A Critical Analysis Of Sheryl Sandberg And Bell Hooks

“If my generation was too naïve, the generations that have followed may be too practical. We knew too little, and now girls know too much.” (Sandberg. Pg. 646) In the past, the call for women’s rights was heated as much as it was alive; many women today believe that they no longer need feminism in their lives. The misconception that feminist ideals are outdated has lead modern women to fall short in their desire to accomplish more. Sheryl Sandberg refuels feminist goals in the article “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid.” She addresses lack of females in the work force, as well as, the way society prompts boys compared to girls. Bell Hook, in contrast, provides a deeper understanding of feminist ideals, along with, an in depth analysis of Sandberg’s work. The articles written by Bell Hook and Sheryl Sandberg express each woman’s perspective on modern feminism; although they both call for action, Sandberg focuses on the inequality between the sexes, while Hook broadens the overall argument to include topics such as race, sexuality and class equality.

bell hook is a famous feminist author who wrote the book “Feminism Is For Everybody” hooks attempt to create a quick, simple start on feminist history, theory, and politics to the masses who receive a misinformation, misunderstood, and maligned version of the feminist movement. Hooks says “To understand feminism it implies one has to necessarily understand sexism”.We define feminism as the advocacy of women 's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.Where she simply define and shows that being feminism does not mean women have to become mean or they are better than men,she simply saying that men and women need to be equal like the civil right movements. The book begins with a brief statement of feminist political positions, then discusses some history of the movement.She discusses the change in the movement from personal to groups where women have close relationships with one another and began to feel personally empowered by their participation in the establishment of large, and how some women feel like they are working for the high middle-class women.Every single time it doesn’t matter you a women or men, you will always have someone in the higher level than you.hooks feel like it will very exciting for the women who have the power to work with other so they could build each other up..Hooks views the formation of large women’s organizations as the beginning of a stage where the movement took on the role of

hooks felt hurt because her dad was a janitor. That was why it was so hard for her to look down on the working-class. Would it be easy for you to be able to suddenly look down upon your parents if they raised you to respect them? Because Stanford even accepted her into their institution, hooks felt as though she needed to act privileged. When she refused, the university and its students considered her rebellious; however, if she had not refused, she would have been ignoring and forgetting the values that she had learned from her parents.

In some cases, this can lead to show bias, as the writer can accidentally focus on the pros of their own side, and the cons of the opposite side. A good writer, such as hooks, can use this strategy without too much of a problem. For example, her writings compare & contrast two definitions of feminism: her own, and the common, anti-male definition. The standard definition of feminism is “the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary. While this definition is similar to the one that hooks uses, she expands feminism to not only include anti-sexism, but also includes the possibility of anti-racism. By writing “The feminism they hear about the most is portrayed by women who are primarily committed to gender equality…” (hooks, pg1), she helps us to understand exactly how different the two definitions are. By using this strategy, hooks is able to make herself seem more credible, as well as allow us to make our own decision on feminism.

It is important that we hold onto and cherish our past so that we may never be divided from it. One way hooks remains faithful to her working class past is by speaking or writing in an "anti-intellectual" way. When hooks feels she has an audience this would apply to, despite the criticism she may receive, she uses eye contact, speaking directly to the audience. As hook points out, "..., the use of a language and style of presentation that alienates most folks who are not also academically trained reinforces the notion that the academic world is separate from the real life, that everyday world where we constantly adjust our language and behavior to meet diverse needs" (90). It is important that people work to keep the academic world from being a separate world as bell hooks has done.

Through this book, the most important point she puts emphasis on is the acknowledgment of the complex interlocking of classism, racism and sexism. Bell Hooks is not a poor working-class any more,

Gender stereotypes are one of the most common encountered on a daily basis. The infamous ‘Glass Ceiling’ still exists in many areas of the professional world, restricting valid promotions simply based on gender. This type of concept can be verified by looking at comparative weekly wages of other professionals in a variety of industries. Most people will generally see female dominated occupations, such as nurse, teacher and secretary as requiring feminine personality traits and physical attributes for success; whereas male dominated occupations such as doctor, lawyer, and business executive are seen to require male personality traits for success (Sanderson, 2010, p. 344).

Hooks did not fit in with her peers at either undergraduate university she attended. At the all girls school near her home the girls were all wealthier than she was and they lacked her educational ambition. Hooks “lived in the world of books ” while her classmates had “giggles and their obsession to marry” (26, 25). Their separate spheres kept them socially divided, but it didn’t stop the popular girls from going into hooks’ room and destroying and making a mess of all her things. They saw it as a joke, but hooks was not able to “replace broken things, perfume poured out, or talcum powder spread everywhere” (27). They crushed not only her physical items, but also her spirit. The other girls had a sense of entitlement because of class privilege. This blinded them to the feelings of others, and made hooks feel inferior. This sense of inferiority started much earlier in her life, and followed her throughout her academic career.

