Navigating the world as a woman can be extremely taxing. Whether it’s mentally, physically, or emotionally, all individuals struggle or experience hardships during at least one part of their lives. Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall focuses primarily on marginalized groups such as Black women and other women of color (WOC). Kendall discusses aspects of intersectionality, white privilege, and solidarity to present to readers a raw understanding of what it means to be a true feminist. By analyzing white privilege and solidarity, we will see that the only way to improve the feminist movement is by acknowledging our country’s past and taking an intersectional approach.
As a Black woman, I have experienced much of the same racial discrimination as Kendall. As a matter of fact, my parents also taught me to recognize the importance of respectability as a way to “blend in” with the dominant race. They sheltered me, not by making me oblivious to the dangers of the world, but by curtailing my contact with such experiences. There’s a hierarchy in society, and white people–both men and women–represent the pinnacle of said societal hierarchy. The book does an excellent job providing information about the personal, unapologetic experiences of the author herself and those around her. Before diving into the narrative of the book, there were topics that I felt needed to be addressed such as intersectionality, colorism, and the discrimination against the LGBTQIA+ community. As discussed in lecture, intersectionality is the overlapping of oppressions or identities such as race and gender. In my opinion, it’s the most important concept because of how prevalent it is today. Intersectionality is the basis for the constant oppression that Black women and other WOC suffer daily. Therefore, including it in a discussion surrounding feminism is essential. The next topic of importance that I strongly feel is necessary when discussing feminism is colorism. As a lighter skinned Black woman, I see firsthand how we’re singled out from darker skinned Black women. When the two skin tones are compared, we’re often viewed as more tolerable, more respectful, more proper, and overall, more intelligent. Whereas those who have darker skin are associated with filth, stupidity, and disrespect. Lastly, although Kendall briefly touched on the LGBTQIA+ community, I wish she would’ve set aside a portion of the book to talk about the countless struggles they face in the eyes of feminists. The queer community is vast and influential in today’s society, so dedicating an entire chapter to them would only strengthen the book and hopefully shed light on their hardships.
Mikki Kendall’s Hood Feminism dissects mainstream feminism and its casual attempts for equality among all women. Most importantly, she examines hood feminism and its obscure pervasiveness. Hood feminism refers to the most underrepresented group of Black women: those who don’t have access to basic needs and are forced to work even harder to provide for themselves and their families. Mainstream feminism refers to women gaining equality with men through reform and advocacy all the while excluding Black women. When ideas discuss women, they’re centered around white, heterosexual, middle and upper-middle class women, and almost always neglect those who deviate from that (Kendall 14). She argues that mainstream feminism only favors a handful of women, not all women. This is one of the main factors contributing to our society’s ongoing problem of marginalizing Black women and other WOC. She explains that first-wave feminists work to increase their privilege, rather than working to ensure all women, including WOC, have access to basic needs and essentials (Kendall 10). Since many first-wave feminists have already obtained these basic needs, there is little to no concern. Mainstream feminism fails to take into consideration the struggles that Black women face despite claiming inclusivity. According to Kendall, mainstream feminists believe that treating their own interests as superior will allow other women, specifically Black women, to also gain more rights. However, Black women don’t progress as a result because they’re constantly marginalized by society and white women. In Hood Feminism, Kendall analyzes a variety of issues surrounding the Black community like gun violence, food insecurity, rape and sexual violence, and miseducation. Along with those issues, she breaks down controversial concepts such as colorism, white supremacy, and code-switching to further her argument. All things considered, Kendall insists that the best way to improve the feminist movement is for both mainstream feminists and Black feminists to unite on issues affecting those who are most at-risk. Doing this would allow all people to finally acknowledge both race and gender within feminism, thus contributing to a more inclusive movement.
