Feminism, Interrupted: Disrupting Power

Outspoken

by Lola Olufemi

More than just a slogan on a t-shirt, feminism is a radical tool for fighting back against structural violence and injustice. Feminism, Interrupted is a bold call to seize feminism back from the cultural gatekeepers and return it to its radical roots.

Lola Olufemi explores state violence against women, the fight for reproductive justice, transmisogyny, gendered Islamophobia and solidarity with global struggles, showing that the fight for gendered liberation can change the world for everybody when we refuse to think of it solely as women's work. Including testimonials from Sisters Uncut, migrant groups working for reproductive justice, prison abolitionists and activists involved in the international fight for Kurdish and Palestinian rights, Olufemi emphasises the link between feminism and grassroots organising.

Reclaiming feminism from the clutches of the consumerist, neoliberal model, Feminism, Interrupted shows that when 'feminist' is more than a label, it holds the potential for radical transformative work.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, Essays, Gender, Social Justice, Race

148 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 2020

Reviews

[Amanda at Bookish Brews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible -- I need to read this 5 more times.

Jan 2022 update: In case anyone is looking for a good short nonfic this year, i recommend this one very highly! I'm about to do a reread soon. 💕

[daniella ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

EVERYONE should read this

[❀ annie ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

a lot of really insightful stuff here. i'll definitely be approaching feminism through a different (and more critical) lens from now on!

olufemi covers a lot of interesting topics in a short space, touching on race and intersectionality, islamophobia and transmisogyny in less than 150 pages. i especially enjoyed the chapter on abortion rights. a lot of attention is often placed on changing policy to legalise abortion, but that doesn't always lead to 'reproductive justice' for all women. olufemi uses ireland as a case study; they recently legalised abortion via a referendum, but many of the same restrictions remain, especially for migrants and women of colour. definitely a perspective on the issue i hadn't thought about!

'legality does not equal access. there are many more complicated demands to be made: mainstream movements will always defeat their own purpose as long as they consider the law as the sole indicator of progress'

worth reading for anyone who wants a pocket sized overview of revolutionary feminism :)

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply one of the best books I've read on contemporary feminism and it's capacity to make change in the world at all levels. It brings the aims and goals of feminism back into focus and shows deftly how an abolitionist feminist politic is intersectional and global. A challenge to imagine a better future for everyone. Read, read, read.

[Kab · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 An incisive work of Black feminism in Britain covering reproductive justice, trans inclusionary feminism, supporting sex workers, prison abolition, and—excitingly—art as witness. I would have been bowled over if the chapter on food concentrated on food justice with inspiration from Vandana Shiva. Olufemi envisages a living, breathing practice of feminism that is anticapitalist, transnational, and collective.

Legality does not equal access. There are many more complicated demands to be made: mainstream movements will always defeat their own purpose as long as they consider the law as the sole indicator of progress. Perhaps the most powerful thing that can be done is sabotaging the law-making project and refusing to concede that abortion is unlawful.

When anti-sex work feminists talk about the very real and devastating consequences of trafficking and bolster the police state to respond to it, they do so with the intention of fortifying the borders that ruin people’s lives, not with the intention of tearing them down.

Apolitical approaches, or approaches that seek to deaden the resistant potential of artistic practice are merely another mechanism through which the status quo is reproduced.

Lola Olufemi guest hosting the podcast Radicals in Conversation, joined by Jade Bentil and Gail Lewis

[Viv JM · Rating 4 out of 5]

When feminism is hijacked by the elites and feminist discourse seeps into the upper echelons of society, it is those with power that set the feminist agenda. They distract us from the ways that the state eviscerates the lives of poor women. What use is a chamber full of "female" politicians who declare themselves feminists if they step over dead women's bodies to do so?

This succinct guide to feminism is a refreshing antidote to the capitalist libertarian "Lean In" brand of feminism and, together with Dawn Foster's excellent Lean Out, I would highly recommend it. Olufemi considers many different facets of feminism including reproductive justice, art, incarceration, solidarity and more. Her writing is clear and focused and she provides a comprehensive bibliography for those wanting to learn more.

