Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot

At times I found the book a bit meandering and more hard to follow (but I recognize that it is mostly on me and my lacking of knowledge/expertise). For example, some of the references flew right over my head, given that they are mostly based on USA's history, society and culture/media and that I am not 100% familiar with them.

What I appreciated the most was the intersectionality, the broad focus on all aspects of social justice relating to race, class, gender and sexuality.

Without a doubt it was an important and eye-opening reading experience, that really made me understand the necessity to keep learning and trying to translate what I learn into effective action and behaviour.

Real feminism (if such a thing can be defined) isn't going to be found in replicating racist, transphobic, homophobic, ableist, or classit norms. But we are all human, all flawed in our ways, and perhaps most important, none of us are immune to the environment that surrounds us. We are part of the society that
we are fighting to change, and we cannot absolve ourselves of our role in it.

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bootsmom3's review

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challenging informative fast-paced

3.0

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crybabybea's review

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challenging reflective fast-paced

3.5

Hood Feminism is a collection of essays calling out the toxicity and harmful behavior of modern white feminists who oftentimes choose their whiteness and privilege over helping the most disadvantaged. It is a call to arms for all those who consider themselves allies to examine their place in feminism and the privileges they hold in regards to intersectionality. Mikki Kendall uses real-world anecdotal evidence of the ways that white feminism fails marginalized communities, and women as a whole. She argues that issues that plague marginalized communities should be considered feminist issues, as women in these communities are often the most disadvantaged and overlooked. I feel like the premise of these writings can be summarized with this quote:

“One of the biggest issues with mainstream feminist writing has been the way the idea of what constitutes a feminist issue is framed. We rarely talk about basic needs as a feminist issue. Food insecurity and access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. Instead of a framework that focuses on helping women get basic needs met, all too often the focus is not on survival but on increasing privilege. For a movement that is meant to represent all women, it often centers on those who already have most of their needs met.”

Being a collection of essays, the subject matter can seem to be disjointed and jump from place to place, but I think this is precisely Kendall’s point; there are so many issues that should be considered feminist issues but aren’t, because at surface-level they seem to be separate altogether, but when approached critically and with empathy, they surely have a place within feminism. This is the nature of intersectionality; so many issues are interwoven and connected in ways that are seldom talked about and often go overlooked. Most mainstream, white feminists don’t consider the issues that do not affect them, and Kendall’s essays are a call to action from those that consider themselves feminist.

Kendall, being a Black woman, focuses mainly on issues that disproportionately affect the Black community, including the housing crisis, hunger and welfare systems, gun violence, healthcare, and poverty. She also briefly speaks about queer and trans lives, as well as disability rights. Kendall uses anecdotes from her life and the people she grew up around to connect the dots of suffering and injustice in marginalized communities.

The overarching theme of Hood Feminism is a widening of perspective and a plea for mainstream, cishet white feminists to acknowledge their privilege and see how their movement is actively harming marginalized groups. Through the lens of a Black woman, Kendall shows how white women uphold not only the patriarchy, but white supremacy by continuing to use harmful rhetoric, tone policing, and white tears. Hood Feminism calls out hypocritical white women who cling to the power they have over marginalized communities, especially women of color and Black women. It is a critique of feminism that silences women who look or live a certain way due to systems outside of their control, and encourages white feminists to use their privilege and platforms to uplift the voices of those who often go unheard, and to help communities that need it the most.

I enjoyed the matter-of-fact tone of the essays. Kendall began the book with a strong introduction proclaiming that she isn’t here to be nice, or to make white people feel good, and she accomplishes just that. She states things as they are, simply and effectively, and tells white people point blank what they need to do to be better allies to not only Black women, but all women of color, and the LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities. In this way, Mikki Kendall steps in as a voice for the communities that have spent so long going unheard and underrepresented, and demands their spot in the mainstream.

Hood Feminism provides a modern application of the ideas of Angela Davis, Audre Lorde, and bell hooks, among others. She explores intersectionality is still an issue in America, and there is still work to be done. Thus, I would recommend this book most to those white feminists just beginning their learning of intersectionality, rather than those who are well-versed in intersectional feminism. However, Hood Feminism was a quick, simple, enjoyable read, and in my opinion you can never read “too much” about intersectionality. Hood Feminism still stands as an important and informative read, and should be heard by not only those who call themselves feminists, but America as a whole.

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lxghtacademia's review

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

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sydneybedell's review

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challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

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crazytourists_books's review against another edition

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challenging informative tense medium-paced

3.0

Before I write my "review", a few introductory things.
I am a white, European (greek living in the UK for the past 7 years), cis, heterosexual, middle class, woman with a higher education degree (PhD) and a mother of two.
I know I am privileged, and even biased on occasions (it is hard work to try and navigate in the world in a different manner than you were taught since birth, but a work worth doing might I add) and I do believe that there is one kind of feminism. And that is intersectional feminism. If not intersectional, then it is not feminism.
It was hard for me to relate with the book, not because I don't (mostly) agree with what the author says, but because the US reality is very far from my reality. The only knowledge I have for the life struggles in that part of the world is through articles and books, documentaries and films. And the more I read, the more I realise that things are much harder than most people think.
There were a few things in the book that I don't agree with but I am not sure if I want to include them in my "review" here. And that's because I am not sure if the reason is my privilege, my lack of knowledge about the US life realities, or my different point of view (privileged or not).
My biggest problem with it, was its poor editing. It was more like a stream of consciousness, quite hard to follow.
An interesting book nevertheless

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whitej18's review

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informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

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epinyan's review

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challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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