A potent and electrifying critique of today's feminist movement announcing a fresh new voice in Black feminism, the New York Times bestseller Hood Feminism is the perfect pick for book clubs looking to discuss topics of gender, race, class, and social justice.
About Hood Feminism
A New York Times Bestseller
Today's feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues. All too often, however, the focus is not on basic survival for the many, but on increasing privilege for the few. That feminists refuse to prioritize these issues has only exacerbated the age-old problem of both internecine discord and women who rebuff at carrying the title. Moreover, prominent white feminists broadly suffer from their own myopia with regard to how things like race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity as a movement, Kendall asks, when there is the distinct likelihood that some women are oppressing others?
In her searing collection of essays, Mikki Kendall takes aim at the legitimacy of the modern feminist movement, arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women. Drawing on her own experiences with hunger, violence, and hypersexualization, along with incisive commentary on politics, pop culture, the stigma of mental health, and more, Hood Feminism delivers an irrefutable indictment of a movement in flux. An unforgettable debut, Kendall has written a ferocious clarion call to all would-be feminists to live out the true mandate of the movement in thought and in deed.
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An excerpt from the book
A Q&A with Mikki Kendall
Discussion questions
Ideas for further reading
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About the author
Mikki Kendall
Mikki Kendall is a writer, speaker, and blogger whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Guardian, TIME, Salon, Ebony, Essence, and elsewhere. An accomplished public speaker, she has discussed race, feminism, violence in Chicago, tech, pop culture, and social media on NPR's Tell Me More, Al Jazeera's The Listening Post, BBC Women's Hour, Huffington Post Live, as well as at universities across the country. In 2017, she was awarded Best Food Essay from the Association of Food Journalists for her essay on hot sauce, Jim Crow, and Beyoncé. She co-edited the Locus nominated anthology Hidden Youth, and is part of the Hugo-nominated team of editors at Fireside Magazine. A veteran, she lives in Chicago with her family.
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What people are saying about Hood Feminism
“One of the most important books of the current moment.”—Time
“A brutally candid and unobstructed portrait of mainstream white feminism.” —Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist
"If Hood Feminism is a searing indictment of mainstream feminism, it is also an invitation. . . . [Kendall] offers guidance for how we can all do better." —NPR.org
"A rousing call to action for today's feminists. It should be required reading for everyone." —Gabrielle Union, author of We're Going to Need More Wine
“Beautifully centers on the experience of women who face an actual battle on the front lines while mainstream feminists clamor for access to the officers’ club.”—The Washington Post
“This book is an act of fierce love and advocacy, and it is urgently necessary.” —Samantha Irby, author of Meaty and We Are Never Meeting in Real Life
“My wish is that every white woman who calls herself a feminist (as I do) will read this book in a state of hushed and humble respect. Mikki Kendall is calling out white feminists here—and it’s long overdue that we drop our defenses, listen to her arguments carefully, and then change our entire way of thinking and behaving. As Kendall explains in eloquent and searing simplicity, any feminism that focuses on inequality between men and women without addressing the inequalities BETWEEN women is not only useless, but actually harmful. In the growing public conversation about race, class, status, privilege, and power, this text is essential reading.” —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic and City of Girls
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