What draws a seemingly decent white woman into the horrifying world of white supremacist hate groups? Susan Bennett takes on the narration of this highly researched exposé on white women and hate groups in the United States. The audiobook explores what leads seemingly well-adjusted women to become involved in the world of hate speech, neo-Nazism, and the expansion of the causes of hate groups through the use of women hiding in plain sight. Bennett keeps her voice calm and strong, even as she discusses horrific hate speech. Her delivery is careful and thoughtful, and she applies accents as needed. Much of the material is disturbing to hear, but the information is important, and Bennett expertly delivers it. V.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism
Narrated by Susan Bennett
Seyward DarbyUnabridged — 9 hours, 58 minutes
Sisters in Hate: American Women on the Front Lines of White Nationalism
Narrated by Susan Bennett
Seyward DarbyUnabridged — 9 hours, 58 minutes
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Overview
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.
Editorial Reviews
06/29/2020
Atavist editor-in-chief Darby describes women as a “sustaining feature” of white nationalism in her revelatory and harrowing debut focused on three women with ties to the “alt-right” movement. While one of her subjects, Corinna Olsen, has since disavowed her “racist lies,” Ayla Stewart and Lana Lokteff continue to garner thousands of followers online. Tweeting under the name “Wife with a Purpose,” Stewart, a Mormon mother of six, challenged “Americans of original pioneer stock” to have as many white babies as possible in 2017. Lokteff, part of the husband-and-wife team behind the multimedia company Red Ice, hosts her own program where she profiles fellow white nationalist women. Before becoming an FBI informant and converting to Islam, Olsen cohosted a white nationalist radio show under the moniker “Axis Sally.” Darby delves into the history of white women “on the front lines” of misogynistic and racist movements, and finds commonalities in the upbringings, personalities, and indoctrinations of her three profile subjects, including social anxiety and “an outlook defined by binary thinking and perceived victimization.” With their social media prowess and “#tradlife” values, Darby contends, these women are integral to the resurgence of white supremacy across America. Darby writes with a clear sense of purpose and makes a concerted effort to understand why women would “fight against their own interests.” The result is a disturbing and informative must-read. (July)
NPR and Kirkus Best Book of 2020 A New York Times Editor's Choice Pick
“Superbly written…Her focus on the lives of three very different women makes her book as readable as a good novel; skillfully combined with history and analysis, her subjects’ stories provide a better picture of the forces driving white backlash than several of the best sellers that attempted to do so in the wake of Trump’s election.”—Susan Nieman, New York Times Book Review
"It's a hell of a story…Darby sketches her subjects finely, with a level of detail that never feels forced."—Danielle Kurtzleben, NPR
"Seyward Darby's eye-opening and unforgettable book sheds light on the often-hidden movers of America's growing white nationalist movement: women. By telling the riveting story of the lives of three women advancing their agendas of bigotry, Darby exposes the ways in which white nationalism hinges on the contributions of women."—Ibram X. Kendi, National BookAward-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of Howto Be an Anti-Racist and Stamped from the Beginning
"Seyward argues that it’s important to tell stories like these because to defeat hate you have to understand it."—Honor Jones, The New York Times
"In delving into the stories of each woman, one of whom has defected from the movement, Darby offers an unnerving portrait of extremism."—Annabelle Gutterman, TIME
"A fascinating yet highly disturbing deep dive into the toxic world of female white supremacists."—EJ Dickson, Rolling Stone
"Darby charts the lives of three women who were or are active in the White nationalist movement. In doing so, she adds dimension to readers' understanding of the complex role that gender plays in bolstering the country's racial regime."—CNN
"Smartly reported and urgent."—Jeff Sharlet, Bookforum
"Darby’s key intervention is to show just how far these women go in comparison to their male peers."—Josephine Livingstone, The New Repubic
"[Sisters in Hate] shows just how "permeable" the line between mainstream America and white supremacy is"—Sam Gillette, People
"Darby...offers rigorous research about the rise of white nationalism, how it retains its relevance, and the various reasons white women, including those profiled in the book, are drawn to it."—Evette Dionne, Bitch
"No, I don't want to hang out in the minds of white nationalists, either, but Darby does that on the reader's behalf, promising a book that probes the architecture of "the war embedded in the landscape" of the US. American identity, and the oft-overlooked role of women therein."—Lauren Markham, Lit Hub
“‘Women are the hate movement’s dulcet voices and its standard bearers,’ Seyward Darby observes in Sisters in Hate—a timely, deeply reported, and chilling exploration of the role that women play in promoting white nationalism. By exploring the lives of three different women who have embraced white supremacy, Darby holds a mirror up to American society, illuminating the forces at work within our culture that continue, to this day, to lead to radicalization and violence. Sisters in Hate is a warning cry for the future while also suggesting the possibility of a another, better path forward.”—Pamela Colloff, senior reporter at ProPublica and staff writer at The New York Times Magazine
"A brave, detailed and insightful portrait of three women who came to advocate the alt-Right's bigotry, but a portrait that is not simplistic. Especially valuable is its examination of the women's complex and contradictory ideas about gender and the appropriate place for women."—Linda Gordon, author of The Second Coming of the KKK
“A gripping, terrifying look at the white women who are pumping racist hate into the heart of their communities. Darby’s clear-eyed and nuanced insights are essential for ending the racial hate movement in America.”—Kathleen M. Blee, author of Women of the Klan
