aus10england's review
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Lots of great info in this book! Great read for people who probably will never read it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Racism
Moderate: Rape
eekgranola's review
4.0
Really this was beautiful and probably deserves 5 stars had I read it in a time where I had more emotional bandwidth. So much to learn and think about!
greatlibraryofalexandra's review
5.0
Found my way to this book via my best friend and our shared love of Dr. Brittney Cooper, and loved every second of it. Kyla Schuller's research and writing shine brightly, and the way she spotlights overlooked activists in feminist history by analyzing them right alongside the often-written about white women is a brilliant way to discuss how specific a brand of politics "white feminism" is and how harmful it is as an ideology.
What's important about this book is that it reminds me the "big names" such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Sanger were often merely side notes or cutesy info boxes in my history books (in the style of 'and oh, this is what the little ladies were doing while real history was happening!' in the margins). The erasure of non-cis, non-straight, non-white women is emphasized even more heavily when juxtaposed with how little attention is given even to white feminists. In exploring the history of these women, those remembered and those forgotten, side by side, the propensity of white women to take up all of the limited space men give us at the table is artfully exposed, and rightly judged persistently and perniciously harmful.
I loved the way this book was written, and loved what I learned from it; its definitely a book I will consider a key part of my journey to be a better feminist as each day goes by. And it comes highly recommended by Brittney Cooper, who is probably my favorite contemporary feminist, and who provides the foreword for this book.
My only caveat is that I found Schuller's chapter on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes to lack the analytical skill the rest of the book was so good at. I find AOC to be flat-out obnoxious, and Schuller seemed to be more interested in writing AOC starstruck love-letters than continuing with her analyses, though she made good points. I thought her purpose would have been better served if she'd chosen Stacy Abrams, Rashida Tlaib, or Ayanna Pressley.
What's important about this book is that it reminds me the "big names" such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Sanger were often merely side notes or cutesy info boxes in my history books (in the style of 'and oh, this is what the little ladies were doing while real history was happening!' in the margins). The erasure of non-cis, non-straight, non-white women is emphasized even more heavily when juxtaposed with how little attention is given even to white feminists. In exploring the history of these women, those remembered and those forgotten, side by side, the propensity of white women to take up all of the limited space men give us at the table is artfully exposed, and rightly judged persistently and perniciously harmful.
I loved the way this book was written, and loved what I learned from it; its definitely a book I will consider a key part of my journey to be a better feminist as each day goes by. And it comes highly recommended by Brittney Cooper, who is probably my favorite contemporary feminist, and who provides the foreword for this book.
My only caveat is that I found Schuller's chapter on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes to lack the analytical skill the rest of the book was so good at. I find AOC to be flat-out obnoxious, and Schuller seemed to be more interested in writing AOC starstruck love-letters than continuing with her analyses, though she made good points. I thought her purpose would have been better served if she'd chosen Stacy Abrams, Rashida Tlaib, or Ayanna Pressley.
angelakay's review
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I wanted to read this because I read an interview with the author. Intersectional feminism and the toxic nature of historically white feminism is a topic I have passing familiarity with but I wanted to know more. I found this to be an excellent “101” in intersectional feminism. Schuller walks through the history of American feminism using case studies where she compares the actions & approaches of a white feminist leader or icon with those of a contemporaneous intersectional feminist. If you don’t really know what white feminism or intersectional feminism is or aren’t familiar with the (deeply problematic and harmful) history of white feminism (i.e., what a lot of white ladies just call “feminism”), this is a great and very accessible place to start.
disasterchick's review
4.0
There was a lot I was unaware of and do appreciate this book.
How did I find this book? It was on a list of celebrity recommendations. Alok Vaid-Menon who I had not heard of had this as a recommendation. I had not heard of Alok, but the title intrigued me, as a white woman I don't want to be part of the problem. Alock is an American writer, performance artist, and media personality who is gender non-conforming and transfeminine.
How did I find this book? It was on a list of celebrity recommendations. Alok Vaid-Menon who I had not heard of had this as a recommendation. I had not heard of Alok, but the title intrigued me, as a white woman I don't want to be part of the problem. Alock is an American writer, performance artist, and media personality who is gender non-conforming and transfeminine.
meghanarnold's review
3.0
“In getting history right, we also open up the chance for a new kind of future.”
Schuller’s presentation of “a counterhistory of [American] feminism” is incredibly well-researched, interestingly framed (juxtaposing two contemporaries through different waves of US feminism), and distills what could be dryly academic biographies into engaging prose. Through this work, she successfully argues the virtues of intersectional feminism vs the more myopic and harmful “white feminism”.
The unfortunate reality is that in today’s climate, I feel like I have to be delicate in my criticism of a book like this, so again, please note that I absolutely agreed with the overall thesis. While there are few different areas that I would critique in a 1:1 conversation, the one that stands out — and where this collection mostly fell short for me— was that several times I felt like the author was projecting her commitment to certain modern doctrines onto historical figures. Perhaps the research that supported these assumptions was edited out or buried in the footnotes, but I found it off-putting as a reader.
In the end, thanks to Schuller’s living intersectional feminism and citing so many incredible scholars in her book, I now have a long list of other writers and historians to check out, as well as a cavalcade of historical figures to learn about. I would definitely recommend this book if you’re interested in learning more about “who’s left out of the history books” and are comfortable sitting in the discomfort of having your assumptions challenged.
Schuller’s presentation of “a counterhistory of [American] feminism” is incredibly well-researched, interestingly framed (juxtaposing two contemporaries through different waves of US feminism), and distills what could be dryly academic biographies into engaging prose. Through this work, she successfully argues the virtues of intersectional feminism vs the more myopic and harmful “white feminism”.
The unfortunate reality is that in today’s climate, I feel like I have to be delicate in my criticism of a book like this, so again, please note that I absolutely agreed with the overall thesis. While there are few different areas that I would critique in a 1:1 conversation, the one that stands out — and where this collection mostly fell short for me— was that several times I felt like the author was projecting her commitment to certain modern doctrines onto historical figures. Perhaps the research that supported these assumptions was edited out or buried in the footnotes, but I found it off-putting as a reader.
In the end, thanks to Schuller’s living intersectional feminism and citing so many incredible scholars in her book, I now have a long list of other writers and historians to check out, as well as a cavalcade of historical figures to learn about. I would definitely recommend this book if you’re interested in learning more about “who’s left out of the history books” and are comfortable sitting in the discomfort of having your assumptions challenged.
feministbookclub's review against another edition
Might come back to this one. It’s fantastic but really dry.