This will have been done before, sorry, recommend something to read

[StealthPolarBear]

I have an interest in feminism but very little real knowledge. I would love to read one or two introductory bpoks. They would need to be fairly easy to read - so light non-ficton rather than textbook style iyswim.
Has anyone got anything they would particularly recommend?

Kat Banyard's The Equality Illusion is a good, up to date, easy to read, UK-centric book that covers a whole range of issues: a good starting point that is often recommended on here :)

thank you - will start there. Just started a new job which means staying over one night - loads of time to read! I love cheap thrillers but also fancy reading something intelligent too.

ironically, every time I look at her name my brain reads "KEN Banyard"
I think that is because I am on another thread about Kens :o

anything else? I could probably do with 2 starter books. If there is anything relating to breastfeeding/maternity I'd be particularly interested

There's Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein - it is written from a US perspective but I think it's not too hard to follow the UK examples, and that is mostly about raising daughters (and sons).

Everyone on here recommends Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine, so it's obviously a popular one and I found it quite light - it's similar to Ben Goldacre in tone, and she's basically debunking a lot of pseudo-sciencey opinions about the differences between men and women.

I'm sorry, I can't think of anything specifically to do with breastfeeding or maternity but I'm sure someone else will!

PS - Cordelia Fine writes with a lot of humour and tells you what amused or annoyed her in her research, so it's quite nicely personal IMO.

I do love that at one in the morning we managed that cross-post!

Did anyone get onto Cordelia Fine and demand she pay us for advertising yet?

Thanks everyone. I'll be back when I need more :)

Enjoy.

Books on breastfeeding and maternity-

Women's Bodies by Edward Shorter
(A very readable book about childbirth/abortion etc through time)
Can Any Mother Help Me? by Jenna Bailey

(Lives of ordinary women/mothers over time, beginning in 1930s)
The Girls Who Went Away by Ann Fessler
(About the stigmatising of pregnant unmarried mothers and how they were persuaded to give up their children for adoption)