Black Women Shaping Feminist Theory

Black Women Shaping Feminism

Feminist Theory, hooks and importance of Lemonade

“If any female feels she need anything beyond herself to legitimate and validate her existence, she is already giving away her power to be self-defining, her agency … I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.” — bell hooks

In Chapter 1: Black Women Shaping Feminist Theory, bell hooks delivers a piercing critique of the way mainstream feminism, predominantly led by white liberal feminists, has historically excluded and marginalized Black women. She argues that Black women bring an essential and distinct knowledge to feminist theory—one born from the lived realities of both racism and sexism. This intersectional experience means that their struggles cannot be neatly folded into the universalizing narratives of white feminist thought. Black women’s voices, hooks asserts, expose the gaps in mainstream feminism’s approach and demand a framework that acknowledges race, class, and gender as interwoven forces shaping oppression.

One of the major critiques hooks levels against white liberal feminist theory is its failure to recognize the ways race and class compound gender oppression. White feminists, hooks argues, have largely spoken from a place of privilege, assuming their experiences represent all women’s realities. She writes, “Racism abounds in the writings of white feminists who consider feminism a movement to end sexist oppression without ever mentioning the existence of racist oppression.”This glaring omission results in a feminism that is incomplete—one that centers white, middle-class women’s experiences and ignores the layered oppressions that Black women and other women of color face daily.

Hooks questions the tendency to view feminism solely through the lens of gender oppression, a perspective that conveniently sidelines the brutal realities of racism. As hooks writes, “Racism abounds in the writings of white feminists, reinforcing white supremacy and negating the possibility that women will bond politically across ethnic and racial boundaries. Past feminist refusal to draw attention to and attack racial hierarchies suppressed the link between race and class.” Black women live with intersecting oppressions every day; ones that white feminists do not experience.

This is echoed when hooks writes, “The ideology of ‘competitive, atomistic…liberal individualism’ has permeated feminist thought to such an extent that it undermines the potential radicalism or feminist struggle.”

Hooks challenges the assumption that all women share a monolithic experience of oppression. They posit that Black women’s experiences are marked by a dual battle against both patriarchy and white supremacy. This duality demands that feminist theory evolve into something more inclusive and expansive—an evolution that fully honors the strength, pain, and resilience of Black women. “As a group, black women are in an unusual position in this society, for not only are we at the bottom of the occupational ladder, but overall social status is lower than any other group. Occupying such a position, we bear the brunt of sexist, racist, classist oppression.” She was right though. Feminism must become a space where every woman’s story is heard and validated in order to move us towards collective liberation.

Racism abounds in the writings of white feminists who consider feminism a movement to end sexist oppression without ever mentioning the existence of racist oppression.
bell hooks

Part B: Womanism in Lemonade

Beyoncé’s Lemonade stands as a vivid, unapologetic ode to Black womanhood—a tapestry woven with threads of pain, healing, defiance, and hope. I have listened to this album over a hundred times, and it is a body of work that moves beyond the personal to focus on the communal, echoing the heart of Womanism described by author and activist, Alice Walker, as deriving from the word womanish). Lemonade acts as a guard rail for speaking out past the threshold of perceived oppression. Beyoncé takes that definition and reinvigorates it into a battle cry for strength, sexuality, and a celebration of intergenerational bonds that sustain Black women.

Beyoncé not only revisits her own narrative of personal betrayal and recovery, she invokes the collective memory of Black women who have long borne the weight of oppression with grace and ferocity. This ancestral reverence is a call to remember that every struggle is part of a continuum—a lineage that resists erasure. The visuals that interlace historical references with modern imagery honor both the past and the present, reminding us that the fight for liberation is as much about reclaiming history as it is about shaping the future.

Another layer of Lemonade is the portrayal of Black sisterhood. Throughout the album, there is a palpable sense of shared resilience. In tracks like “Freedom,” the imagery of Black women standing in solidarity hold onto one another in a collective resistance and collective healing. The song transforms personal pain into a cry for justice, illustrating that Black women are powerful catalysts for change. The imagery in “Hold Up,” for instance, where Beyoncé reclaims anger not as a destructive force but as a righteous outpouring, reminds us that the full spectrum of Black women’s emotions is integral to their resistance and survival. In particular, the water under her feet was a literal visual of the power and grace of a woman and her ability to rise up in the face of adversity.

One thing worthy of noting is how on this particular track, some critiqued that this was only true of celebrities; further minimizing the lived experiences of Beyoncé—not as a celebrity, but as a woman, mother, and wife.

Lemonade is a feminist affirmation and the album invites us to reflect on the nuanced reality of Black womanhood—its contradictions, its power, and its relentless push toward a more just and inclusive future. It shares continued themes of feminism, the strength of those who endure oppression and continue to fight against it. In embracing both the deeply personal and the broadly political, Lemonade offers a Womanist vision that is as intricate as it is inspiring—a vision that dares us to see the beauty in our scars and the strength in our stories. It also makes the listener feel like a warrior.