Rafia Zakaria
{{Short description|American journalist and author}}
Rafia Zakaria is a Pakistani-American attorney, feminist, journalist, and author.{{Cite web|date=2021-08-31|title=Rafia Zakaria's 'Against White Feminism' is 'not a scolding but an invitation'|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2021-08-31/rafia-zakarias-against-white-feminism-is-not-a-scolding-but-an-invitation|access-date=2021-10-08|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}} Zakaria is a columnist for Dawn. She has written for The Nation, Guardian Books, The New Republic, The Baffler, Boston Review, and Al Jazeera.{{cite web |url= https://www.aljazeera.com/author/rafia_zakaria_201329135530126525|title=Rafia Zakaria |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date= 14 June 2022}} In 2021, she published a book titled Against White Feminism, in which she critiques the emphasis that conventional feminist thought places on the experiences of white women while excluding women of color.
Biography
Zakaria was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and was forced into an arranged marriage at 17 to a Pakistani-American man.{{Cite web|date=2015-02-19|title=An Indies Introduce Debut Author Q&A with Rafia Zakaria|url=https://www.bookweb.org/news/indies-introduce-debut-author-qa-rafia-zakaria|access-date=2021-10-08|website=the American Booksellers Association}} Zakaria fled from her abusive husband in 2002 when she was 25. She entered law school and earned a postgraduate degree in political philosophy.{{Cite web|date=2021-08-28|title=Rafia Zakaria: ‘A lot of white female professors told me to quit’|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/28/rafia-zakaria-a-lot-of-white-female-professors-told-me-to-quit|access-date=2021-10-08|website=The Guardian|language=en}} Zakaria is a Muslim and identifies as a Muslim feminist.{{Cite news|title=Muslim Feminists Rewrite Boundaries On The Street And At Home|language=en|work=NPR.org|url=https://www.npr.org/2015/08/14/428984586/feminist-writers-challenge-muslim-women-to-take-on-the-mubarak-at-home|access-date=2021-10-08}} She has worked on behalf of victims of domestic abuse.
''Against White Feminism''
In her 2021 book Against White Feminism, Zakaria critiqued the emphasis that conventional feminist thought places on the experiences of white women while excluding women of color.{{Cite web|url=https://m.gulf-times.com/story/701589/Renowned-author-Rafia-Zakaria-to-speak-at-NU-Q|title=Renowned author Rafia Zakaria to speak at NU-Q|access-date=2021-10-21|website=Gulf Times}} The book was reviewed by numerous established publications, including The Guardian{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/sep/26/white-feminists-are-under-attack-from-other-women-here-can-only-be-one-winner--men|title=‘White feminists’ are under attack from other women. There can only be one winner – men|access-date=2021-10-21|website=The Guardian}} and the Financial Times,{{cite news |last=Khan |first= Mehreen|date= 11 December 2021|title= Against White Feminism by Rafia Zakaria — experience over empathy|url=https://www.ft.com/content/b33b71aa-0721-45ae-be86-cd8ced29d6ac |work= Financial Times |location= |access-date=14 June 2022}} as well as by the online magazine The Arts Fuse.{{Cite web|url=https://artsfuse.org/237389/book-review-critiquing-white-supremacy-against-white-feminism/|title=Book Review: Critiquing White Supremacy — “Against White Feminism”|access-date=2021-10-21|website=The Arts Fuse}}
A British commentator accused Zakaria of undermining the feminist movement and playing into the hands of patriarchy through her attacks on white feminism.
On the podcast EU Scream, Zakaria rejected the harsh criticism she has received especially in Europe in reaction to her book, criticism which she considered mostly uninformed on the side of the commentators.{{cite podcast |host=James Kanter|title=Against White Feminism: Europe Edition |website=EU Scream |publisher=Publisher |date=14 June 2022 |url=https://euscream.com/against-white-feminism-europe-edition/ |access-date=14 June 2022}} Zakaria has been continuously raising her voice against white-feminism and racial privilege.
Bibliography
{{Incomplete list |date=June 2023}}{{bots|deny=Citation bot}}
- {{Cite book|title=The Upstairs Wife: An Intimate History of Pakistan|publisher=Beacon Press|year=2016|isbn=978-0807080467|location=Boston}}
- {{Cite book|title=Veil (Object Lessons)|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|year=2017|isbn=978-1501322778|location=London}}
- {{Cite book|title=Against White Feminism: Notes on Disruption|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|year=2021|isbn=978-1324006619|location=New York}}Briefly reviewed in the [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/04 October 4, 2021 issue] of The New Yorker, p.67.
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References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:American writers of Pakistani descent
Category:Proponents of Islamic feminism
Category:21st-century American journalists
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