The Essential Feminist Reader

by Estelle B. Freedman (Editor)

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, and Virginia Woolf.

The Essential Feminist Reader is the first anthology to present the full scope of feminist history. Prizewinning historian Estelle B. Freedman brings decades of teaching experience and scholarship to her selections, which span more than five centuries. Moving beyond standard texts by English and American thinkers, this collection features primary source material from around the globe, including short works of fiction and drama, political manifestos, and the work of less well-known writers.

Freedman’s cogent Introduction assesses the challenges facing feminism, while her accessible, lively commentary contextualizes each piece. The Essential Feminist Reader is a vital addition to feminist scholarship, and an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the history of women.

Genres: Feminism, Nonfiction, History, Essays, Gender, Philosophy, Womens

496 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2007

About the author

Estelle Freedman is an American historian. Her research has explored the history of women and social reform, including feminism and women's prison reform, as well as the history of sexuality, including the history of sexual violence.

Reviews

[julieta · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I take from this book is the fact that the road has been pretty long for women´s rights. And there is still a longer way to go. Considering the fact that in Latin America there are still many issues that have no resolution whatsoever, legally, like the fact that abortion is still illegal in most countries, and the violence against women is a daily reality, where at least in Mexico, it usually has no consequence. The question of why this is, is something which feminists and any sensitive person asks, and there is still no answer to it. Is it because there is some unwritten law which leaves women vulnerable to these realities? Is it a cultural problem? Even if the answer is yes, the path to making this something of the past is still long.

I also will take from this book the fact that I think we all need to be feminists (men and women) in one way or another. With this I mean that if we are to actively change what is wrong with the way things are today, it is not just feeling solidarity for those who suffer any form of abuse for being women, but the fact that feminism to me, is about looking at things, all events, news, lives, from a gender point of view, and this is something which should not be left only to those affected, that is, women, or marginalized women, we all must change the angle of things as we see them. It is a human problem, the fact that the road has been so long for women to occupy a place in society, in politics, to be recognized as being as important to the development of a society as men. And this is also something which is important in the development of humanity. It is not a matter of including women just because we need it, it is because everyone needs it. A more equal society is definitely a better one, and this is a natural evolutionary matter.
Patriarchy is negative for everyone. It places us in a vulnerable place, since it is about power. And this is something that if it is to change, it needs to be done by everyone.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice read...I like how it doesn't solely concentrate on Western feminism, or on just the Second/Third wave. There is much to learn here about African/Chinese/Japanese/Swedish/French/German/Indian/South American feminist movements and revolts. Of course the classics are contained, such as de Beauvoir, Mary Wollstonecraft, Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Audre Lorde, Betty Friedan, etc. I'd have liked to have seen Valerie Solanas' oft-overlooked S.C.U.M. Manifesto included, but one can't win them all.

I'd never read The Feminine Mystique because I'd really never thought there was much in it for me, not being a late '50s/early '60s housewife, and being a loud-mouthed Third Waver, but the excerpt contained herein was fascinating, and I intend to read the entire book when I can find a copy.

[Izabella 🪐]

I read this whole book for my women’s and gender studies course so you bet I’m adding it to my reading goal 👏👏

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an informative introduction to feminism, but it was difficult to glean much depth from the excerpts provided, as they were shortened and cut down to about 3-6 pages each. Additionally, many of the excerpts were repetitive since the anthology featured a broad number of writers/theorists, all promoting the same message of gender equality. Still, as the passages were placed chronologically by publication date, it was interesting to see how the priorities of the women's rights movement changed gradually (for example, from advocating for inheritance rights, to demanding female representation in the government); but also, it was interesting to identify the similarities in the history of feminism when compared to today's feminists, and how the same underlying demand for equal rights has been at the forefront of this movement for centuries and is still relevant today.

I think it would be more enriching to read the full texts of each excerpt provided in this anthology, particularly the ones published closer to our time; or else the anthology might have benefited from containing fewer, more thorough exerpts. But overall it was a solid handbook with a diverse array of literary works, and it was great for acquiring background knowledge.

