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Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black

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bell hooks writes about the meaning of feminist consciousness in daily life and about self-recovery, about overcoming white and male supremacy, and about intimate relationships, exploring the point where the public and private meet.

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

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About the author

bell hooks

162 books14.2k followers
bell hooks (deliberately in lower-case; born Gloria Jean Watkins) was an African-American author, feminist, and social activist. Her writing focused on the interconnectivity of race, class, and gender and their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and domination. She published over thirty books and numerous scholarly and mainstream articles, appeared in several documentary films and participated in various public lectures. Primarily through a postmodern female perspective, she addressed race, class, and gender in education, art, history, sexuality, mass media and feminism.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 130 reviews
Profile Image for Zanna.
676 reviews1,087 followers
March 10, 2016
This is the earliest of bell hooks' books that I've read, and the first time I've read about her family and educational background in so much detail. At the start of the book, she discusses how talking about these topics has been difficult for her because they are not permissible topics in her milieu, for instance, black people and other people of colour have protected themselves from aspects of white supremacy by keeping quiet (also, she talks about ridiculing the thoughtless, annoying, self-obsessed way white people often talk about themselves, a ridicule that can discourage people from talking about any personal stuff at all). This is one of the many ways she addresses in this book the modes of silencing that operate against black women and other marginalised people. The title reflects her determination to refuse to be silenced, to speak against regulations and expectations. She quotes from Audre Lorde's poem 'Litany for Survival':

and when we speak we are afraid
our words will not be heard
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid

So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive


She also explains her choice of pseudonym – bell hooks was a female relative remembered as someone who spoke boldly, out of turn. A longer essay towards the end of the book elaborates on this and how useful she found the pseudonym to take to focus away from herself and to what she had to say. This relates to her critique of the feminist saw 'the personal is political', which she appreciates but flags as dangerous, arguing that while politics may begin with the personal, if we stop there, if we don't move beyond the personal into community and solidarity, then the world doesn't change.

Another key theme here is race, sex and class in the education system, particularly in graduate school. Mostly, she is discussing structural oppression, but discrimination in her own experience was often quite overt; she shares that at least one of her teachers told her openly that he would fail her regardless of the quality of her work, and that she and other students were constantly discouraged from focussing on the work of black women. She draws on her experience as a teacher to think through issues that are still highly relevant, such as whether a white person should write about black people or other people of colour. On this question, she suggests that what is problematic is the white person being seen as an authority on the topic, something that is likely to happen regardless of their intentions. Writing about a group of people you don't belong to, who are more marginalised than you, could be a very misguided attempt to be an ally:
In a conversation with a Chicano historian about white scholars writing about Chicano history, he mentioned a conference where a famous white male spoke of the necessity of white people writing on Chicanos so as to give the subject scholarly legitimacy, to ensure that such work would receive proper attention, consideration, and scholarly respect
Still, this nuanced essay isn't condemnatory of all such writing, and she critiques Joanna Russ' book How to Suppress Women's Writing for the way Russ humbly 'stresses the importance of literature by women of color by saying that as a white woman scholar she was not in a position to speak about these works. Towards the end of the book, she listed many quotes from women of color ostensibly encouraging readers to read these writers, to see their words as important. Yet this gesture disturbed me because it also implied that women of color represent this group whose experiences and whose writing is so removed from that of white women that they cannot address such work critically and analytically. This assumption may very well reinforce racism. It helps take the burden of accountability away from white women and places it solely onto women of color.'

in essays such as 'towards a revolutionary feminist pedagogy' (the titles generally make you want to jump up and shout YEAH) she critiques traditional college teaching practices which place the teacher in an authoritarian role. She is especially disappointed by white male Marxist professors who use traditional styles, pointing to the hypocrisy of preaching liberatory practice while failing to embody it. Hooks often quotes Paulo Freire and describes aspects of her own teaching practice wherein she attempted to move towards a liberatory pedagogy, making it necessary for each student to contribute. She stresses that this was hard for the students and that they often reacted negatively, and this made it hard for her too; she had to give up her need to be liked by students. However, many students would come to her after courses had finished and share that they had gained so much, and failed to realise it at the time, so the rewards come, just late.

