Understanding is all we need...

This essay made me feel a conglomerate of emotions, some falling on the less than pleasant scale. Bell Hooks is clear that she wants society to revert to the version of the feminist movement where it is defined as “…feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression.”, but I would dare to ask her, why? I would dare to ask her if she realizes her very desire to change the way people define something, to me, may be perceived as oppressive, intragenderally at least. When I think about progressive feminism in modern culture, it is more about women having the power to be whatever they want to be, to think independently, and to be less afraid to rise up against their male counterparts…to not be forced into a universally defined way of thinking that is categorically, what someone else wants or thinks it should be. I am realizing more as I type, I cannot identify with Hooks thinking. I found it offensive when she used the words “choose lesbianism” as a way to seek equality and inferred that by choosing lesbianism, this meant little or no contact with men. I am realizing more as I type, I do not fit into any of these thinking patterns and I break stereotypes.

My experience as a powerful woman is very different from the oppression I read about. In my early twenties, I climbed the corporate ladder in a female dominated, racially diverse, corporate environment and my equality struggle, though with a female counterpart, was also real…it was then I came to realize so many people create their own struggles, simply with their thinking. I am not anti-feminist; I am pro-confidence. I hope to see women find belief in themselves and leave excuses at the door…what if women simply rose above the perceived notions of what society thinks they ‘should be’ and just be ‘exactly who they are’ without fighting a war with each other.  The Beattles once said, “love is all you need”, I say “understanding is all we need”.