Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption

by Rafia Zakaria

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"A radically inclusive, intersectional, and transnational approach to the fight for women's rights. Elite white women have branded feminism, promising an apolitical individual empowerment along with sexual liberation and satisfaction, LGBTQ inclusion, and racial solidarity. As Rafia Zakaria expertly argues, those promises have been proven empty and white feminists have leant on their racial privilege and sense of cultural superiority. Drawing on her own experiences as an American Muslim show more woman, as well as an attorney working on behalf of immigrant women, Zakaria champions a reconstruction of feminism that forges true solidarity by bringing Black and brown voices and goals to the fore. Ranging from the savior complex of British feminist imperialists to the condescension of the white feminist-led "development industrial complex" and the conflation of sexual liberation as the "sum total of empowerment," Zakaria presents an eye-opening indictment of how whiteness has contributed to a feminist movement that solely serves the interests of upper middle-class white women"-- show less

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3 reviews
This is a fantastic book. White feminists, you will likely find yourself reflecting ‘oh, wait, I believed that, do I still believe that? How did that get into my head!?’ I know I did.
Reminded me of the story of my college Sociology department and the Caucasian Dean that runs the department. Whose research interest was gender studies and was even a coordinator of the gender studies program. Apparently gender equality does not mean that women of color should get paid the same as Caucasian women. Despite length of service and having more publications. The non-white women are told by the Dean that "I know, I know, it is just not in our budget right now". Of course, when a Caucasian asks it's always at a time when it is in the budget.
Las mujeres blancas de clase media alta han sido las únicas que han ocupado durante mucho tiempo el lugar de «expertas» en feminismo. Han presidido organizaciones feministas multinacionales y han escrito gran parte de lo que consideramos el canon feminista, propugnando la liberación y la satisfacción sexual, la inclusión LGBTQ y la solidaridad racial, todo mientras marcan el lenguaje del movimiento mismo y la agenda de objetivos a cumplir. Una feminista blanca es aquella que se niega a aceptar el papel que la blanquitud y el privilegio racial que lleva aparejado han desempeñado y siguen desempeñando en la universalización de las inquietudes y las convicciones de las feministas blancas como las del feminismo en su totalidad. show more Para ser una feminista blanca no tienes por qué ser blanca. Es perfectamente posible ser blanca y feminista y no ser una feminista blanca. El término, en lugar de describir la identidad racial de sus sujetos, describe, más bien, una serie de supuestos y comportamientos que han sido integrados en el feminismo dominante occidental. show less

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(I)n the past 200 years (feminism) has made incredible gains: paving the way for women to advance economically, handing them back control of their own bodies, and advocating for their needs and their experiences. But not for all women. Since its very beginning, mainstream feminism has catered to a particular group of women: middle class, cis-gendered, Western, and above all, white.

And the show more exclusion of everyone outside this narrow category is not merely an oversight, a coincidence, a slip. It is baked into the way feminism works. This must change.

White supremacy is killing feminism. Until all of us are free and equal in society, none of us are. The power to transform it lies with each one of us.

It starts with understanding how we got here in the first place. Eye-opening, timely and impossible to ignore, Against White Feminism traces the connections between feminism and white supremacy from the earliest stirrings of the women's suffrage movement to the 'fourth wave' we see today, demonstrating how an idea based on equality has been corrupted by prejudice and exploitation from the start. Rafia Zakaria issues a powerful call to arms to every reader to build a new kind of feminism which will light the path to true emancipation for all.
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Aug 28, 2021
added by Cynfelyn

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Feminism
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Author Information

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3+ Works 487 Members
Rafia Zakaria is an author, attorney, and human rights activist who has worked on behalf of victims of domestic violence around the world. She is a columnist for Al Jazeera America, Ms., Dissent, and DAWN, Pakistan's largest English-language newspaper. Zakaria was born and raised in Karachi and now lives in Pakistan and the United States, where show more she serves on the board of directors of Amnesty International USA. show less

Some Editions

Nkenke-Smith, Chindo (Cover designer)
Ovenden, Holly (Cover designer)

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Common Knowledge

Original publication date
2021
Important events
feminism

Classifications

Genres
Sexuality and Gender Studies, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
305.42Society, government, & cultureSocial sciences, sociology & anthropologySocial group - Age, Gender, EthnicityWomenSocial role and status of women
LCC
HQ1155 .Z35Social sciencesThe family. Marriage, Women and SexualityThe Family. Marriage. WomenWomen. Feminism
BISAC

Statistics

Members
305
Popularity
105,297
Reviews
3
Rating
(3.79)
Languages
5 — English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
14
ASINs
4