Yet another issue raised about Women's Studies courses is the tendency to see white women's work as theoretical while black women's writing could contribute only lived experience; on many courses the only work assigned by black women was The Color Purple, and this would often be the only non-theoretical work. It is a struggle for black women gain recognition as intellectuals or feminist philosophers rather than as experts only on black women's experience.

The Color Purple gets a happier mention in discussions of heterosexism = ) I always find hooks' work on pop culture memorable and incisive, and that includes her strong critique of Spike Lee's She's Gotta Have It here.

I really enjoyed hooks' discussions of class and education that wove in a lot of autobiographical material. As always, she uses a personal approach to bring such a fine clarity to her work and the effort to make it accessible and avoid 'linguistically convoluted' writing is evident.

Discussions of violence in intimate relationships and the shortcomings and white supremacy of much white women's feminist practice begin here and are addressed in more depth in her later work, but the essay on feminism and militarism stuck out to me; she strongly rejects the idea that women are inherently less violent than men and the image of women as natural nurturing pacifists that some anti-militarist activists were using. Non-violence is not a biological impulse!

It was also moving to read some of hooks' thoughts on black women's writing as well as other forms of 'coming to voice'. She speaks about her own great difficulty writing her first book Ain't I a Woman while working full time and then how hard it was to get it published. If she hadn't been incredibly determined, this book might never have been written. I shudder to imagine a world without bell hooks...

Her wish for feminism to resume existence beyond its problematic location in the academy has at least come true – whether feminists are meeting in small groups to share their thoughts I don't know, but the internet has done more than most folks' wildest dreams in the '80s to create community & connection.
Profile Image for Michael Finocchiaro.
Author 3 books6,259 followers
April 17, 2017
bell hooks is one of the best theorists of 20th-21st C feminism and this, one of her early books, is an outstanding analysis of how to oppose sexism and racism. Perhaps a timely re-read for me know during the oppressive era of Drumpfism, I recall it was one of my favourite books of hers along with Ain't I A Woman and Bone Black. Definitely worth your time - her writing is engaging and witty and absolutely, sadly relevant still 27 years later.
Profile Image for June García.
Author 8 books2,054 followers
November 4, 2022
DEMASIADO BUENO. Qué capa bell hooks! Me encantó conocer más de su historia, de los orígenes de sus reflexiones, me pareció súper interpelador, asombrosamente completo sin ser tedioso ni complicado. Increíbles análisis sobre la educación y la cultura. Interseccionalidad mi gente, aquí queda clarito por qué la necesitamos tanto. Gracias bell por tanto aporte, tus ideas sobre el racismo y el patriarcado siguen siendo demasiado necesarias.
Profile Image for Shonell Bacon.
56 reviews176 followers
April 13, 2011
It's hard for me to put into words how much I loved this book, but I will have to soon as it's part of my dissertation reading list. One reason I love? I'm a fan of blending the academic with the personal, with writing that aids in elevating the mind but doesn't put up a wall between the words and the reader. Another reason? This book called me to remember my own life, own stories and how being black and female was read, handled, and lived in the many spaces I've traveled in my life. Another reason? It's a call to everyone, not just black women or black people, but all people who want to end sexism, racism, classism, all forms of oppression that binds groups and keeps them from having voices in their stories, in their worlds. It is one of those books that as you read, you can feel your brain shifting, you can feel thoughts being questioned and examined. It makes you become critical--and not in a bad way. We would all do well to not take everything at face value, to look at not only ourselves but also others to make the world and spaces we traverse in betters venues for all people. Much more I could write, but I'll save that for another day.
Profile Image for Iris L.
430 reviews59 followers
June 18, 2024
Hooks explora el movimiento feminista negro y su navegación por la raza, la clase y el género a través de una serie de ensayos desde su entendimiento personal.

