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Original poster

What books should a budding feminist read?

41 replies

kickassangel · 25/08/2011 20:42

As I get more back in touch with my feminist side, what would be the 'top ten' books on feminism to read?

I have just bought Beauvoir's 'the Second Sex' which looks interesting, if a little demanding.

I once tried The Female Eunuch, but found ti too dense (or maybe I was).

So, what are the BIG feminist texts to read? Or lesser know, but make good points etc. Is there a 'top ten' that I should read to 'really' know about feminism?

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campocaro · 29/08/2011 07:56

Martha Quest Trilogy and The Golden Notebook -by Doris Lessing

StewieGriffinsMom · 29/08/2011 07:43

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Original poster
kickassangel · 29/08/2011 02:36

I am now putting in orders from my local library, and searching amazon to get started on this, thanks everyone

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BootyMum · 27/08/2011 21:59

Women who run with the wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes.

A magical ,mystical and deeply thought provoking book which discusses the power of myth and storytelling within our society and it's impact upon the female psyche from a Jungian perspective.

Sounds deep and intense, and it is, but it's also wise and joyful.

I highly recommend it.

kplondon · 27/08/2011 12:10

And yet another vote for the Women's Room (which I think is fiction rather than non-fiction, technically anyway). And another good, thought-provoking novel is Meg Wolitzer's The Ten Year Nap.

StewieGriffinsMom · 27/08/2011 12:01

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StringOrNothing · 27/08/2011 11:47

The Female Man by Joanna Russ is a good read, though the feminist ideas it presents are not exactly groundbreaking.

startAfire · 27/08/2011 11:35

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TotalChaos · 27/08/2011 11:15

there'll be a lot for you to chew on re:women/poverty/mental healthy system on Women on the Edge of time, saf. I thought that side of the book was stronger than the "utopian" aspect.

Delusions of Gender is also v good, debunks the neuroscience supposedly underlying gender differences.

startAfire · 27/08/2011 09:34

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startAfire · 27/08/2011 09:34

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StewieGriffinsMom · 27/08/2011 09:21

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wicketkeeper · 26/08/2011 21:58

From my bookshelf -
'The Women's Room', Marilyn French
'The Second Sex', Simone de Beauvoir
'The Sceptical Feminist', Janet Radcliffe Richards
'Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter', Simone de Beauvoir
'Out of the Doll's House', Angela Holdsworth
'A History of Their Own' Anderson and Zinsser (two volumes)
'The Wife of Bath's Tale', Chaucer
'Jane Eyre', Charlotte Bronte
'A Vindication of the Rights of Women', Mary Wolstonecraft

A bit heavy going, some of them - and a fairly eclectic mix. There are some I haven't read for years and years, I really should revisit them now that it's '20 years and two husbands later'.

The most interesting, I think, is Chaucer, writing in the late 14th century (that's over 600 years ago. Let's count them. 600), who made the point that what a woman wants above all else is to be held in the same esteem as her husband.

Secondtimelucky · 26/08/2011 20:51

I'm reading Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine. Fascinating.

CognitiveDissident · 26/08/2011 20:50

"Beloved" is such a powerful book. Tony Morrison is another one of my favourite authors.

I'm going to have to give "Woman on the Edge" another go. I remember railing against, and loathing her 'Utopia' when I first read it 15 years ago. Thinking more about it, I suppose that was the point. It was flawed, but infinitely better then the alternative.

rosy71 · 26/08/2011 20:45

Germaine, even.

rosy71 · 26/08/2011 20:45

I'd agee with "The Women's Room" and "The Handmaid's Tale". "The Female Eunuch" is good too, as is "The Whole Woman" (also Germain Greer).

CognitiveDissident · 26/08/2011 20:40

Naomi Wolf's Beauty Myth is very good, and a nice, easy read

On the fiction side, anything by Marge Piercy or Margaret Atwood.
"Small Changes" chronicles the emergence of Feminism in 1970's America, "City of Darkness" is the French Revolution from a female perspective (both Piercy)
"Oryx and Crake" with it's sequel "Year of the Flood" are near-future dystopias, from a male and female point of view respectively. "The Robber Bride" examines woman's position in society through several different female archetypes (Atwood)

startAfire · 26/08/2011 20:27

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StewieGriffinsMom · 26/08/2011 18:30

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Original poster
kickassangel · 26/08/2011 15:23

ooh, SGM, how did I not know about the feminist book club?

On my way over there right now (there can never be too many book clubs)

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startAfire · 26/08/2011 14:09

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StewieGriffinsMom · 26/08/2011 07:43

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Pan · 26/08/2011 03:33

stick with "Second Sex"? iirc, it goes into BIG generalities, which can seem a bit lofty, but distilled down are just as relevant today, though she wrote it 60(?) years ago.

Pan · 26/08/2011 03:25

'Woman on the edge of Time" Marge Piercy - a bit Utopian, and specific, BUT a really great novel to devour. Indicates the realm between the outside world and the inside world as experienced.

The Handmaids Tale is standard. For everyone.

Simone de Bouvoir's " Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter" - her first part of her recollections, as a child up to, I think about 21 yo. Quite heavy going in places. I think.
"The Second Sex" gets much easier to attach to, IMH male Opinion. Less immediately personal, and so accessible.