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carissachristenson's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
I struggled to rate this book… the information provided is extremely important and informative. I liked the was it was broken up and structured, comparing two feminists with similar (yet vastly different) goals. However, I found it very dense, and dry, and had a hard time maintaining my focus. There were a number of times I had to break each chapter into 3 or 4 chunks, putting the book down and taking breaks just to get through it. So while I appreciated the read, I did not find it to be an easy one.
tedgluxe's review against another edition
The book was informative and about important topic but for me a bit too detailed to stay focused and follow it
brittanyboston18's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
hsandorf's review against another edition
5.0
This is a great book to deconstruct white feminist thinking and identify some of the traps we fall in to. Intersectional feminism is not about token representation, it's about rebuilding structures and institutions so they serve everyone.
librarian_barbie's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this and learning about alternative feminist role models
caitlyn888's review against another edition
4.0
This book does a good job of sharing the counterhistory of feminism by juxtaposing the famous white women we've come to know as the trailbazers for women's rights with the women of color who were simultaneously fighting for true equality for marginalized groups (aka intersectional feminists). I was aware of some of the racist and homophobic/transphobic stances that a lot of the white feminists pushed, but this book truly highlighted the shortcomings of every major feminist wave that's been documented in the U.S. and how the women who didn't get the appropriate airtime or credit fought against that. (I also learned that Sojourner Truth didn't say "Ain't I a woman," as has been famously stated in her 1851 speech. It was inaccurately transcribed 12 years later by a white woman who wanted to make her sound more Southern and palatable to white women. Ahhhjhdkhgsh)
I guess my one critique is the title. This is one of many nonfiction books about feminism I've read that has a provocative title, and while it's accurate, I think it can turn off potential readers (like white women) who need to learn the real history. Or if you are a white woman reading it, it's difficult not to come off as you trying to be really woke. But attention-grabbing titles generate book sales, so you do you fam.
I guess my one critique is the title. This is one of many nonfiction books about feminism I've read that has a provocative title, and while it's accurate, I think it can turn off potential readers (like white women) who need to learn the real history. Or if you are a white woman reading it, it's difficult not to come off as you trying to be really woke. But attention-grabbing titles generate book sales, so you do you fam.
ferris_mx's review against another edition
4.0
"Always ally yourself with those on the bottom, on the margins, and at the periphery of the centers of power. And in doing so, you will land yourself at the very center of some of the most important struggles of our society and our history." - Barbara Ransby
In a way, in a good way, this is the primary point of the book. It clarifies and explains intersectional feminism, and shows through the primary characters' main words how historical feminism has really been white, white supremacist feminism, and contemporary Black, POC and trans voices have been silenced as distractions from the goal of redistributing power to white women. Each chapter compares and contrasts a well-known white cis feminist with a contemporary feminist who is not white cis, and also not well-known, because white feminism hallows white voices.
But towards the end the book lost me somewhat. I happen to know that Google is not "trawling the ... personal correspondence and business communications of its two billion users to assemble psychological profiles it can sell to advertisers." There are lots of valid criticisms of Google, but this is just simply not true. And later, the book develops an attack on capitalism, but the replacement system is not fully fleshed out. "mutual aid" doesn't seem like a safe outcome for anyone.
In a way, in a good way, this is the primary point of the book. It clarifies and explains intersectional feminism, and shows through the primary characters' main words how historical feminism has really been white, white supremacist feminism, and contemporary Black, POC and trans voices have been silenced as distractions from the goal of redistributing power to white women. Each chapter compares and contrasts a well-known white cis feminist with a contemporary feminist who is not white cis, and also not well-known, because white feminism hallows white voices.
But towards the end the book lost me somewhat. I happen to know that Google is not "trawling the ... personal correspondence and business communications of its two billion users to assemble psychological profiles it can sell to advertisers." There are lots of valid criticisms of Google, but this is just simply not true. And later, the book develops an attack on capitalism, but the replacement system is not fully fleshed out. "mutual aid" doesn't seem like a safe outcome for anyone.