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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Recommend feminist books

28 replies

totallywired · 27/08/2017 22:16

Can anyone recommend their absolute favourite feminist books to me, I want to learn more about feminism. Susan Faludi's backlash is on my reading list, any others?

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DJBaggySmalls · 28/08/2017 00:37

Germaine Greer and Andrea Dworkin, if you only read one of her books make it Right Wing Women. The first chapter & the chapter headings are like a prediction of where we are today
You can download Andrea Dworkins books and more here;
radfem.org/

www.feministes-radicales.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Patrizia-Romito-A-Deafening-Silence.-Hidden-Violence-Against-Women-and-Children.pdf

phoolani · 28/08/2017 00:45

Bell hooks Ain't I a Woman
Peggy orenstein Cinderella ate my Daugther
Anything by cordelia fine

EBearhug · 28/08/2017 00:48

Kat BanyaRd - the Equality Illusion

BitOfFun · 28/08/2017 00:48

Ariel Levy's 'Female Chauvinist Pigs' is very good.

EBearhug · 28/08/2017 00:48

(Excuse my phone's strange ideas about capitalisation of letters. )

MotherPeresA · 28/08/2017 01:37

Amanda Palmer, The Art of Asking. It's not straightforward feminist in nature, but contains so much about how people relate to each other: trust, love, communication... and the insecurities that feed a lot of that.

totallywired · 28/08/2017 08:58

Thank you for all the recommendations, I'll have a look at al of them & thank you for the links djbaggy. I'm definitely going to ready Right Wing Women. Does anyone else have any other recommendations?

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MadamMinacious · 28/08/2017 12:20

Hi there,

I saw your thread title and was about to recommend 'Backlash' but I see you have it on your list already. It's an old book but I think it can be applied now - or even especially now as I believe we are in the midst of an intense backlash. It may also be worth reading her book 'Stiffed' it isn't feminist as such as it is about men - I think it is interesting in the light of current gender issues. Be warned it is a flawed book and poses many more questions than it answers.

I know Dworkin's 'Pornography: Men Possessing Women' is pretty radical and her beliefs can be hard to take at times but I think it is an important book, radical in its feminism.

Naomi Wolf 'The Beauty Myth' - again an older book bur feminist canon.

Anything by Germaine Greer, who writes well and is the person who introduced me to feminism. I don't always agree with her but I enjoy her writing and it is thought provoking. Start with 'The Female Eunuch'

Also Rebecca Solnit - 'Men Explain things to me' - a collection of essays

There are always more but I think you have quite a few great suggestion in this thread.

Thelilywhite · 28/08/2017 14:55

'Living DollS' Natasha Walters - excellent on the stereotypical depiction of women in the media.

MrJohnsonAteMyCustard · 28/08/2017 15:36

There was an excellent book I read well over twenty years ago, that I've never been able to find since. It was called Reflecting Men At Twice Their Natural Size by Sally Cline and Dale Spender.

I'd love to read it again.

MrJohnsonAteMyCustard · 28/08/2017 15:41

Oooh - just found it and ordered it Grin Hope it lives up to my memories....

totallywired · 28/08/2017 19:12

Thank you for all the great recommendations, I have already bought Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine and hope to read lot of the other books mentioned.

I have read The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, I think it is the only feminist non-fiction book I've read, I read it when I was 17 (many years ago!) and it made a great impression on me, I think I'll encourage my daughter to read it when she is a teenager unless attitudes have changed dramatically by then (which I sadly doubt).

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QuarksandLeptons · 28/08/2017 19:54

So glad you started this thread. I've recently started researching good feminist books as have become aware that despite always having called myself a feminist, I have been mistaken in believing that the fight for women was practically won due to my own decent experience of life.

Pregnancy, babies and facing the reality of my biology and all that it entails has really changed my perspective over the past couple of years.

The suggestions on this thread so far are great. Quite a few form the basis of my mother's feminism but despite them sitting on the shelves growing up i haven't read Greer or Klein yet.

Dworkin, I've only since this summer become aware of but sounds formidable.

At a stage with little time for reading at the moment (babies & own business) but here's my wish list so far:

Michelle Goldberg
The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power, and the Future of the World
(Seems like a fascinating and in depth read. I discovered the author from some of her journalism, which was impeccably researched and very readable)

Sheila Jeffreys
Gender Hurts
(This book has been very controversial and I understand there was a lot of effort to have to censored. Routledge press didn't cave in and published it regardless)

Cordelia Fine
Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
(Already mentioned I know)

QuarksandLeptons · 28/08/2017 19:55

Correction: should have said Wolf not Klein

Thelilywhite · 28/08/2017 20:34

MrJohnsonAteMyCustard
Ooh yea I forgot about that one. It was one of the first I ever read in the 80s. Hope you enjoy it again.

MadamMinacious · 28/08/2017 21:13

'Living DollS' Natasha Walters - excellent on the stereotypical depiction of women in the media.

Yes! Good book.

Reflecting Men At Twice Their Natural Size by Sally Cline and Dale Spender.

  • I haven't read this - Will look out for it myself. The Gender Hurts book sounds interesting too.
Ereshkigal · 28/08/2017 21:54

Also Beauty and Misogyny by Sheila Jeffreys is excellent and quite easy to find a free downloadable copy of.

PufferFish · 28/08/2017 23:25

The War on Women by Sue Lloyd-Roberts. Heart wrenching eye opener for me.

totallywired · 28/08/2017 23:47

Thanks everyone, I will be referring to this thread whenever I need new book to read.

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DJBaggySmalls · 29/08/2017 12:02

The War Against Women by Marilyn French is a profoundly depressing list of abuse from around the world, and was my introduction to the horrors of FGM. I think you need to be in a good place to read it.

redexpat · 29/08/2017 14:29

Have I missed it or has no one mentioned wifework?

Excellent thread though!

Monkeyinshoes · 29/08/2017 14:48

Couple of older ones but I liked The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan and Misogynies by Joan Smith.

A few days ago, I downloaded the sample chapter of Who Cooked Adam Smiths Dinner? by Katrin Marcal. That looks interesting. Though I've got Right Wing Women downloaded so I better read that before buying more.

PinotAndPlaydough · 29/08/2017 21:40

I'm currently reading "women of the revolution, forty years of feminism" it's a collection of guardian articles and interviews from the 1970's onwards.

It's my first step into feminist literature and because the articles are short and cover a variety of topics I'm finding that it's not too much to take in at once and is certainly good for thought.

doodledragon · 30/08/2017 10:22

I'm sort of joking here - but actually I'm also deadly serious...

Robert Webb's new book might have to be on a list of feminist books!

EBearhug · 30/08/2017 10:33

Robert Webb's new book might have to be on a list of feminist books!

Can you explain why? I have only heard a couple of bits while driving into work, and none of the bits I've heard have made me think that, but I do realise I have a very incomplete picture. I wasn't intending to read it, based on what I've heard so far.

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