Well, hello there friend.
I see you’ve clicked my post because (hopefully) you’re interested in reading some non-fiction feminist theory goodness which we love to see. I do want to say though, that this post is by no means an exhaustive list as there are so many wonderful texts out there, but here are some that you could begin with or use to expand your knowledge surrounding feminism.
Many of the books in this list intersect feminism with other social issues, such as class or race, and I did that on purpose as there is no feminism unless it’s intersectional feminism. I remember getting into a twitter debate about the differences between ‘white’ feminism and intersectional feminism.
Some people just don’t really want to critically engage in conversation – they just want to scream that they’re right in your face.
Some of these books range from the more accessible to what would be considered the more ‘academic’ (or pretentious, I’m looking at you, Butler) but they all have contributed to feminism and feminist theory in an incredibly significant way.
We’ll start with the more denser academic texts. I feel like we can’t have this list without mentioning ๐๐พ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฑ ๐๐พ๐ฝ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป. I’m going to specifically recommend ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ป๐ธ๐พ๐ซ๐ต๐ฎ, but most of their work I would also recommend. If you can get your hands on their articles/essays as well, they can be a fantastic read as they are more concise and to the point.
๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฃ๐ป๐ธ๐พ๐ซ๐ต๐ฎ does exactly that; it troubles the relationship between gender and the sexes, disrupting essentialist biology which positions gender identity as the inevitable byproduct of one’s reproductive sex organs. It is one of the most fundamental texts in feminist theory (as well as gender and queer theory), but it is an incredibly dense philosophical text, so be warned. I would recommend reading book reviews published in journal articles to supplement your reading and understanding as well as using the internet overall to help.
I’m putting the next recommendation in the ‘academic’ section purely because I sometimes find her texts challenging to get my head around purely because of the philosophical lens she positions her theories within and that is ๐ข๐ช๐ป๐ช ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ญ. To say that I adore ๐ข๐ช๐ป๐ช ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ญ would be an understatement. ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ญ occupies a really interesting position in academia at the moment, purely because she is actually working outside of the academy. ๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ญ resigned from her position as Professor of Race and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London in protext at the university’s failure to sufficiently and properly deal with the issue of sexual harrassment. She is an icon.
I’ll specify her book ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ธ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐๐ช๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ท๐ฎ๐ผ๐ผ which is a cultural critique on happiness and the need to be ‘happy’, especially in terms of queerness, to conform to societal norms in which ‘happiness is promised to those willing to live their lives in the right way’. I would also recommend ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ช ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฎ – it is an incredible critique as well as a meditation on feminism in everyday life interwoven with feminist theory. Although I’ve only read chapters of both of these texts, I have found them fundamental to how I understand feminism.
Now, the next recommendation is one of my personal favourites because it is written by one of my all-time favourite scholars, ๐ฃ๐ช๐ต๐ด๐ฒ๐ท’ ๐ค๐น ๐ฝ๐ธ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ถ๐ช๐ท: ๐๐ท๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ท๐ธ๐พ๐ผ ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ท-๐ก๐ธ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ธ๐ท. This is one of the foundational texts in my opinion of feminism, especially from within the Australian context. ๐๐ฒ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ท ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ธ๐ท-๐ก๐ธ๐ซ๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ธ๐ท writes so beautifully for an academic, you won’t be able to stop reading! She imbues all of her work with such passion that really comes across when reading. This particular book is exactly what it says in the title: it focuses on how mainstream white feminism has pushed aside the unique experiences of Indigenous women, especially in theory. It explores white feminist representations of Indigenous women, as well as how white feminist discussed race. If you only want to read one ‘academic’ text from this list, read this one. If you’re Australian, this is compulsory reading. And she works at my university!!!!! So freaking cool!!!!
The next recommendation is a given. One of ๐๐ท๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ต๐ช ๐จ. ๐๐ช๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ผ’ key theoretical texts, ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท, ๐ก๐ช๐ฌ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ต๐ช๐ผ๐ผ. This text is considered a seminal piece of historical work as well as feminist as it explores race, gender and class inequality from slavery to contemporary history. It works to provide an alternative history, wherein women are at the forefront, their voices and stories heard, as well as bringing light to the racism and class prejudice imbued in mainstream white feminism. This is compulsory reading.
Although this next recommendation is slightly outdated, it is still important in the ability to trace the beginnings of feminist critical theory. I feel like you all know where this is going. ๐ข๐ฒ๐ถ๐ธ๐ท๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ช๐พ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ธ๐พ๐ป’๐ผ , ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ธ๐ท๐ญ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ was a groundbreaking work of feminism which draws on sociology, anthropology and biology to examine the limitations that exist on female freedom and expression. I would recommend reading this book slowly, and to consider each chapter as essays that are separate but not, if that makes sense. I personally enjoy reading the ways in which traditional perceptions of gender and gender roles impacted the way women now exist. (I woud also recommend as a side note to bust open volume one of ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐’๐ ๐ป๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ which goes into some detail about Victorian modesty and the Church’s influence on gender roles).
