It was my responsibility to formulate a way of being ...
In “In Living Color: Race and American Culture”, Michael Omi claims that racism still takes place in America’s contemporary society. According to Omi, media and popular culture shape a segregating ideology by giving a stereotypical representation of black people to the public, thus generating discrimination between races (Omi 115:166). In “Bad Feminist: Take One”, Roxane Gay discusses the different roles that feminism plays in our society. She argues that although some feminist authors and groups try to create a specific image of the feminist approach, there is no definition that fully describe feminism and no behaviors that can make someone a good feminist or a bad feminist (Gay 304:306). Both authors argue
In “Lean In,” Sheryl Sandberg makes a case for being ambitious in any pursuit. Although she pushes for women to take on leadership positions, she acknowledges that that is not what all women want. The message to women is to do what they love and dream big, create a path through the obstacles, and achieve their full potential. Throughout the book, she acknowledges three differences women need to make within themselves. Firstly, women need to “sit at the table,” or increase their self-confidence when surrounded by men. Women also need to make their partner a real partner by getting their oftentimes male partners to do more at home: splitting home responsibilities between spouses helps to make homes and marriages happier. Lastly, women need to not hold themselves to unattainable standards by believing the myth of doing it all. No one can literally do it all: they just have to focus on what really matters. Sandberg has women ask themselves, “What w...
Bell hooks covers an abundance of issues through different class, race, gender and nation. In her article ‘Feminism A Movement to End Sexist Oppression’ she begins by discussing the oppression of mainly black women who are in a lower class. Hooks discusses if men become associated with the feminist movement it would mainly affect the upper class and middle aged white women while just scratching the surface for working-class and poor women. In the recent article ‘Representing Whiteness in the Black Imagination’ bell hooks discusses the oppression about the racism faced by black people. I find it that this article is more non-intersectional because we are only talking about black people in general. We can only assume that hooks is discussing racism faced by poor black people because they were servants. Further into the article however hooks does focus on African Americans and we read upon what their impression of the white man could be. Hook also looks as students and how racism occurred in one of her class discussions. Finally, we look at the view of two black women and how they faced racism. The first woman was Njeri from ‘Every Good-Bye Ain’t Gone and how her grandfather was run over by 2 white guys. The second woman was Sethe from ‘Beloved’ by Morrision and how she killed her young because she didn’t want them to grow up in a world of terror. I found it that hooks did not say specifically who she is talking about like in her article ‘Feminism A Movement to End Sexist Oppression’ but is targeting the topic of racism all
During the second week of class, we were instructed to read a reading written by Bell Hooks titled “Come closer to Feminism.” This reading is what I consider to be a very important addition to this unit. Unit one is all about Making waves, Confronting Oppression. According to Frye, it is a fundamental claim of feminism that women are oppressed (Frye, 1983). Before taking upon this reading, my understanding of the feminist movement was not nearly as clear as it is now. After reading this short handbook, I too agree that feminism is for everybody.
