Bell Hooks
The Significance of Feminist Movement
What does hooks see as the mistakes of the early feminists?
hook felt that women behind the feminist movement of the past put forth the idea that men were the enemy. “Fundamentally, they argued that all men are the enemies of all woman and proposed as a solution to this problem a utopian woman nation, separatist communities, and even the subjugation or extermination of all men”(hook 824-825). Through this it is easily understood why this idea was a mistake. Separating men and women would not solve the problem, it would only greaten the tension between the sexes. This idea has created the problem that many people have with feminist nowadays, even though they do not believe in the idea of the previous feminist movement. This idea gives feminist a bad name and people tend to think that women who are feminists hate men, when this is not the case. The ideas from the past favored women over men. “Militant white women were partially eager to make feminist movements privilege women over men”(hook 824). This idea is not correct because neither sex should be higher then the other, however woman of the past were very much degraded and were under the power of their husbands. This being the case, women of the past were probably so upset with how life was, that this might have given them hatred towards men. If every man had the opportunity to treat me this way, then I would have probably hated men in that time also. This idea is wrong, but when something like this happens anger tends to arise.


Works Cited
hook, bell. “The Significance of Feminist Movement.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus. 7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 824-831.

Carol Gilligan’s
Woman’s Place in Man’s life Cycle
What are the differences between men and women in terms of the way they regard relationships?
According to Gilligan, “ male gender identity is threatened by intimacy while female gender identity is threatened by separation. Thus males tend to have difficulty with relationships, while females tend to have problems with individualism”(Gilligan 804). Through this is can be understood that men from the beginning want to be separated from their mothers, while women like to hold on the their mothers and form a bond. This idea supports why men are threatened by a relationship with a woman because since they were young they used the idea of separation towards women. According to Erikson, identity is related to how someone deals with a relationship. Women hold their identity though the man they attract then through the man they marry, “while for men, identity precedes intimacy and generativity in the optimal cycle of human separation and attachment, for women these tasks seem infused” (Gilligan 807). Erikson’s idea is that women show their identity thought their relationship with others, while men show theirs through they individualism. “Chodorow argues that the existence of the sex differs in the early experiences of the individual and the relationship “does not mean that women have ‘weaker’ ego boundaries than men or are more prone to psychosis.” It means that instead “girls emerge from this period with a bias or ‘empathy’ built into their primary definition of self in a way that boys do not””(Gilligan 803). With this value of empathy women tend to become attached for people and items, where as men have an easier time breaking away and being an individual.

Works Cited
Gilligan, Carol. “Woman’s Place in Man’s life Cycle.” A World of Ideas: Essential Reading for College Writers. Ed. Lee A Jacobus.7th Ed. New York; Bedford St. Martins, 2006. Pp 801-817.