| Title | : | Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1324006617 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781324006619 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 256 |
| Publication | : | First published August 17, 2021 |
Covering such ground as the legacy of the British feminist imperialist savior complex and “the colonial thesis that all reform comes from the West” to the condescension of the white feminist–led “aid industrial complex” and the conflation of sexual liberation as the “sum total of empowerment,” Zakaria follows in the tradition of intersectional feminist forebears Kimberlé Crenshaw, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde. Zakaria ultimately refutes and reimagines the apolitical aspirations of white feminist empowerment in this staggering, radical critique, with Black and Brown feminist thought at the forefront.
Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption Reviews
-
I read a lot of reviews on this book before getting it. It's open season on Whites these days, whether I'm White or not depends on who's writing the book. This author quotes Simone de Beauvoir talking about 'Blacks and Jews' as other, so I guess I'm not. Two of my sons are definitely Black in any case!
It does seem though that sweeping statements like "all while branding the language of the movement itself in whiteness and speaking over Black and Brown women in an effort to uphold privilege and perceived cultural superiority" as though this happened all the time, at every meeting, that non-white women would be ignored, because the feminists were at base White Supremacists. AND at this so-woke time of the present, it is accepted and praised without questioning, because to question this or any other statement made by a non-White is automatically to mean the questioner is racist and exhibiting white fragility.
Rant, long one
We need to work together to build a better society, and the present activist movements whether feminism, education or anything else are not at all about 'together', they are about blame and divisiveness. About setting one group against another, about making people frightened to express a dissenting opinion. Insectionality taking a leaf from the colonialist divide and conquer modus operandi.
I don't like racism obviously and given my mixed-race family have a personal stake in it, but the polarisation of political thought will swing the wrong way. In the secrecy of the ballot box where they can't be castigated or cancelled, people opposed to these bitter, often spiteful attempts that take everything to extremes and ignore science, facts and don't allow dissenting opinions will vote against them, it's playing into Rightwing hands. And we all know what that means for the US. -
"The goal here is not to expel white women from feminism, but to excise whiteness, with all its assumptions of privilege and superiority, so as to foster the freedom and empowerment of all women."
Against White Feminism is a brilliant analysis of how white feminism has traditionally and is currently failing to include all women, and how it upholds white supremacy.
Author Rafia Zakaria describes why feminism is long overdue for a transformation so that it includes and works for the benefit of all women, not just middle and upper class cis white women.
Ms Zakaria mainly focuses on the (many) ways in which women of colour are harmed by traditional feminism but she also notes that traditional feminism excludes the needs of LGBQTIA2S people, instead centering around white, middle-upper class, straight, cis-gender women as though the rest of us either don't exist, aren't real women, or need to be "rescued" by the "true" feminists, the white, middle-upper class, straight, cis women.
Anyone who calls themself a feminist should read this book and others like it, such as
White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color. I learned so much from both of these books and am grateful to the authors for their insight and courage in speaking out.
"When you are called out for white feminism, this is not a mere description of your racial heritage, something you may feel guilty about but can do nothing to change. It is a description of your words and actions. It is crucial that white women realize whiteness is not construed as a biological category but as a set of practices and ideas that have emerged from the bedrock of white supremacy, itself the legacy of empire and slavery." -
Against White Feminism will be a hard pill to swallow for a lot of white feminists, but it is something that needs to be strived for in order for all feminists to be included in feminism.
Rafia Zakaria states that a white feminist is someone who does not consider the role that whiteness and its inherent racial privilege that has led to universalizing white feminist concerns and goals and liberally applying it to all feminism and feminists.
Zakaria also asserts that a white feminist is not always white and that someone can be white and a feminist without being a white feminist. Her argument for this work is that whiteness and white supremacy needs to be removed from feminism in order for feminism to evolve into something better.
The topics discussed here range from white feminists imposing their feminist views across the globe to the topics of “honor” killings and female genitalia cutting.
This book clearly needed to be written. Rafia Zakaria did a superb job highlighting these issues and providing a guide on how we can move forward. -
This book was refreshingly empirical. I enjoyed its blunt truths. Although I'm a white person I didn't feel pushed away by Zakaria's thesis--I felt invited to re-examine the goals of feminism as they have been defined by Western white women. I was asked to consider all the ways that cultural bias, Western economic values, and the residue of colonialism have warped feminist thinking, and have impeded progress for all genders. I was moved by what Zakaria wrote about her personal experiences, and I was persuaded by her arguments. Although the title of her book feels deliberately antagonistic, the book itself is nuanced and inclusive, where I could see how white women have also been hurt by adopting definitions of female empowerment that are exclusionary and competitive and, well, male. I suggest you read it.
-
It pains me to rate "Against White Feminism" this way. But I'm very frustrated with this book, and somewhat perplexed. Significant portions contain fairly blatant (t)radfem/TERF/SWERF dogwhistles, from the sneering at women who are very sexually active, to the simplistic and inaccurate positing of "asexuality" as the nonsexual counterpart to a boogeyman "hypersexual culture."
