A review by mariebrunelm
White Tears / Brown Scars: How White Feminism Betrays Women of Color by Ruby Hamad

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

This cutting and well-researched essay lays bare the foundations of white feminism and how it has often been mistaken for plain feminism whereas it has always excluded non-white women as well as non-cis women. The author, Ruby Hamad, started with an article published in Australia that went viral, and was then encouraged to turn it into a book. Needless to say there was ample material and it is not diluted. The original point was how white women use tears, honest or fake, as a tool to maintain their cultural and political superiority over women of colour who then cannot defend themselves without appearing angry or brutal. From then, Hamad goes back to the roots of white feminism and its deep links with patriarchy and racism, showing how all three are entangled and cannot be thought separately without leaving aside a significant part of the problem.
A must-read for all people who deem themselves feminists. 
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