Check out 16 Return-To-Work Programs In India For Ambitious Women Like You!
Are you above 18 and identify as a feminist? Or want to find out what feminism is all about? Here are 10 feminist books for you to read.
Feminism has always been a happening word- whether people stand for it or against it. In India, it undoubtedly has been a phenomenon that received a heightened awareness of issues in the public consciousness in the recent times. Gender-based inequality remains the greatest global injustice and the struggle against it has always been there, since the beginning of time.
Lately, it is a fortunate thing to see more number of women write books and actually take up writing as a profession. Apart from autobiographies of inspiring women, we also have human interest stories that most of our latest women authors write about.
Talking about feminism, it is certainly not right to say that every woman is a feminist. It does not need to be in your blood or mind, but a book can surely bring about a change in your perspective. At the same time, it is also not everybody’s cup of tea to be able to create a thought revolution in the minds of the reader, even if you get them to be completely engrossed in your book. It needs sufficient wit, wisdom, energy and eloquence to inspire change beyond its time, perhaps beyond the imagination of its author.
While celebrating Women’s Day this year, Women’s Web brings to you a list of 10 feminist books that are a must read for women above 18. Trust me; you do not have to feel like a feminist to read them. Give it a try! They sure will make you impatient for change.
Feminism is For Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks
Gloria Jean Watkins, an American writer, is best known by her pen-name, bell hooks. Simple, but powerful and accessible, the text is not only a great entry point, but also a great tool in discussing what feminism really stands for.
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
With humor and levity, 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 and institutional behaviors 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. Her message is a positive one: culture can change if we do.
The Wife Drought by Annabel Crabb
Well known for her political commentary and Kitchen Cabinet series, in The Wife Drought, Annabel Crabb explores the pressures on women who want to combine career and family. It’s full of candid and funny stories from the author’s work in and around politics and the media, historical nuggets about the role of ‘The Wife’ in Australia.
A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
This book is an extended essay that explores women’s relationship to writing, focusing exclusively on men. It explores the premise that for a woman to be creative, she needs to have her own money, and a place where she can be without being disturbed by society, men and their expectations in particular. This might be a particularly good place to start for all you literary boys curious about feminism.
The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf
You will never look at yourself in the mirror the same way after reading Wolf’s analysis of how beauty culture commodifies and dominates all aspects of women’s lives. This text dissects the relationship between the growing social prominence of women and society’s demands for them to conform to specific standards of beauty, as relevant now as it was 20 years ago.
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay is easily one of the most iconic feminists of our time. She uses her experience as a woman of color, a college professor, and a pop culture critic to slice into what’s wrong with our society today.
Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde One of the most influential voices of the feminist movement rings out in this collection of 15 essays and speeches by Caribbean-American activist Audre Lorde. In this book, she wrote a deeply personal, honest and emotional work addressing the injustices of racism, sexism, and homophobia.
The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
This impassioned work on women’s status throughout history, explores why women, who make up half the world’s population, have been made second-best. De Beauvoir’s zeal will inspire ownership of womanhood and examination of any deep-seated sexism.
Seeing Like A Feminist by Nivedita Menon Incisive, eclectic and politically engaged, Seeing like a Feminist is a bold and wide-ranging book that reorders contemporary society. From sexual harassment charges against international figures to the challenge that caste politics poses to feminism, Menon deftly illustrates how feminism complicates the field irrevocably.
Yes Please by Amy Poehler
“It’s very hard to have ideas. It’s very hard to put yourself out there, it’s very hard to be vulnerable, but those people who do that are the dreamers, the thinkers and the creators. They are the magic people of the world.” Poehler lights a fire under her readers to dream big, peppers the journey with a healthy dose of irony and self-deprecation.
Image source: young woman reading a book by Shutterstock.
19 // Mass Communications from Hyderabad // Aspiring journalist // Food and fashion lover read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
Please enter your email address