Transformative Perspectives: The Best Books on Feminism

Feminism is a social and political movement based on a political theory and physiological perspective that advocates for equal rights for women and men. According to UN Women, feminism was created to fight for gender equality and the recognition of women as natural persons and subjects capable of self-management.

Similarly, it affirms that no human being should be deprived of their legal status because of their sex. Furthermore, The movement seeks for women to have the same freedoms as men, as well as eradicating gender-based violence. To better understand this concept, here's a list of the best books on feminism ever written.

But first: a little context

Origins

Feminism emerged during the 18th century thanks to the publication of works such as Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizens (1791), by Olympe de Gouges, and Vindication of women's rights (1792), by Mary Wollstonecraft. Since then, What began as a single theory has diversified, with significant philosophical and political development.

The feminist movement focuses its analysis on how patriarchy has structured unequal power relations between men and women throughout history. Likewise, a fierce criticism is made of the androcentric vision of society, which seeks to change in pursuit of more just and equal relationships. Thanks to the movement, women have achieved goals such as studying, voting, and holding public office.

Achievements of feminism

For the purposes of this short article, we will focus on the larger and more specific achievements of the movement, such as obtaining the right to private property, such as signing contracts, economic rights such as receiving equal pay for work performed, and reproductive rights. Special mention should also be made of the right to protect other women from harassment, sexual abuse, and domestic violence.

On the other hand, feminism has played a fundamental role in denouncing and changing gender roles. As the movement has advanced in academia, various disciplines have emerged, such as the history of feminism and gender studies. Similarly, Organized groups have been established through which successions of "stages" or "waves" have developed.

Feminisms

As we explained in the previous sections, feminism has changed, evolved, and diversified over the years. Traditionally, since the 19th century, we have spoken of first-wave liberal feminism, which sought legal and political equality through reforms within the framework of democracy, which, in turn, was opposed to the ideals of proletarian feminism based on class struggle.

Since the 1960s, these two great traditions have also been contrasted with radical feminism, which emerged during the middle of the second wave, which calls for a total ordering of society in order to overcome male supremacy. Sometimes, These currents are called the "three great" schools of feminist thought.

These are the best books on feminism

Le Deuxième Sexe — The second sex (1949), by Simone de Beauvoir.

This book, considered a classic in feminist theory, is one of the most interesting and essential volumes for understanding the fundamental foundations of the movement. From the 60s onwards, Everything that has been written about feminism has probably gone through it first., either to complement it or to criticize it and oppose its contributions.

As described in the Penguin edition, Beauvoir examines the limits of female freedom, how society perceives women, and questions the deeply held beliefs most people hold about femininity. The author also argues that Liberation can only come from challenging traditional perceptions of the social relationship between the sexes.

quote by Simone de Beauvoir

• "The day a woman can love not with her weakness but with her strength, not escape from herself but find herself, not humiliate herself but assert herself, that day love will be for her, as for man, a source of life and not a mortal danger."
• "No biological, physical, or economic destiny defines the figure that the human female takes on within society; civilization as a whole is what creates that intermediate product between the male and the castrated, which is classified as feminine."

A Room of One's Own (1929), by Virginia Woolf

This essay is included in the list of The 100 books of the century according to Le Monde, and no wonder. Presented today as another classic of feminist literature, the book continues to be recommended for its ode to economic vindication and a space of freedom for women. In the work, Wolf states that "S"Cryptos of prejudice and financial and educational disadvantages have inhibited women's creativity."

This might be very outdated today, but it is necessary to remember that the last to obtain rights will be the first to lose them, and this can be translated into the tragedy that hundreds of women are experiencing in Afghanistan today after the arrival of the Taliban, to give just one example.

Quotes by Virginia Woolf

• "Love is an illusion, a story that one builds in his mind, aware all the time that it is not true, and that is why he is careful not to destroy the illusion."
• "Women have lived all these centuries as wives, with the magical and delightful power of reflecting the figure of man twice its natural size."
• “You cannot bring children into a world like this; One cannot consider perpetuating suffering, nor increasing the breed of these lustful animals that do not have lasting emotions, but only whims and banalities that now take you to one side and tomorrow to another ».

Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (1990), by Judith Butler

In this book, the famous American philosopher creates a critical polemic about gender. According to her, Gender identities are a construct often misinterpreted as an invariable reality, and which find their origin in nature, in the body or in a normative and obligatory heterosexuality.

Navigating between psychoanalysis, philosophy, anthropology and literary theory, Butler designs a sharp debate about gender, sexual diversity and transvestism.

Quotes by Judith Butler

• "Intellectual work is a way to connect with people, to be part of an ongoing conversation. Intellectuals don't set the path, nor are they indispensable. I believe theoretical reflection is part of all good politics."
• "I don't think literature can teach us how to live, but people who have questions about how to live tend to turn to literature."

Men Explain Things to Me — Men explain things to me (2016), by Rebecca Solnit

This is a revealing book that is responsible for explaining in depth the concept of mansplaining, which emerged to name a social phenomenon in which a man, regardless of what he knows, always believes he knows more than a woman. In the volume, The writer recounts her personal experiences, emphasizing how men seem to take authority that have not been earned.

Meanwhile, women are taught to accept this reality without question. The book follows the author herself and other people during a dinner partyIn the middle, a man approaches her and proceeds to tell her about an amazing book he had read, completely ignoring the fact that Solnit had mentioned that she was the author.

Quotes by Rebecca Solnit

• "There is no greater power than the power of an open and curious mind."
• "True greatness lies in the ability to get up again and again after every fall."

We should all be feminists — We should all be feminists (2015), by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Although the feminist movement was created by and for women, many activists have argued that depriving men of the opportunity to speak and interact is sheer folly, because to create a more equal space for all, everyone must be included. In her essay, the author advocates for this very idea, as The men and women of the 21st century have a diverse background, and the struggle cannot be radicalized.

In his own words: "Today I would like to ask that we begin to dream of a plan for a different world. A more just world. A world of happier men and women who are more honest with themselvesAnd this is the way to start: we have to raise our daughters differently. And our sons, too.

Quotes by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

• "The beauty of diversity is that each of us is unique in our way of seeing the world."
• "Gender equality is not just a women's issue, it's everyone's issue."
• "A single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is that they're not true; they make us incomplete."