First of all, everyone has a different definition of feminism. I think that Valenti and Hooks have quite the same definition, but don’t have the same way to express themselves. They both think that feminism is when a women wants to be treated right! No sexism opression, no ideals about what a women should be like, etc. Hooks says that feminism is a movement against sexism, sexism exploitation, and opression. Valenti says that feminism is all about making your life better, which is the same thing as what Hooks said but in other words.

However, Valenti talks a lot about how girls are percieved in our society, and how society wants us to think there is something wrong with us, when there isn’t. Hooks on the other side, talks more about what is feminism, about how people react to feminists, etc. Feminism is important to those authors because it’s not normal that girls still feel opressed, that they are still raped, that some jobs are still less paid to women than men, etc.

Based on what I have read, I would define feminism as the idea that women have to be treated equally to men. This definition is what feminism is and what it has always been. I agreed 100% with both of the texts. Something that struck me is when Valenti talked about the woman who insulted the feminists. It stuck with me because sadly, that woman doesn’t understand what feminism is. If she did, she wouldn’t have said what she said. I just don’t understand how you can hate an idea that’s basically made to defend you! My appreciation of their article didn’t change because of the research I did. I really liked both of the articles, so nothing could change my appreciation of the texts.

Every human, who possesses critical thinking, has their own definition of feminism. Jessica Valenti and Bell Hooks had a definition of their own as well. However, the common misconception about feminism is that it’s an anti-men ideology-mostly misconceived by men. Both Valenti and Hooks targeted to demystify this misunderstanding. On one hand, Valenti used a much more modern approach to it. She used 21st century struggles to further explain her opinion. While reading the text, you feel light hearted because it’s relatable and, quite frankly, comedic. On the other hand, Hooks had a more old-school approach to it. She explores various aspects such as politics and religion. She also explains the struggles she faced in the 20th century. As you finish her text, you feel cultured. The subjects of racism, politics, sexism and oppression as well as the explanation of a “Christian” mindset sparks links readers for readers from Western culture,in some ways, educate you. It’s what differentiates the two authors approaches on the subject. The strongest link I could find between these two authors is that the ideology of feminism set them free. It opened their minds to the endless possibilities that the world could offer them. I strongly believe their new found mental freedom is what fuels their want to explain and teach people the idea of feminism in all its different shapes and sizes.

After a quick look at their Wikipedia pages, they come from different states and times, making Hooks 20 years older than Valenti. It explains the difference between the two essays. Hooks grew up in a segregated town in Kentucky when racial segregation was still in play and sexism was still highly popular. Being a African-American woman in America in the 60s, Hooks was shaped at an early age to fight for her rights as a woman and an African-American. Valenti faced struggles of her own. As she was received online abuse and threat, she still pushed through and published her work. Her work resulted in inspiring many young activist. Both of these woman went through many struggles, they both came through stronger and it is reflected in their work.

Now for my definition of feminism. As a child, boys and girls were at the same level. As a teenager, I was challenged everyday of my life by men and women who wouldn’t let me see both genders as equals. Through the years, I have seen a lot of inequality between genders. Living in a muslim conservative country, travelling to my country every two or three months, coming back to western society, I have seen inequality everywhere. Therefore, my definition of feminism has never changed from when I was a child, it’s as stated in the dictionary. Feminism (noun) : the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. The ideology that women and men are equal, are seen and approached as the same, are treated the same, are seen the same, along with all the aspects. In Bell Hooks’ essay, she says “Feminist politics are losing momentum because the feminist movement has lost clear definitions. We have those definitions.” It made me stop and think after reading her essay and she’s completely right! Women with privilege went into the work field and were just content. As a result, advocated less. This made the unprivileged women having to speak up twice as loud to make up for the loss. Some became radicals- as with every ideology- thus, creating the anti-men stereotypes.

