Paper Example: Wildness in Bell Hooks' Legacy

In the “Legacy of Wildness," Bell Hooks starts with insight into her childhood. While sitting on top of a hill, she stares off into the world in front of her. She reflects on the wildness into which she was born. She embraces the love for the things around her; the trees, the weeds, and growing things. She recalls her elders telling her mama not to let her 'run wild' with her brother as if no gender divided them. This article is a self-evaluation on how Hooks was gradually transformed from a child into a strong young woman by the wildness of her early life, and how it impacted her core values in later life. The transformation addressed in this paper is inclined to gender identity, social norms, and cultural values that were stereotyped by society.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

She prepares the audience for the primary setting, which is in the backwoods of Kentucky. She grows up in the age of oppression and posts slavery. They were also experiencing the freedom that is a part of living away from civilization. In the video series, "Cultural criticism and Transformation," Hooks talks about the stereotypical portrayals of gender, race, and class in society (Leocine, 2006). Most of these stereotypes are what she went through while growing up in Kentucky, as illustrated in many of her books and movies. Even the experiences that she went through could not hold back her spirit for wildness and freedom.

Hooks indicates that people can enhance their lives by engaging in a certain kind of critical thinking process (Leocine, 2006). She says that individuals coming from socially disadvantaged societies can be able to transform their lives through critical thinking. Another important thing she mentions is that representations are directly linked to how we live our lives. This association determines the choices we make our lives. She dismisses the absurd notion that people need to associate themselves with negative representation, such as gendered representatives. (Leocine, 2006). The videos indicate that Hook developed values that allowed her to survive in a society where stereotypes were dominant.

Hooks elaborates on how the comprehension of her origin paved the way for her to grow and believe in self-respect. It designed her core values in life and allowed her to understand that race could not dictate her past or future. Her central core values were to be self-defining and self-respecting. From the time she was a child, her mother instilled these core values in her and allowed her to identify with self-respect from the community that she was raised. Hooks (2008) says that "… ‘Appalachian values’ imprinted on my consciousness as core truths I must live by, provide, and provide me with the tools I needed to survive whole in a postmodern world." While in college, Hooks was able to live by her mother's actual values instilled in her. Through this achievement, she returned home to a place that no longer kept silent on identity issues. Hook says she does not identify herself as an Appalachian but claims a sense of belonging that unites her present with the past (Hooks 2008).

According to writer and award-winning filmmaker Dream Hampton (2020), "If Hooks had believed in behaving, she would have stayed in academia. Instead, she became that rare rock star of a public intellectual who reaches wide by being accessible. For generations of black girls, Hooks's experiences have been a rite of passage (Hampton, 2020, p. 104). This statement from Hampton shows the respect and admiration that the author Bell Hooks garners. It shows that her upbringing and core values of wildness echo throughout generations and still inspiring to this day. In most of her books, essays, and interviews, Hooks indicates how gender identity is stereotyped. Her own identity and values allowed her to push through the circumstances she was born into and later became a figure inspiring many women and girls throughout the society.

Hooks argues that being wild and free is what defined her and allowed her to be the spirited woman's rights activist that she ultimately matured to be. She grew up poor by material standards, as did everyone around her. However, she describes it as "living naturally on the earth…" but still "experiencing the freedom that comes from living away from civilization" (Hooks, 2008). That is what made her childhood rich and free metaphorically. Hooks' ancestors and elders all lived off the land; they had their farm animals and cultivated their crops. The living in the wild further contributed to their sense of self and enhanced their integrity, which was needed to live off the land effectively.

Additionally, she wrote about her family's unique and private religious practice. Her grandmother always reminded her that "God could be worshiped every day, anywhere" (Hooks, 2008). This was brought to light due to someone making fun of the clothes she was wearing while in church. This, in turn, brought them closer to God and the land off which they lived. They knew that as long as they were worshiping God in the way they saw fit, he would make way for them. This was another one of her core values instilled in her, trusting in God and trusting in the land.

She also describes how there were little racial differences during her childhood. This absence of racial anxiety was relatively contrasting from other parts of America during that particular period. The society in which she grew up never discriminated between Eastern Kentucky and Western or backwoods or hillbilly. She describes in the article that there were more differences from the Black City folk to the people of the backwoods. Even though life was still hard for blacks because of the era they lived in due to white supremacy and racist domination, they still managed to own land and lived off it.

Moreover, there was no separation between the white folks and the black who lived in the same backwoods (Hooks, 2008). This is because the only thing that separated them was their skin color; all other categories of their life were the same.

Hooks (2008) tells that her ancestors were not interested in following the manners and social norms of the society. They saw themselves as being above the law and dismissed any forms of rules brought about by civilization. She indicates that their values were essential for her to because if they had not been able to hold on to them, she would not have been able to keep her values in college. The Appalachian values gave the consciousness that enabled her to keep the core truths that she held.

Thomas (2013) provides a review of the movie "Beasts of the Southern Wild." The report shows how the character Hushpuppy is represented as a wild child. The analysis by Thomas depends much on the work of Bell Hook called "No Love In the Wild." Hooks seem to have an influential and scathing critique about the "Beasts of the Southern Wild." She demonstrates that Hushpuppy finds solace in a world that is naturally wild, living closely with animals and having to reflect on her connection with the world. By this, Hooks shows the primitiveness that existed in the wild before the arrival of the white man.

Conclusion

So, in conclusion, the author Bell Hooks in "Free Spirits: A Legacy of Wildness" gives us insight into how she experienced a different childhood compared to other black community members. These variations tended to make her have invaluable core values. She became one of the most influential people in the postmodern society of what she refers to as "civilized culture," much different from the wildness of her soul. Nonetheless, the integrity indicated by Hooks' elders offered her appropriate techniques critical for her personal growth and development as a decent individual. It caused her to perceive the world with open eyes. Hooks also provided a basis for the critique of the film "Beasts of the Southern" Wild through her text, "No Love In the Wild." The film depicts Hushpuppy's character in the same manner that Hook narrates the experiences of her life in "Legacy of Wildness."

References

Hampton, D. (2020). Bell Hooks. TIME Magazine, 195(9/10), 104. http://library.ashford.edu/EzProxy.aspx?url=http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=142094905&site=eds-live&scope=site

Hooks, B. (2008). Free spirits: a legacy of wildness. Appalachian Heritage, 36(3), 37-39. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236713265_Free_Spirits_A_Legacy_of_Wildness

Leocine. (2006). bell hooks Pt 1 cultural criticism and transformation. YouTube. Retrieved 26 July 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLMVqnyTo_0.

Thomas, K. (2013). With an eye on a set of new eyes: Beasts of the Southern Wild. Journal of Religion & Film, 17(2), 6. https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1097&context=jrf