Reviews with content warning for Racism - Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism

A thorough history, Ain't I a Woman tells the perspective of black women in feminism, or rather, the exclusion of black women in feminism.

bell hooks clearly details the impact of not only racist but sexist oppression that has a very wide effect on the lives of black women throughout American history and still exists today.

It's a crucial viewpoint to the feminist movement and everyone who calls themselves a feminist, especially white women who have been at the pinnacle of excluding black women from their movement, should give this book a read.

An informative and valuable book.

Content Warnings

acciohannah's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

5 stars

This is one of the most important books I’ve ever read & should be required reading for everyone.

A heart wrenching and honest perspective on the continuing oppression of black women. hooks’ criticism of white feminism, white supremacy & the patriarchy is so well researched & presented in this book. the writing is incredibly readable, thought-provoking & informative.

an in-depth look at the intersection of racism, capitalism, classism & imperialism. though it can be a bit redundant at times, and obviously some facts are dated as this book was written 40 years ago, for the most part it holds true.

Content Warnings

liaer's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

This book was excellent. Bell hook is a wonderful writer who is an expert at the English language. It was incredibly informative and was obviously very well researched. The only reason that I didn't give it five stars is because it seemed to jump around a little for me. It followed history, examining the slave trade, then slavery, then antebellum era, and onwards. However, I felt like when she was in each of these eras she moved around a little too fast for me. I would recommend this to everyone and anyone.

Fair warning is that there are a lot of triggering content that can be deeply upsetting. I have tried to include all of the ones I could remember in the content warnings, but please go in with the expectation that there are things that are horrific, but important to learn about.

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Ain’t I a Woman looks and the position of Black women in American society and tackles the intersection of race, gender and class head on. hooks is feisty, forthright and unapologetic calling out both the (white) women’s rights movement and the Black (male) civil rights movement for the ways they sidelined and ignored Black women. It’s message seems as timely today as it was when hooks penned it 40 years ago. I can’t decide if that means she was precocious and ahead of her time in her intellectual analysis, or if it’s a sad reflection on how much hasn’t changed since the 1970s and 1980s. The reality is probably that both are true.

Content Warnings

ashleycmms's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative medium-paced

3.5

Content Warnings

erenreads12's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

Very little I can fault about this book. Ain't I A Woman is a core feminist text for a reason. Challenging, difficult and absolutely essential for the feminist reader.

Content Warnings

studiouspoppy's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

It was a very interesting and informative reading, bell hooks is very clear and easy to read, even though it's a very difficult topic. The only reason why I don't give it 5/5 stars is because I don't think it was inclusive of LGBTQAI+ groups, and it's something that should be taken into account when talking about white feminism and its lack of inclusivity and diversity.
The only part that mentions the question about mandatory heterosexuality is to question the academics who have written about it and their failure to act against a system considered oppressed.

Content Warnings

More...