Then, there's the comparison of FGM, most of whose victims are children and even babies, with cosmetic surgery, largely attained by adults capable of consent, with no attention to the differences between bodily injury mandated by family members/communities and bodily injury glorified by society but not enforced.
Lastly, there's the utter lack of trans people, particularly trans women, in this entire book, matched with an uncomfortable willingness to sympathize with reactionary feminists (even amidst rightful criticism) of the 70s and 80s, despite their racism. This, matched with a complete elision of the specific issues faced by trans women (and largely of trans women as a group, in general) under a system of racialized transmisogyny, is glaring; alongside the sexual politics of this book and its choice not to unequivocally reject the violently bioessentialist politics of reactionary feminism in decades past and today, makes it impossible for me to recommend this to anyone, despite its astute, forthright, and necessary observations about racialized misogyny. -
Can a 61-year-old feminist (who is white) criticize Rafia Zakaria's book, Against White Feminism, without being summarily dismissed? Well, I'm going to try.
Yes, there is a problem with white feminism. Yes, there are many things we need to do better - yielding the floor, listening, owning our contributions to the status quo, acknowledging white privilege, etc. Does Zakaria's book move this conversation along - does it disrupt current thinking (by white feminists) enough to open the door wide?
No, it doesn't. It's more effective at slamming the door closed.
If you read her book, I suggest starting with the conclusion that presents a bridge to reconciliation. But I'm unsure if this chapter reflects Zakaria's thinking or her publisher's desire to end the book on a conciliatory note? The last chapter is the first place where the author invites discourse, but at the same time, its writing contrasts so strongly with the preceding chapters it's hard to believe they're part of the same book.
If Zakaria wants discourse, why did she summarily dismiss and disparage Joan Smith after her unfavorable (but well-founded) review in The Guardian (
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ag...). Zakaria outright ripped Joan Smith a new one on Twitter.
From Joan Smith's review: "The book’s most serious flaw lies in its singularly ill-informed account of modern feminism. If the movement has a single unifying feature it is an analysis of the way oppression of women is linked to female bodies, regardless of race, class, age, religion or sexual orientation. Yet this is precisely what Zakaria denies: “An aversion to acknowledging lived trauma permeates white feminism, which in turn produces a discomfort and alienation from women who have experienced it.”
Likewise, the comments by Zakaria's fans to the 1- and 2-star reviews are often scathing rants directed at the reviewer's as people. Lesson? Disagree and suffer the consequences.
Where does the book's argument fail? First, much of the book is a scathing dismantling of colonialization. I don't disagree with the author on the horrific policies of this period, nor their lasting impact. But is this a legacy of white feminism? Gertrude Bell is one woman she calls explicitly out. Yet, Bell was a leader of the anti-suffrage movement in England. Far from being a feminist, Bell was an upper-class imperialist antifeminist. Zakaria makes similar mischaracterizations of early feminists, including Simone de Bouvier.
Another notable fail in the book was the entire discussion on FGM. First, Zakaria minimizes the horror of this act by stating that now only 8% of at-risk girls experience FGM, compared to much higher historical numbers (implying it's no longer a problem - unless you're one of 8%). She describes FGM as more typically a symbolic snip or cut and uses the term FGC instead of FGM. She considers any concern or action against FGM by white people as culturally insensitive. Finally, the author embarks on a long discussion about Sweden's response to FGM - calling for the gynecologic examination of at-risk girls. She blames this overreaction on white feminists. But who called out for this Swedish policy? Swedish-Somali activist Anissa Mohammed Hassan (
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2...). Finally, I push back on Zakaria's lumping of FGM with breast augmentation. I disagree that FGM committed on underage girls is equivalent to a surgery consenting aged adults undergo.
I get it that Zakaria is intentionally provocative in her book. She is correct that racism, white privilege, colonial-era attitudes, and more contribute to the disenfranchisement of POC from the feminist movement. But does she succeed in offering disruptive solutions? No.
I'm giving this book 3-stars because it pushed me to do a lot of follow-on research. But there are so many flaws part of me wants to give it 2-stars, or even 1. -
This may be the most racist & hateful manifesto I’ve ever digested.
Shame on you for spreading lies and hate.
Not to mention rife with jealousy & self hatred. -
“A white feminist is someone who refuses to consider the role that whiteness and the racial privilege attached to it have played,” Zakaria writes. And you do not have to be white to be a white feminist, she contends. This necessary book is a critique of how whiteness (not white women) has infiltrated feminism and how it should be razor-bladed out of the current form. What does this mean? Look around. Who are the feminists writing about feminism or the experts speaking about feminist policy or leading feminist organizations and what are their assumptions and goals? Do they acknowledge the disproportionate access and networks within their ranks? Zakaria’s critiques orbit her lived experience. For example, Zakaria grew up in Pakistan and saw the women in her life suffer and survive loss, discrimination, migration, and more without ever abandoning those who relied upon them. Part of the current feminist commandments don’t allow for such resilience (to stay rather than leave) and insist upon rebellion instead. Her argument is much more nuanced than my clumsy retelling but know this: Zakaria is a warm-hearted and sharp-eyed writer that brings compassion, intelligence, and a steady drumbeat of change to redefining term—feminism—a word that is old and soggy and full of white ladies yelling about things. This book is going to light fires everywhere, so if you are prone to combust, get right the hell out of the way. (for Lit Hub)
-
I figured out what was wrong with this book! Perhaps consider reading this book backwards: Start with the Conclusion, followed by the last 2 chapters, then read from the beginning.
