Whilst I enjoyed learning about the topics and found Zakaria's thesis to be not just significant, but a great insight into the 'white feminist' and how we can combat it, the writing style was just a little too academic for me and I struggled to get through some of the heavier chapters. Otherwise, an important book with plenty of opportunities for discussion.

Genuinely disappointed in myself for not loving the book as much as the other readers. It's such a great concept but the delivery fell flat for me.

The concept is very real and absolutely needs to be written on, but many of the examples felt arbitrary and projected, with the option for resolution very visible in the anecdote itself, but seemingly avoided.

I hope to read more on the topic in the future but unfortunately this book just didn't hit the mark.

It's very rare that I give 5 stars to a non-fiction book but I absolutely could not resist this one. I've been reading a lot of feminist books lately, this one ended up being a lot more than I expected for a short book and it approached several issues that I found lacking in other reads.
This book is an essential read if you are/want to get into feminist reading.

"The story of feminism which our daughters learn tomorrow must be different from the one we know today. It is not enough for alternative narratives of women of colours simply to exist; they must actually influence the conetent and the course of the movement for gender parity."

"It is impossible for any change to occur unless white women, particularly older white women, let go of their paranoid belief that racial equality within the movement is some sort of surreptitious strategy to displace them."

I was just nodding along throughout almost this whole book: it's such a fantastic look at the history of systemic white feminism, and the ways in which white women's struggle to be equals of white men in a structurally white supremacist society /must/ inherently involve the oppression of women (and all people) of colour; in particular I'd had no idea just how much of British and American women's suffrage in the early 20th century was positioned explicitly in opposition to rights for people of colour, both domestic and colonial.

The interrogation of the 'white saviour' narrative was especially wonderful, as well as the connections she draws between capitalism and white feminism, and the problems inherent in philanthropy and foreign aid. The chapter on how 'feminism' was used as an excuse to justify the invasion of Afghanistan (among countless other countries) was particularly brilliant and horribly timely.

My one major complaint was the chapter on sexual liberation, where it felt a little like Zakariya (perhaps in an attempt to distance herself from her 'conservative' Pakistani Muslim upbringing), in her rush to emphasise her belief that sexual liberation should be a part of the movement (just not the be all and end all of it), missed an opportunity to underscore that the choice NOT to have sex can be as much a powerful and liberating one as the choice to do so.

'A white feminist is someone who refuses to consider the role that whiteness and the racial privilege attached to it have played'.

Against White Feminism, investigates how the feminist movement has been seeped in white supremacy since it's origins, and how capitalism only adds to this problem - it centers on the needs and existence of white women, and neglects women of colour.

Zakaria writes with clarity, providing not only historical and modern context, but also lays out essential steps to make intersectional feminism a reality.

This book should be required reading, and I will be buying a copy to annotate as soon as I can.

I never quite know how to review non-fiction that isn't narrativised...

You don't have to look very far on GoodReads to find demonstrations of why this book is an essential read, not just for feminists, but for all of us. White people are so fragile and so defensive of whiteness that the mere idea of someone contending it in any way is an unimaginable offence. I doubt that many, if any, of these angry reviews came from people who actually read the book, because Zakaria's appraisal is an incisive examination of the corrupting permeation of white supremacy, privilege and individualistic capitalism in feminist factions and organisations. In short: it is brilliant.

Zakaria takes a global approach to her consideration of the inherent flaws in the movement, specifically picking apart the legacy of colonialism and its persistent roots in our ideologies and social structures.. Obviously there's a lot to unpack there, but Zakaria does an excellent job of presenting a non-white centred history of female emancipation, empowerment, liberation and activism alongside her discussion of the 'default' white feminist perspective and the harm that dominant position has caused other women.

This book is an excellent starting point for anyone and everyone to begin to diversify their knowledge of feminism, re-examine the accepted standards of feminist and sociopolitical discourse, acknowledge their privileges, complicity and ignorance and, ultimately, become better feminists: better allies. Perhaps even better people.

