Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love by bell hooks

12 reviews

roxanne_blythe's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

This book really does explain men masculinity, and love. I feel like the intended audience is women, not that men don’t need to read this, but I feel like it was directed towards feminists. 

The main messaging is pretty decent. There are some points that I don’t fully agree with specially the blame that’s kind of placed on mothers for upholding the patriarchy. Not that they should be blameless, but I feel like the way that  bell hooks writes about fathers is very different from the way that she talks about mothers. 

Maybe I will need to revisit those points but for now I just feel like there’s not a lot of nuance when it comes to patriarchal mothers

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, War, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

The Will To Change is an important introduction to the place of men in feminist and gender equity movements. hooks' sympathy for the male experience under patriarchy is critical to the fight against it, as the obvious statement that men suffer under rigid and chaffing expectations and that men need support is a radical one in some supposedly feminist spaces. Additionally, hooks' writing style is very accessible; she expounds on complex topics in plain and straightforward language, which is a breath of fresh air when it comes to reading theory. That said, not all of her ideas still resonate (as this came out in 2004) - specifically, her conceptualization of gender and sexuality is a little too binary for my tastes, but overall, it was a good read, and extremely worthwhile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

Minor: Classism, Sexual violence, and Racism

itszosia's review against another edition

challenging inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Addiction, Sexism, Classism, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, War, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Alcoholism

jessead's review against another edition

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse

nicwilkins22's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide

tessjx's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Rape

Minor: Rape and Racism

bellegrant's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

3.75

It was a bit repetitive ( some topics are mentioned more than once with almost the exact same wording ) but other than that, this was so enlightening. This lifted such a heavy weight from my chest, it made me rethink everything i know and think about men. It definitely made me more forgiving of the men around me. I would recommend this to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Rape, and War

iris_garden's review against another edition

hopeful informative slow-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Toxic relationship

acrunchwrap's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse and Misogyny

Moderate: Racism

jdf1027's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad slow-paced

3.75

Excellent read for an introduction to understanding the manner in which patriarchy impacts men in various aspects of their lives. However, it does at times feel there is too much blame placed on feminist women for not doing enough to help the men in their lives fight patriarchy, while simultaneously ignoring how much men benefit from patriarchy and therefore refuse to disengage with it. I would happily recommend this book to any men looking to dismantle the patriarchy in their heads and become better brothers, husbands, and fathers. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse