What does feminism mean to you?
Over the years, the definition of the word “feminism” has changed. For the record, that definition, according to Webster’s Dictionary, is: “the belief that men and women should have equal opportunities.” That seems simple enough, but for some, feminism has become a controversial—even unnecessary concept.
Whatever feminism means to you, it’s worth taking a look back at how and why the movement developed, beginning as far back as the early 1900s, and the writers and feminist books that continue to influence our lives today—whether we know it or not. With so much feminist literature out there, this list is not exhaustive. Add your go-to feminist book to the comments.
Together We Rise, The Women’s March Organizers and Condé Naste (2018)
Recently published in honor of the one-year anniversary of the first Women’s March, the Women’s March organizers—in partnership with Condé Nast—have put together a book featuring never-before-seen photos from the march, interviews, and essays by feminist activists. The book takes a look at an important day in history—a day on which the largest global protest in modern history took place.
We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2014)
Based off her lauded TED talk, novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie writes eloquently about what it means to be a feminist in the 21st century, based off her own experience. She argues that feminism is about basic human rights, and focuses on the experience of women of color and the sexual politics that all people, regardless of race or gender, face in this country.
Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay (2014)
Gay’s incredibly insightful essays take us on a journey through her life as a woman of color while also focusing on the recent political climate and the state of feminism today. Her raw and honest essays examine how she came to be the woman she is today, while making it clear that we need to “do better” as a culture.
Full Frontal Feminism, Jessica Valenti (2007)
In the aughts, feminism seemed to have captured a “third-wave” with the rise of Bitch magazine, BUST, Jezebel, and more. Jessica Valenti founded the blog Feministing in 2004—a safe community online, filled with discussion boards and opportunities to get involved in women’s issues. In 2007, she wrote Full Frontal Feminism, a series of essays about why feminism still matters and how the younger generation should get involved.
Revolution from Within: A Book of Self-Esteem, Gloria Steinem (1992)
Though Gloria Steinem could appear multiple times on this list, her fifth book, Revolution from Within, is a comprehensive chronicle of her lifetime in the feminist movement. Focused on the importance of self-esteem, Steinem argues that only we have the power to change ourselves and own our destinies. This inspiring national bestseller may be shelved in the “self-help” section, but it reflects Steinem’s decades of experience as being a champion for women’s rights.
Pornography: Men Possessing Women, Andrea Dworkin (1981)
This intense take down of pornography raised serious questions about violence against women and rape culture. Dworkin argued that pornography turned women into objects and even took her case to the Supreme Court, seeking damages against the pornography industry, and went on to champion the cause throughout the 1980s in the court of public opinion.
The Female Eunuch, Germaine Greer (1970)
Greer’s deeply controversial and best-selling book argues that women are deeply repressed in society, and the suburban nuclear family has rendered them sexless “eunuchs” that are taken for granted by their male partners who secretly hate women. Copies of the revolutionary book flew off shelves, in which Greer argues that women should give up monogamy, reclaim their libido, and live for themselves.
The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan (1963)
With the publication of The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan is credited with sparking the “second-wave” feminist movement. (Second wave, as in the first wave was concerned mostly with suffrage and basic rights, and second wave feminism broadened women’s rights to include equal pay, reproductive rights, sexuality, and more.) Friedman was inspired to write her book when she discovered (after taking a survey) that many of her former Smith classmates were deeply unhappy as housewives. She argues that no person can be fulfilled only through sex and housework, and encourages women to pursue happiness and fulfillment regardless of society’s expectations.
The Second Sex, Simone De Beauvoir (1949)
French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir’s study of women, “The Second Sex,” focused on the history and experience of women largely from a biological angle, and argued that women are inherently different from men and that their experience of life is not so easily separated from their biology (meaning women are biologically made to reproduce, through menstruation, sex, fertility, motherhood, and all that jazz)—making it more difficult for women to succeed in the patriarchy. De Beauvoir’s book was deeply influential, and many scholars consider it the first work of “modern” feminism.
A Room Of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf (1929)
Virginia Woolf’s lengthy essay on the rights of women (and in particular, those women who hope to have fulfilling careers outside the home) was published in 1929, based on a series of lectures she had delivered at the two women’s colleges at Cambridge and Oxford. The main theme behind Woolf’s argument is that in order for a woman to write fiction (or create art) she must have money and “a room of her own.” She also discusses the idea of building a history of women’s writing, acknowledging the fact that for the longest time “anonymous” was a woman.
Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1915)
Most will know Charlotte Perkins Gilman from her 1892 short story “The Yellow Wallpaper,” about a woman who is imprisoned by her husband and doctors as a “rest cure” for depression. But in 1915, Gilman published Herland—a science fiction story that imagines a world without men. The society is one without war, conflict, or domination. The novel was the middle book in her utopian trilogy, which also featured Moving the Mountain (1911) and With Her in Ourland (1916). Herland was originally published as a serial in her magazine, The Forerunner, and did not appear in book form until 1979.
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