Book Review on “Where We Stand: Class Matters”
Akiba-zemi (GSP490 F12-S13) Book Review 1 Yukimi Ouchi
January 7, 2013 Book Review on “Where We Stand: Class Matters” In her book "Where We Stand: Class Matters", Bell Hooks address the issues of classism interlocking with racism, white supremacist ideology and sexism in contemporary American culture. Her arguments in this book are greatly tied to her personal experience that she moved up from working class to the upper class as she succeeds in academic life and writing many books. Through this book, the most important point she puts emphasis on is the acknowledgment of the complex interlocking of classism, racism and sexism. Bell Hooks is not a poor working-class any more, but she has a background as a black woman living in a racially segregated area, which seems to make her spend a great part of the book to argue racism despite it is mainly about classism.
Although most people may think that America is one of the richest and the most developed countries in the world, Bell Hooks shows the negative side of the society. If I had some keywords that I thought express America before I read this book, I would say equality, diversity, and freedom. But, Bell Hooks made me question those images and what the reality in this country is. It is true that people in America love those ideas and seem to have achieved them in a long history of revolution, civil rights movement, women's movement and other social movements, however, I found that there is still a huge number of people suffering under oppression of the privileged population but have been kept invisible and ignored. Hooks repeats again and again that almost all the people from risk to poor stay away from talking about class in general and so they are unconscious about where they stand in a society. According to her argument, I realized the reason why they have fear talking about it is different between the rich and the poor. At the very beginning of the
January 7, 2013 Book Review on “Where We Stand: Class Matters” In her book "Where We Stand: Class Matters", Bell Hooks address the issues of classism interlocking with racism, white supremacist ideology and sexism in contemporary American culture. Her arguments in this book are greatly tied to her personal experience that she moved up from working class to the upper class as she succeeds in academic life and writing many books. Through this book, the most important point she puts emphasis on is the acknowledgment of the complex interlocking of classism, racism and sexism. Bell Hooks is not a poor working-class any more, but she has a background as a black woman living in a racially segregated area, which seems to make her spend a great part of the book to argue racism despite it is mainly about classism.
Although most people may think that America is one of the richest and the most developed countries in the world, Bell Hooks shows the negative side of the society. If I had some keywords that I thought express America before I read this book, I would say equality, diversity, and freedom. But, Bell Hooks made me question those images and what the reality in this country is. It is true that people in America love those ideas and seem to have achieved them in a long history of revolution, civil rights movement, women's movement and other social movements, however, I found that there is still a huge number of people suffering under oppression of the privileged population but have been kept invisible and ignored. Hooks repeats again and again that almost all the people from risk to poor stay away from talking about class in general and so they are unconscious about where they stand in a society. According to her argument, I realized the reason why they have fear talking about it is different between the rich and the poor. At the very beginning of the