Reviews with content warning for Racism - White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

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

70 reviews

yourbookishbff's review

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color, by Ruby Hamad is a book to read right now if you, like me, put it off for far too long. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Mozhan Marnò, and highly recommend it if you enjoy nonfiction on audio. Hamad deftly examines the racist and colonialist narratives used to define Black and brown women as *not women* at worst and *less than white women* at best. She explores the intersections of gender and race that have subjugated non-white women to the lowest realm of inclusion and agency, and she explicitly outlines how white women have made this possible at every juncture.

There were so many moments in this that felt clarifying and relevant to us today. As I’ve struggled to identify *why* some of the rhetoric tossed around the internetright now is so frustrating and exhausting, Hamad gives us the words and context to better understand why and how these bad-faith arguments are used. In a moment that feels particularly timely for us now, she discusses the 2016 backlash against US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib when she spoke out about Hillary Clinton’s condemnation of Palestinians. Hamad pushes us to ask ourselves why we expect Black and brown women to be “team players” when the team explicitly works against them, and emphasizes that there is no sisterhood with white women when white feminism continues to prioritize proximity to white men over the liberation of all people. She shows us how the common arguments we see today (ie “why aren’t you denouncing terrorism” as a counter to advocacy for Palestinian freedom), misdirect and invalidate the oppression of Black and brown people by pivoting to argue that they are their own oppressors. This is not new, but it is pervasive, and Hamad challenges us to recognize these devices and how they’re weaponized to silence people of color.

Ultimately, this was a fast-paced read with a well-constructed thesis that is very relevant to our work and advocacy today.

Notes: this is largely cisnormative, and does not explicitly explore the additional intersections of marginalization experienced by trans, nonbinary and gender non-conforming people of color.

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leahkarge's review against another edition

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4.0

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lizziaha's review

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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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ksuazo94's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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brookey8888's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

This one was really interesting. It was interesting to see America and American politics and feminism through the eyes of someone from another country. I did learn a lot and I found a lot of this interesting, but so infuriating. I’m glad there is a book about white feminism and how damaging that is. I think this book is good for beginners of feminism/anti racism and for people far along in their journey.

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

REQUIRED READING FOR EVERYONE!

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lottiegasp's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

4.75

This is a really important book for everyone to read- for white women to dismantle our weaponised white tears, for women of colour to better recognise and articulate the insidious ways that white womanhood and white feminism are used against them, and for people of other genders and any race to become better allies to women of colour against racism.

The book's first section is quite slow as it outlines a lot of history of colonialism, the ways that women of colour in particular were treated and portrayed, and the role that white women played in perpetuating white supremacy. I think it was important context, but it was more challenging so I suggest readers start reading when they have a good amount of headspace to properly digest it. For people who find reading history more challenging, it does become a bit easier to digest in Part 2 as it discusses racism and whiteness in the modern context. If you are white, it is well worth pushing through even if you find it challenging. Some people of colour will know much of the content so it might not be worth retraumatising yourself, however according to some testimonials in the book, it may help you put words to some experiences you've had but not appreciated as so prevalent and insidious.

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