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

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Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot, by Mikki Kendall

37 reviews

velsbooknook's review against another edition

informative inspiring

This book was eye-opening. I learned a lot about intersectional feminism and it dealt with so many important topics in some ways I did not think about before. Some parts sadly felt very repetitive and I got lost because there were so many ideas and thoughts, floating around one topic.
I also did not enjoy the writing style. The author wrote in the beginning that she is unapologetic but the way some paragraphs were written just didn't sit right with me. I also had to skip chapter "Reproductive Justice, Eugenics, and Maternal Mortality", due to trigger warnings, which is a bummer because I was very interested in that topic.
It still is a very insightful and interesting book, it just didn't work out the way for me I wish it had.

I was thinking for a long time whether I want to post a review or not. This is by no means a bad review about the book or its contents it simply didn't work out for me. As a white, cis woman I'm trying my best to educate myself and learn how to be a better ally.

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toffishay's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

Mikki Kendall is a really engaging writer. She makes these difficult topics more accessible by relating them to her experiences, those of people who she knows, and making the connections between seemingly isolated ideas. Everything is interconnected and by finding that tissue, we can better work to dismantle the systems that harm us. There are also powerful calls to action for white feminists who can be more in community with BIPOC women.

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shaipanda's review

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informative medium-paced

4.5

I don’t think I’ve read a non fiction book that wasn’t for school in years but this was an incredibly important read and despite it taking me a few months to get through Im glad I got around to reading and finishing it
Covers a lot of really important topics - some of which I’d thought about before but many I also hadn’t at least not in the depth that they require
really important read **

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rather_b_reading's review

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informative medium-paced

5.0

Read it! I can't review it here. I'm still processing and wouldn't know where to start besides that I underlined a fourth of it and used a whole page of tabs.

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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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karis_dl's review

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

If you’re a feminist you should read this book, especially if you are a white person. Mikki Kendall unpacks the intersection of race with gender to address how Black women and women of colour have been purposely ignored and harmed by the white feminism. This book looks at issues like poverty, parenthood, eating disorders, education, hyper-sexualization, beauty standards, housing, reproductive justice, and more. Mikki’s writing is also really engaging and she makes these big topics approachable though that’s not to say it won’t be uncomfortable but that’s what allows us to grow. There’s lots to learn from this book and Black feminist thought. It’s an important reminder that there is a difference between being an ally and being an accomplice. If your feminism isn’t intersectional it’s not feminism, it’s white supremacy.

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