[Paya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Świetne, świeże i dla mnie, białej czytelniczki z Polski, wymagające pisarstwo. Olufemi jako czarna feministka świetnie pokazuje, jak feminizm wpisuje się w takie tematy jak islamofobia, imigracja czy więziennictwo. Cudownie rozprawia się też z liberalnym (mainstreamowym czy też konsumpcyjnym) feminizmem, pokazując, jak bardzo wyklucza on te grupy, które feminizmu najbardziej potrzebują i którym głos jest zabierany. Mimo że to teoretyczne podejście do radykalnego feminizmu, Olufemi pisze zwięźle i skutecznie udaje jej się przekazać swoje obserwacje, przez co książkę świetnie się czyta. Oczywiście jest też bibliografia, więc można tę książkę potraktować jako wstęp do dogłębniejszych studiów i przemyśleń w tematach feminizmu. Ostatnio takie wrażenie zrobiła na mnie bell hooks, jeżeli chodzi o zmuszanie mnie do myślenia i naprowadzanie mnie na nowe ścieżki skojarzeń.

[Riccardo Mazzocchio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo breve saggio non è sul Femminismo in senso stretto - "feminist means much more than woman or equality...feminism belongs to no one" - bensì sulla visione del mondo e della vita al femminile. Quindi ancora più prezioso ed essenziale dato che incita le donne di ogni razza, credo e posizione sociale a farsi promotrici di un cambiamento epocale che porti allo smantellamento dell'ordinamento sociale, economico e politico di stampo patriarcale, esistente da sempre, che fa della violenza il suo caposaldo. Le condizioni sulle quali non abbiamo controllo determinano il modo in cui viviamo influenzando direttamente le "scelte" che operiamo. Consigliatissimo! "Feminism is a political project about what could be. It’s always looking forward, invested in futures we can’t quite grasp yet. It’s a way of wishing, hoping, aiming at everything that has been deemed impossible."

[Soph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to give this book to everyone I know, feminist or not. I didn’t want to put it down. Olufemi’s writing is so precise, I never struggled to understand her point but still learnt so much in each chapter. This has strengthened my politics and made me feel hopeful for the future, something that is much needed right now. An incredible read from an incredible feminist.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feminism Interrupted is a thought-provoking and insightful exploration into a variety of issues such as racism, transphobia, Islamaphobia, sex work, consent, reproductive justice and more. These issues could all be standalone topics for a single book, but Lola Olufemi deftly weaved these topics together in a short, concise and incredibly accessible read to open up the discussion on all of these issues at once. What I also really liked about Lola Olufemi's work is it's grounding in the British experiences of women (particularly Black women) and facts relating to Britain.

Feminism Interrupted seeks to highlight to the reader that feminism is not about our individual selves as women and what we think should be done about certain issues. It is often about putting our personal views aside to consider those most vulnerable in our society and how first and foremost they need to be protected and supported. For example it's not about considering whether sex work should be legal, but how we can ensure the safety and security of women who are sex workers. It's not about focusing on women's reproductive rights as this can be an alienating for trans women or queer women. It's about how we can ensure all people have the rights and access to having children. It's also not just about reproduction rights but how having children is often seen as solely "women's work" and the value of this unpaid labour.

This book covers a lot of topics and handles them all succinctly and with great thought. Not only that, it has a great collection of further reading recommendations based on the topics discussed to help readers continue their journey of learning about these topics. This book is both short and powerful and a fantastic read on feminism today.

[Mariaelena Di Gennaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Sono stata una lettrice accanita. Femminismo nero, femminismo liberale, femminismo marxista, femminismo anarchico, ecofemminismo. Il femminismo mi ha aperto un mondo. Ci ho guardato dentro e ho trovato intellettuali e attivisti in conflitto, tutte a dire la propria su come dovrebbero andare le cose. Questo, in modo forse più significativo, mi ha liberato dal desiderio di con formarmi alla realtà intorno a me; il femminismo mi ha permesso di essere ribelle, il tipo sbagliato di donna, diversa. Ci ho messo del tempo per capire che la vera emancipazione consiste nell’estendere questa scoperta della libertà oltre me stessa. Solo perché per certi versi io mi sentivo più libera, non voleva dire che lo fossi realmente.”

