Against the Stigmatization of Feminism

Sexism, or in other words understood as discrimination against someone based on their sex/gender, is a key concept in discussions related to feminism. In short, feminism is resistance to sexism. Before discussing feminism further, it may be necessary to explain at the beginning that gender and sex are two different things. Gender refers to the characteristics of men or women that are formed by society or socio-cultural context, while sex/gender is the biological difference between men and women. In this sense, gender can be exchanged that a woman can be masculine, as well as a man who can be feminine (http://Sehatq.com, 2019).

Returning to the discussion, feminism is an ideology that strongly opposes sexism. In this perspective, there is a lot of discrimination experienced, especially men's discrimination against women in social settings and interactions. The main principle of feminists (someone who adheres to feminism) is in a world dominated by a patriarchal system (institutionalized sexism). This system is believed to not only imprison women, but also imprison men.

Bell Hooks' book with the title Feminism For Everyone tries to tell the story of the feminist group movement which has basically also been polarized, although the main idea is still rooted in the same spirit, namely fighting the patriarchal system. This book seems to be written as an introduction to Bell Hooks' older work entitled Feminist Theory: From Center to Margin which had been written 10 years earlier. The 160-page book is divided into 20 chapters, each of which covers a variety of topics related to the exploitation of women.

If it can be divided into two large categories, then chapter 1 (Introduction: Approaching Feminism) to chapter 5 (Feminism Education for Critical Awareness) are the core chapters that contain many contradictions related to the movement and concept of Feminism. The five chapters invite readers to the contradiction between reformist feminists and revolutionary feminists. The difference between the two lies in the compromise of the movement, reformist feminists ultimately bring the feminist movement to the issue of gender equality, while revolutionary feminists bring the feminist movement to the goal of overthrowing the patriarchal system. Other discussions after chapter 5 are thematic languages related to the study and pluralistic perspectives and movements in feminism.

Polarization of the Feminist Movement

Whether we realize it or not, the main enemy of the feminist movement is the stigma that often occurs to feminists. Feminists are almost always understood by society as someone who has a sexual orientation towards women (lesbians), hates men, and focuses on pro-abortion movements. The last issue raised is not wrong, but it refers to how the patriarchal system tries to regulate women's bodies which should be the power of women themselves. This book is here to fight these stigmas, therefore it is not surprising that the language and discussion presented in this book are very light. There are no academic reference quotes, like other academic textbooks, this book actually contains narratives and reflections from the author regarding the stigma experienced by feminists.

Feminism is firmly understood by Hooks as a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. According to her, what a feminist should understand is the understanding that the patriarchal system (a system that places men as holders of power or all practices of power that place men as the beneficiary party) is not only perpetuated by men, but also perpetuated by women. In order to change the existing system, awareness is needed from both men and women to be able to help destroy the patriarchal system.

In chapter 2, the author clearly explains how the feminist movement is polarized into two large groups, namely the reformist and revolutionary groups. The difference between the two lies in the reach of the struggle that is being waged. The reformist feminist group emphasizes more on the interests of fighting for gender equality, including equality in getting jobs, wages, and maternity leave. This is different from the revolutionary feminist group which emphasizes radical changes to the existing socio-cultural system (not only in the scope of work).

If we pull it into the two major ideologies that sparked it, then the reformist group is basically a feminist group influenced by liberal ideas. In this group, individual freedom is the most important freedom to fight for, therefore it is not surprising that criticism of the system is not as harsh as the revolutionary group. The revolutionary group is influenced by class/Marxist theories, that the suprastructure in this case male power must be destroyed.

The difference between the two is recognized by Hooks with her presentation on the issue of social class. In chapter 3, Hooks explains how social class including racism is one of the keys to the character of the feminist movement in the United States. In her presentation, the reformist movements were basically movements initiated by groups of white women who began to demand equality. This does not apply to black women, however black women are seen as a lower class group. This privilege of skin color is what makes the feminist movement with the principle of social class not develop too much. Hooks touches a little on the issue of regional context with the feminist movement that surrounds it, such as the differences between the feminist movement in Asia and the United States or the Western context. For her, the issue of feminist struggle in the Asian context cannot be separated from the cultural context, which in some cases also concerns the issue of religion.

In her view, the struggle of feminism always faces the issue of authority, what is meant in the context of this authority is the power of religion. Both reformist and revolutionary groups see religion as a comfortable space for male supremacy over women. Therefore, if you want to create a fair system for both men and women, then religion needs to be reformed or at the extreme point revolutionized (radical change). This is certainly a difficult endeavor, considering that religion is a social institution that is hundreds of years old. It does not stop here, feminist groups face another fairly complicated problem, in the form of changing the feminist movement into a study of feminism.