In this essay, Gay deconstructs the stereotypical view of a feminist, by showing that you can be a feminist, even if you’re not in the small box the rest of the world thinks you should be in, in order to qualify as a ‘feminist’. Throughout the essay, Gay uses several quotes and stories from other women who are either afraid to say that they’re feminists, or don’t quite understand you don’t have to be in the limiting ‘box’, even though in their moral beliefs and actions, these sourced women are, in fact, feminists. According to Gay, if we didn’t have this stereotype, then maybe more women with diverse lives and views would be able to ‘come out’ as
Author: Sheryl Sandberg, Published in 2010. Sandberg’s focal point in gender inequality is that women are disrespected because their looked at as servants rather than leaders. On Pg. 658 of They Say/I Say Sandberg states that “She should urge more women to believe in themselves and aspire to lead”, she makes a great point that women need to be encouraged to evolve into leaders. Personally, I know several women that has a high moral, and are working for leader positions in their field. There are more females that are nurses than males in America. Statistically, that makes a great outlook on how well women are doing in some areas. Sandberg also makes it known that “gender stereotypes were reinforced throughout her life and they became self-fulfilling prophesies”. I agree with Sandberg fully because there are many people will say “Women cannot drive” or “Women are only good at being servants, which includes cooking, cleaning, and other daily household chores”. While that is not true at all, women are grouped by a statistic. Simply because women are often skilled at cooking and cleaning, does not mean that is their goal or what they aspire to become. There are a plethora of women who will not cook, clean, or serve men, period. There has been women that arose to great heights. They had to beat the odds, ignore statistics, and in some cases fight their oppressors. I disagree that women should be looked upon as second class
BIBLIOGRAPHY Bell Hooks; Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. c.1984 by bell hooks; South End Press 2) Freud, Sigmund; "Femininity" from Juanita H. Williams, ed. Psychology of Women. NY: W.W. Norton, 1979 3) Hunter College Women's Studies Collective; Women's Realities, Women's Choices NY: Oxford University Press, 1983 4) Smithsonian World; Gender: The Enduring Paradox NYC: UNAPIX Entertainment Inc., 1996 5) Williams, Juanita H.; Psychology of Women NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 1987
In her 2013 article featured on The Feminist Wire, “Dig Deeper: Beyond Lean In” bell hook describes “the feminist movement based on women gaining equal rights with men” (661). This essay is a response to Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” which encourages women to aim for positions of leadership and power. Sandberg’s definition of a feminism is gender equality with an existing social system. Hook contrasts Sandberg’s definition of feminism and makes it her own “one that does not conjure up a battle between the sexes” (662). Since men and women are both greatly influenced by sexist social norms and ideals, it is important
Women are faced with extreme pressure and alienation in their career fields, and on average earn less than men. Men, on the other hand, face similar pressure, while underachieving compared to women academically, and facing more dangerous occupations. Clearly, this system benefits no one. Michael Kimmel illustrates this point in “A black woman took my job': Michael Kimmel argues that it is in men's interest to work for gender equality.” The title itself emphasizes how the fight for gender equality will benefit both genders. He discusses how sexism is harming men by narrowing their worldview (2). Slaughter, Ullman, Kaplan, Dorment, Knestaut, and Miller all agree with Kimmel to some extent. They all agree gender equality does not exist. When all these perspectives are brought together, it becomes clear that it is in the best interest of both genders that the fight for equality is still pursued. Hopefully, one day women will earn as much as their male counterparts and be equally represented in both careers and intentional unemployment, and men will be attaining higher education goals and employed in less dangerous occupations, and both genders will be relieved of some of the pressure to dedicate 100% of their time to both a career, and a
As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.
Hooks begins by stating that Feminism in the United States did not emerge as a result of victimized, underprivileged women who faced sexist oppression so much so they have internalized it , but in fact by bourgeois upper-class white women whose idea's of equality were far different. She begins this criticism with Betty Friedan, a leading figure in the women's movement and the author of the classic The Feminine Mystique claiming that the book ignored the difficulty and even the existence of non-white, poor women with the assumption that her concerns were harmonious wi...
Hooks, Bell. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 2000. Print.
Michael Levin, a professor of philosophy and author of the book Feminism and Freedom, faults feminism for trying to impose an inappropriate equality on men and women that conflicts basic biological differences between the sexes (Levin, Taking Sides, 42). Women are not the same as men, neither physically nor psychologically. In the past, men tended to be the stronger more powerful gender, while women have traditionally been viewed as the weaker, more feeble one. The untrue assumption that men and women are the same in their ways of thinking and physical capabilities leads to the failure of the feminist message. Their agenda of eliminating all observable differences between men and women is doomed to fail and will inflict more pain than gain in the process. Recognizing the differences between the sexes and allowing each to do what they are strongest at will in the long run make society stronger, more efficient, and more effective.