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Sisters in Hate
Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism | Seyward Darby
7 posts | 5 read | 9 to read
Journalist Seyward Darby's "masterfully reported and incisive" (Nell Irvin Painter) expos pulls back the curtain on modern racial and political extremism in America telling the "eye-opening and unforgettable" (Ibram X. Kendi) account of three women immersed in the white nationalist movement. After the election of Donald J. Trump, journalist Seyward Darby went looking for the women of the so-called "alt-right" -- really just white nationalism with a new label. The mainstream media depicted the alt-right as a bastion of angry white men, but was it? As women headlined resistance to the Trump administration's bigotry and sexism, most notably at the Women's Marches, Darby wanted to know why others were joining a movement espousing racism and anti-feminism. Who were these women, and what did their activism reveal about America's past, present, and future? Darby researched dozens of women across the country before settling on three -- Corinna Olsen, Ayla Stewart, and Lana Lokteff. Each was born in 1979, and became a white nationalist in the post-9/11 era. Their respective stories of radicalization upend much of what we assume about women, politics, and political extremism. Corinna, a professional embalmer who was once a body builder, found community in white nationalism before it was the alt-right, while she was grieving the death of her brother and the end of hermarriage. For Corinna, hate was more than just personal animus -- it could also bring people together. Eventually, she decided to leave the movement and served as an informant for the FBI. Ayla, a devoutly Christian mother of six, underwent a personal transformation from self-professed feminist to far-right online personality. Her identification with the burgeoning "tradwife" movement reveals how white nationalism traffics in society's preferred, retrograde ways of seeing women. Lana, who runs a right-wing media company with her husband, enjoys greater fame and notoriety than many of her sisters in hate. Her work disseminating and monetizing far-right dogma is a testament to the power of disinformation. With acute psychological insight and eye-opening reporting, Darby steps inside the contemporary hate movement and draws connections to precursors like the Ku Klux Klan. Far more than mere helpmeets, women like Corinna, Ayla, and Lana have been sustaining features of white nationalism. Sisters in Hate shows how the work women do to normalize and propagate racist extremism has consequences well beyond the hate movement.
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Women of the alt-right are not a monolith, and Darby looks at women who took three very different paths. Corinna was looking for purpose after her brother‘s death, and she found community with white supremacists. Ayla had a tumultuous childhood that initially led her to being vegan “earth mother” blogger. Over time, her views changed to being a Mormon tradwife. Lana is in it for the attention. She hosts a popular alt-right podcast, but her ⬇️

Megabooks ⬆️ outspoken views draw the ire of many men in the movement. A really interesting book. 4.25⭐️ #audiobook FYI the tradwife hashtag is for women who live the “1950s white middle class America” lifestyle. Most, not all though, are white supremacists. 4y
Reagan Whoa, that sounds really interesting. 4y
Megabooks @Reagan it was! It exceeded my expectations. 4y
See All 23 Comments
Cinfhen This DOES sound FASCINATING/ is it read by each woman?? 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen no, it‘s not a memoir. It‘s narrative nonfiction. 4y
BarbaraBB That sounds fascinating indeed. Hoe were your feeling towards them? (edited) 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I feel awful about the alt right and white supremacy, but Corinna actually found her way out, even though at times she still seemed angry. There was an important point made that you just can‘t take away these beliefs without replacing them with some other type of support/community. I think there‘s a lot of anger between the right and left here, and not just the far parts of both sides. Trump was a very divisive president, and ⬇️ 4y
Megabooks I think it‘s going to take a long time to heal those fractures. I went to a (virtual) fundraiser for the two Georgia democratic senate candidates, and there was fighting between the celebrities as to whether the dems should give up on the far right or try to change their hearts. It‘s just a difficult time here. @BarbaraBB (edited) 4y
BarbaraBB Yes and it‘s very hard to understand completely from where I am. What you call left is in many ways what we still call right. Those far right wing ideas (about the 1950s as an ideal for example) are really beyond my comprehension. Fascinating but in an almost dystopian kind of way. It is a difficult time but I hope Biden will be able to start uniting you again. 💚 4y
Cinfhen Got it!! Does the author narrate?? It is a terrible time in America, Meg. You can FEEL the tension everywhere you go. Im amazed on every visit how divisive even my friend group is. 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen no, a professional narrator does. I know seyward, and I think they made the best choice for the book going VO. The narration is definitely good. And yes, america is so terribly divided. My own family is. There are definitely a lot of factors, but looking back at the loss of the Southern Democrats, which acted like a third party many times, was huge, especially here in the South and as a party that required compromise at the federal level 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen just my two cents after thinking about Kentucky politics and thinking back on my lifetime and being a political nerd until I got to vet school, which was pretty much all consuming. Vet school that is. Every second went into that! (edited) 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I know! It‘s just crazy how right even “moderates” are here. It‘s interesting to see what my older friends‘ kids, who are just voting age now, who started to be aware of politics under Obama, a lot are in the “far left”. They are much more vocal in their support as well, coming of age well into social media and the protests that are happening now. I think adults born in the 80s and early 90s are much more split politically. ⬇️ 4y
Cinfhen I love hearing your two cents....I think you‘re always right on the money 💜 4y
Cinfhen Pretty awesome that you know the author 🙌🏻 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB many of the younger ones (22 and under) don‘t understand at all why LGBT and POC are seen differently or why there‘s actual debate about the science of climate change. I have hope. 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks!! 💜 I think I read so much nonfiction because I like to think deeply about issues or get multiple perspectives on life. I definitely tend more serious in my reading! Seyward went to Duke as well and was a few years behind me but we were both involved in journalism and had mutual friends in the classes between us. She was very driven and smart then and I don‘t think that has changed! So many of my friends went deep into their ⬇️ 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen fields and comparatively, I feel like a Jack of all trades, master of none. But I‘ve come to appreciate that about myself. 4y
Cinfhen I wouldn‘t want you any other way...except pain free, of course 💜😘 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen thanks friend! 🥰😘 and pain free would be divine! I think I‘ve picked up shingles. 👎🏻 we‘ll see. I go to the doctor tomorrow. I finally expressed to my mom about how I feel like I‘m burning the candle at both ends, and she was all, but can you pick up groceries? 🤦🏻‍♀️ I finally said no that I had too much to do for the shape I‘m in right now until Friday and if she wanted them before then, she‘d have to figure it out herself! 4y
Cinfhen Ugh, I‘m sorry. But I‘m glad you used your voice to convey to your mom that she‘s an adult too. She CAN figure out another way. #LoveAcrossTheMiles now go to sleep, already xxxx (edited) 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen yes, ma‘am. Headed to bed! Sending love dear friend!! You are awesome!! 😘 4y
BarbaraBB I hope you are sleeping indeed but I agree on the Gen Z and their attitude towards those issues. That‘s similar here. My kids really don‘t see any difference between people and don‘t understand all the discussions about it. There is hope! Starting today ❤️❤️ 4y
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Megabooks
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So I know you‘re all dying to know what I spent my #audiobook windfall on...

