By Christine McFaul
Content warning: discrimination, homophobia, misogyny, racism, sexism, trauma.
White Feminism, a standout work of nonfiction by Koa Beck, provides an intelligent and data-driven account of the history of feminism in America. Beck, a writer, journalist, and former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, anchors the text with thorough Harvard based research. From the formation of the suffragette movement roughly a century ago to the more recent Lean In phenomenon and Women’s March in 2017, Beck reveals how the white feminist agenda has always espoused the values and ideology of the patriarchal structures it purports to denounce. Included throughout, and particularly powerful, is Beck’s research that details the achievements of marginalized groups, typically left out of feminist history including, Indigenous, Black, trans, and persons with a disability.
The book breaks down into twenty-one chapters, organized into an introduction and three main parts, as summarized below:
Introduction: Beck’s introduction is deeply personal. More than simply listing her credentials, it impresses upon the reader the lived experiences that inspired her research and made this book so necessary to write.
Part I: The History of White Feminism: – “White feminism is a state of mind. It’s a type of feminism that takes up the politics of power without questioning them.”
Based on thorough research, in Part I Beck contextualizes the suffragist movement and exposes their agenda of gaining “access to what cis white men have” rather than prioritizing issues for the betterment of all women. She simultaneously highlights the herculean efforts made by marginalized groups of women in the same time period, but for whom “the movement” has historically preferred to ignore or suppress in order to prioritize and promote their own agenda.
Part II: White Feminism™: When the Movement Went Corporate: “#Feminism is abundant, particularly for marketers who would like me to purchase my politics on T-shirts, buttons, stickers, and even makeup.”
Part II explains how white-woman-in-a-power-suit became media shorthand for women’s rights, building a “new dialogue through which to sell products” (do the terms #Ladyboss, #sidehustle, #bossbitch, etc. ring a bell?!). Beck provides an incisive review of how capitalism profits off of feminism and then uses those profits to ensure the continuation of the same power structures that have historically sidelined marginalized groups.
Part III - The Winds of Change: “Where white feminism begins is precisely where white feminism will end: with the people who uphold it. It’s by their hands that this ideology will either endure…or die-out among other practices.”
Beck ends her research by looking toward the future and giving practical recommendations to the next generation. She makes a compelling argument for the need for the fourth wave of feminism to be inclusive, comfortable with intersectionality, and committed to effecting structural changes and reallocations of power.
White Feminism is a timely and illuminating addition to the current discussions about race, power, and inclusion. Intelligent, illuminating, and ultimately optimistic, it is one of the most important books I have read in the past 5 years—an absolute must-read.
Thank you, Simon & Schuster, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!