Un bel saggio che affronta in modo chiaro e diretto tanti aspetti della battaglia femminista contemporanea, partendo dalla società inglese in cui vive l'autrice e mostrando i limiti del femminismo liberale. Olufemi non ha paura di apparire arrabbiata, si scaglia contro il patriarcato, contro alcune decisioni dell'apparato statale che colpiscono non solo le donne in generale, ma donne nere, povere e appartenenti alle cosiddette "minoranze" in particolare.
I capitoli più illuminanti per me sono stati quello relativo alle sex workers e quello dedicato al cibo e al corpo.
Nonostante non mi sia trovata sempre d'accordo su tutto, mi ha aperto gli occhi su tante cose e sono felice di averlo letto, anche perché di testi del genere non ce ne saranno mai abbastanza.
La scrittura non è complessa, quindi è un saggio/manifesto femminista davvero adatto a tutti/e!

[Juliana Senra · Rating 4 out of 5]

The introduction failed to make me understand what the aim of the book was, but it soon became clear that the author would be making the case for feminism, going through some of the most common current divides in the movement. These divides are also seen through the lens of voices often marginalized in mainstream, liberal feminism, with interesting cultural, historical and scholarly references abounding. At points the arguments made could be easily dismissed and rebuked by anti-feminists, and many sound more like commonsensical slogans to a certain group of feminists than actual explanations. This is surprisingly not a problem - this book was not meant to make the case for feminism to outsiders or to develop complex theories on gender; it's an appeal to movement, to solidarity, to recenter social justice and revolution in our feminism. It opens a set of relevant questions - most of them will be known to readers, but will be simplified through the author's sobering analysis. It's a great book for anyone who is already minimally engaged in feminism to, again, wonder about what brought them to it and what makes them stay.

[Claire Darling · Rating 2 out of 5]

Oh dear what a disappointing book after all those 5* reviews, it is in no way as incisive and thoughtful as seemed to be promised. This book is emphatically not a good read. It is a badly written rant with poorly defined concepts, scant development of ideas and argument, and an often inaccurate and confused understanding of political and social history. The author piles assertion upon assertion with no evidence or lucid argument to support her claims. She appears didactic, naive and arrogant in her dismissal of years of activism thinking and hard work by many people. Neither does she offer any clear ideas or thought about how women might work together to grapple with the indisputable horrors of embedded and intersecting sexism, racism and inequality in the UK. In fact she seems intent on rubbishing pretty well everyone who has tried to do their bit, so not at all constructive in my view.

[Wilma (Enby Reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you read one feminist book this year/decade please let it be this one!

[Brittany (whatbritreads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has been on my radar for so long, but I didn’t realise how compact it was! You can read this in just a few hours, and the amount of information it spans in that time is really impressive. I do feel like it’s quite an introductory text, where you can dip your toes into a multitude of issues and go on to do further reading in bits that really interest you.

It was super broad which I actually really enjoyed because it taught me a lot I was completely unaware of, or hadn’t considered before. It really pushes you to think outside of the box of your own privilege, and alter your perspective on issues and who they really affect, and how. There’s so much in here I was completely oblivious too, mainly how subtly the state can weave things into policy and public statements - framing them as positives when they’re in fact going to put even more disadvantaged people into a place of struggle. There’s a really engaging and passionate narrative voice behind the information, and it made for a really strong and inspiring reading experience. The way it reframed a lot of the history we’ve been brought up to believe in was really shocking.

My only criticism and reason this wasn’t a five star, is that so much was covered very bluntly that I was craving more. With some more context and discussion in each chapter, I feel like I would have come away with a more well rounded idea of these issues instead of just a base point to grow from. It’s also quite dense in the information it presents, so you have to reread things a few times to decipher the point being made. It’s very cleverly written, so that’s more of a criticism of myself than the book really, but I wish it was more entry level to an extent. There’s also a very jolting jump from one chapter to the next, and the flow seems a bit disrupted in that sense.

