Scholar, activist, provocateur, teacher, community-builder, inspiration: No one word can span the career of bell hooks or capture how much we love her work. According to Ms. readers’ selections of the best feminist non-fiction of all time, she’s your favorite writer, with three books in our top ten–including number one–and a total of seven books […]
Tag: Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 20-11
Nearing the top 10, we’ve got some heavy hitters. Famous feminists Simone De Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Naomi Wolf, Eve Ensler and Jessica Valenti appear along with revolutionary self-help manual, Our Bodies, Ourselves, and popular books by Julia Serano, Marjane Satrapi and Yoani Sanchez. Now is the time to submit your guesses in the comments […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 30-21
Many of books 21 to 30 were famous for challenging the status quo–whether that be male supremacy in general or privilege within the feminist movement. In this section you’ll find the defining works of Chicana, women-of-color and third-wave feminism (as well as one landmark anthology at the intersection of all three). Last, two 21st-century historians […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 40-31
As we get closer to the top, here are career-defining works from the likes of Angela Y. Davis, Kate Bornstein, Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof, Patricia Hill Collins, Susie Orbach and Mary Pipher. If you’ve heard of these folks, it’s probably because of the books below. If you haven’t, you have some great reading ahead! […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 50-41
Within books 50 to 41, you’ll find several controversial takes on motherhood and many a memoir, including a reflection on the personal impact of breast cancer, a graphic autobiography from a dyke to watch out for and some gutsy revelations from a Nation columnist. You’ll also see a satire of how the patriarchy tries to dampen […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 60-51
The next 10 books picked by Ms. readers take us on a journey through history, from 20,000-year-old goddess worship to the 3,500-year-old origins of patriarchy to 400 years of U.S. women’s history all the way up to the 2008 presidential bid of Hillary Clinton. Next, bell hooks and Gloria Steinem get personal by looking at […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 70-61
Books 70 to 61 take a darker turn, looking at some of the harsh realities of sexism, homophobia and racism. Here, writers take on rape, colonialism, wage disparities, racist reproductive injustice, and the hidden pre-Roe stories of women who gave up their children for adoption. But to start, two works by heavyweight feminist theorists that […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 80-71
Two paeans to superheroines add whimsy to choices 80 to 71, which also include a classic ’70s anthology from a notable Ms. editor and our list’s first crack at dissecting the anti-choice movement. We also have a look at Native America traditions, an incisive takedown of reality TV and interviews with a famous sex writer. […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 90-81
In this next batch of books, feminists consider the everyday: how we eat, shop, marry, parent and worship. Is there something sinister lurking behind a young girl’s love of the color pink? Is matrimony in the 21st century all it’s cracked up to be? Our chosen writers have a lot to reconsider, reframe and dismantle. […]
Top 100 Feminist Non-Fiction Countdown: 100-91
Thanks to all the Ms. readers who submitted their choices for the top 100 best feminist non-fiction books! We were thrilled with your enthusiasm, and we’re even more interested in what you think of the final outcome. Today, we begin to roll out the finalists, beginning with 100 through 91. You’ll soon see that it’s […]