La autora hace memoria como “respondona” desde su infancia en el sur de los Estados Unidos donde se consideraba no solo transgresor, sino un acto inaceptable y muchas veces castigado. Especialmente se suponía que las chicas no debían "responder" o desafiar a la autoridad, y hooks utiliza este aspecto biográfico para explorar el papel de hablar, ya que se relaciona en gran medida con los grupos oprimidos.
Ella define el concepto de “respondona” como un "acto de resistencia" y un "gesto político"
3.5 ⭐️
Profile Image for Jenny Jaramillo .
346 reviews87 followers
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December 1, 2023
Este es el primer libro que leo de bell hooks y desde el primer párrafo quedé flechada. ¡Qué poder! En esta colección de ensayos, la autora explora temas relacionados con el feminismo negro, la interseccionalidad y ofrece perspectivas críticas sobre la opresión y la liberación de las mujeres negras en el contexto de la teoría feminista.
«Atrevernos a superar el miedo a alzar la voz y a decirle la verdad al poder, sigue siendo una de las prioridades clave de todas las mujeres».
Quedé con ganas de leer toda la obra de bell hooks, pues me di cuenta de que tengo muchísimo por aprender.
Profile Image for Jimmy.
513 reviews905 followers
May 4, 2020
This is the first book of hers that I've read, but already I love bell hooks. In each essay, her warmth and compassion and personality comes through, even as she tackles topics in a rigorous academic way. She doesn't see the two as opposites unrelated worlds, but aims to bring feminism and racial justice activism to everyday people, i.e. the people who need it the most. In every realm, she is constantly questioning herself and the institutions around her for signs of the culture of domination, for she thinks that this is the root cause of more obvious societal ills like white supremacy and sexism. However, that same root cause can creep up even in places that are supposed to teach you NOT to be sexist or racist: the liberal college classroom, where the professor, just by the way she communicates, can unconsciously further the dynamic of domination towards his/her students. This is just one example of many, but her constant self questioning is very refreshing to hear. She always starts from a concrete personal story, but transcends the personal to talk about the systemic issues that it brings up.
Profile Image for smackabook.
81 reviews9 followers
November 28, 2021
My first time reading bell hooks' writing, and it definitely won't be the last. Although published in 1999, many of the observations about feminism, racism and other forces of domination are still relevant today as Western society ventures into the 2020s. One of the many aspects I love about Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black is that hooks doesn't use footnotes, as a way to make feminist and critical thought more understandable and accessible to those who are outside of and historically excluded from academic spaces.

Growing up, I always held the view that talking openly about private matters was shameful. But hooks' essays really opened my eyes to several and subtle ways in which our voices are silenced from a very young age.

(Some) Quotes that really stood out to me, and will continue to stay with me:

"I wanted to construct a work that would place distance between personality, identity of speaker, and that spoken about. It was my hope that the text would be more compelling, read not through preconceived perceptions and ideas about the writer." - pg. 275/6

"The fear of exposure, the fear that one’s deepest emotions and innermost thoughts will be
dismissed as mere nonsense, felt by so many young girls keeping diaries, holding and hiding speech, seems to me now one of the barriers that women have always needed and still need to destroy so that we are no longer pushed into secrecy or silence." pg. 24/5

"I was taught that it was important to speak but to talk a talk that was in itself a silence." pg. 25

"Speaking becomes both a way to engage in active self-transformation and a rite of passage where one moves from being object to being subject. Only as subjects can we speak. As objects, we remain voiceless—our beings defined and interpreted by others.! - pg. 34
Profile Image for Lilu.
43 reviews2 followers
November 19, 2022
Una crítica muy necesaria al movimiento feminista. Es un libro brillante, claro y fuerte.
Profile Image for Devin.
218 reviews50 followers
September 20, 2019
bell hooks presents an amazing analysis of race, gender, sexism, misogyny, pedagogy, and education, combining them all through personal anecdotes of her own life.

