Idioma original: English
Original title: Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power
Translation: Josefina Caball in Catalan for Raig Verd and Laura Estefanía in Spanish for Rayo Verde
Year of publication: 2023
Valuation: advisable

It is always interesting to expand our knowledge about the inequalities that exist in our society, whether in the concepts of racism, feminism, capitalism, etc. And it often happens that all of these concepts are linked, because oppression is always directed at the most vulnerable parts of society and tends to go from top to bottom on the social scale.

This essay written by feminist and activist Lola Olufemi is based on the idea of ​​stirring consciences and making us reflect on the society we have and the one we could achieve. The author herself indicates this purpose by stating in the introduction that “this book is addressed to anyone who has begun to think critically (…) I hope that this book makes you think about the limits of this world and the possibilities of the worlds that we can create together.” Thus, this critical view that the author defends and practices is also directed towards her own movement, towards the feminism that she conceptually defends, but which clashes head-on with racism and inequalities between ethnic groups. So much so that she openly confesses that “I saw that black women were excluded from the concept of femininity, according to the definition made by white supremacy, and that the people who remained on the other side of these borders simply did not exist in the eyes of conventional feminism. I began to understand to what extent the rebellious and defiant spirit that had been instilled in me by the feminists I admired was determined by factors of race and class. This denunciation of the dominant feminist current is something that is not always in the debate but is important to highlight, and it is something that is very reminiscent of Nikki Kendall and her book “Feminism of the hood” where this concept was a central theme in her essay. For this reason, the book is holistically surrounded by intersectionality, “the prejudice derived from the intersection of racist ideas and other forms of intolerance, such as sexism, classism, ethnocentrism or homophobia” (paraphrasing Ibram X. Kendi in “Marked at Birth: The definitive history of racist ideas in the United States”).

The author directly criticizes sexism, a sexism that goes beyond individual behavior or thoughts, since it is structurally embedded in government agencies and structures. She therefore states that “when feminists call the state ‘sexist,’ they mean that state provision, resource allocation, and the way in which supervision is carried out reinforce gender oppression by restricting women’s freedom.” This sexism is also present in legislation that seeks to combat it, since, in terms of protective laws against domestic violence, the author states that “the most urgent issue for survivors is not that their aggressors go to jail, but that there is a safety net that they can rely on and that allows them to escape from abusive situations. They need shelters, avenues for economic stability, and adequate social assistance.” Thus, he not only criticises the mentality but also how it governs everyday life, how priorities are elsewhere, completely correct in his questioning of the usefulness of a state in which its interests are not directed towards the disadvantaged, asking: “What good is a country that refuses to put the needs of its citizens before capitalist progress?”

Other focuses of the book are its denunciation of the terfs and its false feminism, as well as sex workers and how sex is used as a form of abuse of power, the poor coverage they have in terms of physical and social security and the need to rethink the penal and prison system because “believing in prisons presupposes that they are racially neutral (…) that they help rehabilitate criminals and repair the grievance suffered by victims.” Thus, she advocates (mentioning Angela Davis) for the abolition of prisons and for devoting resources and directing society towards questioning and changing that which pushes people to commit crimes, with the intention of “finding a way to create the conditions to transform the relationships that cause crime.” The author also speaks of religion and its influence, as well as the easy criticism that is made from outside especially towards Muslim women because “they are rarely considered individuals whose bodies need to be protected, cared for or taken into account in feminist debates. The Muslim woman is spoken of, but not talked about: it is imposed on her, invaded, dissected: she is rarely treated as an autonomous human being, whose freedom deserves to be understood on its own terms. When Muslim women are talked about in the media, they are empty caricatures or victims suffering under the patriarchal control of father or brothers. They constantly need saving: from themselves, from each other, from ‘backward countries’.

It must be said that part of the book is focused on Great Britain (the country where the author was born and resides) so in some cases the examples given do not entirely coincide with what would be applicable in other countries and in some cases makes the reading lose some interest, although, in any case, it is an interesting book because it helps to broaden the view on feminism, as well as to remember concepts that in some cases we already knew or intuited.

The author says that “if this book inspires you to choose another one or to watch a documentary, to search the archives, to pick up a book of poetry – if it ignites or rekindles your interest in feminism – I will have achieved my goal.” And this is undoubtedly a goal that, through this review, I share with her.

Source: https://unlibroaldia.blogspot.com/2024/09/lola-olufemi-feminismo-interrumpido.html



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