Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - White Tears Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Colour

such a good, interesting, and relevant read. takes you through the history of how white women benefitted and upheld white supremacy and how it still continues stronger than ever today. taught me more about colonization and whiteness.

it rings so strongly of the recent videos of white women at the college encampments for Palestine crying and/or calling the cops claiming to be in danger.. ugh. c’mon y’all. literally prime example of white tears / damsel in distress.

the chapters on recent events and pop culture moments (BBQ Becky for example) were the most interesting for me

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nikkipoulin's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

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maddie_can_read's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Great discussion of race and gender issues and how white feminism does not equate to feminism for all. I think this would be a really great introduction to intersectionality for women.

I thought the beginning was very strong, the discussion of archetypes and their history, the inclusion of modern and historical examples, and including the perspectives of different women.

I think the structure of the book might have been improved by having more chapters that were shorter. And some of the chapters did not seem as strong as others and some chapters could've been a bit tighter.

‘White’ is better understood as an indication of racial privilege: who is considered white is less about how pale they are (many Arabs have fair skin) and more about whether they are the right kind of pale. Whiteness is more than skin colour.

White women can oscillate between their gender and their race, between being the oppressed and the oppressor. Women of colour are never permitted to exist outside of these constraints: we are both women and people of colour and we are always seen and treated as such.

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kelleykamanda's review against another edition

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challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

Incredible, insightful, timely, and accessible- highly recommend

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booknerderika's review against another edition

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informative reflective

5.0

I could list quote after quote of this book, but instead I will urge everyone to read it!

Hamad so eloquently put into words the struggles women of color have to deal with. She also provides historical evidence as to the inception of the racist caricatures created by white people and their racist behaviors towards people of color.

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yourbookishbff's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

White Tears/Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color, by Ruby Hamad is a book to read right now if you, like me, put it off for far too long. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Mozhan Marnò, and highly recommend it if you enjoy nonfiction on audio. Hamad deftly examines the racist and colonialist narratives used to define Black and brown women as *not women* at worst and *less than white women* at best. She explores the intersections of gender and race that have subjugated non-white women to the lowest realm of inclusion and agency, and she explicitly outlines how white women have made this possible at every juncture.

There were so many moments in this that felt clarifying and relevant to us today. As I’ve struggled to identify *why* some of the rhetoric tossed around the internetright now is so frustrating and exhausting, Hamad gives us the words and context to better understand why and how these bad-faith arguments are used. In a moment that feels particularly timely for us now, she discusses the 2016 backlash against US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib when she spoke out about Hillary Clinton’s condemnation of Palestinians. Hamad pushes us to ask ourselves why we expect Black and brown women to be “team players” when the team explicitly works against them, and emphasizes that there is no sisterhood with white women when white feminism continues to prioritize proximity to white men over the liberation of all people. She shows us how the common arguments we see today (ie “why aren’t you denouncing terrorism” as a counter to advocacy for Palestinian freedom), misdirect and invalidate the oppression of Black and brown people by pivoting to argue that they are their own oppressors. This is not new, but it is pervasive, and Hamad challenges us to recognize these devices and how they’re weaponized to silence people of color.

Ultimately, this was a fast-paced read with a well-constructed thesis that is very relevant to our work and advocacy today.

Notes: this is largely cisnormative, and does not explicitly explore the additional intersections of marginalization experienced by trans, nonbinary and gender non-conforming people of color.

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