Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics

In this chapter, hooks discusses openly the various aspects of sexuality that have become politicized, ranging from “sexist thinking into the roles of madonnas or whores” (85), women’s fears around unwanted pregnancies and abortions, and even the political interpretation of sexual pleasure. No matter what aspect is under discussion, hooks is clear: “Female sexual freedom requires dependable, safe birth control” (86).

At the start of the feminist movement, in the 1960s and 1970s, and even today, “most heterosexual men saw and see a sexually liberated female as one who would be or will be sexual with the least amount of fuss” (86-87), while “radical lesbian activists constantly demanded that straight women reconsider their bonds with men” (87). These expectations meant that the possibility for women to have any sexual freedom at all, within the restraints of patriarchy, seemed completely out of reach. Lesbian relationships proved to be “as emotionally demanding and as fraught with difficulty as any other” (87), so very little difference emerged between sexually-liberated lesbians and sexually-liberated heterosexuals. hooks identifies a feeling of disillusionment that resulted from these unexpected consequences, which led to “masses of young females simply turn[ing] away from feminist thinking…[and finding] their way back to outmoded sexist notions of sexual freedom” (88).