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10 Books every feminist should read

TNN | Last updated on - Mar 7, 2019, 19:31 IST

1/10

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

In this book, writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wittily argues that gender should not be a script for raising young boys or girls. She also talks about serious issues like sexual violence, and behaviours that marginalize women and limit men worldwide. Through this book Adichie comes across as a warm and nurturing person-- a big sister, an aunt, a teacher who inspired you or you wished you had. Through this book, the author says that such a culture can change, if we change for the better.

(Pic Credit: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie/ Facebook)

2/10

The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou

As the name suggests, the book is a collection of Maya Angelou's soulful poems which would touch your heart. The words of the feminist poet would help you become a better feminist and a human being.
(Pic Credit: Amazon)

3/10

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit

Solnit talks about what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women in her scathing essay 'Men Explain Things to Me'. Inspired from some of her own comic encounters, she writes about how men wrongly assume that women don't know about things and how it affects the gender wars.
(Pic Credit: Amazon)

4/10

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran

Published in 2014, this book is inspired from Moran's early life of a humorous working-class girl with a bit of British cuss words. And Moran is unapologetic about the 'not-so-ladylike' experiences in her youth. How to Build a Girl is a coming-of-age bestselling novel.
(Pic Credit: Amazon)

5/10

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran

This 2011 book is Moran's memoir which depicts her life from her teens to her mid-thirties and her views on feminism. Through her cheeky British sarcasm, she urges women of all ages to reclaim their "feminism".
(Image credit: Amazon)

6/10

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

Betty Friedan’s book 'The Feminine Mystique' is widely said to have ignited the second-wave feminism in the 1960s as it talks about what it means to be a woman. Friedan initially interviewed old classmates from college for the book but in the process realised how deeply unhappy, alienated and burdened most of the women were with the responsibilities of marriage. This iconic book encouraged women to carve their own path.
(Pic Credit: Amazon)

7/10

Fat is a Feminist Issue by Susie Orbach

In her book 'Fat is a Feminist Issue' author Susie Orbach talks about how generations of women and girls grow up with eating anxieties around them. The book explores our love-hate relationship with food and tells us how we can consider food as a friend, learn to accept ourselves for who and how we are, thus putting an end to food related anxieties and unhealthy dieting. The book was published almost four decades ago, yet Orbach’s central theme remains relevant even today.
(Pic Credit: Penguin Books Australia)

8/10

Dear Ijeawele by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Through this book, author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie yet again brings the topic of feminism to the forefront. This inspirational book is written as a letter to a friend where Adichie makes 15 suggestions for becoming a strong woman.
(Pic Credit: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie/ Facebook)

9/10

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

Bad Feminist is Gay's collection of funny and insightful essays. Through the book she takes the readers on a cultural ride through the years and comments on feminism today. It shows her continual growth and self-understanding, and that of our culture.
(Pic Credit: Amazon)

10/10

A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf's classic essay, 'A Room of One's Own' is a fictional take on Shakespeare's equally talented sister who dies without expressing her talent, more so because of a lack of means. In the book, Woolf takes on the establishment and gives a simple yet strong message to women-- they must have a fixed source of income and a room of their own to have the freedom (Pic Credit: Amazon)

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