The feminist books you need to read

Men Explain Things to Me

Rebecca Solnit

Solnit’s collection of personal hard-hitting essays explores the biggest themes of the modern feminist experience with humour and dry wit. Read the piece that coined the term ‘mansplaining’ and relate to the essays covering marriage equality, having your own interests explained to you and the #YesAllWomen movement.

Don’t Call Me Princess

Peggy Orenstein

If you loved the essays in Solnit’s book, get your hands on a copy of Peggy Orenstein’s Don’t Call Me Princess. Rather than tip toe around the topics of teenage pregnancy, body image and media’s influence on the feminine experience, Orenstein dives in headfirst and weaves research into her personal stories for a read that’s a breath of fresh air.

The Power

Naomi Alderman

A book that will stick with you, The Power tells of a world where the patriarchy is facing its imminent demise and young women are gifted the power to emit painful electric shocks. They use this power to defend themselves and take down an oppressive government in a fantastical story of hope and female strength.

The Gendered Brain

Gina Rippon

You want science and neuroscience no less? You need The Gendered Brain. Forget the myths of women and men being wired differently, of men coming from Mars and women from Venus, of women’s brains being inherently different to those of men. Gina Rippon is here to dispel the sexism with science.

Fed Up.

Gemma Hartley

Women shoulder the majority of this world’s unpaid and invisible labour. We’re the ones keeping homes together, being the shoulder to cry on and raising future leaders. This work is thankless and exhausting: if you’re fed up, let Gemma Hartley explain how we can create a more balanced future.

The Beauty Myth

Naomi Wolf

Once you’ve read this dissection of how beauty culture commodifies and dominates your life, you’ll have a newfound appreciation for your reflection. Naomi Wolf details how the beauty industry makes its money from your constant self-hatred and pursuit of perfection; how women everywhere are trapped in endless dissatisfaction as the industry gives them something else to ‘fix’; and crucially, how beauty is used to keep women down as they demand access to power.

The Witch Doesn’t Burn in This One

Amanda Lovelace

Red lettering on white pages and prose to set your heart aflame, Amanda Lovelace captures the feminist experience in short stanzas and powerful poetry. You’ll devour it in one sitting and you won’t be the same again afterwards.

Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls

Steal this from your daughter’s bookcase—every woman needs this in her library. The lives of 100 extraordinary women are transformed into bedtime stories to inspire little girls around the world. If you grew up without 100 real-women role models, you’ll love this book for the generations of women who now have women to look up to. Gorgeous illustrations accompany the short stories covering every continent, race, religion, and sexuality.

Bad Feminist

Roxane Gay

All Roxane Gay books are masterpieces and Bad Feminist is the perfect place to start when delving into her works. Culture critic, novelist and professor, Gay explores feminism in a collection of essays spanning rap music and politics, and investigates feminist ideology.

Rage Becomes Her

Soraya Chemaly

Forget anger being unladylike. Forget social change needing decorum. Get angry. Soraya Chemaly dissects the causes of women’s anger and shows how we can convert this justified emotion into fuel for change.

Good and Mad

Rebecca Traister

Good and Mad pairs perfectly with Rage Becomes her. We are so very angry and anger is the thing we need to drive change in the world of #MeToo and Dr Christine Blasey Ford’s testimony. Anger is a good thing—it’s a justified thing. These two books will help you understand your anger and guide you to using it for change.