As is, this came very close to getting a DNF around page 110. To be fair, I'm not a fan of feminist tracts to begin with. There are some bona fide, valuable truths in Against White Feminism but the first six chapters, let's just say it felt like some long stretches to make the connection to the argument "against white feminism." More clearly anti-imperialist, anti-colonial, and anti-consumerist, it wasn't until Ch7 that finally got on topic critiquing racism within the institutionalized form of feminism existent today. Then the Conclusion ends with a bridge toward "solidarity" with other groups, I think would have been better served as a start for the book, encouraging readers to keep an open mind. Without it the book starts with and maintains anger and combativeness, an instant turn off to many of those very same people Zakaria is trying to reach.
The last 70 pages are the makings of a 4 star book. But no matter which order you read the chapters in, the first six are problematic. Reaching to make a point, arguments are weak, faulty, and/or ill considered. And in a number of spots it's critique from both sides, too much, too little, damned if you do, damned if you don't. -
Against White Feminism is a timely, important and fascinating polemic and essential critique that argues for the transformation of feminist ideology to be inclusive of every woman regardless of race or background; equality for all women not only those who hold white feminist values. Upper-middle-class white women have long been heralded as “experts” on feminism. They have presided over multinational feminist organizations and written much of what we consider the feminist canon, espousing sexual liberation and satisfaction, LGBTQ inclusion, and racial solidarity, all while branding the language of the movement itself in whiteness and speaking over Black and Brown women in an effort to uphold privilege and perceived cultural superiority. An American Muslim woman, attorney, and political philosopher, Rafia Zakaria champions a reconstruction of feminism in Against White Feminism, centring women of colour in this transformative overview and counter-manifesto to white feminism’s global, long-standing affinity with colonial, patriarchal and white supremacist ideals.
Covering such ground as the legacy of the British feminist imperialist saviour complex and “the colonial thesis that all reform comes from the West” to the condescension of the white feminist–led “aid industrial complex” and the conflation of sexual liberation as the “sum total of empowerment,” Zakaria follows in the tradition of intersectional feminist forebears Kimberlé Crenshaw, Adrienne Rich, and Audre Lorde. Zakaria ultimately refutes and reimagines the apolitical aspirations of white feminist empowerment in this staggering, radical critique, with Black and Brown feminist thought at the forefront. This captivating analysis addresses how whiteness and white supremacist concepts, whether purposefully or not, have made their way into the feminist sphere and permeated feminist thought, therefore, undermining the fight for true egalitarianism. Blazingly incisive, meticulously detailed and unfalteringly humane, Against White Feminism is a devastating indictment of the failures of mainstream Western feminism and a manifesto for the radical change needed to redeem the movement.
The phenomenon of white feminism is an open secret: widely and persistently called out by women of colour, working-class and queer women, it remains glaringly, shamefully absent from feminist discourse. It traces feminism’s complicity with colonialism, capitalism, male hegemony and the military-industrial complex, from its earliest days to the modern world, while also drawing on case studies from the author’s work as an immigration attorney. I cannot think of a more necessary book to bring into the social and political consciousness right now. White feminism is an enormous subject to tackle and an essential one, and Zakaria’s proposal is note-perfect: steely and clear-sighted, accessible and persuasive. Her writing balances a commitment to holding its subjects (and readers) to account with a radical compassion and a capacity for hope. Highly recommended. -
"Man muss nicht weiß sein, um eine weiße Feministin zu sein. Es ist durchaus möglich, weiß und feministisch, aber keine weiße Feministin zu sein. Der Begriff beschreibt verschiedene Überzeugungen und Verhaltensweisen, die sich im westlichen Feminismus eingebürgert haben, und nicht die Hautfarbe seiner Anhänger*innen." - Rafia Zakaria, "Against White Feminism"
Manchmal hat man so ein Gefühl - ein Gefühl, dass das, was hier gerade unter dem Deckmantel des "Feminismus" passiert, überhaupt nicht feministisch ist, ganz im Gegenteil, dass manche Handlungen des westlichen Feminismus weiblich gelesenen Personen of Color sogar eher schadet, als hilft. Rafia Zakaria hat dieses Gefühl auch, mit einem Unterschied: Sie kann ganz klar und genau benennen, was früher, heute und zukünftig in der feministischen Bewegung falsch lief/läuft/laufen wird. In ihrem Buch "Against White Feminism", übersetzt von Simoné Goldschmidt-Lechner, legt die Autorin, Anwältin und Aktivistin den Finger in die Wunde vieler weißer Feminist*innen - und das absolut zurecht!