her essays on education as domination are superb. she constantly references paulo freire whom i desperately need to read. she deconstructs the racist, sexist origins of academia to force a space for Black women that is rightfully theirs.
Profile Image for Kali Daniel.
34 reviews
January 27, 2019
Based on how long it took me, it was a very dense read - I would expect no less from solid feminist theory. I’m familiar with hooks’ other works and did find this to be more rudimentary and reflective.
Profile Image for Amy Layton.
1,641 reviews80 followers
February 10, 2019
This is a book I've been interested in reading for quite some time, and it paid off!  My only regret is that I didn't purchase my own copy, because alas, I couldn't bear to mark up a library book.  bell hooks is an utterly necessary author to read in expanding one's knowledge about feminism and how it intersects with race, gender, sexuality, and class.  She critiques mannerisms of talking, analyzing, critiquing, and what it means both in and outside her classroom, and what it means for one's self.  

Her essays in this collection are just so incredibly powerful and meaningful--it's no wonder that they're a keystone of feminist literature.  What I took away from this book was her urging to critically think and analyze one's own feminism, as well as to identify just exactly what is meant by "the personal is political", a catchphrase that has resurfaced in recent years (though this book was published 20 years ago!).

I find that this book is necessary to educate one's self, and it is so well-worth the read.  Just don't forget your highlighter!

Review cross-listed here!
Profile Image for Angélica Fierro Aponte.
126 reviews5 followers
February 12, 2024
Este libro (audiolibro) fue mi compañero de una gran mudanza. Me sentía una estudiante de bell mientras pintaba paredes y guardaba objetos. Es increíble leer este libro en el 2024 y saber que fue escrito hace décadas. bell fue una escritora que abrió caminos y eso es motivo de mucha gratitud. Siento que mi formación política como feminista va en buen camino gracias a mujeres como ella que nos llaman a hacernos preguntas y a fortalecer nuestro pensamiento crítico.

Lo único que no me gusta de los libros de bell, fuera de ideas ya anticuadas, es que divida el mundo en mujeres negras, blancas y otras de color. Las "otras de color" somos invisibles en su obra, pero bueno, entiendo el punto de escribir fundamentalmente desde el pensamiento negro en un contexto como el que estaba viviendo.
Profile Image for Leerautorasmola.
82 reviews11 followers
August 14, 2024
Pedazo de ensayo, yo diría "ensayo confesional". Porque ella habla de autobiografía pero no es una al uso. Tiene más de ensayo, de plantear los principales puntos de su pensamiento político, que de contar su vida. Porque contar su vida es necesario única y exclusivamente en la medida en que supone una "politización del yo". Es decir, en la medida en que narrar nuestro propio contexto, nos sitúa (en una época, una generación, una comunidad específica) y nos permite reflexionar sobre nuestra propia realidad, para tener voz, pero también para reflexionar y para cambiar lo que no encaje.

Súper interesante. Muy revelador en cuanto a ciertos puntos del panorama del feminismo actual.
Profile Image for Zebadiah Demorest.
34 reviews
February 19, 2025
I really loved this. It’s the perfect combination of personal narrative and theory. I also loved the approach she took to make this into a collection of essays about feminism. There were lots of jumps to different topics, but I felt like it all connected well. Her emphasis on autobiography and stories as a method of political action was great too.

I’m not a huge fan of her theory on teaching, though. I’m wondering if her attitude of “be hard on students and they will appreciate it later” stems from the time this was written. This attitude really seemed antithetical to the themes in this book and I was curious what led her to this
Profile Image for Amy.
946 reviews66 followers
February 24, 2018
As pure coincidence, I began reading this book just a few days before my workplace had a training about Power & Privilege. The trainer had an enlarged bell hooks quote posted at the front of the room. Both the training and this book gave me plenty of ideas to mull over and discuss with friends, including how feminism should include discussions of men, how education can be a force of oppression, and how unchecked white women have and can be harmful to progressing feminist and anti-racist movements. Something we talked about in the training was the four levels of oppression: (intra)personal, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic. Often white people feel comfortable talking about the last two (if they feel comfortable at all) because it allows one to speak on the subject in an abstract and theoretical way, and can take the emphasis off of personal responsibility. In Talking Back, bell hooks touches on all four levels and how they feed off one another, and how we cannot ignore any of them if we ever hope to make radical changes.
Profile Image for Lucía Martín.
100 reviews29 followers
October 11, 2023
Mi amiga Andrea me regaló este titulo de hooks por mi cumple, y no había tenido tiempo de leerlo hasta ahora. Desde que leí Teoría feminista: De los márgenes al centro, siento que en todos sus otros escritos hay restos de lo mismo; y genuinamente este libro no me trajo ninguna idea que ya rondara mi cabeza con anterioridad (pero estoy segura de que puede ser muy lindo de leer para otras personas). Igualmente, este texto tiene un tono más personal, y siempre es muy lindo indagar entre las páginas de hooks.