Feminism is a term that’s brought upon to us in many different forms. After reading “You’re a Hard Core Feminist. I swear.” by Jessica Valenti and “Feminism is for Everybody.” by Bell Hooks I came to a realization that the definition of feminism varies amongst people.  Jessica views it as the “belief in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes,” while Bell Hooks views it as, “Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” Although these two definitions are quite similar, they offer different versions of how people portray the word “feminism”. I believe that Jessica Valenti explains that feminism is more than just women wanting to make statements, it’s about women and men being equal on all social, political and economic terms and about women feeling good about themselves like they should be. On the other hand, Bell Hooks explains it more as a way to end sexism due to it being a problem that women can’t truly be themselves. Even though there is a slight difference in how both authors want feminism to be portrayed, they both ultimately have the same purpose of wanting women to express themselves for what they deserve and believe in. Both authors voice that feminism has nothing to do with being anti-man and that even though everyone should be a feminist, they have come to the terms that not all women are. Both agree that true sisterhood will never truly exist considering that not all women agree with the idea of speaking up about feminism, and that’s okay. 

In all honesty before reading both essays I had envisioned a different idea of feminism. I always understood that all women wanted was to be treated equally but, I didn’t fully understand why so many women still felt the need to voice their opinions of “feminism” as much as they did considering so much has progressed over the years. I now understand how many challenges women still go through and how feminism has absolutely nothing to do with wanting to be more powerful than men, it’s simply just about abolishing gender stereotypes and being offered the same treatment as anyone else is, which is completely understandable. 

One section from the essays that really stood out to me was in Jessica Valenti’s introduction. Not only did she start off in a dramatic way to get her points across, but she also mentioned how being called a girl was the ultimate insult. She stated, “Notice anything? The worst thing you can call a girl is a girl. The worst thing you call a guy is a girl.” I always knew that comment had been circulating for as long as I can remember, but I never really got to stop and process it. I do believe that in some way society has evolved into genuinely supporting those into being who they truly are, but there will always be some sort of assumption on women just because of that comment. Even if in reality there is nothing wrong about being called a girl, somehow society views it as a way to degrade women into being weak. In my opinion, unfortunately for as long as that comment remains present, there is still inequality between genders.

After discovering that Hooks grew up in a racially segregated town and valenti being a victim to online threats because she spoke freely of her opinion really made me appreciate the wisdom, they both have shared upon their readers. I understand the injustice they both went through, which makes me understand why they even bothered to educate people about the inequality going in the world and why it’s crucial that we at least try to fix it. 

By: Julianna Noto

Jessica Valenti and Bell Hooks both agree that feminism is not hating men and being anti-male. They also agree that it is a movement that is spread and heard about around the world to which there has been many stereotypes sticked to it, one being that feminists are anti-male and or a lesbian. Both of them concentrate on girls being feminists and not males, yet both sexes can be feminists. They are both different as they are similar, Valenti gives the image that the individuals who are feminists seek social, political and economic equality between the sexes, whereas Hooks shows feminism a movement that will end sexist ideas, (such as females cannot play sports), sexist exploitation (taking advantage of women because they are inferior, which comes back to sexism) and oppression (treating women cruelly and controlling them, for example domesticating them and then punishing them for not having prepared a delicious dinner).

Feminism is important to them because they would like to have equality and for feminism to become a part of our daily lives, as in treating one another appropriately with respect, to not harm either men or women and have equal opportunities as well as equal pay in the same work. For me a feminist is any individual who believes that both sexes should have equal pay in the workforce, rights and freedom, and should not be treated unjustly, exploited sexually and oppressed. The definition I held before did not include the part of “being exploited sexually.” In Jessica Valenti’s article many things stuck by me; one being that feminists are stereotyped and one of the stereotypes is that feminists are ugly. I had heard that feminists are lesbians but never heard of feminists being ugly. Another thing that shocked me was that magazines, newspapers kept on talking about how “feminism is dead”. This clearly shows that it is clearly not ended, the fact that it is still a common theme and discussion topic proves that it is still very much present in our day to day life.