Rafia Zakaria wurde in Pakistan geboren und kam mit 17 Jahren wegen einer arrangierten Ehe mit einem pakistanischen Amerikaner in die Vereinigten Staaten. Gegen seinen Willen studierte sie Jura und floh später mit ihrem Kind in ein Frauenhaus. Ihr Buch startet sie mit einer Anekdote über ihr Leben - und wie wenig sich weiße Feminist*innen mit diesem Leben identifizieren können. Dass diese mangelnde Identifikation verhängnisvoll ist, arbeitet sie in ihrem Werk sehr präzise aus - und das ist nur eines der Themen, die sie anspricht. Es geht auch um weißes Retter*innentum, weiße Vorherrschaft, das Problem mit dem sexpositiven Feminismus, die Missachtung der Rechte von Women of Color durch weiße Feministinnen* (besonders eindringlich hier: das Recht am eigenen Bild, vor allem bei Fotografien aus Kriegsgebieten) und, und, und. Für mich war "Against White Feminism" sehr augenöffnend - und entgegen dem doch eher polemischen Titel des Buchs spricht Rafia Zakaria sehr sensibel und offen über die verschiedenen Probleme, die der weiße Feminismus schafft. So bleibt kein Gefühl der Resignation, sondern eher ein Gefühl der Bestärkung und des Aufbruchs zurück.
"Against White Feminism" ist eines dieser Bücher, das wir alle gelesen haben sollten. Man kann bei der Lektüre gar nicht anders, als das eigene Verhalten zu hinterfragen und sich auf neue Perspektiven einzulassen. Von mir gibt es daher eine nachdrückliche Empfehlung! -
![laurel [the suspected bibliophile]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
As a white woman raised by a woman who calls herself a proud feminist (read: white feminism) it took a long time to to realize the insidious pervasiveness of whiteness in feminism.
Anywho, this book is incredible and I really enjoyed it. It's a primer in both intersectional feminism and the deconstruction and decentering of whiteness and capitalism in feminist movements, as the two are combined to cause harm and destroy marginalized BIPOC (and queer) communities. -
I hope I gleaned the sometimes scholarly gist of this book. The author does not attempt a critique of feminist theory. This is simply about widening the lens and making more space at the center.
I distinctly remember once trying to explain that white women, including feminists, benefit from white patriarchy. Most people will bristle at the suggestion that they benefit in any way from institutionalized societal structures.
You don't have to be white, to be a white feminist. Also, you can be white, and a feminist, without being a white feminist who upholds rigid systemic structures which marginalize WOC.
The obliviousness of feminist leaders has allowed for the bastardization of the word *empowerment* saddling it with neo-colonial capitalist meaning. The rebranding of women as consumers, and as the stabilizing foundation of society, both reduce and restrain, the very antithesis of empowerment.
These are some of the concepts which most resonated with me. There's a much bigger discussion to be had, but this is a good introduction. -
In Against White Feminism, Rafia Zakaria investigates White Feminism, or feminism steeped in white supremacy and capitalism that centers on the needs and existence of white women.
Zakaria brings the reader alongside a thorough examination of the pitfalls of White Feminism, primarily through historical and contemporary examples. Zaharia highlights a patronizing and dangerous trend in which white women are presumed experts in liberation, despite lacking the knowledge and cultural competency to be effective, too frequently resulting in more harm than non-action.
I learned so much from Zakaria’s intentional research, and I found her analysis to be both accessible and engaging. I really enjoyed this work, and I highly recommend it!
I received an advanced copy of Against White Feminism from Netgalley and W. W. Norton in exchange for my honest review. -
I have always understood "feminism" to mean "a long term struggle for dignity, equity, equality of status and opportunity, fair treatment, justice, freedom of choice...". Something I received, first from my parents, and then from every company that I worked for and that did not discriminate against me merely because I'm a female. I believe in this "feminism" because it's the right one, squarely standing on universally accepted principles. That's why the book's title intrigued me. White Feminism?! 🤔 Off I went to Audible to download the book.
I should have saved the Credit for a book that didn't read like the Pakistani government's/ Islamic clergy's grumblings against the West, especially the US; while surreptitiously pushing the raw deal that muslem women are meted out under the carpet. (Watch the movie Bol, read My Feudal Lord and Blasphemy- both the books by Tehmina Durrani, wife of current Pakistani PM- if you really want to know what injustice/ cruelties are foisted upon Pakistani muslem women kept hidden behind heavily draped bolted doors, and who are buried under the shroud called burqa/ hijab/ niqab/ chaddar, abaya..)
