Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism

In this concluding chapter—after examining how white men, white women, and Black men participate in a culture of patriarchal domination and subjugation—hooks turns her attention to Black women. Throughout the text, hooks argues that Black women face the greatest amount of discrimination and oppression as a result of white capitalist patriarchy. The Intersectionality of Racism and Sexism places Black women in the unique position of experiencing hatred from all sides while being expected to support other groups’ liberation. As white women and Black men created political identities for themselves, Black women remained invisible, even as they experienced animosity and harassment. hooks explains that history books often leave out the considerable contributions made by Black women toward social justice and cites examples, drawing on more obscure scholarly texts to provide evidence. As such, Ain't I a Woman becomes increasingly grounded in history and facts rather than pure theory or philosophy.

The civil rights movement illustrates hooks’s point. hooks refers to the major figures of the civil rights movement who are taught in schools, like Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Roy Wilkins. hooks argues that these names appear more readily within our cultural consciousness because Black civil rights leaders supported Black male patriarchy, allowing these Black men to join the ranks of great men of history. Once more, hooks outlines the irony of a movement that focuses on liberation for some while enacting oppression over others. During World War II, both white and Black women entered the workforce to support war efforts and make enough money to support their families. After the war ended, white and Black men alike were ready to see women return to submissive, domesticated positions, even while Black men returned to an America that segregated and oppressed them. hooks asserts that in the post-war era, the forcefulness of Black male patriarchy led many white men to sympathize with the civil rights and Black Power movements. She argues that this provides evidence of how patriarchal woman-hating has the ability to supersede other forms of bias. The Impact of Patriarchal Culture is so great that it allows those it once oppressed to serve its cause in oppressing women.

Referring to contemporary feminist politics at the time the book was published, hooks understands why many Black women seek to create and participate in separate movements from white women or Black men, stating that “[s]isterhood for most white women did not mean surrendering allegiance to race, class, and sexual preference” (188). hooks argues that white women are generally unwilling to accept that a feminist movement focused on all women is needed. In this closing chapter, hooks highlights her position within an identity of Black womanhood and how she found her place in activism and feminism. Like other Black women, hooks is frustrated with what she sees in white feminist activism. hooks underscores the main point of her book in the conclusion, stating that white feminism has allowed capitalism, patriarchy, and self-preservation to overtake and direct efforts toward equality. Therefore, women’s liberation movements often end up supporting rather than deconstructing racist imperialism. She ends her book with a call for a collective and unified feminist movement focused on intersectionality, saying this solidarity is key to dismantling oppressive structures.