Rafia Zakaria is a Pakistani-American attorney, feminist, journalist, and author. Zakaria is a columnist for

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

. She has written for

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

Guardian Books Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'', and formerly ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the fin ...

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...

The Baffler ''The Baffler'' is an American magazine of cultural, political, and business analysis. Established in 1988 by editors Thomas Frank and Keith White, it was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, until 2010, when it moved to Cambridge, Massachusett ...

Boston Review ''Boston Review'' is an American quarterly political and literary magazine. It publishes political, social, and historical analysis, literary and cultural criticism, book reviews, fiction, and poetry, both online and in print. Its signature form ...

, and

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera English, which pro ...

. 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 Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, and was forced into an arranged marriage at 17 to a Pakistani-American man. Zakaria fled from her abusive husband in 2002 when she was 25. She entered law school and earned a postgraduate degree in political philosophy. Zakaria is a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and identifies as a

Muslim feminist Islamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate for women's rights, gender equality, and ...

. 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. The book was reviewed by numerous established publications, including

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

and the

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

, as well as by the online magazine

The Arts Fuse ''The Arts Fuse'' is an online arts magazine covering cultural events in Greater Boston, as well as Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New York. The Arts Fuse has published more than 2,000 articles and ...

. 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 EU Scream is a podcast based in Brussels. EU Scream was set up in 2018 by Tom Brookes from the European Climate Foundation and by James Kanter from ''The New York Times''. James Kanter had left the New York Times before the launch of 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. Zakaria has been continuously raising her voice against white-feminism and racial privilege.

Bibliography

* * * Briefly reviewed in th
October 4, 2021 issue
of ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', p.67. ——————— ;Notes

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American writers of Pakistani descent Proponents of Islamic feminism 21st-century American journalists {{US-nonfiction-writer-stub