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A review by aeudaimonia
White Tears / Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
White Tears/Brown Scars is required reading for anyone—especially self-professed "feminist" and "antiracist" white women—interested in addressing the marginalized status of women of color and in taking the first steps towards making the world a less hostile and more habitable place. Were I to describe the book in a word, it would be powerful: as the subject matter demands, Hamad isn't interested in pulling punches, nor in holding the reader's hand. While there are some logical extrapolations that will require a second reading on my part, her prose is clear and concise and her points well-argued—she does a fantastic job of blending logos, ethos, and especially pathos throughout the book's entirety.
(By "extrapolations" I don't mean logical leaps or exaggerations, but rather conclusions whose premises seem to be informed by the experiences of women of color and that will take me, as a middle-class white woman, additional reading to understand).
This is the first book I've ever read on the subject. Hamad draws from and touches on other aspects of both historical and liberal politics (e.g. imperialism vs. colonialism, capitalism, socialism, sex work, environmentalism, etc), the background of which is intrinsic to her arguments but whose content isn't the main focus. This is by no means a criticism of either the book or the author, only that—while it certainly suffices as an introduction to the subject—it demands additional reading on my part to grasp the full scope of her argument. I encourage other and future readers, too, to be prepared to supplement the gaps in their own knowledge to appreciate this book's full power.
Automatic 5 stars.
(By "extrapolations" I don't mean logical leaps or exaggerations, but rather conclusions whose premises seem to be informed by the experiences of women of color and that will take me, as a middle-class white woman, additional reading to understand).
This is the first book I've ever read on the subject. Hamad draws from and touches on other aspects of both historical and liberal politics (e.g. imperialism vs. colonialism, capitalism, socialism, sex work, environmentalism, etc), the background of which is intrinsic to her arguments but whose content isn't the main focus. This is by no means a criticism of either the book or the author, only that—while it certainly suffices as an introduction to the subject—it demands additional reading on my part to grasp the full scope of her argument. I encourage other and future readers, too, to be prepared to supplement the gaps in their own knowledge to appreciate this book's full power.
Automatic 5 stars.