Just as Gloria Steinem's name is synonymous with the Second-Wave, bell hooks (yup: all lowercase) is one of the leading figures in the Third Wave of Feminism. Long a controversial figure due to her tendency to say what needs to be said (and not what people want to hear), hooks has nonetheless been a staunch advocate for women's rights, and particularly those of African-American descent.

It's fascinating, though, to compare her to Le Guin's brand of feminism, which tends to embrace a calmer, more peaceful rhetoric. For example, when hooks was asked to address Southwestern University's graduating class in 2002, her speech drew a ton of negative press due to her aggressive stance against the "capitalist patriarchy:"

Every imperialist, white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal nation on the planet teaches its citizens to care more for tomorrow than today…And the moment we do this, we are seduced by the lure of death…To live fixated on the future is to engage in psychological denial. It is a form of psychic violence that prepares us to accept the violence needed to ensure the maintenance of imperialist, future-oriented society. (Source)

Whoa. Granted, this speech was delivered in the height of America's emotional response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, but even taken completely out of context you can see that her style is very confrontational, and much angrier than Le Guin's.

Now compare it to the end of the Left-Handed Address:

And when you fail, and are defeated, and in pain, and in the dark, then I hope you will remember that darkness is your country, where you live, where no wars are fought and no wars are won, but where the future is. (68)

Just because Le Guin found a kinder, gentler way to advocate for her cause, it doesn't negate the value of bell hooks' contributions to the feminist cause. She's definitely a fascinating individual to look into.