Feminist Literature

The freedom to pick up a book is something we take almost for granted today but women readers have faced all manner of obstacles throughout history, says Professor Belinda Jack, author of The Woman Reader. She recommends five key texts in the history of women readers.

The historian and gender studies specialist Margot Badran has devoted her life's work to the Muslim world. Here she explains what feminism means in the context of Islam and chooses five books that have been critical in its evolution.

For thousands of years, human societies have tried to regulate sexual activity. The author of Sex and Punishment tells us why this should be so, and how what’s permissible has varied according to time and place.

Ancient history was a man’s world – but women were considered closer to the gods. The historian and TV presenter Bettany Hughes reveals the secrets of Athenian priestesses, Byzantine empresses and Stone Age fertility goddesses.

The author, gender theorist and self-described “SM femme tranny dyke” Kate Bornstein tells us why gender isn’t binary, and recommends books that give long-suppressed voice to the transgender community

The author of The Maid and the Queen takes us on an enjoyable ride through European history, looking at well-connected women who outwitted their husbands or asserted their independence.

From an early age, girls learn to be pretty in pink while boys are marketed a prepackaged masculinity. The author of Cinderella Ate My Daughter explains how parents can give their children a broader, more imaginative outlook

When war comes, women pick up the pieces, providing for families and taking up jobs previously done by men. Increasingly, women are to be found on the frontlines of combat too, as the author and journalist explains

The president of the Asia Society discusses the changing role of women in Asian countries and how women have reached positions of leadership there

Founder and CEO of Women for Women International Zainab Salbi says we need to make the 21st century the time for women’s rights, and describes how reading Rumi’s poems helps her to find inner peace