The book seems like a constant complaint, in polished convent learned English. Even the narrator speaks in an accusatory, on-the-edge tone. Zakaria's grouse is "hers/ needs of non-white women are not understood by the 'white privileged rich women, who dabble in white Feminism only to further the agenda of their white husbands/ whiter government and push 'white Feminism' on non white women." Period. Though, I'm not doubting there may be some truth in that, but Zakaria's own biases enter with a ferocity that makes these earlier assertions of her doubtful.
Eg. Zakaria mentions in chapter 1 how she felt isolated by a group of women just because she neither had alcohol, nor a 'loose tongue" after having alcohol. Since when does one swallow make a summer? I never felt pressured by expats to have alcohol/ non veg, in fact I have received nothing but respectful courtesy from them. The second thought I had: Isn't this western culture? Why didn't Zakaria 'understand' that culture, despite having lived in the USA half her life?! Better still, why couldn't she help those women learn about Islamic culture? Isn't 'effective communication' a two way street?
Zakaria talks against the modern gas stoves, favouring the traditional clay choolhas- arguing that women went to gather 'fuel' together, thus sharing their troubles with each other. She also pooh poohs the environmental worries, saying women never cut down any trees. Here she exposes herself as the 'entitled rich brown woman's completely oblivious of the smoke pollution that non gas stoves cause, not to mention the damage to the health, eyes and lungs of the women using the wood fed choolah/ coal fed angithi.
Midway, Zakaria refuses to call Osama Bin Laden 'a terrorist who in cold blood butchered thousands of innocent people", instead she calls him 'a brown man', - let's not forget Zakaria has been building a case for the 'selfish white man who oppresses the brown man', and thereby putting him in the category of 'all non white people who receive nothing but cruelties/ injustice, from white men'. Ditto terrorists from any Moslem country, e.g. Afghanistan or Pakistan... She doesn't stop here, she accuses the US for the failure of polio vaccine efforts in Pakistan too- you see the pakistani parents wouldn't let their kids get the vaccine as 'a doctor had gone to the house where bin Laden was hiding, under the guise of hepatitis vaccine'. Logic dies a slow painful death. Do you see any correlation!? Then, 'US, the bully, didn't stop there, it threatened to withdraw 800M aid'! What was expected!? Garlands!?
Ironically, Zakaria, by her own admission in the book, agreed to marry a 13 years older US doctor of Pakistani origin only as he agreed to let her study in an American college- a country who's efforts she now so strongly condemns!
A balanced view is an extreme expectation from the book. I'm not denying that foreign aid doesn't, many a times, come as the trijan horse. But, surely not every time! And, the western influence has benefitted the feminist movement across the world! Does Zakaria want muslem women to stay hidden, oppressed as 'half as good as men' as dictated by Islam? She doesn't speak a word about what's "non white feminism".
Nor does Zakaria whisper about what ails women in islamic countries, eg. The Sharia, or the muslem religious laws: Halala, where a divorced muslim woman is raped by a man other than her husband- usually a cleric or another male member of husband's family, if her husband marries her again- before husband can have sex. Or, burqya/ niqab/ hijab/ Abaya... - shrouds that muslim religion imposes on women. Or the oral triple talaq, where a muslim man can just utter the word Talaq (divorce) three times and the woman along with with the children is thrown out in the street without a maintenance. Or that the evidence given by a woman is only half as good as that given by a man, ie to say it takes two women to equal the evidence given by a man thereby making their evidence useless, ensuring supremacy of the male is maintained! Or that a woman gets only "one sixth" of the inheritance, than a male sibling. Or the Mutah marriages (short term marriage contracts, that can last from a few minutes to a few months) where at the end of the contract the woman is saddled with children, and not entitled to any maintenance! Or that a man can marry multiple times (4-10 wives, depending upon each Islamic country- in India it's 4 wives) and the woman has no say in it, in most cases the earlier wives become a servant of the man and the "newest" wife, else get thrown out on the street. Heck, muslim women can't even pray in mosques! Routinely poor muslim girl child (under 12) is married off to old men from the middle East! Woman is treated as chattle in Islam, with any opposition resulting in fatwa (order to kill, if one can't kill then all muslims are ordered to help those people who will kill)- Salman Rushdie being the latest victim. Honour killings, where a woman loses her life every time a member of the family decides the woman/ girl/ child has "dishonoured" the family. So, much for being a feminist and speaking for the plight of "non white" women, when Zakaria is conveniently blind to the horrific islamic religious laws, still prevalent in the year 2022, suppressing muslim women!
But, right towards the end Zakaria speaks freely about "foeticide, sati, infanticide, women in 'illicite relations' and illegal abortions of such babies", not forgetting to use the word "India" a number of times! She further states that the British imperialist colonisers made rules to punish the woman for death of a child, especially a male child when the man was held responsible for death of a female child! Curiously, she conveniently omits the fact that all these were outlawed by the very same "India" 200 years back! Zakaria also correctly mentions that these were "exceptions", but the British treated them as the "norm" to punish women who had no say in the matter, and were killing babies under threat of death. Shockingly, the British would convict the woman and exile them to their colonies across the world to be used as free servants, labour, prostitutes... for white men. (In fact the British had a law that applied differently to prostitutes in Cantts as they served white men, from other prostitutes outside the Cantt limits!) All this took place when the British burnt women in the stake as witches!