Despite Mikki Kendall’s incorporation of numerous topics surrounding feminism, I want to address the ones of the utmost importance: white supremacy and solidarity. To start, white supremacy can be described as the shared belief amongst a group of white people that their race is superior to all other races. It emphasizes their desire to be dominant in society, consequently leading to the discrimination, exclusion, and removal of minority groups. In this case, Black people, more specifically Black women, are the ones being excluded by the majority. In “The Hill We Climb”, Amanda Gorman tackles the same issue but in a harmonic way. She not only describes the struggles of Black women, but also how oppression is embedded within America’s history. If we remain idle and continue to disregard this country’s past, there will never be change. Many people are afraid to have tough conversations about slavery, segregation, and oppression, yet they fail to understand that this is the only way to progress. By referencing the history of slavery, segregation, and oppression, she stresses the importance of acknowledging the past (Gorman). Although highlighting America’s past may seem negative and controversial, doing so is essential to help prevent a repeat of history, thus saving our country’s future.
Mainstream feminists reinforce the white supremacy dynamic by only protecting themselves and disregarding other women despite these women being more oppressed than those who head the movement. Since white women are the norm, gaining equality with white men seems progressive to them. However, if they truly practiced what they preached, they would help bring the marginalized groups of women up to as close to their status as possible. Even with Gorman’s and Kendall’s attempts to achieve an equitable, feminist movement, it worries me that, like others, they’ll fall short. Throughout history, there have been countless individuals–both men and women–who have gone against the grain to fight white supremacy. So, what makes this time different?
Additionally, Mikki Kendall addresses the topic of solidarity and how it must be present within the feminist movement before progress can begin. In this case, solidarity refers to a sense of unity created among women in which they work toward a shared objective. In Hood Feminism, we learn that women have the ability to oppress other women. Black women can be oppressed by white women, and poor women can be oppressed by rich women. Our identities overlap in which someone can be black and lesbian or be white and have a low socioeconomic status. Although she mainly focuses on the racial diversity between Black and white people, she also discusses class differences among white people as a whole. Doing this shows how she is not oblivious when it comes to differences in socioeconomic class among the white population. She acknowledges that poor white people can have privilege yet lack resources to access that privilege. This realization contributes to the idea that we must understand intersectionality before we can improve the feminist movement.
Despite past and present efforts to reach solidarity, Gorman stresses how Black people are continuously overlooked or simply not seen as equals in society. Mainstream feminists look ahead optimistically, yet Black people, specifically Black women, do not have that luxury. Black women are simply trying to survive while white women are trying to advance in a world that has already given them so much. All feminists need to unite and admit that each of them must conquer different obstacles that range in difficulty. Continuing to push aside the hardships of one group for another group’s political or personal gain will be the downfall of the feminist movement. The best approach to improve mainstream feminism is to promote true inclusivity within society. What saddens me about these mainstream feminists is that they have the capability to dramatically improve the lives of all women by using their resources and white privilege in a positive way. If they advocated for Black women and other WOC, it would make the feminist movement more inclusive, thus benefiting women from various backgrounds with differing needs. The actions and ignorance of white women do not affect white women themselves, but instead affect marginalized groups, such as black men and women. In order to improve feminism, we must acknowledge that it only supports one group of women. Therefore, once we erase the oppression of Black feminists by white feminists (within mainstream feminism), we will finally be able to move forward in a better direction within the feminist movement as well as within society. Thus, the best way to do so is by taking an intersectional approach and address the connection between race, socioeconomic class, and gender.
Mainstream feminists continue to fail to recognize their shortcomings in aiding marginalized groups overcome their daily obstacles. Since many of them are privileged and don’t encounter these traumas in their everyday lives, they don’t see it as a concern or issue that must be solved. The overlapping of Mikki Kendall’s race, gender, and class all contribute to her continuous oppression in her everyday life. The problem with feminism isn’t solely because of feminism. The problem is our society, for supremacy has been deeply rooted in our country’s history for centuries. White people aren’t the issue, but the combination of their privilege, ignorance, and belief in white supremacy is.
References
Gorman, Amanda. “The Hill We Climb.” 2021.
Kendall, Mikki. Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.
This was originally created as part of a class assignment for Introduction to Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Virginia.
Destiny Rae Jones 