I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention ๐ก.๐ฆ. ๐๐ธ๐ท๐ท๐ฎ๐ต๐ต’๐ผ work also. ๐๐ธ๐ท๐ท๐ฎ๐ต๐ต’๐ผ work centres on examining gender, and she actually was one of the founders of masculinity studies and further conceptualised the theory of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ and the gender order theory. Her books, ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป & ๐๐ธ๐๐ฎ๐ป and ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป are foundational and highly informative. She helped concieve of gender as not just an indivualistic notion, but one that occurs through a social structure. I use Connell quite a lot in my own research as she also utilises the concept of an ‘insitutionalised micro- culture’ which has it’s own gender structure mechanisms that work in those spaces. Absolutely key in feminist theory as well as gender theory.
Our next category I call the more accessible forms of feminist writing, that is through either popular non-fiction commentary or memoirs/essays. The first one I’ll talk about it one that I read a few months ago which absolutely wow’ed me and that was, ๐ข๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐พ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ซ๐ ๐๐พ๐ญ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ญ๐ฎ. This is a collection of essays which reflect on race, gender and feminism through the lens of ๐๐พ๐ญ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ญ๐ฎ herself. Again, this collection of essays explores race, class, sexuality and womanhood whilst also examining white mainstream feminism and those it leaves behind. ๐๐พ๐ญ๐ป๐ฎ ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ญ๐ฎ has such a powerful voice and I loved every second of reading this book.
๐๐ธ๐ธ๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ถ: ๐๐ธ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ผ ๐ฏ๐ป๐ธ๐ถ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ผ ๐๐ธ๐ป๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฝ ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ท๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ต is one that I think everyone has heard of because it was incredibly hyped when it came out. As it should have been. I read this around the time it came out and it was an impactful read. I learned so many things, it changed my own perception surrounding ‘what is feminist issues’ and it is one of those books that, if you are a white woman who considers herself a feminist, you must read it. Honestly, read this (or any of these) instead of ๐น๐๐๐๐ ๐ซ’๐จ๐๐๐๐๐’๐ ๐พ๐๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. This is an interventionist text that is accessible and informative, and Kendall’s writing is powerful and engaging.
I couldn’t have a feminist recommendation list without the one and only ๐ก๐ธ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐. What an icon.
I am specifically recommending ๐๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ as I personally consider this a go-to foundational feminist text that is incredibly accessible and educational. I love ๐ก๐ธ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ so much and almost all of her non-fiction work is written through the lens of feminism but I think ๐๐ช๐ญ ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ specifically is a fierce read that considers the human at the centre of feminism as well as the ways in which mainstream feminism has worked to elevate white women to the detriment of others. It is absolutely fantastic.
The last two books I will recommend are technically ‘queer theory’ books but also offer something for the feminist reader. ๐๐ท ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ถ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ผ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ช๐ป๐ถ๐ฎ๐ท ๐๐ช๐ป๐ฒ๐ช ๐๐ช๐ฌ๐ฑ๐ช๐ญ๐ธ is now of my favourite memoir’s of all time. How in the actual hell did I not read this sooner? Classified as a memoir, ๐๐ท ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ถ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ผ๐ฎ turns the genre on its head. It deconstructs and remakes what it means to be a memoir, with an interweaving of experience and story with queer theory. I loved it so much. i do recommend looking up the trigger warnings. From memory, there’s psychological and emotional abuse.
Then we have my other favourite memoir I read this year and that was ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ธ๐ท๐ช๐พ๐ฝ๐ผ ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ช๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ต๐ผ๐ธ๐ท. What a wonderous piece of work. With this one though, I do think there will be people who love it or people that hate it. It is written in a very unique way, almost like vignettes or different fragments that work to make a whole. I personally loved it. Similar to ๐๐ท ๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ถ ๐๐ธ๐พ๐ผ๐ฎ, the memoir itself undergoes a transformation and a deconstruction – changing the definition of what a memoir means. I love this type of memoir-that-isn’t-but-is especially when it’s imbued with queer theory. At the centre of this book is Nelson’s relationship with her partner who is gender-fluid and both of their experiences as well as meditations on family and motherhood.
I told you it would be a small recommendation list! If you want more, let me know because this was fun! What would you recommend? I most likely have missed and forgotten heaps!
Until next time, happy reading!
All the love,
allie
xx
๐ฒ๐ท๐ผ๐ฝ๐ช๐ฐ๐ป๐ช๐ถ
โจ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ซ๐ป๐ช๐ป๐ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ช๐ท๐ญ๐ป๐ช โจ 