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A review by dean_issov
Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism by Daisy Hernández, Bushra Rehman
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
"Colonize This!: Young women of color on today's feminism" is an empowering collection of essays by various women of colour around the USA just a year after the horrible 9/11 tragedy. This essay collection is eye opening, it gave me different perspectives on what it is like to live as a woman of colour in our society and how it affects them in many ways. I loved that it covered many issues on not only sexism but also on race, religion, abortion rights, immigration, sexual and domestic abuse, and many more. It is both shocking and sad that an essay collection that was written two decades ago is still very relevant in today's world; especially considering what is happening in Afghanistan at this very moment, where the Taliban is taking control over everything there.
As a Filipino man living in the Philippines, I read this essay collection to educate myself on intersectional feminism because I never really felt how privileged I am as a cis man until only a few months ago when I started learning about feminism, religion, and politics. Ever since then I began to continually educate myself on anything that I can get my hands on. This essay collection is a decent introduction to intersectionality and I'm very glad that I read it.
Some essays didn't particularly hit as hard as some of the others, most likely because I'm a man and found it a bit difficult to relate to, but each and every essay is still important and beneficial to anyone who gets to read these women's lives and anecdotes. Personally, some essays just felt dry and repetitive, and there were some that felt like it could've been better if it went on longer, but it's still good nonetheless.
My favourite essays (not in any specific order):
Colonize This! - Cristina Tzintzún
Organizing 101 - A Mixed-Race Feminist in Movements for Social Justice - Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz
What Happens When Your Hood Is the Last Stop on the White Flight Express? - Taigi Smith
Love Clinic - Soyon Im
Lost in the Indophile Translation - Bhavana Mody
It’s Not an Oxymoron - The Search for an Arab Feminism - Susan Muaddi Darraj
Nasaan ka anak ko? - A Queer Filipina-American Feminist’s Tale of Abortion and Self-Recovery - Patricia Justine Tumang
As a Filipino man living in the Philippines, I read this essay collection to educate myself on intersectional feminism because I never really felt how privileged I am as a cis man until only a few months ago when I started learning about feminism, religion, and politics. Ever since then I began to continually educate myself on anything that I can get my hands on. This essay collection is a decent introduction to intersectionality and I'm very glad that I read it.
Some essays didn't particularly hit as hard as some of the others, most likely because I'm a man and found it a bit difficult to relate to, but each and every essay is still important and beneficial to anyone who gets to read these women's lives and anecdotes. Personally, some essays just felt dry and repetitive, and there were some that felt like it could've been better if it went on longer, but it's still good nonetheless.
My favourite essays (not in any specific order):
Colonize This! - Cristina Tzintzún
Organizing 101 - A Mixed-Race Feminist in Movements for Social Justice - Lisa Weiner-Mahfuz
What Happens When Your Hood Is the Last Stop on the White Flight Express? - Taigi Smith
Love Clinic - Soyon Im
Lost in the Indophile Translation - Bhavana Mody
It’s Not an Oxymoron - The Search for an Arab Feminism - Susan Muaddi Darraj
Nasaan ka anak ko? - A Queer Filipina-American Feminist’s Tale of Abortion and Self-Recovery - Patricia Justine Tumang
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Islamophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
Minor: Biphobia, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, Abortion, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment