Valenti and hooks’ definition of feminism is similar in the sense that both of them support the argument that women in our society should be treated better. For example, Valenti’s definition of feminism is a progressive movement that has the goal to make women’s life better, by presenting to women that they can have self-respect wihout the outdated expectations of the society and by offering different alternatives so they can make better choices for themselfes. Hooks’ definition of feminism also agrees with the argument, by stating: “[…] feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” Both authors’ definition of feminism reinforce the reasoning that there is something fundamentally wrong with how the society treats women based on a very generalized and narrow point of view and this needs to change.

The difference between Valenti and hooks’ definition of feminism is that Valenti seems to promote internal growth, personnal identity and self-respect as an individual, while hooks’ seems to support gender rights and gender equality and seem to promote feminism as a group.

Feminism is important for both authors because they both know that the society we live in is often biased towards women and that feminism is a movement that would change the way we see women, and that this movement needs to be promoted so changes can be made faster so that women can be free from all the expectations and domination.

After reading both texts, I would define feminism as a movement that promotes gender equality and that informs women about their rights and responsibilities as a woman. In my opinion, feminism is the movement that would make both men and women aware that everyone should be equal regardless of their gender. My definition did not change after reading Valenti and hooks’ works, since I agreed with the majority of points of their work.

After reading Valenti’s work, the part where she mentions that another woman posted a homophobic comment on another writer’s article where she was quoted in. I kept thinking about this passage because after reading Valenti’s work that was introduced, I didn’t think that she was wrong in her statement, maybe it was a bit exagerated with the part where she wtote that “[…] younger women who are nervous about feminism because they’re afraid that boys won’t like them […]” Not everyone like or recognize themselves as feminist and it can be due to multiple reasons other than being afraid that they will not be liked once they “come out” as being feminist. I remember (maybe not exactly what she said since it was a long time ago and that my memory is bad, but this was approximately what she said) a teacher I had that said that she would not call herself as a “feminist” because she thinks that this word is so much used today that it seems to have lost its meaning. Feminism is a word that has different meaning depending on the places you go (my teacher few semsters ago told us one day that she went to somewhere in Russia and there, girls thought that being a feminist meant that being lesbian that hated men), therefore I think it is understandable for some people to not feel comfortable about this term, and Valenti’s expression and portrayal of women not wanting to identify as feminist almost seemed moking at those people so I can understand if some readers were offended by what she wrote. But I was still surprised that to person that commented was being vulgar and used words such as “fat”, “dykes” and “mannabees” (I don’t even know what this word means, probably not a good word) to describe other women. I was expecting that this reader would be more mannered and would start a rationnal debate without the use of offensive slang to express her anger. I was expecting that all women would have some sort of… solidarity? But clearly I was wrong about this. Valenti’s statement about homophobic women made me think again about my view on female solidarity.

After my reaserches (both article found from Wikipedia), Jassica Valenti is one of the founders of Feministing. She has recieved many threats after the creation of this blog that allows women to discuss multiple issues that concern women. Bell hooks, her real name is Gloria Jean Watkins, and has published many books and scholarly articles all about gender and race that has the goal to raise awareness on these issues. After better knowing both women, my appreaciation of the two texts did not change since they both pointed out important issues of the society (for example, people do benefit from women’s need to perfecting themselves) with gender and I think what they wrote are true and accurate.

Feminism is a movement that fights for political and social rights for women. Feminists have fought for many big causes such as : The right for women to vote, getting access to education, the right for women to make their own decisions, and etc. Nowadays, feminism is still present, many women are fighting for their own rights around the whole world. Every single individuals have their own definition and thought of feminist. After analyzing, ‘You’re a Hardcore feminist. I swear.’ by Jessica Valenti and ‘Feminism is for everybody’ by Bell Hooks, I understood that both of these authors had a different view of what feminism is. Both of them agreed that feminism is not a sexist movement against men, it fights for the equality of both sexes. However, Valentin claimed that feminism is a huge movement for women, they deserve their places in society with respect. Bell Hooks believes that feminism is a movement to  end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Both authors pointed out some stereotypes about feminist supporters such as : feminists are anti-men, anti-sexist, ugly, fat. Valentin and Bell Hooks believes that feminism is a big controversial issue because of those stereotypes made toward women. In reality, feminism is more than an empowerment movement for women to get paid equally or the right to vote, it is for women to feel good and respected in their bodies. After reading the two texts, I realized that women fight for feminism causes to have a good place in society and not just to feel themselves above men.

