The Bell Hooks Hotline: Saving Single Girls Everywhere
Rachael W
Ladies, in the words of my favorite Golden Girl, Sophia, “Picture it”…you’re dancing the night away at your favorite local bar, getting into your own groove, laughing with your girlfriends, relaxing and enjoying the moment. Everyone in the crowd is your friend and you have no problems. Then tragically, out of nowhere, the guy every woman dreads makes his appearance. You know the guy, he’s the one that stalks you on the dance floor and watches your drink just hoping you will leave it alone. He’s the guy even your friends can’t fend off despite your “secret” pre-arranged signals to one another. He’s the guy that will not stop demanding your phone number. He’s the guy that gives you a reason not to escort yourself home.
How do yo
u play defense against this guy? Some would argue that you should reject him up front and walk away, citing that honesty is the best policy. Others say rejecting someone that aggressive up front could lead to a very dangerous situation; this group would suggest a fake number or a “rejection hotline.” The creators of the Feminist Phone Intervention believe they have come up with the perfect solution. They have created the bell hooks hotline, inspired by the feminist author, Gloria Jean Watkins aka bell hooks, as a way to let “that guy” down easily and keep you out of harms way, all while passing along some feminist values at the same time.
Making a buzz among single girls everywhere, the Feminist Phone Intervention team offers up the use of the number (669) 221-6251 as a way to get an overly aggressive guy off your back. Rumor has it, when the guy in question calls or texts the number, he will automatically be responded to with a woman empowering bell hooks quotes such as: “Whenever domination is present, love is lacking.” You may find yourself asking why this is necessary. Why not openly reject “that guy”? On their Tumblr page, the Feminist Phone Intervention team states “because women are still threatened and punished for rejecting advances” and “because why give any old fake number when you can have bell hooks screen your calls?”
My only criticism of the hotline is that when my friend and I tested it, we did not get a response via text; only when we actually called the number were we greeted with a Siri-like robotic version of a bell hooks quote. However, I have had friends show me their text versions in the past, so I’m hoping the service was just temporarily out of order.
In a perfect world, men and women alike would offer up their own information to someone they found interesting. Instead we so often choose to put the other party on the defensive by asking, or in some cases even demanding, their information first. Why not open a door for someone to voluntarily walk through instead of pushing them in the direction you want them to go and hoping they take the bait? Until then gentlemen, we’ll continue to keep tools like the Bell Hooks Hotline up our sleeves.
