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Summary:
In Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins explores the words and ideas of Black feminist intellectuals as well as those African-American women outside academe. She not only provides an interpretive framework for the work of such prominent Black feminist thinkers as Angela Davis, Alice Walker, and Audre Lorde, but she shows the importance of self-defined knowledge for group empowerment. In the tenth anniversary edition of this award-winning work, Patricia Hill Collins expands the basic arguments of the first edition by adding several important new themes. A new discussion of heterosexism as a system of power, an expanded treatment of images of Black womanhood, U.S. Black feminism's connections to Black Diasporic feminisms, and more attention to the importance of social class and nationalism all appear in the new edition. In addition, the new edition includes recent developments in black cultural studies, especially black popular culture, as well as recent events and trends such as the Anita Hill hearings and the backlash against affirmative action.
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If you are looking for the conspiracy theory behind feminism, you may also want to read 'Cruel Hoax' by Henry Makow, PhD.
'Cruel Hoax : Feminism and the new world order' is a wake up call for women who blindly follow feminism and everybody else who think otherwise.
A dense but accessible read
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This book is dense with thoughts and ideas, written in a looping structure that weaves the vast diversity of black women's voices into a colorful tapestry of intricate detail and contradiction. This is its strength, and its weakness. Collins specifically avoids exclusivity, and this means she includes a few... well, "out there" thoughts from others. Most notably, she cites Tuan on p 139 who asserts that people go to zoos to see monkeys copulate. But this is an extreme, and very rare. More commonly, she grounds these diverse thoughts in real-world experiences. Most impressively, she makes the case that intellectual thought is not limited to the academy, but must include all those who think seriously about their lives. This means that groups - such as Black women - who have been historically excluded from the academy can rediscover their own intellectual traditions outside of academia, and tie them all together. I am glad that I read this book. It has many perspectives I simply was not aware of before I opened it. While I may not agree with all of Collins' assertions, I definitely respect them. It is a dense book, but the very structure of it makes it accessible through its layering technique. Further, Collins writes in a unadorned style that makes absorbing unfamiliar viewpoints all the easier.
feminist thought and female chauvinist pigs
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The book were in excellent condition and did not take long to arrive at home earlier than expected.
a great introduction to Black Feminist literature.....
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I knew little about the Black Feminist movement, when I first read this book over four years ago. It was part of a list of required books for a Black and Indigenous women's course through the school of Women's Studies. This school of thought has more involved in it than meets the eye. For starters, according to the very compelling and highly researched studies of Patricia Hill Collins, it came about in the face of great discrimination against, not only, African-Americans and women, but especially African-American women. They were looked down upon and objectified, due to their race, the means in which many African-Americans were forceably brought to the United States, as slaves (fodder for wealthy, white slave owners in their fields and in their children's nurseries, as well as their kitchens).
What works so well in its book is the acute insight and detail that Collins brings to her body of work. This book is really beautifully put together, and we get a sense of the evolution of Black Feminist Thought, through time. It's unbelievable to me that not more people have heard of this book, and I really think a formal movement needs to be started in schools throughout the country, to bring interracial consciousness to the masses, through literature. Read this book today.
Great Book for All People
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I'm a gay white male and I loved this book! Collins does an amazing job presenting her compelling thesis, and I continue to thank Sociology in general for being the most daring, critical-thinking academic discipline ever. It's no surprise sociologists like Collins dare to speak out on gay rights issues (see her section on homophobia/heterosexism) - sociology is the only area of thought that consistently questions the status quo. In a day in age where so many (though by no means all!) African-American (heterosexuals) are horribly anti-gay and increasingly pro-greed/pro-capitalism, Collins stands out as a heroine for all peoples. I am still waiting for an openly gay hip-hop artist!! How cool would that be? I recommend this book to absolutely anyone. Five stars!
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