Chapter 17-19

Chapter 17: To Love Again - The Heart of Feminism


What do you think about bell hooks view on feminism and love? Do you agree or disagree, and why?

§  After reading bell hook’s take on feminism and love, I think that feminism has taken a very new twist in my mind. I think that this was a very important chapter because it uncovered a lot of misconceptions about feminists and love and explained how the movement has taken this turn towards not associating with romantic love at all, and also how that is changing. “ If women and men want to know love, we have to yearn for feminism. For without feminist thinking and practice we lack the foundation to create loving bonds.” (bell hooks, 2000, pg 100) I commend bell hooks’ boldness in her style of writing. However, I would argue that she is so completely one sided in the way that she presents her information that often times she is far less convincing than she has capability to be. Her statement discounts all loving marriages that are structured through a patriarchal system. Not all patriarchal families and marriages are oppressive and lonely. Feminist values can definitely benefit some relationships, but I think many would argue that it is not the primary component that creates a healthy and loving marriage. I would argue this. After all, people have been getting married for years and years and years. Romance and love has existed far before the feminist movement and people have fallen in love and stayed in love. She completely discounts all forms of patriarchy and marriage based upon it.  I find that to be a very skewed and ignorant take on a practice that has taken place for thousands of years. If she wants to make such a bold statement, I would suggest at least bringing in some empirical data to support her rant. You can’t justify a statement like that just because you came from an unhealthy marriage or because someone you know did. Welcome to the world. It’s not perfect, and neither are relationships.

Do you see any patriarchal views about dating, relationships, marriage or love in the previous clip? If so, what are they? Do you think that Patti Stanger's view on love alines with bell hooks' view? Why or why not? Does the previous clip seem to fit with society's view on love, relationships and/or marriage? Why or why not?

§  There are quite a few patriarchal views about dating in this clip. For example, her discussion on how to go about catching your man. “Go to a steakhouse” and the suggestion to go alone so as to appear autonomous. Also, her suggestion to have him call you rather than you take his card because you’re “traditional” is another example on how to land a date with a guy that is rolling in the money.  These are all rather patriarchal views on dating, relationships, and love. She kind of contradicts herself a few times when she states how it’s important to be financially self sufficient before seeking out your rich husband. She also describes that in times like this, economic turmoil, it’s important that we are marrying rich if we can. In this suggestion she is insinuating that we need men to take care of us, support, and provide for us. However, in order to have that need met, we need to go out and find these men for ourselves. I don’t think that Patti’s view aligns with bell hooks because she is clearly stating that you need a man to take care of you and provide for you even after you’ve earned all of your money and are self-sufficient. This battle cry to marry isn’t about finding your soulmate, it’s about finding financial security. I think that bell hooks would argue that you need to find a feministic loving relationship rather than focusing all of your energy on finding a sugar daddy. 

  

In Chapter 18: Feminist Spirituality

Can you think of instances/parables/specific scriptures that shows male dominance or a patriarchal ideology? *If not, no one's going to be judged for lack of Bible knowledge - trust me :)

§  I think one of the most basic forms of this without bringing in various specific examples would be the use of the word ‘men’ as describing humankind, which addresses both men and women. There are many instances in the bible that human kind is depicted and addressed through this jargon.  However, in the Bible’s defense, women are addressed separately from men many times as well.

After watching the video and listening to the song, is there anything that could be a biblical reference or refer to religion in general? Do you think this is an accurate representation of the Christian religion - or could it be a societal "rule"?

§  To be honest, after watching the clip and viewing the lyrics afterwards, I really don’t see any biblical reference in this video. Yes, it is about getting her father’s “blessing” but I don’t think that the significance of that has anything to do with the christian religion. The way that I took this video is that she is daddy’s little girl, who has fallen in love with a bad boy at a young age, she knows her dad is protective of her and would probably not want her fooling around with this guy, so she wants his advice on the matter and also his approval if she continues to be with him. That was my own take on the song. Maybe there was something that I missed?

CH 19: Visionary Feminism

Do you find this to be true? And how do you think these “grade-school level primers” should be presented so that the message is successfully communicated to the younger audience?

§  I definitely agree with this statement. It’s very hard to teach someone something different than what they’ve grown up with and known for years and years. If feminism is something that is to be spread to everyone, it has to be planted and taught at a young age in order that is grows and becomes part of the human mind early in life. This allows for the individual to look at everything differently in terms of young relationships and possibly relationships in the future. This would affect the way that children interact with the opposite sex and feminism would slowly be introduced to daily life. In order for a feminist curriculum to be taught, it must first be broken down so that it is easy to understand and easy to apply to the real world. Books like bell hooks, for example, are a good basis for the reasons behind the feminist movement. However, within the text there are not a lot of ways to specifically apply this ideology to the real world.

Innteresting Video....