Zakaria also discusses female genital cutting and honour killings. She bizarrely equates, 1. 'honour killings' to 'sudden provocation'; and 'female genital cutting' to 'cosmetic surgery', both being fallacies. She ends the book by inviting the 'white females', to the feminist cause of the non white women, requiring them to shed their imperialist whitness'! She erroneously (?) reduces 'white Feminism', as she terms it, to "sexual freedom" and "consumerism"! Not having lived in the West, I'm unable to concur or oppose the thought. I do find it intriguing that despite all the freedoms enjoyed by the American women, there have been no woman POTUS, even their representation in the Board Rooms is abysmal. Other countries, including India fare only slightly better! They have had women as heads of state, but all the PMs in the Indian subcontinent were either the daughter or the widow of a President/ Prime Ministers!
Her Wiki page mentions: "Rafia Zakaria is a Pakistani-American attorney, feminist, journalist, and author. Zakaria is a columnist for Dawn. She has written for The Nation, Guardian Books, The New Republic, The Baffler, Boston Review, and Al Jazeera". Both Dawn and Al Jazeera are India baiters, often peddling false news about the country.
Now, it makes some sense as to why the book reads like something sponsored by the patriarchy, and why Zakaria cleanly skirts any mention to the ills faced by the Muslim women in islamic countries- places where feminist movements are most needed. Iraqi women today are demanding freedom from hihab- that's just a deep anguished cry for women to be able to breathe freely in the sun and to live a fulfilled life. -
Rafia Zakaria's collection,
Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption, undoubtedly ruffled some (white peoples) feathers. The title alone grabbed the attention of the kind of white women that need to read it most. Unfortunately, many of them won't, but there's not much in terms of respectability politics that can be done to sway them anyway. If they did take a moment to turn a few pages, they would find that Zakaria is very clear in both the very beginning and in the conclusion that there is a huge difference between white women who are feminists and women who practice white feminism- the latter being a sort of white supremacist capitalism that uses womens "empowerment" as a tool to gain profit and power at expense of the most marginalized women.
In some sections, Zakaria details her own experiences dealing with white women practicing white feminism. They are painful to read and I can only imagine how painful they were to experience. They show that tokenism, silencing, casual racism, microaggressions, and more problems can have humiliating, demoralizing, and traumatizing effects. Even though some saw this book as divisive or too angry, I noticed Zakaria self criticizing quite a bit. She would discuss her lack of preparation or experience leading her to make certain decisions that honestly, sounded unavoidable because, had she had the experience, they already would have happened to her.
I am not seen as a white woman in the world much these days, but have most definitely made some mistakes that I thought of, cringing, as I read her experiences. I was luckily not the head of an NGO or a CEO or whatever, but still. I briefly note this to shy away from the thing many people do after their social justice educations- pretend they've always gotten it, eager to show their rage on behalf of others. This book should be read by imperfect white people, too. If you're willing to reckon with that, you will get the most out of it.
I imagine that this book is also quite validating for women of color, though I obviously cannot assume to speak for anyone. Zakaria discusses a lot of international cultural experiences of women throughout the world that aren't often discussed, even when people are discussing the issues with white feminism. There is a toxic tendency for white women practicing white feminism to place themselves in the roles of missionaries to save the women of color from their native cultures. White women often do this without even seeing the colonialist and white supremacist cultures that the white women themselves are coming from and how those affect women across the world.
She also critiques "sex positive" feminism and "choice" feminism at length. Some folks, especially those who think that the only thing produced by the second wave is TERFs, felt this to be too "second wave." But, I will again, disagree. As someone who got involved in feminism during the sex positive wave then later read a ton of radical feminist writings, I found a lot to be gained- and a lot that needed work- from both. I think Zakaria walks this line well. She says something like "if everything is feminist, then nothing is," which really hits to the root of it. Many movements, often started or co-created by the most marginalized of women, are capitalized upon by corporations or highly privileged women who change movements for social change into stories of individual empowerment through climbing ladders and stepping on people below you along the way.
In the end, the message is repeated that has been told time and again, yet not listened to nearly enough: helping women of color will help all women. Helping women at the margins and intersections helps all women. Centering the experiences of white women alone does not. It actively does harm. There is much to be done and much to be learned and this book is part of that.
This was also posted to
my blog. -
This book packs a powerful punch in a short space, and I think is destined to be on hundreds of 'books you must read' lists to come.
Covering a broad range of topics, from her personal experiences as a woman moving from Pakistan to the US and navigating conversations with white friends and colleagues, to the harmful outlooks and decisions of international aid organisations, Rafia Zakaria argues powerfully about the dangers of one narrative- a white and often privileged one- dominating all discussions, and shutting out voices.
