We’ve just seen International Women’s Day 2018 and celebrated 100 years of women’s right to vote in Britain. It only seems fitting to reflect and celebrate the progress of women’s rights and continue the quest for equality.
1. A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft
It’s a classic missed on our contemporary bookshelves. This book lays the very foundations for women’s rights and self-determination. Wollstonecraft told women they had the same reason as men and deserved equal recognition.
Old’s cool right?
(Image: google.com)
2. The Power, Naomi Alderman
And now we race to 2017! Alderman explores concepts of gender, hierarchy and power in a world where women have the strength and power that surpasses their male counterparts. Great, right?
But this new world is far from utopian. As uprisings emerge, the initial delight in female empowerment diminishes and a dark side to this new world order comes to the fore.
3. We Should All Be Feminists, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Drawing on her own experiences as a woman, Adichie explores feminism and its issues in the 21st Century. Adapted from her TEDx talk, she offers a unique definition of contemporary women’s rights which focuses on inclusion and awareness.
A great introduction to modern-day feminism. Well hello there!
(Image: pinterest.com)
4. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo
This amazing book tells the stories of 100 heroic women from Elizabeth I to Serena Williams.
Having researched the lack of female role models in children’s literature, the authors decided to write a book that told a different story, de-bunking the gender stereotypes in children’s books.
NOTE: this book is not restricted to children! It’s one of my favourites with illustrations from sixty female artists around the world!
(Image: pinterest.com)
5. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela Carter
Woah! Carter literally revolutionizes the fairy tales we love and know.
With a twist in the patriarchal fairy tales we have grown up with (where the princess is saved by the prince and blah blah blah), Carter offers a Gothic, feminist twist to tales like Snow White, Beauty and the Beast and the Red Riding Hood, to name but a few.(Image: pinterest.com)