Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism

In this chapter, hooks turns her attention to the 1960s women’s liberation movement. She explores how white male patriarchy created the framework for Black male patriarchy, along with how Black male patriarchy informed the civil rights and Black Power movements. hooks explains that the mainstream focus on Black male violence is a conscious effort of white hegemony to draw attention away from white male violence. However, a failure to fully examine Black male patriarchy ignores the ways it oppresses and endangers Black women—and is a form of self-oppression among men: “There can be no freedom for patriarchal men of all races as long as they advocate subjugation of women. Absolute power for patriarchs is not freeing” (117).

The women’s liberation movement, which was organized and operated mostly by middle-class white women, did not emphasize patriarchal power among Black men or how patriarchy infuses all class levels. hooks asserts that Black male sexists were able to escape notice due to the attention placed upon white male sexists. She argues that Black men and women have difficulty acknowledging sexism in their lives when racism has impacted them so deeply. However, hooks proposes that Black male sexism occurred before and was affirmed by slavery.