literally incredible.

I sincerely don't know what to rate this book. It was very informative, but also semi-redundant. There were also several points in here where I found myself COMPLETELY disagreeing with bell. For example, in the book she argues that the Black male rapist myth doesn't exist anymore. That is simply untrue, and has been used to fuel most of the anti violence work that we see today? I imagine it was also even more true during the time this book was written in the 80s. She also talked about how white

White male scholars who examined the black family by attempting to see in what ways it resembled the white family structure were confident that their data was not biased by their own personal prejudices against women assuming an active role in family decision-making. But it must be remembered that these white males were educated in an elite institutional world that excluded both black people and many white women, institutions that were both racist and sexist. Calling myself racist accomplishe

A while back I read an article in the Washington Post about the new domesticity among women. But it only identified the lives of white women living in urban cities. After that I read another article about how the sustainable food movement and "bike to work" movement often appeared white and for people of priveledge. Later on a show called Girls made its debut on HBO and there was quite an uproar about class and race because there appeared to be so much left out from a show that was supposed to b...

Bell hooks's primary opponent in this book is the white feminist movement -- what's typically called the "second wave" -- of the 1960s and 70s. Her point is that the white women involved in the movement are racist and sexist and have routinely alienated and antagonized the black women who should be standing at their sides, but in order to develop that point, she retraces the history of black women in the United States since slavery. The book was groundbreaking upon its publication in 1981, and i...

Radical + Accessible, we need more bell hooks!The Good:--I was setting a high bar expecting something similar to Angela Y. Davis’ Women, Race & Class and Audre Lorde’s Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches, and to my delight bell hooks exceeded these expectations. --bell hooks exemplifies intersectionality at its best: radical, principled critique while still grasping the big picture by maintaining solidarity and giving room for change (thus, not a cynical armchair revolutionary).…This is no easy...

You know that scene in The Matrix when Neo downloads a bunch of knowledge all at once and then was like "I know Kung Fu."? I kinda felt like that with this book. This was an amazingly in-depth, intense, sometimes brutal historical and modern (at least to when it was written) journey through the history of differences between being a white woman and being a Black woman - in the hierarchical race and gender based caste system - from Colonial times on. This was brilliant and the only disappointing

Very informative and I learned a lot. Well narrated and excellent written. Interested to read/listen to more from Bell Hooks

A very informative book!

This is a difficult book to review nowadays. Virtually anyone who watches the news—at least in America—has come across the (rather cumbersome) term “intersectionality.” Yet there was a time, not too long ago, when the interaction of different forms of prejudice was hardly noticed, let alone studied. If this has changed, this is thanks to people like bell hooks (who purposely left her pen name in lower case letters). This, her first book, was groundbreaking for focusing on the mixture of sexism a...

I have some very mixed thoughts on this one. On the one hand, bell hooks perfectly sums up the treatment of Black women in American society. Prioritized as neither woman nor Black, the rights and needs of Black women have been ignored and overlooked for decades. Often, they are forced to choose which part of their identities to fight for as White feminists and Black male civil rights leaders fight for political power. On the other hand, the book makes a number of wild and unbelievable arguments....

I cannot stress enough how important this book is; a molotov cocktail into the cultural necropolis that is America. bell hooks wields her pen like a sledgehammer, dismantling the pillars of a sexist, racist, and classist society. She illustrates how these three insidious ideologies oppress and privilege us in myriad ways, poisoning the possibility for genuine human interaction/community and dehumanizing us all. Some reviewers have criticized the book for not having footnotes, or for certain hist...

I loved it. It is a wonderful perspective on the feminist movement and black women. Some of the information is dated but the sentiments reign true today. bell hooks has gained another fan. I am a baby black feminist and found this easy to understand and thoroughly enjoyable.

It wasn't until I read this book did I finally start understand as to what it's truly like to exist as a black woman in our society. I had always been a passionate and convicted feminist, as far back as Jr. High really. After outgrowing the boybands of the late 90' & early 00's, I moved on to metal, punk rock and emo music. Riot Grrrl and the principles that came with it with was just the next natural step, so I came of age within the realm of white feminism. Bell Hooks put into words every feel...

I am a little fledgling when it comes to intersectional feminism, so this was a great book for me to read. It further explored and clarified certain arguments and points-of-view that I've read/listened about online. It was published in 1987, so it's not completely up-to-date, but it is really an excellent book.bell hooks discusses black women and the sexism and racism they faced during slavery, and then continues discussing and exploring the sexism and racism that they face in contemporary times...

The foundation of the United States was quite literally laid on the backs of oppressed black women. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism provides a comprehensive historical analysis of American society and social movements through this foundational lens, restoring to black women the understanding of a systematic marginalisation that extends as far as back as slavery but isn't restricted to it. bell hooks borrows the title from Sojourner Truth's famous 1851 speech, and herein bares the crux

This was a great companion read to Audre Lorde's Sister Outsider. Ain't I A Woman provides a comprehensive historical and social analysis of the ways black women have been marginalized by both white feminist movements and civil rights movements run by black men.hooks brings forward numerous examples of racist actions and statements by first and second-wave feminists, such as white women suffragettes excluding black women from their organizations and conferences. Most feminists have heard of Sojo...

Me the entire time reading: YES. YES. YES. Everything in this book is a resounding YES.Ain't I A Woman is absolutely essential to understanding the complex dynamics black women have with racism and feminism. It's an absolute must-read. It analyzes the various circumstances that have structured black womens' relationship with feminism throughout history, highlighting the struggle we face in advocating for both racial and gender equality. Some parts of this book are hard to read, namely the first...

Really good !!! Necessary read for all people interested in feminism and anti racism.

The most important book I've ever read.