This week’s reading reminded me of last year’s quarantine amid the pandemic when I read Bell Hook’s “Communion: The Female Search for Love”. My mom had given me the book and has always been very passionate about speaking to me about feminism, which is something that I’m very grateful for. Bell Hook’s is a great author because she approaches subjects in a way that feels very accessible and immediately gives definitions of concepts so that the reader can understand what she’s talking about. In her book that I read she would often talk about the fact that mostly women take gender studies courses rather than men, even though the topic is something that is important for everybody. Men typically don’t care as much about feminism because they don’t see how they benefit from it, even though for example, toxic masculinity and gender roles harmfully affect everybody. Although, at times even I didn’t want to care about learning about feminism and gender studies. I was afraid at times that I would be alienated in society for noticing or speaking up about sexism. Bell Hook’s writing made it feel more real and important to notice my self-worth enough to be able to call out things that make me uncomfortable. I also read it right before moving out with my boyfriend which was great timing as it gave me food for thought when it came to noticing gender roles around the house and things like that.