Huge thanks to Hamish Hamilton, Penguin General and NetGally for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for this review. I hope this one finds its way into many hands.

A five-star read for me, and it honestly made me laugh reading all the one-star reviews on Goodreads, written by people who have clearly not read the book and don't understand the concept of white feminism. Against White Feminism is a wide-ranging, incisive and global look at how white supremacy has infiltrated feminism and how that impacts the feminist movement today. I learned lots, even though I don't agree with all of Rafia Zakaria's conclusions and some of the ways she frames the issues. But as the author says herself in her conclusion, this book is intended as a starting point to examine the issues affecting feminism today, and in that light, I can't recommend it highly enough. Besides, apart from its qualities as a Very Important Book, I actually found Against White Feminism a really enjoyable and immersive read - a high compliment considering I had sludge-for-a-brain pretty much the whole time I was reading it.

This is such an important book, and so timely. It's a must read for everyone who wishes to do better. It's about acknowledging privilege and understanding what we're trying to do.
Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this book mostly because of the provocative title, which Rafia Zakaria explains in her introduction: "(...) to be a white feminist, you simply have to be a person who accepts the benefits conferred by white supremacy, at the expense of people of colour, while claiming to support gender equality and solidarity with 'all' women". You do not need to be white to be a white feminist, and you can be white and a feminist without being a white feminist.

Rafia Zakaria came to the US as a bride, on an arranged marriage to a Pakistani-American doctor. She was seventeen and was 'allowed to go to college' in exchange. She left the marriage a few years later with her two year old daughter and stayed in a centre for victims of domestic violence.

Throughout the book, she examines the heritage of both Western colonialism, and Western feminism: where women of colour have been subjected to new rules by various empires, only to be told now they must be saved and liberated by the descendants of the colons. She goes into the way Western feminism values "rebellion rather than resilience", and that women of colour who remain with their families and endure difficult circumstances are not celebrated and admired because of their resilience, but pitied because of course they should want to be liberated, and to be able to leave, get a job and pursue their dreams in a capitalist world. She provides many examples of misguided help to 'save' these women - the initiative to liberate Indian women from the kitchen by giving them modern stoves to replace the wood stoves they used, and to encourage them to leave the kitchen to go and work - when opportunities are limited, but working in a factory is seen as more liberating than spending hours by the hearth cooking for the family. She examines how we remember the white suffragettes, Western feminists and celebrate them for fighting for women's rights, forgetting the many black and brown activists who also identified fights to be fought and mobilised women.

What we see today as the liberation of women is based on "Western norms", she writes: white feminists want to liberate Muslim women from the hijab or from sexual submission, but these women are not heard. They are "helpless, backwards, pre-Enlightenment versions of white Western women, whose social and cultural differences are to be solved". White feminists know what they need in order to be 'saved' and 'liberated', and "the poor Brown woman will gratefully accept it". The story of the Gates fundation gifting chicken to empoverished women to help them start their own business was a telling story.

She also examines the media and how women of colour are portrayed: "Brown and Black women are imaged to exist in a much simpler world, held back from success by very basic issues that have very basic solutions". This is the narrative - and charitable organisatons love these stories, and the solution is always a stove or a handful of chicken -, and they are perpetuated by many white journalists - many white women, who have access to intimate circles and report gleefully on the sad lives of these women, according to their own standards of what a good, liberated life should be like.

There is a chapter about sexuality - how the norm for a feminist sexuality is more "Sex and the City" than whatever cultural norms women from around the world might know and want - and the assumption that "as a society evolves it becomes more sexually liberated" - hence why so many portrayals of women in Muslim countries, for example, show a fascination for their sexuality (or lack of) and sees it as a clear sign of repression. Rafia Zakaria talks about various issues - honour killings (she notes that male violence is referred to as "honour killing" when both individuals are Muslim; but this is not the case when a white woman dies at the hand of a white, male perpretator), FGM, and highlights that although they are serious issues, they are maybe not the main issue faced by women and that although a lot of money is spent by Western countries such as Sweden and the US to protect girls from countries where FGM is practiced, the progress made was made by local, women-led organisations.