She describes being invited to an event to talk about Pakistan, only to realise that she has been put on a stall where she is expected to dress 'conventionally' and go around 'selling' both her culture and some bangles to the white women in the audience. She describes leaving the event early to go and cry in her car, and you can't help but feel both sad for her, but also truly angry.
And anger is at the heart of this book, in such a powerful, tear-down-the-system-and-start-again, kind of way. And its anger is also its strength- these are issues that we should be angry about, and part of Rafia Zakaria's power as a writer is channelling the rage she and many others rightly feel, and using it as a tool for empowerment, education and change.
One section I found especially poignant was the one I mentioned above on aid. Rafia Zakaria points out how racist double standards radically affect how 'aid' is given, and even who is doing the giving. From journalists putting women in danger by not getting consent for photos that are then used to cover stories of abuse, to the assumption that non-white women need to be 'saved' from non-white men, to even Western (and often hyper-capitalist/consumerist) narratives (especially around sex and sexuality) being seen as the benchmarks of 'progress'.
She is razor-sharp in her analysis of not only how we have reached this stage, but also what needs to happen next.
There is too much to go into one review, but this book burns with passion and intellect, and is a vital voice that we owe it to ourselves and others to make sure we listen to.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. -
Reading this book made me feel like a lucky, front-row listener to a lecture by Rafia Zakaria – because make no mistake, her tone is sharp, stern and highly critical of the mainstream “feminism” that is widely celebrated in the West. She’s seeking to shake up the world of feminism, which, as she aptly argues, should have never been a monolithic vision, since women of different races and cultures have unequal access to equality. “The white gaze has never been disaggregated from feminism itself. It has become the only kind of feminism we recognize or even have language for,” writes Zakaria.
She delves into the history of British colonialism to show how feminism has always had a decidedly “white” slant and has often been contradictory, always serving the purposes of white people in power. For instance, she writes that colonizers viewed native women in India as backwards savages that need to be clothed (in the case of Hindu women who wore saris) – while American white feminists viewed Afghan women as pitiful females who needed to be de-veiled during the more recent “War on Terror”.
My favourite chapter was the one that explored how feminism is often equated with sexual liberation, and how the Western, “white” media – Cosmo Magazine and Sex and the City for instance, have painted an individualistic, sexually-free picture of female liberation, one that has led to terms like “girl-boss” and “self-love”, often losing the whole collective sisterhood spirit of feminism. And, her sections discussing “secure-feminism” and its impact on America’s War on Terror were extremely enlightening, especially considering recent events in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have taken over once again. -
This book took a more global approach to the impacts of white centric feminism than I had expected. That isn't a bad thing. It was an educationally different thing than what I had anticipated reading. White privilege impact how feminist doctrine has been formed. The book pushes for these to be removed from the fight for women's rights by recognizing that the issues of feminism aren't just those issues facing white women. Unlike a few other books on this subject I have read, this book placed a larger emphasis on the commercialization of feminism. While being told they are independent and equal to men, women are at the same time being told that this cigarette will make them sexy thereby immediately objectifying them. It continues to provide multiple examples of how colonialism brought about the unequal view and treatment of brown women versus white women. In the UK and USA, women were burned at the stake while in India, British colonizers made it illegal for a widow to burner herself on her husband's pyre. Really, it was about control. It still is. Women, white women, need to recognize that the privilege they receive as second class white citizens is just that and only at the convenience of white men. All women need to consider the concerns for all women and provide a united front.
Thanks to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion. -
With the utter and complete assault on women’s reproductive rights in the US and of course other parts of the world, what the social dialogue really needs at this time is most certainly a book railing against white feminists as this will surely further female emancipation and equality. There is an entire section here where the author attempts to defend East African genital mutilation techniques, as if this cultural trend wasn’t a complete and utter abomination. But perhaps the worst section was when the author expanded on which noted feminists were ‘mean’ to certain perceived other seminar attendees based on their minority status. Even if this actually occurred exactly as the author ranted, how is someone’s butthurt at a conference salient to their overall point? And is the author even trustworthy at that point. There’s the lamest of ‘bridges’ offered at the end to close the supposed divide between PoC and their evil white counterparts, but with such a scorched earth set of words before it why would anyone think that the author is serious at that point? What a grating listen – thankfully short.
-
Despite some shortcomings, I feel that this is a must-read book for all interested in feminism free from whiteness and white privilege. On a few topics that touch Islam and author’s own culture I felt that the author was taking more culture protection position (so being biased), for example, how she wrote about sati, sex positive side of Islam, etc. But, overall, there are good arguments on important issues and my own feminist lens is slightly calibrated for good. I was always skeptical about all these waves of white feminism and exclusion of Brown and Black women from feminist discussions, and now I feel that this book provided a few good arguments for my conversations about white privilege within feminism.