Sisters in Hate (tagged) - written by a college acquaintance, this book explores women who support the alt-right.

White Feminism (tagged below) - I‘ve posted about the book before. I decided to return the print book and go audio.

Fake Accounts (tagged below) - this is a debut releases 2/2/21 about a woman who discovers her boyfriend is a popular conspiracy theorist.

Megabooks I was going to get this in print but Rebecca Lowman narrates, and I‘m a total fan! (She does Rainbow Rowell‘s books, if you‘ve listened to those.) This is fiction FYI. (edited) 4y
Bookwormjillk Fake Accounts sounds good. I look forward to your review. 4y
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Megabooks @Bookwormjillk I‘ve been looking forward to it since the fall so 🤞🏻🤞🏻 it‘s good! 4y
janeycanuck Ooh, those all look really interesting!! 4y
Megabooks @janeycanuck thanks! Hopefully they all work out. 4y
BarbaraBB All of these look super interesting. 4y
Cinfhen Cool ! I see a theme emerging 😉nice choices....can‘t wait to read the reviews 4y
Reviewsbylola Glad you put those credits to good use! 🙌🏻🙌🏻 4y
Megabooks @BarbaraBB I hope they turn out that way! 4y
Megabooks @Cinfhen lol! You know I love themes! 4y
Megabooks @Reviewsbylola thanks! 😃💜 4y
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she.hearts.horror
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“The least Americans can ask of one another is to have frank conversations about whiteness, no matter how difficult or uncomfortable.... But first and foremost, combating hate requires understanding it—not what it seems to be or what we hope it amounts to, but what it actually is.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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she.hearts.horror
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she.hearts.horror
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review
amma-keep-reading
Pickpick

I'm so happy this book addressed the conflict in philosophy: race versus gender. I think it's important to acknowledge that although many white abolitionists were against the practice slavery, they still felt black and brown people were/are inferior. Not all abolitionists are anti-racist. Not all feminists are anti-racist. I appreciate the thorough research and objective reporting of facts about her subjects and the historical figures.

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MicrobeMom
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This book is well-written and well-researched. It made me see how mainstream racism and white nationalismshas become. There are many offensive statements the woman in this book make. Two are that c-sections are done so that woman can‘t blame themselves when something goes wrong with birth, and that woman are no longer oppressed because they have more right than ever. Lacking is where this hate originates beyond being fanatical.

GingerAntics Wow, they sound like nut jobs. (edited) 4y
Megabooks Stacking this. She and I went to college together. We lost touch when I dropped fb. I had no idea she wrote a book! 4y
MicrobeMom @Megabooks awesome! It is a well done book. You should definitely check it out. 4y
MicrobeMom @Ginger yes! It‘s scary because this is becoming more and more mainstream. 4y
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