The section that really struck me is the part is when Valentin said ‘Most people think feminism is a bunch of angry women who want to be like men. It stuck me because, as I feminist, I can clearly see that these people do not get the point of this movement. This movement was created for men and women to be both equal in term of politic, economy and social classes. As I feminist, I fight for the equality of both sexes and respect toward women rather than feel above men.

I made some research about the authors and their past life. Jessica Valenti was a victim of online threat throughout her career. In July 2016, she took a break from social medias after receiving rape and death threats aimed at her and also her 5 years old daughter. Throughout her childhood, Bell Hooks experienced racist, it was not easy for her to live in an American society as a black woman. So, in conclusion, I understand why both of these women want spread feminism around the whole world because they’ve been through a lot of injustice.

Everyone seems to have different interpretation of that word. Some use feminism as an insult, others use it to empower not only themselves but also others around them, man or woman. Jessica Valenti and Bell Hooks both point out very quickly the stigma that arises with the use of that word. The stereotypical ideas of feminism are equally as bad with sayings like feminists are all ugly and hairy lesbians. Both authors mention that feminism should not be associated to movements that are consistently negative or radical; the point is not to be anti-man. Hooks even states that this movement should not be confused for a bunch of angry women wanting to be like men; you’ve missed the point if that’s your conclusion of feminism. Jessica Valenti even mentions that feminism is to show you there’s nothing wrong with you as a woman. The empowerment comes from feeling good about yourself and not letting others tell you how to behave and be.

“The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you can call a guy is a girl. Being a woman is the ultimate insult.” That’s one of my favorite passages from Jessica Valenti’s work because I never realized how much this applies to me and to everyone around me. See, as girls, my best friends and I often call each other insults that only relate to women. The reasoning behind it is simple, we as women took what insults are thrown at us and make them apart of our culture so outsiders simply can’t hurt us with them. But I never realized that certain traits of toxic masculinity can be easily solved if we just stopped treating women like they didn’t deserve respect. This just makes it even more obvious that feminism is not outdated and very much so still relevant to us today. The statement also proves even more that men can also be feminist if they just recognize how much we undermine women so easily. Putting everything I’ve known and read so far, I’d like to define feminism as a movement anyone can partake in that recognizes women as equals to men, moves towards the goal of reaching true quality and fully supports every woman.

To learn more about these two authors, I decided to search them on Google. Just by writing Bell Hooks name, I immediately find an article published about her claiming she paved the way for inter sectional feminism. To see how a colored woman who identifies as “queer-pas-gay” talk about gender politics so passionately truly is empowering. As for Jessica Valenti I found out that she’s a journalist who doesn’t hold back and one of her works Why Have Kids? really has me intrigued, and makes me appreciate her writings about feminism a bit more.

Often times feminism is seen as a negative concept in itself which strives to eliminate all men and everything involving them. When in reality, feminism at its core can be defined in a number of different ways which varies from person to person. For instance, authors Jessica Valenti and Bell Hooks both share similar ideals whilst also adding their own thoughts on the matter. For one, they both agree that feminism is not a movement with the purpose of eliminating all men from our society. If anything, feminism focuses on the beliefs of equality between the sexes. However, in Valenti’s text she writes that she believes that feminism itself does not truly have one definition and that it can vary from person to person. Whereas, Hooks believes feminism has a fixed definition of it which can be described as “…a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression,”. Nonetheless, both authors have made it clear that feminism is still extremely relevant issue today. Valenti puts a lot of emphasis on the importance of feminism as her mentality is that it’s a movement in which empowers women rather than bringing them down. On the other hand, feminism is truly important to Hooks as she views it as something that brings hope that someday we will live in a world of equality and peace. In the end, 

     Even after reading both essays, I still believe that feminism can be defined as a way in thinking in which the sexes are treated as equal. However, reading both essays have also made me realize that feminism is not only about having equal pay or being able to have the same jobs but rather the simple fact of empowering oneself. One moment in particular in the essays I’ve read which made me truly think was found in both of the essays. This being the fact that the label feminist has such a bad reputation to it, to the point where people are too afraid to identify as one. In our society a feminist is often used as a synonym for a woman who ‘s aggressive, or rather “manly”, when in reality a feminist does not have to look a certain way. It also means that not only can women be feminists, but so can men. In a way it is sad that being apart of such a powerful and empowering movement is seen as almost shameful in some people’s eyes. Nobody should have shame or looked down upon for fighting for such a cause.