Women's Studies
Question 1A The second-wave feminist movement started in 1963. Mainstream movements were usually conducted by middle-class, college-educated, professional, white women. Men, women of color, lesbians, bisexuals and working-class women were excluded from the movement. bell hooks points out many shortcomings of the movement, two of which I will discuss. One of the shortcomings she discusses is the use of the term “sisterhood.” The other point bell hooks identifies as a shortcoming is women’s sexist attitudes toward one another. “Sisterhood” is defined as bonding on common oppressions and shared victimization among women. These women view themselves as victims of male domination. bell hooks states women learn that to be female is to be a victim. Women also view themselves as victims in order to feel they rightfully belong to the feminist movement. Sisterhood is a support system where sisters are supposed to love each other unconditionally. As much as possible they are to avoid conflict between one another. From the outside sisterhood looks like a relationship between women with no existing competition, hostility or conflict between sisters. However, this idea of sisterhood is problematic because it lumps women into one group and assumes they are all the same. In reality not all women have the same experiences. They each are from different classes, races, ethnicities and they differ in sexual orientation. Each of these factors play a role in a woman’s perspective on different issues. bell hooks suggests an alternate form of sisterhood is solidarity. She says the essence of sisterhood should be bonding with other women based on shared strengths, beliefs and goals rather than shared victimization. Bonding should also be based on shared political commitments. Goff 2 Women need to recognize that differences exist between females. bell hooks says that in order to grow, a feminist movement requires diversity, disagreement and difference. The other downfall of the second-wave feminist movement is women’s sexist attitudes toward one another. Women belonging to feminist groups often verbally abuse women who do not belong to a feminist movement. They express themselves “by abusive trashing, total disregard and lack of concern or interest in those women who have not joined a feminist movement.” (hooks, 48) They do exactly what they try so hard to avoid within their movement. These women show hostility and stir up conflict. They oppress other women just as men oppress them. bell hooks’ suggestion is to help women unlearn sexism and learn to avoid alienating one another based on class, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. hooks also says that communication can be difficult because of different cultural backgrounds, thus race needs to be a central feminist issue because of its importance in sexual oppression. Recognizing sexist oppression and unlearning sexism is one way to end the conflict between women both in and out of feminist movements. bell hooks believes that men should be included in feminist movements. By excluding all males feminist groups are leaving the movement up to women based solely on their gender. Groups that exclude males are doing exactly what they are trying to overcome, which is disparate treatment. Labeling men as “oppressors” and “enemies” lumps men into one group.