Aug 16

Aug 16 Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot

Author: Mikki Kendall
Publisher: Viking
Goodreads | The StoryGraph

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Note: Trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the full review.

Cover Description

Today's feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. That feminists refuse to prioritize these issues has only exacerbated the age-old problem of both internecine discord and women who rebuff at carrying the title. Moreover, prominent white feminists broadly suffer from their own myopia with regard to how things like race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?

TL;DR Review

Hood Feminism is a wake-up call that should be required reading for all white and/or mainstream feminists.

For you if: You want to become more intersectional.

Full Review

“There’s nothing feminist about having so many resources at your fingertips and choosing to be ignorant. Nothing empowering or enlightening in deciding that intent trumps impact. Especially when the consequences aren’t going to be experienced by you, but will instead be experienced by someone from a marginalized community.”

I knew that I needed to read this book as soon as I heard about it. I was not wrong; this book is the wake-up call that too many of us need to read.

Mikki Kendall says right off the bat that the purpose of the book is not to be “nice.” It’s to walk up to white/mainstream feminists and take them by the shoulders and shake them and open their eyes to the fact that feminism is bigger than them. And that’s exactly what she does. She and the communities she’s advocating for are frustrated and exasperated with us. Yes, they’re angry. As they should be.

Mainstream feminism has essentially said, “I don’t see color.” And that attitude has been just as problematic — more so, in practice — as it would be coming from an individual. We claim to fight for half of the world’s population while somehow pretending that the issues that adversely impact most of them are not feminist issues. We push for equal pay in the boardroom but not for food justice in inner-city neighborhoods.

Each chapter focuses on a different issue that mainstream feminism forgets as it pertains to marginalized communities, specifically — hunger, education, healthcare, parenthood, etc. They don’t go super deep, but they aren’t meant to. They have plenty of stats and info, but they aren’t the whole focus. They’re less about education and awareness, more about “for the love of God, wake up, why don’t you care about this yet?”

The chapters layer on one another, and by the end, they paint a big, round picture of what intersectionality should mean. One by one, she shows you how racism — and, more specifically, gender racism — touch everything, not just the issues white feminists focus on most, like equal pay and abortion. It’s effective and enraging and something everyone should read.

I felt my shoulders shaken particularly hard when it comes to hunger and food justice. After some research, I set up monthly donations to Why Hunger, which supports grassroots movements and fuels community solutions rooted in social, environmental, racial, and economic justice. I also found and followed several mutual aid groups and food justice organizations from my local community. I encourage you to do the same.