Profile Image for Patricia.
165 reviews3 followers
July 12, 2017
This is a book of essays by Bell Hooks. I love it when you're feeling a certain way about an issue but you're at a lost for words or can't express your thoughts. Bell Hooks speaks for me in so many ways. I found myself speaking out loud, reading passages to members of my family, adding my own thoughts in the margins on just about every page. I loved it!
Profile Image for Joey.
79 reviews
April 6, 2025
there are definitely a lot of great moments in this text, a lot of great points that bell hooks makes but as a whole the book feels a bit disorganised to me? like yes, there is an underlying thesis of sorts but idk the way it jumped from point to point kinda lost me at times and sometimes some essays felt a bit repetitive
Profile Image for Carmen Cara.
67 reviews3 followers
December 1, 2023
Qué importante es este libro (y qué pena que siga siendo tan importante 34 años después). Me ha abierto la mente en muchos sentidos, sobre todo en los capítulos sobre educación y pedagogía. Me fascina la capacidad de autoanálisis y argumentación de bell hooks.
Profile Image for Sandy L Jaguar.
250 reviews4 followers
April 6, 2024
Siempre disfruto y aprendo de nel hooks. Esta vez se trata de la voz; una serie de ensayos que giran en torno al tema de la voz y su importancia para el ejercicio de la libertad de las mujeres, en específico de las mujeres negras. Genial.
Profile Image for Alex Cassiopeia.
442 reviews19 followers
August 19, 2022
4.5
Es una colección de ensayos estupendos
Creo que hay muchos más elementos a discutir, pero lo que aquí se aborda es muy valioso para su momento de publicación [1988] y para esta época.

Deberíamos hacer círculos de lectura para charlar cada ensayo, desde preparatoria.
Profile Image for Lucy Dominguez.
192 reviews4 followers
January 27, 2025
Entender las diferencias de raza, clase social ,dominio y poder dentro del feminismo es la base para un feminismo que realmente avance en favor del movimiento
24 reviews
March 5, 2025
the way bell hooks thinks about the intersections of sex, class and race and how she articulates her thoughts is so ... chefs kiss

will be reflecting on these essays for years to come
Profile Image for Melodneice.
193 reviews1 follower
July 25, 2025
Oh, the connections I made! While I know every work has a specific audience, I would have liked to see her perspective on how diverse women are impacted by male dominance ideology.
Profile Image for Shannon.
20 reviews
September 14, 2024
There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said about bell hooks. Every time I've read something by her, I come away with a deeper appreciation of her work. Her writing is as lucid as ever in this book, conveying - as always - the significance of intersectionality in feminist work.
Profile Image for liv.
42 reviews1 follower
August 28, 2022
5/5 incredible!! I’ve never read, or should I say TORE through, a feminist book like this. That’s mostly due to its incredible readability while still communicating a very powerful and complex message about intersectionality. The essay style chapters were so effective and interesting. This book left me with such a hunger to dive deeper into the intersectional feminist booksphere and when a book accomplishes that, I think it’s pretty remarkable.
Profile Image for Ale.
67 reviews
April 5, 2025
Respondona habla de las voces marginadas en el primer mundo...
Desde niñas, culturalmente se nos enseña, que "calladitas somos más bonitas", respondona es la oda a defender todas las voces de forma crítica y política, solo asi se generará un cambio profundo de paradigma.
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