94
quotes as saying that the
“American capitalist obsession
for individualism” means that
“anything goes so long as it gets
you what you want.” Capitalism
values money more than people,
so the wealthy are seen as more
important than the poor.
The attitudes encased in white
supremacy and capitalism continue
to cause problems, according to
hooks. Imperialism and colonialism
also remain relevant because,
historically, non-white peoples and
their countries’ resources have
been plundered and exploited by
white supremacist capitalists in
their pursuit of wealth.
The rules of patriarchy
hooks defines patriarchy as
“a political-social system
that insists that males are
inherently dominating, superior
to everything... and endowed with
the right to dominate and rule over
the weak and to maintain that
dominance through various forms
of psychological terrorism and
violence.” She says that of all the
interlocking political systems we
encounter, this is the one we learn
the most about while growing
up. In The Will to Change, hooks
explains how she and her brother
were schooled in the meaning
of “patriarchy.”
At church they were told God
was a man and had created man to
rule the world and everything in it.
Women were created to obey and
serve men. Men must be strong,
provide for their family, strategize,
and lead—they could also expect to
be served. These are the patriarchal
gender roles that are apparent inBELL HOOKS
every institution of a community,
from families, schools, and sports
arenas to courtrooms.
If challenged, these ideas may
be reinforced through violence;
but sometimes the cold stares
or mockery of a group of peers is
enough to pull someone back into
behavior more appropriate to their
gender role. A crying boy or an
angry girl may quickly become
aware of having transgressed
the gender roles that have been
defined for them.
One of the most insidious things
about patriarchy, hooks says, is
that it is not spoken about, and we
cannot dismantle a system as long
as we are in “collective denial
about its impact on our lives.” Men
rarely even know what the word
“patriarchy” means—they don’t use
the term in everyday life, despite
rigidly enforcing its rules while also
suffering from them. Boys submit
to the rule of the father just as girls
do, and neither talks about what
is happening to them.The aim of feminism
This interlocking system, hooks
says, means there is no sense in
making “equality between the
sexes” the goal of feminism.
Since men are not equals among
themselves in white supremacist,
capitalist, patriarchal class
structure, “which men do women
want to be equal to?”
She notes that women in lower-
class and poor groups, particularly
black women, would not define
women’s liberation as equality with
men, because men in their groups
are also exploited and oppressed—Systematic exploitation of black
colonized peoples by white colonizing
nations in the 17th and 18th centuries
has contributed to the perpetuation of
discrimination and social inequality.Only privileged women
had the luxury to imagine
working outside the home
would provide them with
an income... to be
economically self-sufficient.
bell hooks