BookOwl Picks: Feminist Reads

 

There is a whole universe of feminist scholarship and literature out there, but to get you started, I’ll recommend five titles from a variety of authorly voices. Featuring both fiction and nonfiction—some titles you may be expecting and some not—you’ll be sure to find your next good read!

Women and Power by Mary Beard

A bit on the shorter side and with a powerful message, Women and Power is a jaunt through history to explore the early origins of misogyny. Beard explores the traditional frameworks of power patriarchal societies run on, whether they were in Ancient Greece and Rome to those adapted to the present day. Throughout Women and Power is not only a history lesson on how we got to where we are today, but a provocative question about the nature of power: Can the very definition of power be changed when a group is excluded from the powers-that-be? Read it—it’s worth your while!

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

This may be the book that you were expecting to be on the list, but in my opinion, it deserves its place. Now adapted into a TV series of the same name, The Handmaid’s Tale follows the life of one woman in a fictional America turned theocracy named Gilead. Offred is a Handmaid, a woman assigned to an infertile couple to produce a child. Offred isn’t her real name, but the one Gilead gave her, a society in which women are firmly shut out of the halls of power, not allowed to read, and are expected to be no more than reproductive vessels. A gritty read about one woman’s fight against a repressive state.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie 

This nonfiction work is on the shorter side, but like Women and Power, easily stands on its own. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a feminist and prolific author who observes in We Should All Be Feminists that contemporary society still expects men and women to conform to traditional gender norms. In this collection of essays, she explores how her native Nigeria and the United States operate to oppress and discriminate against women. Adichie makes a compelling argument that misogyny and traditional gender roles harm all of us—especially the 50% of humanity that is women.

Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga

I first read this one in college in a gender studies literature class, and it has stayed with me ever since. An exploration of the complexities of gender norms, race, and decolonization in Africa, Nervous Conditions is a powerful work of historical fiction. We navigate these treacherous waters with protagonist Tambu, a young girl who lives in a rural community in Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe). Her fate has been decided for her when her uncle marries her off to a much older man, while Tambu’s older brother is given the education she yearns for and is denied. When tragedy strikes, Tambu finds an opportunity to make the life she wants for herself.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I’m reaching far back to the 1800s here, but stay with me! Charlotte Bronte has penned a clever work of historical fiction with a strong female lead, unusual for the Victorian era. Starting from humble origins and rising through the ranks of society, Jane speaks her mind about religion and against the strict strictures of class and gender. She becomes governess in a household headed by the mysterious Mr. Rochester (not my favorite character) and is determined to press forward in her quest to be herself. Meaning fierce and independent, in both her romantic and professional lives.

Happy reading!

-BookOwl