Customers often ask us which is the "best ever" feminist book or which book about feminism they should give someone new to feminism or which book they should read if they are just beginning their feminist journey. We think, as bell hooks says, "feminism is for everybody," but not every feminist book is for every person. Below is a list of our ever-evolving Charis feminist canon. This list is shaped by our personal tastes, our geographies, and our understanding of feminism as a strategy and a tool to understand and dismantle interlocking systems of oppression. This list is also primarily books which are currently accessible and on our shelves because we want you to be able to come in and pick them up today if you see something that excites you. One last caveat: this list is non-fiction and primarily on the subject of feminism. Feminists write novels and poems and books on every subject under the sun. Check out the other lists on this site to find books that we think fit the bill in those subjects. These are books more or less "about" feminism. We hope you find yourself in them and keep on searching.
What is feminism? In this short, accessible primer, bell hooks explores the nature of feminism and its positive promise to eliminate sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. With her characteristic clarity and directness, hooks encourages readers to see how feminism can touch and change their lives--to see that feminism is for everybody.
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Including: Susan B. Anthony Simone de Beauvoir W.E.B. Du Bois Hélène Cixous Betty Friedan Charlotte Perkins Gilman Emma Goldman Guerrilla Girls Ding Ling • Audre Lorde John Stuart Mill Christine de Pizan Adrienne Rich Margaret Sanger Huda Shaarawi • Sojourner Truth Mary Wollstonecraft Virginia Woolf
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Finalist for the 2015 ForeWord INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award in the Anthologies Category
Bronze Medalist, 2016 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the Anthologies Category
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Literary Nonfiction. Poetry. Latino/Latina Studies. LGBT Studies. Fourth Edition. Rooted in Gloria Anzald a's experience as a Chicana, a lesbian, an activist, and a writer, the essays and poems in this volume profoundly challenged, and continue to challenge, how we think about identity.
From one of our most important scholars and civil rights activist icon, a powerful study of the women’s liberation movement and the tangled knot of oppression facing Black women.
“Angela Davis is herself a woman of undeniable courage. She should be heard.”—The New York Times
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The pioneering anthology Home Girls features writings by Black feminist and lesbian activists on topics both provocative and profound. Since its initial publication in 1983, it has become an essential text on Black women's lives and writings.
Published in 1982, But Some of Us Are Brave was the first-ever Black women's studies reader and a foundational text of contemporary feminism.
Presenting the essential writings of black lesbian poet and feminist writer Audre Lorde, Sister Outsider celebrates an influential voice in twentieth-century literature.
“[Lorde's] works will be important to those truly interested in growing up sensitive, intelligent, and aware.”—The New York Times
Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple, Alice Walker's collection of essays ranging in topics from personal to political. "Thoughtful, intelligent, resonant musings." — Kirkus Reviews
In this, her first collection of nonfiction, Alice Walker speaks out as a black woman, writer, mother, and feminist.
"If you’ve never read it, read it now." —Arianna Huffington, O, The Oprah Magazine
The essential masterwork that has provoked and inspired generations of men and women. “From Eve’s apple to Virginia Woolf’s room of her own, Beauvoir’s treatise remains an essential rallying point, urging self-sufficiency and offering the fruit of knowledge.” —Vogue
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The term 'feminism' came into English usage around the 1890s, but women's conscious struggle to resist discrimination and sexist oppression goes much further back. This completely new and updated edition of "Introducing Feminism" surveys the major developments that have affected women's lives from the 17th century to the present day.
"This slim book--seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez--hums with power and wit."--Boston Globe
"The antidote to mansplaining."--The Stranger
"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions."--Salon
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Newly revised and updated, the #1 must-read book for a new generation of feminists who refuse to accept anything less than equality and justice for all women
Bringing together classic and new writings of the trailblazing feminist theorist Chandra Talpade Mohanty, Feminism without Borders addresses some of the most pressing and complex issues facing contemporary feminism.
The timeless and essential anthology of Black Feminist thought--showing that Black women have always understood the need for feminism to be intersectional
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The highly acclaimed, provocative essay on feminism and sexual politics—from the award-winning author of Americanah
"A call to action, for all people in the world, to undo the gender hierarchy." —Medium
Mia McKenzie, creator of the enormously popular website Black Girl Dangerous, writes about race, queerness, class and gender in a concise, compelling voice filled at different times with humor, grief, rage, and joy.
In this collection of prose writings, one of America's foremost poets and feminist theorists reflects upon themes that have shaped her life and work.
“Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there.” — Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be?
What does sexual orientation mean if the very categories of gender are in question? How do we measure equality when our society's definitions of "male" and "female" leave out much of the population? There is no consensus on what a "real" man or woman is, where one's sex begins and ends, or what purpose the categories of masculine and feminine traits serve.
Reframing feminism for the twenty-first century, this bold and essential history stands up against "bland corporate manifestos" (Sarah Leonard).
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In the year 2000, girl culture was clearly ascendant. From Lilith Fair to Buffy the Vampire Slayer to the WNBA, it seemed that female pride was the order of the day. Yet feminism was also at a crossroads; "girl power" feminists were obsessed with personal empowerment at the expense of politics, while political institutions such as Ms.
In an era of revolutions demanding greater liberties for mankind, Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) was an ardent feminist who spoke eloquently for countless women of her time.
“Morgan has given an entire generation of Black feminists space and language to center their pleasures alongside their politics.” —Janet Mock, New York Times bestselling author of Redefining Realness
“All that and then some, Chickenheads informs and educates, confronts and charms, raises the bar high by getting down low, and, to steal
The bestselling classic that redefined our view of the relationship between beauty and female identity.
In today's world, women have more power, legal recognition, and professional success than ever before.
Written by and for men, the ultimate guide to becoming a strong male ally in the 21st century
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Praise for The Macho Paradox
"An honest, intellectually rigorous and insightful work that challenges readers to truly engage in a political discourse that can change lives, communities and nations."
—Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabes
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Lambda Literary Award for Best Book in Transgender Nonfiction, 2013
One of the most talked-about scholarly works of the past fifty years, Judith Butler's Gender Trouble is as celebrated as it is controversial.
Yell-Oh Girls!: Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American (Paperback)
"In this fine book, Asian American girls speak up and speak out. They speak for themselves, to each other, and to the world. This honest, engaging anthology is important. It allows new voices to be heard and new stories to become part of our great American story." — Mary Pipher, Ph.D, author of Reviving Opehlia
Killing the Black Body remains a rallying cry for education, awareness, and action on extending reproductive justice to all women. It is as crucial as ever, even two decades after its original publication.
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GOLD MEDALIST OF FOREWORD REVIEWS’ 2015 INDIEFAB AWARDS IN WOMEN’S STUDIES
What’s wrong with black women? Not a damned thing!
The Sisters Are Alright exposes anti–black-woman propaganda and shows how real black women are pushing back against distorted cartoon versions of themselves.
“I would venture to guess that Anon, who wrote so many poems without signing them, was often a woman.”
In A Room of One’s Own, Virginia Woolf imagines that Shakespeare had a sister—a sister equal to Shakespeare in talent, and equal in genius, but whose legacy is radically different.
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This landmark anthology offers gripping portraits of American life as seen through the eyes of young women of color
This classic manifesto is “a foundational text for anyone hoping to understand transgender politics and culture in the U.S.
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A landmark collection of writings that define the intellectual and political underpinnings of contemporary feminism, from Simone de Beauvoir to Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
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This essential volume brings together more than forty of the most important historical writings on feminism, covering 150 years of the struggle for women’s freedom.
Today's women are so comfortable in their authority that they often forget to credit the women's liberation movement of the 1960s and '70s for paving the way -- from the kitchen to the boardroom, from sexual harassment to self-defense, from cheerleading on the sidelines to playing center on the team.
An ancient title of respect for women, the word "cunt" long ago veered off this noble path. Inga Muscio traces the road from honor to expletive, giving women the motivation and tools to claim "cunt" as a positive and powerful force in their lives.
"If Black women were free, it would mean that everyone else would have to be free." -Combahee River Collective Statement.
Essays on hip-hop feminism featuring relevant, real conversations about how race and gender politics intersect with pop culture and current events.
Practical tools and theoretical frameworks for understanding the fight for reproductive rights, from pregnancy to parenthood and beyond.Expanding the social justice discourse surrounding "reproductive rights" to include issues of environmental justice, incarceration, poverty, disability, and more, this crucial anthology explores the practical applications for activist thought on this ever-u
Witch, Slut, Feminist: these contested identities are informing millennial women as they counter a tortuous history of misogyny with empowerment. This innovative primer highlights sexual liberation as it traces the lineage of "witch feminism" through art, film, music, fashion, literature, technology, religion, pop culture, and politics.
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“As timely as it is well-written, this clear-eyed collection is just what I need right now.” —Jacqueline Woodson, author of Brown Girl Dreaming