Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Women, Race, & Class by Angela Y. Davis

58 reviews

jaiari12's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Hate crime, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism and Domestic abuse

reverie_and_books's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Women, Race and Class by Angela Y. Davis - Review (🇬🇧)

Abolitionists and suffragettes - did they go hand in hand or were they more foes than friends? Written in 1981, this short book contains some insightful history lessons that help explain US politics today. Davis writes straightforward, no nonsense, with many citations and context information. 

One insight is how white women supported the abolition of slavery, demanded women's suffrage to do so, and then turned their backs once the power balance started shifting. 

Another are the consequences of said abolition and actions took: former slave owners had trouble to keep the margin up. But there was a new law which relied on convicts. Guess who was convicted for nothing and everything and put under even worse conditions as prior to the abolition? Mostly Black men. 

Yet another insight concerns the bourgeoisie and bored white housewives who fought for women's rights but totally disregarded the horrendous working conditions of the labour class.

And there are quite a few more things to take away, for me anyway. Davis essays are about the common human behavior of seeking power and status and – once gained – step on those who were formerly fighting alongside them. It’s seriously f*cked up.

Intersectionality is the key word here. The idea: If people thought more about the combination of different kinds of discrimination, structural jigsaw pieces would fall together more easily. Davis takes gender, race and class, but there’s certainly more. 

I highly recommend this read, especially if you care about history and it’s part in political currents. I’ve read books about women’s rights and racism before, but separately. This was eye-opening on another level.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

nessakate's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Just wow, so many notes I took during reading this book. I learned so much and highly recommend it during these times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Sexism

brassnbooks's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.5

I read Mama's Baby Papa's Maybe before this and I feel like this and that read go well together

The warnings of discussion of rape are no joke and definitely were kinda triggering despite knowing a lot of this history

Chapter 12 also seems as an important note during these times

The last chapter did feel off to me for the ending of the book 

A good read was recommended by another black person so glad I listened to them, knowing a lot of history but reading some new quotes and info got me riled up (mostly because of racism obviously)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Rape, and Slavery

Moderate: Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Abortion

cocolopsapotamus's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Slavery

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, Police brutality, and Medical trauma

Minor: Suicide

dalmavatai's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

I don't even have anything to add, I actually think Angela Davis said it all. A must-read feminist classic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Abortion, Murder, Colonisation, and Classism

parkyparkpark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Rape, and Sexism

basicbookstagrammer's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Classism

Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abortion, and Murder

thevampiremars's review against another edition

challenging dark informative medium-paced

4.5

Women, Race & Class features frank discussion of, as the title suggests, sexism, racism, and classism. It can get pretty brutal at times, focusing for the most part on the conditions of slavery (particularly for enslaved women) and on the fight(s) for equality immediately after the abolition of slavery in the United States.

Davis examines the unique oppression experienced by Black women on account of both their gender and their race, and the ensuing need for intersectional politics. She highlights the solidarity between abolitionists and early feminists, but she also examines instances where solidarity was lacking to say the least – feminists buying in to horrifically racist accusations that Black men are almost all sexual predators, for example. I previously wasn’t aware that the Republican Party had weaponised women’s suffrage against Black enfranchisement, appropriating what should have been a push for social justice as a Trojan horse for racist propaganda and policies. It doesn’t surprise me, of course, but historical details like that are worth learning and learning from.

This book is over forty years old now, yet it remains infuriatingly relevant. It’s powerful and incisive – I would recommend reading it if you haven’t already. I can see why Angela Davis is such a celebrated writer, and I’m eager to read her other famous book, Are Prisons Obsolete?, when I get the chance. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infertility, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Miscarriage, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

kenz73's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, Police brutality, Colonisation, and Classism