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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 3208
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 12:14 pm: | 
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Feminist writer, activist attacks the status quo
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
By Paul R. Kopenkoskey
The Grand Rapids Press
BEREA, Ky. -- Bell hooks is determined to unveil a contradiction that stares the nation in the face.
"I think our culture inhabits two myths," said hooks, a Berea College (Ky.) professor in residence. "We live in freedom and democracy, but the reality in our lives is that it's increasingly controlled by a hierarchy and growing fascism."
On one side, democracy allowed the nation to experience unprecedented change, thanks to the civil rights and feminist movements, hooks said.
On the other, me-first consumerism is seizing control of the country's altruistic heart, said hooks, author of more than 30 books.
"It fascinates me that we have this gasoline crisis, yet people buy these magnificent, five-bedroom homes that are two hours away from work," said hooks, a native of Hopkinsville, Ky. "It's like there's a break between reality and a fantasy life.
"Years ago, when kids were asked what they wanted to be, some would say they wanted to get married. Now kids just talk about wealth. I think we're obsessed with consumerism and all forms of materialism."
Born Gloria Jean Watkins, in 1952, hooks assumed her great-grandmother's name to acknowledge her female legacy amid the patriarchy, she said.
She authored her first book, "Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism," at 19.
Hooks said the feminist movement always has been about conveying a message and less about personality and power plays. That's why she lower-cases her name.
"It's not important who's speaking," hooks said. "It's important what they're saying. At the height of the feminist movement, we wanted to get away from ego and celebrity."
There's still work to be done, hooks added.
"Early feminism had a critique of men but not how it wanted them to change, so a lot of men turned against feminism without an opportunity to be transformed," hooks said.
Hooks' career in teaching and research affords her a wide-angle view of the world and the nation that deserves to be heard, said Helen Sterk, president of West Michigan Women's Studies Council, which invited hooks to Grand Rapids.
"We've grown with her as her understanding of race and gender and culture has grown," said Sterk, chairwoman of Calvin College's communication, arts and sciences department.
"She has been such a leader, in terms of development of those things. She's a real person, well-grounded in everyday life."
Living in the world's most powerful nation affords its citizens a unique mix of choices, ranging from opportunity for some to repression for others, hooks said.
Compounding the problem are people who cocoon in their homes, e-mailing and text-messaging one another and moving from one city to another over the years, she said, adding to their sense of isolation.
"The biggest threat to a community is that people move around a lot. We all live in five to 10 different places in a 20-year span."
A cultural tug of war threatens the gains women and minorities have made in the workplace and at home, if the younger generation accepts popular media's perception of them, hooks said.
"I think we're losing some of those gains," she said.
"The mass media are geared toward the very young. MTV tells us black women are destined to be (prostitutes or) make babies."
©2006 Grand Rapids Press
© 2006 Michigan Live. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grpress/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-2/11592 8232842980.xml&coll=6 |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 155
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 12:21 pm: |
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I agree with much of it but - I think people should move around as much as they want to. i think that living in different towns, cities, countries, continents is a good thing. Times have changed, I doubt we'll ever go back to a time when people are born, live and die in one place. |
Cynique
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Cynique
Post Number: 5238
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 01:02 pm: |
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bell hooks is right about materialism. While everyone is caught up in the damage racism does to the black psyche, they underestimate how materialism has spawned the bling-bling culture that blinds blacks to what their real priorities should be. But, - I don't know that MTV tells black women they are destined to be prostitutes and make babies. That's sounds more like what the rappers on BET point the way toward. |
Schakspir
Veteran Poster
Username: Schakspir
Post Number: 651
Registered: 12-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 01:41 pm: |
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"Bell hooks is determined to unveil a contradiction that stares the nation in the face."
"I think our culture inhabits two myths," said hooks, a Berea College (Ky.) professor in residence. "We live in freedom and democracy, but the reality in our lives is that it's increasingly controlled by a hierarchy and growing fascism."
WHAT?? I didn't know that!! Wow! That's news to me!
NOT!!
Seriously, though. It's true, but why is the author speaking as if this is something nobody knew about--even before any of us were born?
bell hooks is like Kevin Powell. Both make a career out of saying things that have been said before, and better. |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 766
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 08:30 pm: |
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"I don't know that MTV tells black women they are destined to be prostitutes and make babies. That's sounds more like what the rappers on BET point the way toward."
This is true. |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 3210
Registered: 07-2006
Rating:
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, September 26, 2006 - 08:33 pm: |
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I'm looking forward to reading what she has to add to the current debate. bell hooks was bell hooks when everybody was afraid to be bell hooks. If anything, they're all TRYING to copy her style. But first they must learn to speak up. Me. I'm looking forward.... Her new book PLANTATION CULTURE, which isn’t due to be released until September of next year, has been a part of my Amazon account for months now. |
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