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sunn_bleach's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
This book seeks to counteract and provide potential answers to the overarching issue of "whiteness" (as in, the paradigm of implicit white supremacy masquerading as solidarity) within feminism. It contains several in-depth and impassioned arguments about how white feminism has been historically and currently practiced has been about the support of white women and white women's issues while facilitating patriarchal norms and diminishing the voices of non-white persons.
Some of these essays are phenomenal and extremely eye-opening. The chapters on tokenist solidarity within women's organizations in the USA, the impression of NGOs' "solving" problems without consulting the people impacted, and the imperialist/capitalist hegemonic forces of whiteness in (for example) military dramas are... painful, in a good way.
But then there's the Female Genital Mutilation chapter, which Zakaria tries to euphemistically obfuscate by calling it Female Genital Cutting and saying it is often performed voluntarily. Here, Zakaria can't adequately state her opinions on the practice, at one point saying it's not really a problem and then another time saying how Black women have overwhelmingly rallied around reducing the practice prior to/without white NGOs' involvement. She also references a study that compares opinions of breast augmentation to FGM - saying it's not to conflate the two, then immediately does so anyway, almost implying a defense of extreme cultural relativism. Then there are her multiple assumptions (such as the very beginning of the book) that white women around her cannot have possibly experienced what she has, which provides the exact kind of identity-assumptions Zakaria eviscerates when applied to women of color.
There's also the "sex positivity" chapter, in which there's an important kernel of truth in how sex-as-empowerment is so strongly pushed among women. But Zakaria completely misdefines "sex positivity" to the extent I was pretty surprised it got through the publisher. Sex positivity is *not*, as she claims, the idea of talking openly about having sex or lots of sex as feminist empowerment. Sex positivity in all literature is defined as the ability to make personal decisions about sex based on one's own virtues free of coercion - be it from partners or social constructs. This is such a glaring omission that it undercuts the real importance of the rest of the text.
These aren't the only examples of this kind of inconsistency, but they are the most glaring ones - an inconsistency and implied inability to argue against it without defending whiteness that is similar to "White Fragility", though the latter is far more egregious.
Still, I cannot say I was bored by this book - and it certainly gave me plenty of things to consider and critique both toward white feminism and the answers provided here.
Some of these essays are phenomenal and extremely eye-opening. The chapters on tokenist solidarity within women's organizations in the USA, the impression of NGOs' "solving" problems without consulting the people impacted, and the imperialist/capitalist hegemonic forces of whiteness in (for example) military dramas are... painful, in a good way.
But then there's the Female Genital Mutilation chapter, which Zakaria tries to euphemistically obfuscate by calling it Female Genital Cutting and saying it is often performed voluntarily. Here, Zakaria can't adequately state her opinions on the practice, at one point saying it's not really a problem and then another time saying how Black women have overwhelmingly rallied around reducing the practice prior to/without white NGOs' involvement. She also references a study that compares opinions of breast augmentation to FGM - saying it's not to conflate the two, then immediately does so anyway, almost implying a defense of extreme cultural relativism. Then there are her multiple assumptions (such as the very beginning of the book) that white women around her cannot have possibly experienced what she has, which provides the exact kind of identity-assumptions Zakaria eviscerates when applied to women of color.
There's also the "sex positivity" chapter, in which there's an important kernel of truth in how sex-as-empowerment is so strongly pushed among women. But Zakaria completely misdefines "sex positivity" to the extent I was pretty surprised it got through the publisher. Sex positivity is *not*, as she claims, the idea of talking openly about having sex or lots of sex as feminist empowerment. Sex positivity in all literature is defined as the ability to make personal decisions about sex based on one's own virtues free of coercion - be it from partners or social constructs. This is such a glaring omission that it undercuts the real importance of the rest of the text.
These aren't the only examples of this kind of inconsistency, but they are the most glaring ones - an inconsistency and implied inability to argue against it without defending whiteness that is similar to "White Fragility", though the latter is far more egregious.
Still, I cannot say I was bored by this book - and it certainly gave me plenty of things to consider and critique both toward white feminism and the answers provided here.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Transphobia and Murder
mscalls's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Gaslighting, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Classism, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Xenophobia, and Violence
bxtskr's review
challenging
informative
reflective
fast-paced
I'm taking away my starred review after learning about some concerning issues with citations in this book as explained here: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR94Vu6n/
Many of the themes, writing, and concepts explored in this text are done so powerfully and there are parts of this book I would recommend. The issues with citations, however, should give readers pause.
Many of the themes, writing, and concepts explored in this text are done so powerfully and there are parts of this book I would recommend. The issues with citations, however, should give readers pause.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Murder
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