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genthebookworm's review against another edition
4.0
I feel a bit embarrassed to admit that it took until the last few years for me to really understand that feminism has not always encompassed all women. The Trouble With White Women continued to open my eyes to so many perspectives I had not always thought about as a white woman myself. If you want to better understand intersectional feminism, this is a great place to dive in!
Thank you to Perseus Books for my review copy.
Thank you to Perseus Books for my review copy.
alexkg's review against another edition
5.0
A must read for all white women out there. This book covers the history of white feminism and the self-serving white feminists who championed it.
These are some parts that resonated with me:
•”White feminism is theft disguised as liberation.” (p. 9)
•”When white women are confronted with the possibility they can be perpetrators, and not only victims, of oppressive actions, and they burst out crying, anti-racist work grinds to a halt. A white woman sobs, and the room falls to her feet. These tears seemingly perform a self-baptism. They cleanse the sufferer of any past wrongs, and invest her with a martyred authority flowing from the realm of allegedly indisputable truth: her own hurt feelings.” (p. 51)
•”Child removal [from their Indigenous families] proved to be a profitable career path for many white women. The civilizing machine required humans to run it: white women teachers.” (p. 90) This one hurt especially given my profession as an educator.
•”The link between white feminism and eugenics. “What was the best method to ensure that the unfit couldn’t reproduce, thereby poisoning the gene pool? Segregation was one approach…[but] sterilization was…preferable to segregation. (p. 127). [Margaret Sanger] positioned birth control as the prime method to eliminate people she referred to as ‘biological and racial mistakes’.” (p. 128)
These are some parts that resonated with me:
•”White feminism is theft disguised as liberation.” (p. 9)
•”When white women are confronted with the possibility they can be perpetrators, and not only victims, of oppressive actions, and they burst out crying, anti-racist work grinds to a halt. A white woman sobs, and the room falls to her feet. These tears seemingly perform a self-baptism. They cleanse the sufferer of any past wrongs, and invest her with a martyred authority flowing from the realm of allegedly indisputable truth: her own hurt feelings.” (p. 51)
•”Child removal [from their Indigenous families] proved to be a profitable career path for many white women. The civilizing machine required humans to run it: white women teachers.” (p. 90) This one hurt especially given my profession as an educator.
•”The link between white feminism and eugenics. “What was the best method to ensure that the unfit couldn’t reproduce, thereby poisoning the gene pool? Segregation was one approach…[but] sterilization was…preferable to segregation. (p. 127). [Margaret Sanger] positioned birth control as the prime method to eliminate people she referred to as ‘biological and racial mistakes’.” (p. 128)
disabledbookdragon's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
ignatzv's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
The Trouble with White Women is a compilation of historical descriptions of how famous white feminists have utilized their privilege and feminist status to reinforce colonialism, racism, and other forms of bigotry while simultaneously comparing them to revolutionary feminists of their time period that approached feminism from a more genuine and intersectional perspective. Schuller deconstructs white supremacy, cissexism, and other bigoted social institutions. This book does not tackle the broader issues as a whole, but is more so a critique of relevant historical figures.
jrayereads's review against another edition
3.0
This was more of a “it’s not you it’s me” kind of book, I think. I really struggled to get through it - it took me at least a couple months of reading it on and off. Two standout sections for me were the chapter on white women’s maternalistic “activism” directed towards Indigenous folks, and the analysis of the “Feminine Mystique”. The blend of individual stories of the women in this book with broader historical events felt clunky. I agree with the author’s rhetorical goals and appreciated the research put in, but found the writing repetitive and dry.
magsnificentmils's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
unruhlysarah's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing book about the need for intersectional feminism with highlights of historical figures that need much more current attention!
alexacath's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
This book is great for individuals looking to understand how the feminist movement worked to elevate white women while simultaneously causing harm to women of color. The authors takes well know white feminists and compares them to lesser known (as important if not more) women of color. Chapter by chapter the readers understanding of the feminist movement (including present day) is constantly called into question and readers are forced to think critically about what they were taught in school.