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Hood Feminism
Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
288 pages
A fierce, necessary dismantling of mainstream feminism that demands we look at survival, not just privilege.
What it feels like
Reading this collection feels like sitting down with a brilliant, no-nonsense mentor who holds you accountable while fundamentally expanding your worldview. The essays move at a brisk, engaging pace, driven by an urgent and righteous energy that refuses to look away from the uncomfortable truths of race, class, and survival. Kendall's prose is highly accessible yet razor-sharp, effortlessly weaving her own lived experiences with systemic critique. The atmosphere is challenging but deeply grounded, asking readers to sit with their own complicity and rethink what solidarity actually means in practice. It will deeply resonate with anyone exhausted by corporate empowerment narratives who is hungry for a movement that fights for living wages, safe neighborhoods, and basic human dignity.
- Mood
- righteous
- challenging
- grounded
- eye-opening
- Tone
- unapologetic
- incisive
- urgent
- conversational
- searing
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- intersectional feminism · survival as a feminist issue · white feminism's blind spots · race and class dynamics · true solidarity
- The writing
- Direct, accessible, and fiercely articulate, seamlessly blending intimate personal narrative with razor-sharp sociopolitical critique.
- The arc
- Moves from a searing confrontation of mainstream complacency to an empowering, urgent call for inclusive, survival-focused solidarity.
- Who it's for
- Readers seeking to dismantle their own biases and who crave a grounded, no-nonsense approach to social justice that prioritizes basic human needs.
Content notes
- racism
- poverty and food insecurity
- domestic violence
- sexual assault
- gun violence
About the book
Today's feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. That feminists refuse to prioritize these issues has only exacerbated the age-old problem of both internecine discord, and women who rebuff at carrying the title. Moreover, prominent white feminists broadly suffer from their own myopia with regard to how things like race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others? In her searing collection of essays, Mikki Kendall takes aim at the legitimacy of the modern feminist movement arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women. Drawing on her own experiences with hunger, violence, and hypersexualization, along with incisive commentary on politics, pop culture, the stigma of mental health, and more, Hood Feminism delivers an irrefutable indictment of a movement in flux. An unforgettable debut, Kendall has written a ferocious clarion call to all would-be feminists to live out the true mandate of the movement in thought and in deed.
Description from Open Library.
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