Adam’s Reviews > Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism > Status Update
Adam
is 37% done
I had quite a bit of notes on this which I summarized with ChatGPT which actually maintained most of my wording, just cleaning up the structure a bit, but
Main thing I would want to point out in this update is that hooks has been talking about how black women after emancipation are still seen as hyper sexual objects and assaulted relentlessly, with a mythos paralleling that of black men seen in porn today
— Jun 10, 2026 02:41PM
Main thing I would want to point out in this update is that hooks has been talking about how black women after emancipation are still seen as hyper sexual objects and assaulted relentlessly, with a mythos paralleling that of black men seen in porn today
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Adam
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Hooks wanted to focus on the unique status of black women and their intersectional identity, addressing how most people either discuss Black people regarding racism or white women regarding feminism, but never black women about much of anything.
White women coupled with black slaves for more workers by white men. Laws enacted to prevent this which is kind of good (for the wrong reasons naturally)? Geeked!
— Jun 09, 2026 02:33PM
White women coupled with black slaves for more workers by white men. Laws enacted to prevent this which is kind of good (for the wrong reasons naturally)? Geeked!
* …being a woman was considered the worst possible thing.
* Main concern of some abolitionists was supposedly “saving” white men from being with Black women. Depravity! Literally Ralph Waldo Emerson, oh my god 😭
* Bestiality and barbarism were apparently not uncommon among early European pioneers in the New World. Lovely.
* Guilt about sex is presented as a major source of misogyny:
* Fear of sex and a preoccupation with defining women primarily as sexual beings.
* Later, white women become goddesses and are idealized as innocent and virtuous.
* White women were happy to accept and absorb this sexism.
* “Not interested in sex due to pregnancy anyway!”
* “Cool! I’ll take that status!”
* Men still didn’t actually like them, just sentimentalized and idealized them. That’s great, honey…
* Meanwhile, Black women get the lovely pleasure of picking up the slack, and their reputations get trashed inversely to how white women were held up.
* “Jezebels and temptresses.”
* Breeding slaves, specifically breeding with white men to obtain mulatto status.
* Whites mocked Black women’s attempts at feminization, such as wearing dresses after emancipation.
* Black women were endlessly sexually assaulted and viewed as whores regardless of their behavior.
* To this day, Black people are still seen through hypersexual stereotypes dating back centuries.
* Jim Crow-era mythology has survived for generations.
* Literally BBC bull stuff for both genders back then.
* Feminist sexual freedom and contraceptives made white women seem less divine and special. Hahahahah.
* Hooks portrays SNL as something of a minstrel show, often mocking Black women, with Black men portraying them, which sort of unfortunately contribute to my idea of hooks as a bit out of touch with the reality of pulp culture which I feel hurts her argument just a bit at least
* Parents warned Black women about white male exploiters but not Black men.
* This created an interesting inversion compared to earlier periods when Black men were portrayed as dangerous to white women