Lastly, she reflects on how feminism has become capitalised and individual, rather than political - with no one really accountable anymore, and solutions being individual rather than, say, economical or political.

I was surprised by how much there was in such a short book! I thought I knew roughly about white feminism, without being to articulate it very well - she proved me there was so much I did not know, did not think about, did not realise, or that I did not know the details of. It was incredibly well-written, clear, engaging, thought-provoking without being provocative, and well-researched. I have really enjoyed reading it; I don't know how much someone who knows more about intersectionality would learn from it, but I think just because of the examples she provides and the other female Muslim scholars she quotes, it is worth reading.

‘A white feminist is someone who refuses to consider the role that witness and the racial priveledge attached to it has played, and continues to play, in universalizing white feminist concerns, agendas and beliefs as those of all of feminism and all feminists’.
...
‘More broadly, to be a white feminist you simply have to be a person who accepts the benefits conferred by white supremacy at the expense of people of colour, while claiming to support gender equality with “all” women’.
…
‘An aversion to acknowledging lived trauma permeates white feminism, which in turn produces a discomfort towards and an alienation from the women who have experienced it’.

Against White Feminism is a thought-provoking, educational and at times, difficult read. An exposé on the performative nature of the feminist movement which is primarily lead by the most privileged and rarely allows the voices of those who truly need feminism, to be heard.

Rafia Zakaria offers a clear and concise analysis of how we have gotten to this point and what should happen next, to improve the situation. Their passion for the cause is palpable throughout. This is a necessary book, one that needs to be read by everyone. Especially the most privileged who blindly lead the feminist movement.

This is such an important and timely book. I feel, as someone who considers themselves an intersectional feminist, I can never stop learning, and books such as these are so vital these days. I found a lot of points I had never considered before and it provided a lot of food for thought and inspiration. I will be recommending it to all. Thank you so much for the copy.

Been waiting a long time for a book like this to be written. A must read for all feminists! I loved this, knew a lot of it already but was still learning new things.

Very interesting book that teaches plenty of things very urgent to read! I will recommend it to everyone that wants to educate themselves.

Powerful, punchy and VERY much needed in our current climate, Zakaria's book is a call for attention to racial differences in the feminist movement. After finishing this all in one day and sitting with a lot of concepts and knowledge that was new to me (such as how deeply capitalist many aid initiatives are beneath the surface) i think it would be a crime for this book not to be considered required reading on its release within the next few months. It covers an extremely broad amount of ground in detail and depth without ever losing pace or focus, and questions many of feminism's flaws when it comes to the acceptance of white women as the 'norm' and its failure to account for the unique experiences of WOC, or even consult them on their own issues. This book may cause some discomfort amongst many white feminists but that is essential to bring about change. I highly recommend this!
(Recieved for free on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

This books was definitely an eye opening book in means of feminism. There were some interesting facts about the history of feminism and I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in finding more about feminism.


Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book in order to review it.

A great book on racism, feminism and the harm that white feminism causes. There's definitely a lot in this I'll take away with me. It's an essential read for white people who are committed to learning and doing the work of being anti-racist. Of course it can be uncomfortable to reflect on the ways that you have done harm in the past but books like this are so important for progress.

I'm glad to see a book like this getting published and I hope it's incredibly successful. It's powerful, well structured and sharp, and I can see it making its way onto many bookshelves in the near future.

Even though this book at times was uncomfortable for me to read I'm so glad I got a chance to read an ARC. I learned so much.

I've only just finished this and I'm certain I will be thinking about it for weeks to come. I think this is a book I will recommend to a lot of people even though I'm already convinced it will do very well on it's own - and rightfully so.

A big thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC.

Probably one of the best pieces of feminist theory I’ve read, this book is so powerful and easily accessible regardless of prior knowledge. I guarantee it will ruffle a few feathers but it is definitely something that should be discussed when it comes to feminism and conversations on gender.

