Feminism
Last updated: November 06, 2024
We have an extremely diverse range of interviews on feminism. Among others, Professor Kirsten Swinth and the Swedish journalist and novelist, Maria Sveland, both choose their best books on feminism. Erica Jong talks about women in society and Athene Donald about women in science. Gayle Lemmon of the Council of Foreign Relations discusses women and war.
Zainab Salbi, founder and CEO of the international development organisation Women for Women International, set up to help women who have suffered through conflict, chooses her best books on women’s empowerment. Myra Strober looks at women and work, and the British writer Bidisha chooses the best books on gender politics. Garol Gillian looks and gender and human nature. Khushi Kabir talks about rural women in the developing world and Nancy Goldstone about strong women in bad marriages.
The feminist historian Jay Kleinberg looks at the history of American women, and Vishakha Desai, President and CEO of the Asia Society, talks chooses her best books on Asian women. Historian Margot Badran chooses her best books on Islam and feminism and Ayan Hirsi Ali chooses her best books on women and Islam. Historian and television documentary special star Bettany Hughes chooses her best books on divine women, arguing that although the ancient world was a man’s world, women were closer to the gods.
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1
The Managed Body: Developing Girls and Menstrual Health in the Global South
by Chris Bobel -
2
Blood Magic: The Anthropology of Menstruation
Thomas Buckley & Alma Gottlieb (editors) -
3
Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)Ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction
by Sami Schalk -
4
Pollution is Colonialism
by Max Liboiron -
5
Dangerous Pregnancies: Mothers, Disabilities, and Abortion in Modern America
by Leslie Reagan
The best books on Menstruation, recommended by Kate Clancy
The best books on Menstruation, recommended by Kate Clancy
Menstruation is a natural process that will happen some 400 times in a woman’s life, and yet it still causes embarrassment. Biological anthropologist Kate Clancy, author of Period: The Real Story of Menstruation, recommends books that shed light not only on periods, but on how to make the world a better place.
The Best Feminist Books: 50 Years of Virago Press, recommended by Sarah Savitt
This week Virago Press celebrates its 50th anniversary. To mark the occasion, the international feminist publisher is reissuing one iconic book from each decade of its existence. Sarah Savitt, publisher of Virago Press, talks us through their ‘Five Gold Reads’ and explains why they remain important feminist books.
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1
Women vs Capitalism: Why We Can't Have It All in a Free Market Economy
by Vicky Pryce -
2
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
by Caroline Criado Perez -
3
Sex and World Peace
by Bonnie Ballif-Spanvill, Chad Emmett, Mary Caprioli & Valerie Hudson -
4
Delusions of Gender
by Cordelia Fine -
5
Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas
by Nancy Folbre
The best books on Gender Inequality, recommended by Linda Scott
The best books on Gender Inequality, recommended by Linda Scott
Women produce about 40% of global GDP and more than half of the world’s food. But their economic and social contribution has too often gone unrecorded—subsumed into ‘household earnings’ or otherwise disregarded. Here, the Oxford academic and author of The Double X Economy Linda Scott selects five of the best books on gender inequality, and reveals how the empowerment of women might just be the route to world peace.
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1
Reflections on the Revolution in France
by Edmund Burke -
2
A Philosophical Enquiry into the Sublime and Beautiful
by Edmund Burke -
3
A Vindication of the Rights of Men and A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
by Mary Wollstonecraft, edited by Sylvana Tomaselli -
4
Letters written in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark
by Mary Wollstonecraft -
5
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
by Adam Smith
The Best Mary Wollstonecraft Books, recommended by Sylvana Tomaselli
The Best Mary Wollstonecraft Books, recommended by Sylvana Tomaselli
Mary Wollstonecraft lived by her pen and wrote trenchant critiques of the role of women and marriage in late 18th century British society. She died aged 38, a few days after giving birth to her second daughter, Mary Shelley. She is often remembered for writing the Vindication of the Rights of Woman, but it was not in fact her best book, says Cambridge intellectual historian Sylvana Tomaselli. Here, she recommends books to read to get a good understanding of the extraordinary Mary Wollstonecraft, and the writers she was both influenced by and reacting against.
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Woman at Point Zero
by Nawal El Saadawi -
2
This Bridge Called My Back, Fourth Edition: Writings by Radical Women of Color
by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa (editors) -
3
Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches
by Audre Lorde -
4
A Small Key Can Open A Large Door: The Rojava Revolution
by Strangers In A Tangled Wilderness -
5
Some of Us Did Not Die: New and Selected Essays
by June Jordan
The best books on Patriarchy, recommended by Mona Eltahawy
The best books on Patriarchy, recommended by Mona Eltahawy
If you looked up patriarchy in a dictionary, the definition probably wouldn’t correspond with what most feminists and activists mean by it today. Here, Mona Eltahawy—journalist, activist and author of The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls—explains what it’s all about, why its tentacles are everywhere, and what to read to understand more about it.
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No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women
by Estelle Freedman -
2
The Solitude of Self: Thinking about Elizabeth Cady Stanton
by Vivian Gornick -
3
The Grounding of Modern Feminism
by Nancy Cott -
4
Welfare Warriors: The Welfare Rights Movement in the United States
by Premilla Nadasen -
5
Dear Sisters: Dispatches from the Women's Liberation Movement
by Linda Gordon & Rosalyn Baxandall
The best books on The History of Feminism, recommended by Kirsten Swinth
The best books on The History of Feminism, recommended by Kirsten Swinth
The fight for women’s liberation and equality under patriarchy spans centuries of history, and is still being waged today—but what lessons can feminist movements like #MeToo learn from suffragettes and black feminist activists? Fordham historian Kirsten Swinth explores the best books on feminism, and makes a powerful case for modern feminists listening to early foremothers.
The best books on Gender Politics, recommended by Bidisha
The 21st century has seen an explosion of feminist activism, with movements like #MeToo and the Women’s March. Accompanying this heightened attention to the lived experience of women, several extraordinary books have been published. Writer, feminist, critic and broadcaster Bidisha selects the best ones.
The best books on Alternative Futures, recommended by Catherine Mayer
Catherine Mayer—author, journalist and president of the Women’s Equality Party—talks to Five Books about her optimism for a more equal future for society by way of her favourite science fiction visionaries and their work.
The best books on Hillary Clinton, recommended by David Maraniss
As America votes in a new president, veteran political journalist and author, David Maraniss, recommends the best books to read to get a better understanding of Hillary Rodham Clinton.
The Best Virginia Woolf Books, recommended by Hermione Lee
Virginia Woolf was long dismissed as a ‘minor modernist’ but now stands as one of the giants of 20th century literature. Her biographer, Hermione Lee, talks us through the novels, essays, and diaries of Virginia Woolf.