In the essay, “Feminist Politics Where We Stand” bell hooks defines feminism as: “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” I understand this definition to mean that the feminist movement is fighting against  injustice as a whole. This essay explains that the feminist movement confronts issues of race and class as well as gender injustice. Before reading this essay, I thought feminism meant pro-women, anti-men, and fighting for gender equality. hooks opened my eyes to the idea that anybody can be sexist, not just men. Also to the idea that gender equality could never be achieved in a white supremacist capitalist patriarchy. An anti-men movement would make no progress in any inequality or gender issue. In order to progress, there needs to be societal changes which is the reasoning hooks gives for the feminist movement shifting to a political movement. Before reading this essay I hadn’t thought about the idea that even if women are given “equality”, they will still be exploited and taken advantage of. Society has been built to facilitate oppression so without ending sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression, there would be no chance for any form of equality.

The reading “Sex and Gender 101” by Kyl Myers  goes in-depth in intersex and the role that plays in society’s idea of gender. Myers explains that sex is based on biology, meaning girls have XX sex chromosomes and female genitals while boys have XY chromosomes and male genitals. However, he argues that intersex people disprove this idea of sex and gender by having female sex chromosomes and male genitals, ambiguous genitals, only one sex chromosome, or and extra sex chromosome. This argument disproves society’s gender assignment based on sex. This reading shows that sex and gender are too complicated to plainly declare that you are a boy if you have this and a girl if you have that. Being intersex is a prefect example of this because they do not fit into the “guidelines” of the male or female gender. Before reading “Sex and Gender 101”, I was not very informed about intersex people or their role in the topic of gender assignment. It was intresting to see some of the different things that make a person intersex listed in the reading. It really shows how inaccurate gender assignment is. It made me realize that gender is not based on sex, it is based on perception. What society perceives your gender based on the way you look or present yourself.