Really enjoyed and would recommend, it’s definitely sparked an interest in me for wider reading in areas I hadn’t previously given thought to.

[Dedalus91 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questo saggio è una delle cose più belle lette negli ultimi tempi. Sono appena 170 pagine, ma sembrano di più (e lo dico in senso super positivo) per il numero di argomenti trattati e la chiarezza con cui vengono espressi. Lola Olufemi è incisiva, tagliente quando è necessario, riporta fonti ed esempi senza mai scadere nella saccenza.

Gli argomenti vengono affrontati da diversi punti di vista e con diverse chiavi di lettura (privilegio di genere, di etnia, di classe) e l'autrice non ha paura di mettere in discussione il suo stesso movimento quando è necessario. Un esempio su tutti è la sua critica al femminismo mainstream e al fatto che le famose "ondate" hanno spesso rispecchiato le esigenze di donne bianche e borghesi, entrando nella cultura pop a discapito delle donne nere e "of colour" [intende le donne nere non afro-discendenti]. Per capirci: molte suffragette erano contrarie all'estensione del diritto di voto alle donne non bianche. Inoltre la storia mainstream ha troppo spesso ignorato associazioni, collettivi, movimenti e proteste organizzati e portati avanti da persone non bianche durante e tra le ondate.

Ma le riflessioni di Lola Olufemi non si fermano qui. Per quanto mi riguarda è stato estremamente illuminante il capitolo sul sex working e su quanto le leggi punitive verso le sex worker o i clienti obblighino le prime a lavorare nell'ombra e senza tutele, con il rischio di essere aggredite, derubate, uccise [Cit. dal testo: "Le persone si attaccano parecchio alla domanda “Beh, vorresti che tua figlia lo facesse [il sex working]?" Questa è la domanda sbagliata. Invece, immagina che lo stia già facendo. Quanto è al sicuro al lavoro stanotte? Perché non è più al sicuro?"].

Altro capitolo meraviglioso è quello sulla riproduzione e i suoi diritti. Diritto all'aborto, certo, ma anche diritto volto ad aiutare le donne che scelgono di essere madri. Distinzione netta tra la "reproductive law" e la "reproductive justice": le leggi dovrebbero tutelare le donne e il loro corpo, ma allora perché non ne sono davvero padrone?

Dato che sto esaurendo lo spazio terminerò dicendo che Lola Olufemi affronta molti atri temi, dal cibo alla cultura del corpo, dalla politica nell'arte al genere e ai limiti del binarismo occidentale [TERF demolite in tre pagine e paragonate ai movimenti di estrema destra]. Purtroppo non esiste ancora una traduzione in italiano, ma data la fluidità della prosa e la brevità del saggio, io sono sicuro che possa essere fruibile anche da persone meno ferrate in inglese.

[L I L D I X · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best piece of feminist analysis I've read in a long time. Covers a range of topics and clearly explains how feminism intersects with so many current issues, from Islamophobia to prison abolition, transmisogyny and sex work. At 143 it's a very succinct taster if you're a bit sick of the largely white, middle class, middle aged bullshit feminism that leaves so much out. Should be compulsory reading for all.

[Britta Böhler · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* rounded up.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoughtful and challenging review of the process by which the dominant/dominating patriarchal/capitalist structures seek to, and to a large degree have, subsumed radical opposition, incorporating dissenting narratives into the mainstream to perpetuate systems of oppression through liberal feminism, gender-critical 'feminism' and white West-centric feminism. Olufemi centres radical feminist efforts to move global society towards a collective, non-authoritarian position in which national boundaries are dropped, resources are shared, and people come together in solidarity rather than in a dog-eat-dog scramble for dominance.

[John Paton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book vastly expanded my horizons and conception of what feminism actually means. Some chapters I was cheering along, some were eye opening, some provoked disagreement, all were crystal clear in their message: feminism can be much bigger than you think. Highly recommended as a whirlwind tour.

