In the essay Feminism Is For Everyone, Bell Hooks explains feminism as “A movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.” When I reflect on this definition I gain an understanding that in order for the world to progress, specifically the United states, we must break down the preconcieved notions of a women’s purpose. Hooks lists ending sexism, sexist exploration and oppression because those are the building blocks of patriarchy. At the end of the chapter Hooks states “We can share the simple yet powerful message that feminism is a movement to end sexist oppression. Let’s start there. Let the movement begin again.” Hooks definition of feminism comes full circle in this chapter and enforces that feminism needs to be broken down before it is built back up again. It is difficult to solve centuries of oppression and sexism, therefore this movement requires constant progression from both men and women.

Before reading this essay, I believed that feminism was solely putting an end to the stay at home, cooking and cleaning mother figure, thus, allowing for women to be present in the work place and obtain high positions and gain equal pay to men. I now see that it is much deeper than just fighting for equality and fair pay. Hooks helped me to understand that the at home cooking and cleaning mother figure is a microscopic portion of the bigger picture. I also now know better than to think that feminism is anti-men, for there are many women who were raised to think that men are the breadwinners and women must stay in their lane. In order for feminism to build, both men and women must be present in furthering this movment.

When reading Sex and Gender 101 I was able to dive deeper into the topic of intersex and how chromosome variation plays a huge role in the genital form a person is given at birth, along with hormonal imbalances and complications with sexual development. I was able to clearly break down sex chromosome variations and have it laid out in a way that was understandable. I enjoyed reading the differences of biological sex, gender, and sexual orientation and how these terms are completely separate from one another. It is important to differentiate the three terms and know that each category breaks down into smaller ones, for example, gender breaks down into assignment, identity, and expression. I was also not well versed in the definition of pansexual, being that a person is attracted to the qualities of a person over their biological sex or gender. I find that fascinating, to disregard the physical and exterior aspects of someone and focus on their attributes instead.