Reviews tagging 'Violence'

White Tears / Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad

20 reviews

wanderlust_romance's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This is the kind of nonfiction that I just eat right up. White Tears/Brown Scars was the perfect balance between personal reflections and experiences from the author and intricately and insightfully woven historical examples to illuminate the myriad of harms caused by patriarchy, colonization, capitalism (et al) on Black and POC bodies. Incorporating work by thought leaders such as Edward Said and Audre Lorde, Hamad roots the origins of white patriarchal harm in a way that makes these ideas clear and conceptually approachable for non-academic readers. And quite frankly, I loved that Hamad never shied away from calling attention to the fact that so many WW are more concerned with "not appearing" racist than with being held accountable for the harm they cause in professional, academic, and social settings. I sometimes struggle to digest nonfiction in its audio format, but it is a testament to Hamad's exceptional writing that the information presented is clear, cohesive, and flowed so well.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Slavery, Colonisation, Gaslighting, Racism, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Misogyny, and Sexism

effortlesslybookishbre_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Violence, Racism, and Hate crime

maddie_can_read's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Great discussion of race and gender issues and how white feminism does not equate to feminism for all. I think this would be a really great introduction to intersectionality for women. 

I thought the beginning was very strong, the discussion of archetypes and their history, the inclusion of modern and historical examples, and including the perspectives of different women.

I think the structure of the book might have been improved by having more chapters that were shorter. And some of the chapters did not seem as strong as others and some chapters could've been a bit tighter.

‘White’ is better understood as an indication of racial privilege: who is considered white is less about how pale they are (many Arabs have fair skin) and more about whether they are the right kind of pale. Whiteness is more than skin colour.

White women can oscillate between their gender and their race, between being the oppressed and the oppressor. Women of colour are never permitted to exist outside of these constraints: we are both women and people of colour and we are always seen and treated as such.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Slavery, Sexual violence, Violence, Hate crime, Antisemitism, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexism, Confinement, Islamophobia, and Racial slurs

kelleykamanda's review

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Incredible, insightful, timely, and accessible- highly recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Gaslighting, Slavery, Racial slurs, Genocide, War, Sexual violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Death

Moderate: Islamophobia and Murder

Minor: Trafficking, Rape, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Forced institutionalization

leahkarge's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Ableism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Trafficking, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Torture, Sexism, Slavery, Violence, War, and Xenophobia

lizziaha's review against another edition

5.0

For a relatively short book, this packed a punch! I thought going into this that it would focus in on Black women, but it covered a wide array of experiences from BIPOC people and featured a lot of diversity in examples as well. The writing style was engaging while still leaving room for me to reflect on my own experiences as a white woman in a position of societal power. Definitely a must-read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Colonisation, Genocide, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, Rape, and Religious bigotry

ksuazo94's review

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Racism, Violence, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Colonisation, Antisemitism, Hate crime, Grief, Classism, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Islamophobia

stephmcoakley's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Deportation, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Trafficking, and War

tmchopra's review

challenging informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Violence

unsuccessfulbookclub's review

challenging informative fast-paced

4.25

In White Tears/Brown Scars, Ruby Hamad investigates and elaborates on how white feminism has hurt and continues to hurt BIPOC the world over. Ahmad’s particularly compelling argument is that white women have simultaneously played both damsels in distress and arbiters of power since European colonialism began. A microcosm of this behavior is regularly captured in videos of white women who start confrontations with BIPOC as aggressors (calling the cops on people having a barbecue, for instance) and end the video in tears, claiming they are being threatened. The key takeaway for me here is that *this is not new behavior* and white women, historically, have clung to power first (through whiteness) and called on the “sisterhood” of feminism only when it benefitted their proximity to power. I have personally witnessed behavior like this many times and as a young person, was absolutely socialized to use my tears as a weapon. It’s something I continue to work hard to unlearn.

I enjoyed Hamad’s more global perspective. Most of the books I have read on racial and social justice have been centered on US problems and examples, so Ruby’s Australian voice was welcome. My biggest critique of this book is Hamad’s multiple references to Robin D’Angelo, who has shown herself to be pretty problematic, but on balance they’re not a deal breaker for recommending the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Slavery, Violence, War, and Colonisation