A review by meghanarnold
The Trouble with White Women: A Counterhistory of Feminism, by Kyla Schuller
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.