7 ms·
In Praise of bell hooks
- jccalhoun 8y agoI really like what I've read of bell hooks' work. I'm interested to see what the hackernews crowd makes of it.
- GavinMcG 8y ago"The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love" is the most revelatory book I've read, I think ever. It discusses the ways power- and domination-based roles for men negatively affect both men and women, starting in boyhood. It felt like every page held a connection to my experiences.
- ahoy 8y agoAgreed! Bell Hooks was the first writer who made feminism accessible and relevant to my (male) experiences. I was gifted a copy of The Will To Change a few years ago and it's among the best gifts ive ever received.
- jsonne 8y ago0
- kevincrane 8y agoProbably would be received about as well as dudes whining about feminism in public forums.
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- bitwize 8y agoWell, women aren't the ones who've held onto power over men for millennia.
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- dictum 8y agoBooks telling women how to behave have always been written. I'm not judging their intentions or consequences, but your conjecture isn't a remote possibility. Men wrote the foundational texts for many religions. Many revered books are rife with discussions of the ideal woman or some such. Some books written by women for women are also essentially written on behalf of men and their expectations. (Disclaimer: I'm not acquainted with bell hooks' work.)
- GavinMcG 8y agoComments like that reflect more badly on you than on anything else. For one thing, the book doesn't tell men how to behave, and your knee-jerk reaction demonstrating that you don't know what you're talking about just comes across as arrogant and infantile at the same time. If this topic doesn't interest you, go elsewhere. Don't drag down the level of conversation for everyone else.
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- james-mcelwain 8y agobell hooks is not "telling men how to behave." It is a book that seeks to empower men by understanding the structural ways in which masculinity can be harmful to men. This is a positive, affirmative message, not one that seeks censure or exclusion. Besides, plenty of men have written books about feminism and gender. The reception is fine.
- failrate 8y agoCoincidentally, I was recently watching a Sapolsky interview where he went into detail about how the Beta male primates with many grooming partners were healthier and happier than the Alphas. So then, where does the desire to be an Alpha originate if it is so stressful and destructive?
- thaumasiotes 8y agoWho has more children? If happiness is the goal, we already have the answer -- cocaine.
- gerbilly 8y ago> So then, where does the desire to be an Alpha originate if it is so stressful and destructive? That's just it, it isn't a desire its a drive. That drive serves the troupe, not the individual. Give the prospective alphas testosterone blockers and you'll see them happily enjoy their lives as betas (or lower).
- mrob 8y ago>where does the desire to be an Alpha originate if it is so stressful and destructive? The same origin as every other drive of every living thing: reproductive success. Evolution doesn't care about stress and destruction. The only thing that matters from an evolutionary point of view is replication of genes.
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- faitswulff 8y agoHealthier, happier, and have more offspring[1], which invalidates some sibling comments. [1]: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/male-gorillas-who-babysit-have-five-times-more-babies http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/10/male-gorillas-who-bab...
- oceliker 8y agoGreat read. Somewhat of an off-topic question, but here goes: > Watkins wanted her pen name to be spelled in lowercase to shift the attention from her identity to her ideas. I’m sure what I’m about to say has been discussed before — but wouldn’t this accomplish the opposite effect? I feel her “unconventional” name makes me focus more on it, not less (especially when her name is used at the beginning of a sentence, where we are trained to expect a capital letter no matter what). Do other people with lowercase names have similar justifications?
- Luc 8y agoSounds like it worked as intended?
- pbhjpbhj 8y agoSo, naivety or narcissism?
- gumby 8y agoI have felt the same way so was interested to see that in the article. Thanks for pointing it out.
- williamdclt 8y agoI tend to agree with you. The sardonic me would say that it's dumb of her. The cynical me would say that it's a marketing gimmick. The trusting me would say that what she meant was that she wanted to show that what's important is the idea rather than the identity
- echo419 8y agoI really love bell hook's work. Feminism is for Everybody was a clear and concise discussion of the issues of race, class, sex, and gender and I truly wish more critical theory books were up to that standard.
- 549362-30499 8y agoYeah, Feminism is for Everybody is really fantastic and accessible. I think the online anti-feminist/MRA set would be surprised with how much they agree with hooks.
- apostacy 8y agoCarl Benjamin, an "anti sjw" YouTuber actually read and reviewed one of her books[1], and liked her unpretentious and communicative writing style, even if he disagreed with some of her ideas. I for one like her too, but I find that when some media critics try to apply her methodology to pop culture, it can be problematic and clumsy. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePCMMFJIolo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePCMMFJIolo
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- MaxLeiter 8y agofor any sociology fans, I've always loved hook's idea of living on the margin as a site of resistance http://pzacad.pitzer.edu/~mma/teaching/MS80/readings/hooks.pdf http://pzacad.pitzer.edu/~mma/teaching/MS80/readings/hooks.p...