[Dessi Bocheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was well written and diverse in its discussion which are all very relevant. In particular, I found the later chapters very interesting and inspiring reflection. My only real issue was that at times it sacrificed making few comprehensive, well rounded and straight forward arguments for issues in favour of trying to provide every reason. I think it could have benefited from fewer stronger arguments to improve its clarity.

[Anke Berghman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for everyone who's interested in justice and feminism. 'Feminism is a political project about what could be. It's a way of wishing, hoping, aiming at everything that has been deemed impossible.'

[Hestia Istiviani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read in English but this review is in Bahasa Indonesia

White feminist neo-liberal politics focuses on the self as vehicle for self-improvement and personal gain at the expense of others. We are instructed by corporate talking heads to "lean in" into a capitalist society where power equals financial gain."

Kutipan yang ada di atas merupakan sebuah kritik terhadap Sheryl Sandberg dan bukunya yang berjudul "Lean In." Ini karena adanya bias pendapat yang mana Sandberg merupakan wanita kulit putih dengan jabatan tinggi sehingga bukan sebuah kesulitan bagianya untuk "Lean In."

Dari kutipan itu saja, Lola Olufemi sebagai penulis mengingatkan bahwa masih banyak anggapan tentang feminis yang dibentuk oleh kulit putih. Membuat hal-hal tampak "mudah" padahal bagi kulit berwarna dan bukan ras kaukasian seperti Sandberg punya kesulitan dan hambatannya sendiri. Olufemi melalui buku ini ingin mengingatkan bahwa feminisme tidak hanya sekadar mendapatkan jabatan tinggi dan keamanan secar finansial saja. Feminisme juga menuntut adanya kesetaraan pada hal-hal esensial seperti akses terhadap layanan kesehatan dan pendidikan.

Buku yang singkat ini bisa menjadi sebuah pengantar tentang feminisme. Disampaikan oleh perempuan kulit berwarna, maka jangan kaget apabila menemukan beberapa tulisannya terkesan "galak" atau membuat kita tidak nyaman (karena bisa saja kita terlalu sering terpapar oleh suara feminis kulit putih).

But loosely, feminists have understood gender as our sense of self in the world, how we present our bodies, speak, move--anything that refers to our own bodies.

Olafumi pun ingin mengajak pembaca untuk memahami kalau feminisme itu sejatinya membebaskan dari apa yang selama ini membelenggu kita dalam batasan: gender dan jenis kelamin. Melalui feminisme, seharusnya kita dapat melihat gender dan jenis kelamin sebagai sesuatu yang fluid.

Cobalah membaca buku ini (dan kalau bisa baca juga serial Outspoken lainnya) untuk dapat melihat dari sisi yang berbeda.

[Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Smart & succinct feminist analysis. This book gives sort of an overview of some of the key issues/debates within feminism - sex work, transmisogyny, Islamophobia, prison abolition, the state & reproductive justice to name a few... and looks at them from a radical perspective. It discusses the way feminism has been framed in the mainstream/liberal feminism, and puts forward a strong and solid argument as to why we need to go beyond this thinking, or in some cases, why this type of thinking is dangerous and fails working class women, trans women, women of colour and more.

I would definitely recommend this as an introduction to those who are interested in thinking more critically about feminism. I would love it if it went even deeper, but at 143 pages she does an amazing job of cramming so much information in and explaining things in a really accessible way.

[Lake · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great set of essays about radical feminism and organising. It covers a variety of subjects - sex work, immigration, domestic labour, transmisogyny, Islamophobia, art, consent, fatphobia, reproductive justice, and solidarity - from a Black feminist perspective. The writing is very straightforward and accessible, with quotes and examples from other activists and movements.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, I want more nonfiction written like this !

