Many of the current controversies over transgender rights and identities derive from false beliefs, explains the author and academic Susan Stryker. Here she selects five excellent contemporary trans titles with depth, complexity and heart, to help us reframe what has all too often become a toxic debate

Consideration of differences between men and women has been obscured by centuries of biological essentialism, argues Angela Saini – author of Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong. Here she discusses five books that examine or demonstrate the misogynistic lens through which female capability has been viewed.

Traditionally, the study of international relations has been about institutions, not individuals and the psychology that motivates them. But that is changing. Rose McDermott, professor of international relations at Brown University, introduces the work of Robert Jarvis and others pioneering the field of ‘political psychology.’

Autofiction is writing that blurs the boundaries between autobiography and fiction. The writer of Trans: A Memoir, Juliet Jacques, picks her top five examples of the genre.

Popular culture shapes our fantasies, our expectations and our beliefs about what is real, argues Susan Bordo. She picks five books that shed light on popular culture.

The feminist author chooses liberating literature for women, from Virginia Woolf to Erica Jong. She says that men still don’t share equal responsibility in the home, and that life after divorce can be easier.

The idea that girls are emotional and “boys don’t cry” is ridiculous, says the feminist and psychologist. She tells us about books that debunk the gender myths that continue to restrict and distort our lives.

Award-winning British physicist, Athene Donald, tells us how to fight preconceived ideas about gender and suggests reading that could inspire women to pursue careers in science.

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.

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

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

Women’s historical role in politics wasn’t always as limited as we might assume. The historian tells us about powerful women in British history and how they were constrained or conspired against

The Dutch science journalist takes a light-hearted look at national stereotypes: why Dutch women are happy, and what it means to be blonde. She picks the best books on Dutch women.

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

The ODI research fellow discusses gender equality in the developing world and says that the authority to insist on safe sex and access to medical care is vital to establishing the most basic forms of gender equality

The differences between men and women are innate, argues the evolutionary psychologist, and men's relative success in the workplace a reflection of desire rather than discrimination. 

The child development expert Sue Palmer explains why modern life is making boys more sad, isolated and materialistic.