Gender Equity Advocates Book Club Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women a Movement Forgot (3 sessions)

If you're someone who claims the mantel of feminism, who believes in the innate equality of all genders, who thinks that solidarity among communities of women is a core component of the world you want to live in, read Mikki Kendall's debut essay collection, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot. (Also, if you're not one of those someones, you should read Hood Feminism.)

As the subtitle makes clear, Kendall's central thesis is that mainstream feminism in the United States has been anything but inclusive, despite being "a movement that draws much of its strength from the claim that it represents over half of the world's population." In prose that is clean, crisp, and cutting, Kendall reveals how feminism has both failed to take into account populations too often excluded from the banner of feminism and failed to consider the breadth of issues affecting the daily lives of millions of women.

Many of the book's essays focus on these overlooked issues, with chapters examining how gun violence, hunger, poverty, education, housing, reproductive justice, and more are all feminist issues. Others, such as "Black Girls Don't Have Eating Disorders" and "The Hood Doesn't Hate Smart People," challenge harmful myths that, in the case of the former, can lead to young women not getting the help and support they need and, in the latter, perpetuate race- and class-based stereotypes. Regardless of the topic, each chapter is designed to "focus largely on the experiences of the marginalized, and address the issues faced by most women, instead of the issues that only concern a few — as has been the common practice of feminists to date — because tackling those larger issues is key to equality for all women."

(review on npr.com by Ericka Taylor)

This book club is 3 one-hour sessions over the course of 3 months, on the following dates. 

Friday, January 22 at 12pm ET/9am PT

Friday, February 12 at 12pm ET/9am PT

Friday, March 12 at 12pm ET/9am PT

This event is FREE for members of the Gender Equity Advocates Network, and $36 for non-members. 

RSVP here: A Zoom link will be provided just prior to the event.