Contemporary Feminist Books

Hey guys!

Feminism is a topic that speaks real close to my heart. There’s a lot of great books about that around today so I decided to compile some in a list! Here they are.

Disclaimer: I haven’t read any of these books so I can’t give any personal opinion about these titles. I have only heard amazing titles about all these titles, and that’s why they were the chosen.

• We Should All Be Feminists, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Synopsis: What does “feminism” mean today? That is the question at the heart of We Should All Be Feminists, a personal, eloquently-argued essay—adapted from her much-viewed Tedx talk of the same name—by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the award-winning author of Americanah and Half of a Yellow Sun. With humor and levity, here Adichie offers readers a unique definition of feminism for the twenty-first century—one rooted in inclusion and awareness. She shines a light not only on blatant discrimination, but also the more insidious, institutional behaviours that marginalize women around the world, in order to help readers of all walks of life better understand the often masked realities of sexual politics.

• Everyday Sexism, by Laura Bates

Synopsis: In 2012 after being sexually harassed on London public transport Laura Bates, a young journalist, started a project called Everyday Sexism to collect stories for a piece she was writing on the issue. Astounded by the response she received and the wide range of stories that came pouring in from all over the world, she quickly realised that the situation was far worse than she’d initially thought. Enough was enough. From being leered at and wolf-whistled on the street, to aggravation in the work place and serious sexual assault, it was clear that sexism had been normalised. Bates decided it was time for change.

• Men Explain Things To Me, by Rebecca Solnit

Synopsis: In her comic, scathing essay “Men Explain Things to Me,” Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don’t, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.

• Bad Feminist, by Roxane Gay

Synopsis: A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay. In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

I ordered We Should All Be Feminist and that should be arriving this week! I’m so excited to read it. This topic is seriously my favourite when it comes to non-fiction. Please recommend me more books about it! And tell me what you thought about these titles, in case you have read them!

Thank you guys! I’ll see you soon!

Cat.