"Trump 2016. Charlottesville 2017. How to understand the unavoidable fact of masses of white women at the core of white nationalism, a movement marked by misogyny? With enormous care, Seyward Darby discovers the hungers within white women's attraction to hateful conspiracy theories of anti-Semitism and racism. Hers is a riveting account that I could not put down."—Nell Irvin Painter,author of the bestseller The History of White People
"Seyward Darby's Sisters In Hate is a masterfully reported and incisive look at the virulence of American extremism, as seen through the eyes of three white women who trafficked in monstrous prejudice. Now, more than ever, it's important to comprehend, and not look away, from the unspeakable damage caused by the far-right, and Darby's book helps us understand the critical role women play in spreading such dangerous ideas."—Sarah Weinman, authorof The Real Lolita
"There is no more urgent story than the resurgence of violent white supremacist groups in America. Sisters in Hate delivers an invaluable examination of the ideologies at this movement's core by tracing the stories of three women who found themselves seduced by lies of hatred. Darby provides the most in-depth reporting I've ever encountered on the role of women in this emboldened movement, while unflinchingly dissecting the misogyny implanted at its ideological core. Those who've spent recent years wondering "how" will find the unsettling answers within this book's pages."—Wesley Lowery, author of They Can't Kill Us All
"This book is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the origins and depths of modern white supremacy. With dogged reporting and exacting prose, Seyward Darby not only paints a gripping portrait of the women enmeshed in hate movements, she reveals how seeds of racism take hold in minds and communities. Sisters in Hate is terrible and mesmerizing, a book perfectly pitched for this moment."—Evan Ratliff, author of The Mastermind and co-host of the Longform Podcast
"Engaging, horrifying, and informative—Darby offers an important, fresh angle on the problems tearing our country apart."—Kirkus Review
"“This book is eye-opening and incredibly timely.”—Booklist
“Darby writes with a clear sense of purpose and makes a concerted effort to understand why women would “fight against their own interests.” The result is a disturbing and informative must-read.” —Publishers Weekly
08/01/2020
Darby (editor in chief, The Atavist Magazine) noticed that most reporting on white nationalist groups focused on men, even though women also participate. After presenting a brief overview of white nationalism, she argues that women have always been a key part of white nationalist movements, and uses the stories of three women—Corinna Olsen, Ayla Stewart, and Lana Lokteff—to illustrate how and why. Each woman's story includes her motivations for joining white nationalist groups and the actions they undertake. Additionally, Darby pulls in accounts of key historical figures and events to demonstrate prominent overarching themes in the movements, including rejection of feminism, idealization of motherhood, and purity. Darby is critical of her subjects, and much of her work is imbued with skepticism as she questions whether the three women are relating their stories honestly. Lokteff and Stewart declined to participate in follow-up interviews; therefore, their portions of the narrative feel more abrupt and unresolved than Olsen's. VERDICT Darby's timely and important account helps to shed insight into understanding the motivations of white nationalist movements in American culture, and what draws people to them.—Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
What draws a seemingly decent white woman into the horrifying world of white supremacist hate groups? Susan Bennett takes on the narration of this highly researched exposé on white women and hate groups in the United States. The audiobook explores what leads seemingly well-adjusted women to become involved in the world of hate speech, neo-Nazism, and the expansion of the causes of hate groups through the use of women hiding in plain sight. Bennett keeps her voice calm and strong, even as she discusses horrific hate speech. Her delivery is careful and thoughtful, and she applies accents as needed. Much of the material is disturbing to hear, but the information is important, and Bennett expertly delivers it. V.B. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
★ 2020-06-16
Portraits of three contemporary American women and the movement that unites them: white supremacy.
“Hate in America is surging,” writes Darby, editor-in-chief of the Atavist Magazine and former deputy editor of Foreign Policy. That assertion will surprise few, but the author’s thesis—“Women are the hate movement’s dulcet voices and its standard bearers”—is more eye-opening since “men are the far right’s most recognizable evangelists, and bombings, shootings and rallies are the most obvious manifestations of the movement’s strength.” While conducting research, the author learned that the assumption that “women likely wouldn’t fight against their own interests” was incorrect. Darby fleshes out the story with three cases. The first, Corinna Olsen, is arguably the most interesting, partly because she’s a rare bird—she works as an embalmer and was formerly a bodybuilding competitor and an actress in torture porn—and partly because she changed her mind about racism. Ayla Stewart is the opposite story. She started out as a feminist and defender of gay rights and now operates as one of the leading online proponents of what is called “tradlife” as the “Wife With a Purpose,” combining organic cooking with latter-day Nazism. The author reserves most of her scorn for her third subject, Lana Lokteff. Described by David Duke as a “harder-hitting” Ann Coulter with a “movie-star quality,” Lokteff runs a right-wing news outlet called Red Ice with her husband. As Darby documents, she is “capable of extraordinary venom,” from Jew-hating to fat-shaming, as well as plenty of outright lying. (While Olsen cooperated with Darby throughout the project, the other two met with her but then cut off communications.) Along the way, the author carefully explains the supporting work of many other journalists and researchers and a wealth of right-wing lingo.
Engaging, horrifying, and informative—Darby offers an important, fresh angle on the problems tearing our country apart.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172685224 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Hachette Audio |
| Publication date: | 07/21/2020 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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