Part of the racialized sexism wants everyone to think that a 15-year old Mexican is not a girl, sheโs a woman. We know sheโs a girl. We can never emphasize this enough, because this is the fate of colored girls globally right now: the denial of their girlhood, the denial of their childhood, and the constant state of risk and danger they are living in.
Bell HooksWe don't really live in a culture that loves boys or loves children, and we don't encourage boys to be whole.
Bell HooksWe fear that evaluating our needs and then carefully choosing partners will reveal that there is no one for us to love. Most of us prefer to have a partner who is lacking than no partner at all. What becomes apparent is that we may be more interested in finding a partner than in knowing love.
Bell HooksFew people who are hit once by someone they love respond in the way they might to a singular physical assault by a stranger.
Bell Hooks