bell hooks and Jessica Valenti both argue that feminism currently has a bad reputation and distinct stereotypes that are incredibly tunnel visioned and inaccurate. People recoil when they hear the word and its often a taboo subject in some circles. Both also argue that women are also complicit in rejecting and demonizing the feminist agenda.
Jessica Valenti effectively dissects some of the most popular feminist stereotypes and explains how ridiculous they are to apply to all feminists. Valenti intends to break some of the stigma surrounding the fear of being called a feminist by debunking some common myths, including the one that says “all feminists are ugly”.
bell hooks graciously shares her perspective as a black woman feminist, emphasizing the importance of intersectional experiences. This article serves to remind the privileged to include and care about how other people might suffer more due to double and triple whammy effects of oppression related to gender, race, class etc. I have known about bell hooks for a while and I have always loved and appreciated her work.
I have been a feminist my whole life but I only started calling myself one for ten years as I was ignorant to what it truly meant to be a feminist. The definition in the dictionary is good but I love bell hook’s definition even better.
My favourite part of the articles was in bell hook’s where she talks about how Christianity is enforcing ideas that women should be subordinate to men. Its heartbreaking that some women feel obligated to conform to such ridiculous notions.
Alternatives 
I strongly agree that the word feminist is taken so far out of context to the point where the definition itself is vague. All we can do is try and learn more about the topic.
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