In 2021 previously accepted norms are being challenged, and feminism is no longer a “women’s rights issue.” The conversation around toxic masculinity, the pay gap and several other issues surrounding gender inequality is becoming more frequent. Men and women are becoming more confident with the label ‘feminist’ and men are becoming more open to how feminism actually benefits them too.
If you’re feeling not entirely informed enough to join the conversation, check out these top feminist books that everyone (regardless of gender) can read to bring them up to speed in the many discussions currently taking place ahead of International Women’s Day 2021.
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by Mary Wollstonecraft
A good place to start is the beginning. Often hailed as a founder of feminist philosophy, author and activist Mary Wollstonecraft created one of the first and most powerful works of the theory in 1792. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman challenged the idea that education, or denying access to it, has a direct bearing on inequality. Reading it through today’s lens makes us realise how far we’ve come and how far we’re yet to go.
Everyday Sexism by Laura Bates
Every woman has, at one point, experienced the tooth-grinding irritation of explaining that sexism doesn’t always come packaged in the guffawing, back-slapping, old-boys-club wrapper we’ve come to expect. More often than not it sneaks up quietly, in insidious little ways that are almost impossible to pinpoint, but that every woman knows. Everyday Sexism started as a website in 2012 as one woman’s attempt to illustrate all the ways we’re made to feel “not quite enough” through shared anecdotes of women from all walks of life, all over the world.
Nice Girls Still Don’t Get the Corner Office: Unconscious Mistakes Women Make That Sabotage Their Careers by Lois P Frankel
This New York Times bestseller has recently been updated, but the key question is the same – are you sabotaging your own career? Lois P Frankel explores more than 130 behaviours that women learn as kids that can harm their careers in future. Want to know how to escape this peril? The book offers life coaching tips.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
After her experience of having a man condescendingly explain the premise of a book, that she wrote, to her Rebecca Solnit coined the term ‘mansplaining’ and internet ran with it. In this collection of hilarious, relatable, and sometimes infuriating essays, Men Explain Things to me, Solnit explores the pressing issues faced by women, from being erased from history, marriage, and of course, having your own area of expertise explained to you. Well, actually…
Headscarves and Hymens by Mona Eltahawy
Having made headlines in 2011 when she was arrested, beaten, and assaulted during the Egyptian revolution, Egyptian-American journalist and activist Mona Eltahawy wrote an article titled Why Do They Hate Us?. Headscarves and Hymens expands this article and Eltahawy examines both religious misogyny and mistaking this misogyny for cultural difference, talking candidly about her experiences as well as sharing those of other women.
The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
Betty Friedan didn’t write The Feminine Mystique to be a heavyweight thought piece on the problem facing women in general; she actually admitted in a 1973 interview she thought there was something wrong with her. The Feminine Mystique addressed the frustration faced by housewives who were brave enough to take stock of their lives after marriage, question if it was enough, and take the steps to make any necessary changes. It was only during the writing process that she realised she’d tapped into a common experience and as more women read it, they collectively rode the new wave of feminism.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde
If there is one term you need to know it’s ‘intersectional feminism’ owing to the growing range of diverse voices contributing to the greater conversation of feminism and we have writers like Audre Lorde to thank for that. Coined in 1989 by American law professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, intersectional feminism is “a prism for seeing the way in which various forms of inequality often operate together and exacerbate each other.” Sister Outsider reflects on several subsets addressed by feminism, not merely sexism, but also racism, class, as well as discussing problems inherent in white feminism, using anger, and her own experiences as a woman of colour.
Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny by Kate Manne
Kate Manne approaches the feminist narrative in her in-depth analysis of misogyny from another angle. She looks at what misogyny is, how it differs from sexism and who deserves to be called a misogynist (not all men). But the burning question she addresses is why misogyny even still exists. She argues that misogyny should not be understood primarily in terms of the hostility some men may feel toward women, but rather why we still police the women who dare to challenge male dominance.
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
What started as a series of lectures at Cambridge’s female colleges, this essay is now a stalwart work of feminist literary critique. Woolf challenged the prevailing view that women were inferior writers with her claim that their creativity was hampered by the systemic failings of the time. Although her earnest analysis gets straight to the heart of the matter it’s still light, and even funny, as she offers A Room of One’s Own as the key to female creative freedom.
The Future is Feminist by various authors
If you want your information a bit more bite-sized, this pithy, provocative collection of essays tackles feminism from all angles. With offerings from a diverse range of authors – including Hollywood heavyweights Salma Hayek, Mindy Kaling – it is an accessible introduction to feminism, inspiring hope for a more equal future.
Wayward Girls & Wicked Women by Angela Carter
For those with a taste for anarchy this anthology of short stories, edited by powerhouse Angela Carter, is for you with offerings by Grace Paley, Bessie Head, Katherine Mansfield, Elizabeth Jolley, Djuna Barnes, Jamaica Kincaid, Katherine Mansfield, and Ama Ata Aidoo, and a host of others including Carter herself. Each one of these tales is delicious as it restores the wild and wily women discontent with the status quo, and who are comfortable disturbing it with a delightful lack of regard for good manners (consequences be damned), as role models.