The Shifting Locus of Feminism

If the feminist movement faces the challenge of polarization between liberal feminism and Marxist feminism, then another challenge that is no less complicated is the issue of how feminism is tried to be pushed into academic study. At this stage, there is a separation between feminism as a movement and feminism as an academic study, even in some cases becoming a paradigm or methodology (Hay, 2005). Hooks strongly criticized how the issue of academicization of feminism with the main focus of providing explanations for feminist theories, this academicization indirectly brought about the deradicalization and depoliticization of the feminist movement. The impact is that the issue of the supremacy of the patriarchal system has changed into mere studies, no longer a source of struggle.
This problem does not only affect feminism. The class struggle in Marxism also faces similar problems. Marxism was originally present as a tool of the lower social class (base) against the upper social class (suprastructure/owners of the means of production).

This social class struggle led to radical issues, until various theories emerged regarding the social development of society, ranging from socialist society to communist/classless society. Marxism became an ideology that was widely believed and believed as a political ideal. This Marxist movement shifted when a group of scholars from Germany tried to academicize Marxism, namely bringing Marxism to the scientific realm. This group of scholars later became known for their views as the Frankfurt School, with Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno as first-generation intellectuals, and Jurgen Habermas as second-generation intellectuals. Not only that, Marxism also provided many variations in its development, including how to explain the variations in power relations that were also driven by Marxism and groups that criticized/renewed orthodox Marxism (that the problem only revolved around class struggle) known as adherents of Neo-Marxism (renewed Marxism).

Hooks quite firmly wants to say that academicization has weakened the political movement, although on the other hand, academicization, in my opinion, indirectly brings feminism to a broader perspective. The academic realm allows us to see the outline of how the feminist movement pattern is in different contexts. Although, Hooks' criticism is not wrong, it is only necessary to understand that in many cases social movements can also be initiated from universities.
Another issue that emerged according to Hooks was the issue of social class. In many ways, Hooks seemed to argue that there was elitism in the feminist movement. Even in some cases, there was a strong conflict between reformist-revolutionary feminism, homosexual (lesbian) - heterosexual, lower social class - upper social class, and campus - non-campus. As an illustration, it is very difficult to build a feminist ethos among the lower economic class, let alone discussing the issue of work equality or something more radical like changing the patriarchal structure.

In the middle chapters of this book, after chapter 5, the discussion focuses on contemporary issues, namely how domestic work (housewives) becomes one of the perpetuators of the patriarchal system, considering that women must prepare a comfortable system or environment for men. Another issue raised is how the clash between lesbian-oriented feminists sometimes clashes hard with heterosexual feminists. This clash is also because lesbian feminists tend to be revolutionary and disappointed with heterosexual feminists who in some ways are considered compromising.

One of the common threads that Hooks tries to convey is the importance of revisiting the core criticism of feminism, namely attacking sexism. Hooks highlights the polarization that occurs in the feminist movement and provides an invitation to remain in one feminist movement. Another message that is quite embedded in Hooks' work is the invitation to fight sexism which is the pulse of the patriarchal system. Hooks says that in a patriarchal system, not only women are disadvantaged, but men are also disadvantaged. Although according to him, men tend to find it difficult to get out of their comfort zone (patriarchal system) which places them at the pole of power.

Contributions and Limitations

This book can be a reference to understand the fundamental issues related to feminism. In my opinion, the core of this book is in the 5 chapters at the beginning, the rest are mostly contemporary cases. The advantages of this book are actually the weaknesses of this book. The advantages of this book are in its light style of storytelling, but because of its light style of storytelling, references to an argument are difficult to trace. There are no quotes or academic sources (bibliography) attached to this book. As a result, readers who are not so familiar with the topic of feminism will find it difficult to find original references. My guess is that this book is a piece of work Feminist Theory: From Center to Margin which is packaged in a different way. It's just that the information related to this is not in this translation.

The criticism that needs to be considered is the quality of the translation. As a political science graduate, the topic of discussion related to feminism is not too foreign to me, although I do not study this idea in depth, at least I understand some basic principles in this perspective. I get the impression that the translator does not understand the issue of feminism strongly. As a result, when I read, it was like reading a regular translation but lost the context and sense or understanding of feminism.

In my opinion, this book will be difficult to understand if someone does not have a basic understanding of feminism. Another interesting thing is how Hooks should be able to present responses to several criticisms of feminism. The narrative of feminism in this book seems to stand alone and only responds to several criticisms of it. The poor quality of the translation makes the message of the importance of feminism not easily conveyed.

Bibliography

Hooks, B. (2000), Feminism For All. Yogyakarta: Odise Publishing Hay, C. (2005). The State: Theories and Issues. Palgrave.
Sehatq, December 8, 2019, Definition of Gender According to WHO, Turns Out to be Different from Sex, https://www.sehatq.com/artikel/pengertian-gender-dan-perbedaannya-dengan-seks, accessed November 29, 2020