Journal #15: hooks

In chapter 5, hooks discussed reproductive rights and its importance in the feminist movement. Women are entitled to their reproductive right and should have a say in what they do with their bodies. It is extremely dangerous when women are denied reproductive rights, such as abortion and birth control. If abortions were made illegal, it wouldn’t stop women from having abortions. It would stop women from having access to safe abortions. Illegal abortions are very unsafe and cause critical damage to a woman’s reproductive system. When the government cuts funding for safe, legal abortions, women of low economic status are hit the hardest because they cannot afford the expensive procedure. Whereas, a woman of material wealth can still benefit from receiving legal abortions. Abortion became the forefront of the fight for reproductive rights because it was the main goal of white, privileged women. Even though reproductive rights also include birth control, sterilization, and several other issues, they are rarely discussed since abortion was made the main goal of reproductive rights early on by women of material wealth. The reproductive rights movement evolved as needs were met for women and then taken away. In the 90s, the government threatened to cut funding for clinics that provided abortions, so once again the main goal of the reproductive rights movement became accessible, safe abortions for all women.

bell hooks discussed the beauty cult in chapter 6. hooks says that feminism threatens the capital-invested cosmetic and fashion industries by empowering women and encouraging self-worth. The cosmetic and fashion industries capitalize off the insecurities of women. Therefore, when women stop criticizing themselves and finding faults with themselves, they begin to love themselves for reasons apart from their appearance. Also, when women aren’t so concerned with their appearances, they become more concerned with the unfair, unattainable beauty standard created by the patriarchy. Within the history of the beauty cult, I found it most interesting that when the feminist movement first started moving into the fashion industry, it was male-dominated. The fashion industry was making clothing for women, but were entirely designed by the male gaze and were made for a man’s viewing pleasure. Therefore, when feminist women made their way into the industry they demanded a more diverse options for women’s clothing. Clothing may seem mundane and unimportant, but getting dressed and wearing clothes is part of our daily routine. So the fact that men were designing women’s fashion for decades means that women’s clothing wasn’t designed for comfort or even, necessarily, functionality, it was designed to appeal to men.