Title: Writing on Glass — The Essential bell hooks
Headings: Writing on Glass
Writing on Glass
Content: Unfortunately, feminism has made some missteps that patriarchal culture exploited to give the movement a bad name. The first phenomenon was the rise of an anti-male feminist faction, comprised of many women who came from abusive relationships with men and harbored understandable anger. Then came the denial, mainly from white, well-educated, upper-class feminists, that race and class play a formative role in womanhood. These women focused their attention on the white-collar work world, leaving masses of working class and impoverished women behind. To top it off, feminism scared many people away by undervaluing love and becoming overtly academic. Mass media capitalized on these missteps to label feminists as "man-haters." The media amplified anti-male feminists and portrayed them as the feminist archetype. As bell hooks note, "Conservative mass media constantly represented feminist women as man-haters. And when there was an anti-male faction or sentiment in the movement, they highlighted it as a way of discrediting feminism...Feminists who called for a recognition of men as comrades in struggle never received mass media attention." But contrary to common perception, feminism embraces men.