Reviews with content warning for Violence - Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism

This was a hard book to read, but it was important to understand how women are core and help grow hate movements. It's also good to know about how these people recruit to hate groups and make these things appealing even when it's not really a socially accepted position to have.

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challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

✨MINI REVIEW✨ [ @littlebrown | #partner ]

After the election of Donald J. Trump, journalist Seyward Darby went looking for the women of the so-called alt-right--really just white nationalism with a new label. The mainstream media depicted the alt-right as a bastion of angry white men, but was it? As women headlined resistance to the Trump administration's bigotry and sexism, most notably at the women's marches, Darby wanted to know why others were joining a movement espousing racism and anti-feminism. Who were these women, and what did their activism reveal about America's past, present, and future? (via Goodreads) 📚

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What I liked:

Darby does not soft-pedal any of the horrific views and actions of the people she profiles. She labels things racist when they are - no "racially tinged" language here - and often debunks her subjects' claims right after quoting them.
Contains a lot of discussion about the types of people drawn to conspiracy theories and white nationalism along with how these ideas spread and why certain people latch onto them.
Darby also breaks down why people stay in the hate movement. These women are primarily looking for a place where they can feel like they belong and be heard - some were even self-proclaimed, vocal feminists in past years. The ability to be openly racist is often just a bonus for them - they join and stay because they are seeking community and validation, and this movement answered the call.
This is a really close look at the two ways white women are used to promote hate: with the idea that we must protect white women from dangerous non-white men and also with the idea that these people can't be all that bad if those nice moms are part of their group, right?

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What I didn't like:

There were a few aspects of these womens' lives I wish had been explored just a little more, but on the other hand this was certainly a close enough look for me, now I'm going to go scream for a bit, bye!

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Content warnings: antisemitism, body shaming, bullying, cursing, emotional abuse, fatphobia, genocide, gun violence, hate crime, homophobia, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, misogyny, physical abuse, racial slurs, racism, rape, religious bigotry, sexism, slavery, transphobia, xenophobia, and violence.

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