I liked how she pointed out that there are no honour killings as such because rape and domestic violence issues are colorblind. A lot of white women become victims of husbands killing them out of jealousy and “heat of passion”. So why should murder of Brown and Black women be boxed into this term “honour killing” to show that they are coming from barbaric and patriarchal cultures where white saviors have to come and intervene when they themselves cannot solve their domestic violence issues? Murder of a woman is a tragedy and crime to be equally investigated without putting any extra labels.
Out of all topics I didn’t like how Rafia wrote about FGM. Mentioning breast augmentation and FGM on the same page as two body change practices from different worlds made me angry. As much as I hate white savior actions in dealing with FGM (examination of Black and Brown teenager girls in countries, like Sweden, racial profiling of potential victims of this practice in the European airports), I am 100% sure that this is one of the most violent acts performed on women and this must have been very clearly communicated in this book. I still remember the chilling memoir of Waris Dirie “Desert Flower” that describes FGM and all consequences of it in details. FGM of minors cannot be compared to any painless and consensual plastic surgery for adults. And the most efficient work to ban this violent practice is to do a lot of educational work on the ground in countries, like Somalia and Eritrea, and Waris Dirie is the best at it with her Desert Flower Foundation. -
Powerful, punchy and VERY much needed in our current climate, Zakaria's book is a call for attention to racial differences in the feminist movement. After finishing this all in one day and sitting with a lot of concepts and knowledge that was new to me (such as how deeply capitalist many aid initiatives are beneath the surface) i think it would be a crime for this book not to be considered required reading on its release within the next few months. It covers an extremely broad amount of ground in detail and depth without ever losing pace or focus, and questions many of feminism's flaws when it comes to the acceptance of white women as the 'norm' and its failure to account for the unique experiences of WOC, or even consult them on their own issues. This book may cause some discomfort amongst many white feminists but that is essential to bring about change. I highly recommend this!
(Recieved for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review) -
[review of an ARC provided by the publisher]
4.5 stars
Well-researched, lots of interesting history and global perspectives that center Black and Brown women. I always feel like these types of books won't get into the hands of people who "need" to read them (white people), but I will say that I as a WOC learned things I didn't know and gained a deeper understanding of how to center BIPOC women in feminist thought and action. And how to think more critically about the white feminist lens we apply to everything, even when it doesn't fit. -
This topic was very timely and the book was published recently so it had some very relevant examples, for instance bringing up the hysterectomies performed on women in ICE detention, the pandemic's effects on women and essential workers, and the Women's March and how it kind of deteriorated over the years.
This book clarified for me some of the reasons I had not considered myself a "feminist" in the past - what I was really repulsed by was actually "white feminism," the type of feminism that is more concerned with negotiating salaries for women corporate lawyers than with raising the minimum wage and ensuring housing for all, securofeminism that lauds how most of the major defense contracting companies are now headed by women, and Cosmo-feminism where sexual liberation and individual style are the pinnacle of feminist expression.
Zakaria articulates clearly why so many feminists who are not white or Western feel so left out of "white feminism," from the white savior complex jutting into other cultures and presenting violence against women as a collective problem in other countries while it is treated as an individual problem in the west, to the assumption that if feminism is being expressed in a different way in a different culture then the feminists there are doing it wrong and are somehow "behind" feminism in the West. She talks about white women adopting causes in different cultures and becoming spokeswomen for these causes instead of listening to the women in those cultures, and reporters going into other cultures and exploiting their connections with the women there to paint them as victims under the guise of "raising awareness."
I learned a lot about NGOs trying to force new cook stoves on Indian women without actual input from those women affected by wood burning in the home, and about the particular issues Muslim women face with feminism as it is presented in the US. I am definitely interested in reading several of the books mentioned in this book for more in-depth examination of feminism in other cultures.
Having grown up outside the US, I've known many strong women I saw as role models, even though they didn't fit the mainstream idea of a "feminist," and so even though I greatly admired them I never applied the term "feminist" to them, even though the term was certainly applicable. This is because my idea of what feminism was, was related to "white feminism." Even for myself, since I am not super-sexual, I dress conservatively, my hair is conventionally long, I dislike Hilary Clinton, and I've never taken a course on gender studies, it was hard for me to see myself as a "feminist" for a long time, until I learned more about the original movement and its radical political beginnings.
I heard about this book on a podcast and Zakaria was very well-spoken on the episode - I think it was Citations Needed but I'm having trouble actually finding the episode so it may have been a different podcast.
The book definitely gave me a lot of ideas on how to be a better international feminist and how to fight back against "white feminism" to build movements and organizations that are inclusive and go back to the original meaning of "empowering women." It gave me a lot to think about and look back on my own behavior and biases which have affected my lens of what is "feminist" and pointed out thinking that was wrong on several cultural issues.
I thought the ideas in the book could have had a few more examples because they were complex and some of the language was academic to the point where I had to read things several times to pick up what she was saying. Also, there are a lot of academic terms, which she does define, but I definitely appreciated the concrete examples she had, as they cemented my understanding. There are more interviews she's given on this book so I would like to listen to some of them to further my understanding on this topic.