Rafia Zakaria writes that you do not have to be white to be a white feminist. White feminism refuses to consider the role that whiteness and the privilege it has affects the conversation around feminism. Instead of listening to the multitudes of nuances around gender and race across the globe, and how race, gender and class intersects, white feminism uses the white experience as the main voice in a conversation that shuts out other races lived experiences.

To me, Zakaria’s main argument is that post-colonialism is at the root of this issue. She uses the example of aid given to show the white saviour trope of white women “saving” non-white women from non-white men. The West is seen as the epitome of progression which the Eastern world need to catch up with.

As a white woman who identifies as a feminist, I learnt so much about how I can challenge myself to be a better feminist, to not default to the white lived experience and to centre non-white experiences. We have a duty to give everyone a voice.

I absolutely can’t wait until I can get my hands on a physical copy of this one!
Thank you @Netgalley and @PenguinUkBooks for providing me with a copy of this to review.

‘Against White Feminism’ is easily the best book I’ve read in the last year, one of the best non-fiction texts I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Aside from being so well-written - clear, concise and powerful but also deeply moving and with some witty personal stories too - it also covers such an important and often neglected issue in a way that is approachable and not intimidating to a reader that might otherwise feel that some feminist books are too heavy going. Zakaria urges us to consider the role that whiteness plays ‘in universalising white feminist concerns’ and this clear point sums up the book’s overarching message - the urgency with which we - all of us, regardless of gender and race - should question, learn and unlearn how we view and partake in and engage with contemporary feminism. The clarity with which the book is written and the clear and distinct chapters make it an invaluable tool for anyone wanting to make their feminist practice intersectional and inclusive. Where many other books of a similar genre end up limited to writing about heterosexual dating and the intrinsically white female experience, Zakaria’s book explores the more radical reaches of feminism such as the White Saviour complex, sexual liberation, honour killings and the deconstruction of white feminism, to name a few. The most simple way to summarise the essence of ‘Against White Feminism’ is seen in the conclusion of the introduction, reading ‘the goal here is not to expel white women from feminism, but to excise ‘whiteness’, with all its assumptions of privilege and superiority, so as to foster the freedom and empowerment of all women’.

This is a novel I wish all my female friends would read. And my male friends, too. I want to buy a copy and thrust it upon anyone and everyone I meet. It’s a powerful manifesto that calls for and illuminates the need to reject white feminism, yet it also feels like a close friend having a meaningful chat with you over a G&T. It’s an excellent book and I really, really hope it gets all the success it deserves.

This book packs a powerful punch in a short space, and I think is destined to be on hundreds of 'books you must read' lists to come.

Covering a broad range of topics, from her personal experiences as a woman moving from Pakistan to the US and navigating conversations with white friends and colleagues, to the harmful outlooks and decisions of international aid organisations, Rafia Zakaria argues powerfully about the dangers of one narrative- a white and often privileged one- dominating all discussions, and shutting out voices.

She describes being invited to an event to talk about Pakistan, only to realise that she has been put on a stall where she is expected to dress 'conventionally' and go around 'selling' both her culture and some bangles to the white women in the audience. She describes leaving the event early to go and cry in her car, and you can't help but feel both sad for her, but also truly angry.

And anger is at the heart of this book, in such a powerful, tear-down-the-system-and-start-again, kind of way. And its anger is also its strength- these are issues that we should be angry about, and part of Rafia Zakaria's power as a writer is channelling the rage she and many others rightly feel, and using it as a tool for empowerment, education and change.

One section I found especially poignant was the one I mentioned above on aid. Rafia Zakaria points out how racist double standards radically affect how 'aid' is given, and even who is doing the giving. From journalists putting women in danger by not getting consent for photos that are then used to cover stories of abuse, to the assumption that non-white women need to be 'saved' from non-white men, to even Western (and often hyper-capitalist/consumerist) narratives (especially around sex and sexuality) being seen as the benchmarks of 'progress'.

She is razor-sharp in her analysis of not only how we have reached this stage, but also what needs to happen next.

There is too much to go into one review, but this book burns with passion and intellect, and is a vital voice that we owe it to ourselves and others to make sure we listen to.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.