Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Culture Warlords: My Journey Into the Dark Web of White Supremacy by Talia Lavin

11 reviews

klsreads's review

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

There was a lot I really liked about this book. The scary look into far-right infiltrative journalism really put me on edge. Lavin is incredibly brave and principled. However, much of this book read like a collection of well-written journal articles. The overall story lacked cohesiveness. I enjoyed each section independently ("We Keep Us Safe" was a standout), but don't go into this expecting a deep dive into the path of online radicalism. It's good as a more intro-level text of vignettes. Lavin's writing is strong, personal, and emotional, though I found it repetitive (and I spent a fair amount of time looking up words). 3.5 stars.

"To those who find themselves uncomfortable with the operation of antifascists outside the comfortable bounds of institutions and, at times, the law, I remind you that the French partisans of World War II were acting illegally, while the Einsatzgruppen had the full support of German law. We tend to like our noble lawbreakers to be comfortably in the past, where time and death have sanitized them into heroes, and to suffer those who struggle against injustice in the present only grudgingly, if at all."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and War

Moderate: Child death and Pandemic/Epidemic

caseythereader's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

3.75

 - I think it is important, when you can manage it, to look at horrible things straight on so you know what you're up against. That said, CULTURE WARLORDS is filled with some of the most horrifying and horrific things I've ever read, all the more terrifying because it's all happening right under our noses.
- I think if you've spent any time at all learning about (or experiencing) what the far right is up to, there isn't a lot of new information in this book. However, Lavin really does a great job of linking seemingly disparate ideologies, events, and social and governmental failures together to show how we arrived here. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail

kalifer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Honestly, this was a very sad read. However, it is very relevant in our society. Extremist are everywhere, and we have to be mindful of how they interact with the society at large. It's terrifying to me that these people are so hateful and disgusting. And I know they take joy in people feeling that way. It's just depressing that this is the world we live in. But I don't believe it's completely hopeless. Yet, I think it is important to take a break from such hatred, because if we do not let ourselves rest, we risk not being able to fight for each other. I hope the writer of this book was able to rest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry

collins1129's review

dark informative fast-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

happiestwhenreading's review

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This book really started to pop up in my Instagram feed after the siege of the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Since the election – and especially since Trump has been banned from most (all?) social media, I’ve heard more and more about the radicalization of people through social media and this book seems like a great dive into that topic!

“The thing about hate, though, is it metastasizes. The thing about channels that are filled, twenty-four hours a day, with stachoastic violence–testosterone-filled megaphones shouting for blood–is that, sooner or later, someone is going to take them up on it…racist networks have proven over and over again that the steady dissemination of murderous propaganda leaves a trail of blood behind it.”
Talia Lavin, “Culture Warlords”

While I probably appreciated the chapter on social media the most (Chapter 7: Tween Racists, Bad Beanies, and the Great Casino Chase), I learned A LOT from this book and how the internet plays a big role in how white supremacy has gained a foothold in our current world. Coming off the heels of the 2020 Election, the insurrection of the Capital, and the banning of Trump on social media platforms, the question that is begging to be answered is: where do we go from here? How do we make changes that disallow hate to have a platform? And how do we heal this divide? Those are questions I don’t necessarily have an answer for, but I think this book is an important piece to strategizing out some possibilities.

One chapter of the book that I vehemently disagree with is Chapter 9: Antifa Civil War. Lavin says that Anitfa is “a collection of individuals scattered throughout the country who are loosely pursuing the same goal: preventing fascist, far-right organizing through a varity of tactics” (pgs 215-216), and that “more than anything, it’s a way to keep ourselves – and our more vulnerable friends and neighbors – safe in a world where hate wants to swallow us whole” (pg. 216). After all of the destruction of federal property in various cities in the United States, I do not believe them to be a tempored group and I believe Antifa’s actions are just as wrong as the alt-rights. I would like to believe there isn’t a place for either one of those extreme groups in our country, and I cling to the believe that more people feel this way than don’t. Admittedly, I am not well-researched in Antifa or their methods, but from the mainstream media, I am not a supporter of their tactics, and I had a hard time agreeing with Lavin on much of anything in this chapter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

amarchetta's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective

3.0

I’m glad I read this book because it reflected the grueling work the author did in her research. It was difficult to get through due to the weight of the material present. I hate to give this a lower star rating because of the incredible insights the author could provide, but I didn’t find the flow/format of the book very readable. I can’t say anyone would enjoy reading the vicious hate spewed by the book’s subjects, but the work itself wasn’t as engrossing as I had hoped. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry

norah's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I don't know if it was the fact that I've done similar research to Talia, or that I follow her on twitter, or the last chapter of this book, but this was an emotional read for me. I think it's a comprehensive look at white supremacy in Amerika, and one that doesn't mince words, or feign distance. I think it's very clear that Lavin is extremely knowledgable about antifascism and it shows, brilliantly, throughout. I can't stop thinking of the circle of protective bodies around the church. I recommend this book over others on the same topic, such as Marantz's "Antisocial", if you were to choose only one to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Religious bigotry

This is a book about white supremacist and nazis, what they think, and how they express their hate. There are descriptions of acts of violence, and an instance of description of animal mutilation.

funishment's review

dark informative tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexism, Transphobia, and Antisemitism

sydeeye's review against another edition

emotional informative tense fast-paced

3.0

An informative look at modern white supremacy, inceldom, and other kinds of hate, interspersed with Lavin's experience going "undercover" in Nazi chatrooms. Can be kind of repetitive, especially if you've got a basic understanding of these hate groups already. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

offalcute's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, and Mass/school shootings