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Hood Feminism: Notes From The Women That A Movement Forgot

 

Hood Feminism: Notes From The Women That A Movement Forgot
Written by Mikki Kendall

About 260 pages
Originally published in 2020
Rate: 4.8/5

"While the oppressed can and do fight oppression, what happens when the people who are supposed to be your allies on one axis are your oppressors on another?" (244) Mikki Kendall does a deep dive on how intersectionality has shaped the feminist movement. Through essays Kendall argues that white mainstream feminism isn't as helpful as it sought out to be.

Kendall shares how issues such as poverty, racism, hunger, homelessness, and so many other issues are being forgotten when it comes to feminism. This is an excellent book about intersectionality directed towards women who want to become a better feminist.

My thoughts on Hood Feminism

I agreed with and understood most everything that Mikki Kendall mentioned. Hood Feminism felt very draining to read. Most of the book is about how terrible people are being treated and there's no examples of much good happening. Though the title claims to be notes from women, she mostly shares her experiences with these issues. She did mention how people she knows have struggled with these issues in different ways, but it wasn't written by them. 

I liked the way this book was set up, in essays, but some of her essays were all over the place. There were some call to actions at the end of most every essay. She also made a lot of really bold statements that I loved. Overall, I think this is the type of book every person should read, but I think it's important to take a break after a couple of chapters.

Quotes

"Too often mainstream feminism embraces an idea that women must follow a work path prescribed by cisgender white men in order for their labor to matter." (4)

"There's a tendency to assume that the women who do have negative interactions are at fault, but if you can be shot standing still or asleep in your own home, can be brutalized for seeking help, then it would seem that engaging the police at all is inherently risky." (27)

"It's easy to say that beauty standards are superficial and unimportant when your skin color safely positions you at the top of someone's beauty aesthetic." (110)

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