The black woman’s body is being used to reinforce oppression by the “imperialist, white supremacist, patriarchal structure,” black feminist author bell hooks told an audience of about 500 people Wednesday night at Ryan Family Auditorium.
Groups including For Members Only, Northwestern’s black student alliance, and College Feminists brought hooks to campus as part of the Black History Month’s Black Women Authors Series. hooks does not capitalize her name.
hooks talked about an array of topics, from the devaluation of black women to the problems with materialism in a modern society.
hooks said she thought Coretta Scott King’s funeral was a “pageant” where “Bushites and purveyors of war” used King for their interests.
“The body of the black woman becomes utterly devalued,” she said. “The bodies are used by everybody to assert whatever agenda they have.”
Women’s bodies are used as vessels on which the oppressors can impose a patriarchal view of women, hooks said. She told the story of a man interviewed after Hurricane Katrina whose wife told him to leave her and save their children.
“A dead woman’s body becomes a way of reinscribing to all women of what a good mother should be,” hooks said.
She said Condoleezza Rice is another example of exploitation because she was “feminized” after becoming Secretary of State. hooks joked that Rice was probably instructed to wear Chanel suits and smile more.
hooks is one of the leading black feminists and a professor at Berea College in Berea, Ky. She has published more than 20 books, starting with “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism.”
hooks also talked about representation of black woman in the media. She called the 2005 movie “Crash” a “piece of shit.” Loud applause interrupted her speech at that point.
“The message of the movie is that we are all racists,” she said. “There was not any image of a black woman’s body that was not degraded in that film.”
hooks also talked about greed and addiction to money in the modern world. She said many Americans associate wealth with freedom, rather than focusing on true values.
“It is important to refuse and resist the patriarchal view that shows money as the way to happiness,” she said.
hooks also said it was important for liberals to fulfill people’s spiritual needs.
“As long as the left does not address the needs of the spiritual right, the right will take over the people of color,” she said. She said many civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, discovered their calling through spirituality.
hooks was well-received by the audience, which often broke into applause.
Alissa Anderson, a Weinberg sophomore, said she appreciated the nuanced perspective that hooks offered the audience.
“She was not playing the blame game,” she said. “She looks at things in a complex way. Her speech underscored how she is trying to get away from binary thinking.”
Michael Collins, coordinator of FMO, also said hooks offered a refreshing perspective.
“I think this campus can stand to see more black intellectuals, particularly black female intellectuals,” the Weinberg junior said. “bell hooks provided a good example of both and helped expose all of us to a narrative that is not prevalent in academia and society.”
Reach Ketul Patel at [email protected].