[Malcolm · Rating 5 out of 5]

The vigorous debates in and around feminism and feminist praxis since the later 2000s have produced some of the most challenging political engagements with contemporary social and cultural life; in this they are paralleled by the more recent growing trends in anti-racist activism and action and by the growth of decolonial praxis in the same period. There are significant changes in critical politics, theory and activism. Lola Olufemi’s impressive Feminism, Interrupted is a significant contribution to these developments, tracing developments in a number of shifting fields, disrupting much of the established feminist orthodoxy – making what the US civil rights leader John Lewis used to call ‘good trouble’, and building a compelling call to action fitting current circumstances.

Although clearly aimed at a British context, much of case is transferrable to other settings. The book opens with an important historical overview of British feminist movements since the mid-1970s, prioritising the vital roles played by Black and South Asian women in many of the era’s vital struggles, and reasserting the revolutionary and fundamentally transformative aspects of those movements. This leads into a set of themed chapters addressing reproductive justice, trans rights, Islamophobia, sex work, sexual violence, cultural production, food politics (consumption and production) in a series of 12-14 pages evaluations and calls to action. All this leads to a powerful reminder that ‘solidarity is a doing word’.

All in all, this a welcome and powerful interjection in current debates, an excellent introduction to contemporary issues in feminist theory and practice and therefore valuable both to those new to the field and to those of us who may have been around for a while. It’s a spirited and inspiring call to action, as well as vital critique of default tendency to see whiteness in a movement that needs to be much more than that.

[Madeline Elsinga · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Feminism does not promise us easy answers. It promises us the hard work of seeing each other for all we are: including our faults, oversights, and the ways we fail one another."

This book was a fantastic read! I've read some books on feminism and gender before but even so I still learned new things. I was also able to reflect on how I could do better and confronted my previous beliefs on feminism. One thing I learned is that the "waves" of feminism are actually harmful in constituting what was/wasn't feminist history and milestones. The waves ignore the "splintered nature of feminist struggles" and ignore how race and class intersect and are often neglected in feminist issues (ie white middle class Suffragettes in the 19th and 20th centuries).

I also learned an important lesson on the history/ origins of the Reproductive Rights movement.

Olufemi also gives a clear explanation of what it means to fight for Reproductive Justice and how it's more inclusive and intersectional compared to Reproductive Rights.

I was glad to see Olufemi include trans people in many of the chapters. It's important to have that discussion of non binary and trans women being part of feminism and the fight for equality! Great discussion on how TERFs only create a fighting narrative between cis and trans women which takes away from our common goals and fighting our shared oppression. It taught me a lot of things that I didn't know before and found it to be one of the most important chapters for me personally to learn how I can do better.

Overall I learned so much from this book and had a lot to reflect on, so l highly recommend for everyone to read and learn from! The writing was relatively easy to understand and read, very accessible.

[Mariam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Talks about how bad mainstream feminism is and then goes on to talk about “non-binary” women. Also, my darling where are the studies that show that there are more then two sexes? cuz if such thing existed it would get a noble prize or at least some buzz, but go off trying to be woke on the sake of science. The lovely does not stop here she goes to say let’s support sex workers! I mean it’s not like the sex-trafficking industry has been the reason for most of the crimes against women since it objectified women even more and ripped away their freedom from them, but to her if it’s your choice then we need to support you. Honey, if you chose sex as a money-making path then you just want easy money. You never really do this shit for the sake of feminism and equality. And don’t say let’s capitalize on men’s objectification of women. Negative and negative don’t work, the result will never be what you’re stating but you just wanna seem like you’re doing it for the greater good. By far the books that have been made by so-called contemporary feminists are the exact opposite of what feminism is about. This generation is heading to hell. For god’s sake when is all of this going to end. Also a lot of unnecessary dates it’s so distracting when you put all of these all around in every single page.

[Yamouna Nallatamby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lola Olufemi provides a comprehensive account of issues related to feminism and women’s condition. I would recommend this book for those interested in gender politics and non fiction as it is easy to go through. Though, I must say that for those having a strong background on gender politics, this one might seem a bit superficial and does not dive into in-depth analysis and conceptual discussions. I would rather recommend it for people interested in Gender studies with scarce knowledge in this field.