Saturday, January 17, 2009

being oppressed means the absence of choices




I'm re-reading bell hooks' Feminist theory: from Margin to Center right now, hence this small portrait of her. I'm thinking about removing it from the frame & making it into a patch to put on a t-shirt instead (just have to find a suitable tee).

For those of you that don't know, bell hooks (or Gloria Jean Watkins, which is her real name) is an american writer, feminist & scholar that deals with the relationship between sexism, racism & class. I like they way she challenges the contemporary idea of feminism as a movement & an expression that could mean just anything, depending on who defines it. According to hooks, feminism must be "the struggle to end sexist oppression" & that means that the dominant liberal feminism of today, that doesn't deal with class issues, can never be real feminism. She is relentless in her assault on white, middle class feminists (hey, that's me!) & the movements unwillingness to acknowledge & analyze it's own racism & class issues.

But at the same time as she advocates a raging criticism against how white feminists have excluded & marginalized black women or other ethnic groups & made their own strive for equality with privileged white men the goal, she's very clear on what has to be done: a turn towards companionship, solidarity & bonding between women (a bond that does not have it's roots in an imagined shared role as "victim" or "oppressed", but in shared strength & resources). She's even written a book that is all about love. I really recommend reading bell hooks to anyone who's interested in the ways that sexist, racist & class oppression works together & has to be challenged together.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

stunning!

Anonymous said...

yeah this is freaking awesome. I love bell hooks her writing is so inspiring and useful!

Well done!

torrance said...

Absolutely wonderful!
I should do cross stitch again..

Anonymous said...

hej!
måste bara fråga vilket program man använder för att göra korsstygnsmönster av redan befintliga bilder? blev sjukt inspirerad av din sida iaf, ska fan hem å korsstygna skiten ur mig idag tror jag...

fick tips att kolla upp din sida av edith camilla iaf, evigt tacksam..

johanna said...

hej bea! nu för tiden använder jag gratisversionen av PCStitch (finns att ladda ner här: http://www.pcstitch.com/Download/Download.aspx). det är ingen tidsgräns på hur länge du kan använda det, men däremot kan du inte spara några mönster som du gjort. det går däremot hur bra som helst att ta en print screen-bild när du är klar med mönstret & sen klistra in & spara som en vanlig bildfil i något annat program...

Anonymous said...

fan va nice, tusen tack för tipset!

 
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