bell hooks on the State of the Feminist Movement

In an interview with Kevin Powell over at BK Nation, author Gloria Watkins talks about the state of the feminist movement today:

I think feminism has gone the way of all our movements for social justice: Stuck on a pause. Same as we have seen for Black radical movements for justice. I was talking about Occupy Wall Street, which kind of gave us elements of activism. But we are not in a 99 percent world. We are in world with serious class complexes. It is one thing to be a college student with loan debts and another thing to be just dirt poor for your entire life. The challenge is to come up with more complex understandings of where we are, more global awareness of what connects Americans with what is happening with suffering and oppressed people all around the world. The future is not looking bright for any of us, be it women or people or color. We have to rethink how we live our lives.

I also think how feminism really pushed for jobs and money but we still have women caught up in patriarchy and sexism. A woman in an oppressive marriage with a job will leave. No. So many complexities keep women with jobs and careers in their terrible marriages. So much of civil rights and feminism have been challenged by reality. I think necessity requires us to rethink so much. That is the challenge of this whole Obama time. That sense of promise of Obama has not come true. Not Obama personally but he is a symbol of what we are talking about: What is success? What is a good life? What is our responsibility and accountability to others?

Read the full interview here.

image source: http://womensplace.osu.edu/assets/images/hooks-bell.jpg

-Bridget Crawford