Most of us find it difficult to accept a definition of love that says we are never loved in a context where there is abuse. Bell Hooks More Quotes by Bell Hooks More Quotes From Bell Hooks Feminist effort to end patriarchal domination should be of primary concern precisely because it insists on the eradication of exploitation and oppression in the family context and in all other intimate relationships. It is that political movement which most radically addresses the person – the personal – citing the need for the transformation of self, of relationships, so that we might be better able to act in a revolutionary manner, challenging and resisting domination, transforming the world outside the self. Bell Hooks feminist intimate-relationships self The soul of our politics is the commitment to ending domination. Bell Hooks domination soul commitment The transformative power of love is not fully embraced in our society because we often wrongly believe that torment and anguish are our ‘natural’ condition. Bell Hooks our-society love-is believe In patriarchal culture men are especially inclined to see love as something they should receive without expending effort. More often than not they do not want to do the work that love demands. When the practice of love invites us to enter a place of potential bliss that is at the same time a place of critical awakening and pain, many of us turn our backs on love. Bell Hooks pain practice men Feminism is a struggle to end sexist oppression. Therefore, it is necessarily a struggle to eradicate the ideology of domination that permeates Western culture on various levels. Bell Hooks western-culture feminism struggle The struggle to end sexist oppression that focuses on destroying the cultural basis for such domination strengthens other liberation struggles. Individuals who fight for the eradication of sexism without struggles to end racism or classism undermine their own efforts. Individuals who fight for the eradication of racism or classism while supporting sexist oppression are helping to maintain the cultural basis of all forms of group oppression. Bell Hooks fighting racism struggle If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency. Bell Hooks agency self giving I am passionate about everything in my life--first and foremost, passionate about ideas. And that's a dangerous person to be in this society, not just because I'm a woman, but because it's such a fundamentally anti-intellectual, anti-critical thinking society. --bell hooks Bell Hooks intellectual ideas thinking The world demands that you work for it, make families, provide, take no time to listen to your own heart beating. Bell Hooks demand heart world Any woman who wishes to be an intellectual, to write non-fiction, to deal with theory, faces a lot of discrimination coming her way and perhaps even self-doubt because there aren't that many who've gone before you. And I think that the most powerful tool we can have is to be clear about our intent. To know what it is we want to do rather than going into institutions thinking that the institution is going to frame for us. Bell Hooks powerful writing thinking While it has become “cool” for white folks to hang out with black people and express pleasure in black culture, most white people do not feel that this pleasure should be linked to unlearning racism. Bell Hooks racism white people Being oppressed means the absence of choices Bell Hooks choices absence mean We have to constantly critique imperialist white supremacist patriarchal culture because it is normalized by mass media and rendered unproblematic. Bell Hooks media white culture I still think it's important for people to have a sharp, ongoing critique of marriage in patriarchal society — because once you marry within a society that remains patriarchal, no matter how alternative you want to be within your unit, there is still a culture outside you that will impose many, many values on you whether you want them to or not. Bell Hooks important people thinking Part of the racialized sexism wants everyone to think that a 15-year old Mexican is not a girl, she’s a woman. We know she’s a girl. We can never emphasize this enough, because this is the fate of colored girls globally right now: the denial of their girlhood, the denial of their childhood, and the constant state of risk and danger they are living in. Bell Hooks fate girl thinking Relationships are treated like Dixie cups. They are the same. They are disposable. If it does not work, drop it, throw it away, get another. Committed bonds (including marriage) cannot last when this is the prevailing logic. Most of us are unclear about what to do to protect and strengthen caring bonds when our self-centered needs are not being met. Bell Hooks lasts caring self To love well is the task in all meaningful relationships, not just romantic bonds. Bell Hooks meaningful-relationship tasks meaningful The fierce willingness to repudiate domination in a holistic manner is the starting point for progressive cultural revolution. Bell Hooks progressive fierce revolution Our freedom is sweet. It will be sweeter when we are all free. Bell Hooks sweet When we face pain in relationships our first response is often to sever bonds rather than to maintain commitment. Bell Hooks pain relationship commitment