I did some research on Bell Hooks and Jessica Valenti and I must say that I agree more with what Valenti has to say about feminism, she describes feminism the way I believe it to be more than Hooks. Finally I love how Valenti described the feminism waves in an interview, she said that every generation could not be separated into waves rather every individual has their own way of becoming a feminist and operating it, taking initiative. I appreciated Valenti’s article much more after understanding her point of view, which is similar to mine.
-Pia Babi

Jessica Valenti believes that every girl is a feminist. It doesn’t matter if you try and say you’re not, you are. If you have a problem with something that society says or does that would make a woman feel degraded, you are a feminist. Feminists come in many different ways and it doesn’t always mean you are anti-man, it simply means you just want what you should deserve as a woman and as a human being. Hooks’ definition of feminism is a movement to end sex oppression. Both authors make it clear that women shouldn’t be scared to admit that they are feminists. They are both proud to call themselves feminists and believe the rest of humanity should do the same. In both essays, it’s mentioned what society defines as feminism, as people who hate men. This statement is cleared up by both authors and define feminism as not hating men but wanting women to be treated as equals. The term sisterhood is also trashed by both authors, they both seem to believe that it’s not a real thing or something people should follow. Some differences in these readings are that Valenti’s tone is much angrier, you can tell that she is really affected by what people think about feminism and she is very passionate about the topic. It was more interesting to read her essay as it felt like I was talking to a friend rather than reading an informational article like Bell Hook’s.

Before reading the two essays, my definition of feminism was for people of all genders to be treated equally. I believe that no matter how you identify there shouldn’t be a difference in how you are treated. Even after reading these two essays, I still stand by my definition. Now that I am more enlightened by the readings, I can add on to the definition without changing it completely. Just because you are a feminist you shouldn’t be anti-man or anti-everything. As Valenti mentioned, it is progressive and as a society we can abolish the typical feminist stereotypes. 

Something that really stuck out to me in Valenti’s essay is how she referred to the word “feminist” as the “F-word.” A lot of people are ashamed or scared of using the term feminist because they fear what society might think about them. Stereotypically as mentioned by the author, “feminists are supposed to be ugly. And fat. And hairy!” People might look at a feminist and think that they are weird just because they want to be treated with respect and be treated equally and they are scared of using the word feminist because people might get the wrong impression. It’s a term people don’t like to use or call themselves because it’s a “bad word.” I liked how Valenti called it the f-word. I know a lot of people that struggle with admitting that they are feminists because people will judge or look at them weird. I believe people shouldn’t even have to tell people that they are a feminist, we all should be and not have to explain ourselves. But even though I believe this, feminism shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing and if you are a feminist you should embrace it and not hide it. 

After doing some research on both authors, I was particularly fascinated by Bell Hooks. She grew up in a middle-class family and lived in a segregated town. She also attended racially segregated schools and wrote about her transition into an integrated school and her struggles of being a black female. By learning this information about Bell Hooks it made me appreciate her views more and understand her views on white supremacy. 

Feminism is a huge topic and many people define it in different ways. In “You’re a Hard Core Feminist. I swear.” by Jessica Valenti, she defines feminism as the “Belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes” whereas Bell Hooks in her book, “Feminism is for Everybody,” defines feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.” You might be thinking that both of their definitions mean the same thing, but both Valenti and Hooks are looking at them with a different perspective. Valenti is focusing more on the need for more equality between both genders, for example; equal pay, equal treatment, and equal opportunities in the workplace. In contrast, Hooks is focusing more on ending the stereotypes and the sexualization of women, for example; being able to look girly at work, having children if one wants, and not being sexually targeted at clubs or bars. Although, their definitions are a bit different, in their essence they are comparably similar as well. Both authors are saying that at the end of they day, they want equal treatment for everyone, which is what feminism is based on.

Feminism is important to these women because throughout their lives have they’ve experiences some type of inequality or have seen gender equality in the news or first hand. I personally have experienced inequality and even forms of sexual assault in some cases throughout my life, so I agree with these women, I want equality just as much as them. I would define a feminist as someone, who fights to end gender inequality and social injustice between the genders. I have always thought of this definition as my definition for feminism.

Furthermore, in “You’re a Hard Core Feminist,” by Jessica Valenti, a part that really struck me was the part about girls boycotting Abercrombie & Fitch because of a shirt that read: who needs brains when you have these (referring to a girls breasts). I find this very disgusting and profoundly upsetting. The girls that shop there are relatively young and they will grow older and think that the only importance is their “assets” meaning their breasts. I’m happy that people spoke up and got the shirt removed from the shelves.

By Kara Lawlor