Blog Post 1: bell hooks

I, like many of the other ladies in the class connected more with this piece of writing than our previous one. It was honestly a culture shock reading "Talking Back". I could never imagine growing up in a society where speaking your mind as a women was stifled. I don't think I would be able to function in a world like that. Although it was the norm I was very happy to read and learn that there were women who challenged this aspect of society which must haven taken great courage. I was raised by my mother and grandmother so reading about the strong male presence in her household and how much that dominated her life. I grew up surrounded by strong women and I myself was taught to be strong and to speak my mind. I guess in a way I just can't relate to having that male presence in my life so reading about it was just, shocking for lack of a better word.  hooks said "Had I been a boy, they might have encouraged me to speak believing that I might someday be called to preach." That quote just really resonated with me because her upbringing was so different from girls today, if it is not plainly obvious it was hard for me to grasp the concept of a woman not being able to speak her mind and her own opinions. Another point that hadn't really crossed my mind that hooks brought into light was the fact that women of different faces experience different issues. In my mind I tend to group women as a whole being oppressed and   facing the same issues, when in reality there are so many different aspects of women being oppressed not only based on their gender but their race also.
I found a short essay written by bell hooks that talks about her issues with fitting into society as an African American women based on something as simple as her hair that I found really interested and I hope everyone else will also.
http://www.zcommunications.org/straightening-our-hair-by-bell-hooks