Not all feminists are created equal.
In a panel discussion titled “Transgression: Whose Booty Is This?” at the New School in New York City, celebrated feminist author bell hooks examined popular culture’s newfound obsession with booty, and female sexuality in pop culture overall. In her talk, hooks wondered whether the images put forward by the likes of Beyoncé and Nicki Minaj were the result of real “sexual freedom” or doing more harm than good for the feminist movement.
“Is that liberty?” hooks asked, “Or is it really part of the tropes of the existing, imperialist, white supremacist, patriarchal capitalist structure of female sexuality?”
Beyoncé has recently become something of an icon for young feminists after she boldly declared it on her self-titled album. But hooks questions whether her sexuality in music and videos is really feminist freedom.
“This continues to be somewhat of a crisis within feminist thinking, the inability to name what we mean when we talk about sexual liberty,” hooks said.
Despite their differences in profession and actions, bell hooks and Beyoncé both identify as feminists. Do you think you’re a feminist? Tell us why or why not in the comments below.
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