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A review by mathildur
The Feminist Killjoy Handbook by Sara Ahmed
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
Fantastic! A handbook full of powerful Killjoy Truths, inspiring Killjoy Maxims and Killjoy Commitments, and insightful Killjoy Equations. This book made me feel seen and made me want to commit more fully to listening to the feminist killjoy! Ahmed introduces the figure of the feminist killjoy and briefly describes the history of the "bad" feminist, the loud and opinionated feminist, the angry black woman, and so many other aspects that can be discovered in the feminist killjoy. The book also shows how killjoys might kill feminist joy, by bringing the discussion of racism, inequality, transphobia or queerphobia into feminist spaces, and it also has a continuous focus on intersectionality and the importance of recognizing how these issues are related.
Ahmed writes about so many things in this book that each feel more important than the last, from how happiness can be understood as equal to one's proximity to whiteness, to how transphobia displaces homophobia whilst taking its exact form (which I had not considered before), to how we are heard as broken records repeating the same things even though we are just responding to the same old comments made by others.
I really enjoyed reading this book, especially because Ahmed quotes and references so many other inspiring feminists, and has a list of recommended reading at the back which I will definitely be making my way through! Highly recommend!
Ahmed writes about so many things in this book that each feel more important than the last, from how happiness can be understood as equal to one's proximity to whiteness, to how transphobia displaces homophobia whilst taking its exact form (which I had not considered before), to how we are heard as broken records repeating the same things even though we are just responding to the same old comments made by others.
I really enjoyed reading this book, especially because Ahmed quotes and references so many other inspiring feminists, and has a list of recommended reading at the back which I will definitely be making my way through! Highly recommend!