Given these points, both women agree that there is a problem with equality in our society. They understand that not as many women are being recognized and are in positions of power. However, both women do not address the same reasons why. As Sandberg puts the reason for the lack of female leadership in corporate jobs and careers is because the lack of motivation that comes from the women in the workforce. This is so from fear of risking stability of finance, work, and home-life or contentment with them all. Hooks instead believes that our society that is dominated by white supremacist capitalist patriarchy only allows for certain white privileged females such as Sandberg to rise to power, enabling her to push a faux feminism agenda that only

I am not a feminist simply because I was raised in a feminist household. I am not a feminist because I am an independent, educated woman. I am not a feminist because I am a bitter female, nor because I am a “woman scorned.” I am not a feminist because I hate men, nor because I am a lesbian nor because I like to listen to the Indigo Girls. To the contrary I love men and I am not a lesbian. While I agree with hooks that “feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (viii), I believe that her definition of “feminism” states the goals of the movement rather than actually defining the term itself. In my mind, feminism is a synonym for equality. I am a feminist

"Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's about making life more fair for woman everywhere. It's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It's about baking a new pie" (Steinem). This quote was best for the topic because writing on how the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying to secretly tell us how feminism works. The quote breaks down on how feminists want people to view women and to ensure that everyone gets treated the same no matter the gender. People think that Gloria Steinem wanted God to tell people to become leaders instead of followers, like she wanted people to step up. She says it's about creating something new and if people instead of "trying" to help they create it. Feminism was never about making women superior to men but to have equal rights as men. The Scarlet Letter is a book written by a male but critics say it's a work of feminism. People say it's a work of feminism because of many aspects such as Hester's strong character, she raises her daughter without a father, and doesn't let the townspeople bring her down.

The theories of Laura Mulvey and Bell Hooks share their views on how individuals who attend the cinema have the opportunity to gaze and interrupt the messages that are being portrayed. Based upon their views, spectators can have their own beliefs and views of life and not have to focus on societal practices of racism and sexism. The article “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” critiqued by Mulvey, focused on how sexism and voyeurism were the main theme in terms of how males dominated society and how woman were subservient to males due to castration. In the article “In Black Looks: Race and Representation” Chapter 7, The Oppositional Gaze, Hooks mainly focused on black woman’s identity and touches on both sexism and male/white female dominance over them. Both Mulvey and Hooks help to focus ones attention on how the white male sexist and black racial domination is portrayed by Hollywood in cinema. An example of this portrayal is represented by the movie “The Help”, produced in 2011 and directed by Tate Taylor.

Stereotype threats are negative consequences about one’s race, sex, nationality, or social group. Stereotype threats are used a lot more frequently than people realize. Gender is a powerful stereotype that affects many people’s decisions and actions. The stereotype of women in the workplace has come a long way even in the last twenty years. Many businesses tend to want to diversify their demographics by making the ratio of men to women almost equal. “Demographic projections anticipate that by the year 2000 women will exceed 50 per cent of the total workforce…” (Johnston and Packer, 1987). Women were able to make their way in to the workplace when men were off at war during the 1950s. During this time, women proved their ability to do the same kind of jobs men did. Many women worked as machinist, factory workers, and clergies.

In the article "Understanding Patriarchy” by Bell Hooks, the ideology of patriarchy is presented to her audience while she explains some of the basics of feminism and how they relate to current challenges to gender roles. Hook begins the article by establishing her relevance to the topic by giving specific examples of her childhood living in a patriarchal home. She explains in detail some of the occurrences growing up in an isolated area in a home with patriarchal views and how they affected her. Hook then transitions into her professional life as a feminist and shows her views on patriarchy, gender roles, and gives a possible solutions to the societal issues brought about by patriarchy. The relevance of patriarchy is brought to the forefront in this article addressing the cultural denial of patriarchy by society. Hook explains how children growing up even in single parent families or non-patriarchal families still get patriarchal ideologies from the world around them. Approaching the end of the article Hook begins to go into detail on the impacts of patriarchal views on both men and women. Hook references patriarchy’s impact on gender roles. She pleads for the acknowledgment of patriarchy and its harmful effects on society and focuses on its effects on males. Hook concludes by giving a solution to the ill effects of patriarchy, stating it must be taken seriously, and addressed by men and women alike.

In Feminist Theory: from margin to center, bell hook states on the first page what she believes to be the problem with feminism. In her opinion the biggest problem with feminism is that there is no real definition of what feminism is. The definition many people have formulated for feminism is having the goal of making woman socially equal to men. hook’s problem with this is the fact that all men are not socially equal. If women are to be the social equals to men then another question would be which men women will be socially equal to. While many white middle and upper class women accept this definition, the lower socioeconomic classes can not because it does not take race and its disadvantages