Favourite writers: Sarah M. Grimké, Qasim Amin, Margaret Sanger, Betty Friedan, Susan Brownmiller, Jonah Gokova

[Yasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of historical feminist essays, articles, speeches, etc. And not solely focused on Western feminists and white feminism.

[Shua · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enlightening collection. Worth a read if you're interested in the evolution of feminist ideals and ideas over the years; strongly recommend!

[Araminta Matthews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several old favorites. I was particularly excited to revisit Engels and Cixous. I was also excited to experience my first encounter with "flowers in the mirror" by Li Ju-Chen, which is a satirical story written in China in 1800 that Imagens a gender role reversal and demonstrates the absurdity of foot binding by having it occur to a man in order to please the emperor, who is a woman. Without a doubt, though, the best piece of writing in this entire text with what I have not encountered before, but I found to be the single most pragmatic feminist account I have ever read. That would be "The Politics of Housework" by Pat Mainardi. Written in 1970 at the height of the second wave of feminism, this essay discusses the practicality of internalizing the women's liberation movement by strategies for addressing the disparity in housework between genders in heteronormative relationships. Absolutely brilliant. I dogeared of the page so I can revisit it again and again.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good anthology of feminist writings across a broad spectrum of time, location, and experience. It includes the proto-feminist writings of medieval and renaissance monks, nuns, and laypersons, many well-known 1st, 2nd, and 3rd wave writings, as well as some lesser-known material from a variety of locations and perspectives. While the selection of writings leaned towards liberal-feminism, I appreciated the inclusion of radical and black feminist tracts and manifestos, as well as a good amount of non-western writings. Each selection also comes with a helpful blurb about the author and a little historical/cultural/political context. Not a very interesting read if you go at it cover-to-cover like I did, but there is a huge amount of required material there for anyone who cares about these issues.

[Chaunceton Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generally, good stuff. Would have liked more articles from the last twenty years, but this is an excellent collection of historical feminist writing.

[May · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Essential Feminist Reader is a collection of feminist essays edited and compiled by Estelle B. Freedman, a U.S. historian specializing in women's history at Stanford University.

The essays in the book span time and geography. We begin with an essay published in France in 1405 by Christine de Pizan, who lamented, "in my folly I considered myself most unfortunate because God has made me inhabit a female body;" we conclude with a statement issued in 2004 by a women's group from Afghanistan, celebrating International Women's Day and looking towards "the road to democracy and prosperity." How far we have come! Containing essays written by Alva Myrdal, a member of the Swedish Government in the 1940s, as well as Ding Ling, the director of the Chinese Literature and Arts Association in Yan'an during Mao's time, The Essential Feminist Reader powerfully attests to the extended and universal fight for women's rights.

Kishida Toshiko uses a sublime extended metaphor in her essay to describe how women are confined inside a "box." Like Toshiko, Simon de Beauvoir argues that the "physiological, psychological, or economic forces" of women decide their destiny and deny them "full membership in the human race." On the subject of women's victimization, Susan Brownmiller presents one of the strongest arguments in the whole book by saying that "to talk about rape, even with nervous laughter, is to acknowledge a woman's special victim status."On a similar plane, The Committee on the Status of Women in India argues that "prostitution is the worst form of women's exploitation and inequality" because it forces a woman to be "viewed solely as a sex object and as an outlet for man's baser instincts." These are just some examples of the problems facing women that are illustrated in the book.

It is fascinating to see how the arguments for feminism have evolved over time. Mary Astell, like many early feminists writers, framed her argument in religious terms in order to appeal to a secular audience. Many also stress the advantages that gender equality bring to men: Flora Tristan argues that a female workforce would double productivity levels in industries, and that better-educated women would raise better-educated sons. Despite the pragmatic truth in such arguments, however, the best essays are those that vouch for feminism with less of an accent on how feminism is important because it benefits men. For example, François Poullaine de la Barre points out the absurdity of laying so much emphasis "on the constitution of the body to justify the difference between the sexes." One of the most memorable lines in the whole anthology is her argument that "the mind has no sex."

The writers in the anthology also present solutions for the problem of gender inequality. Many essays emphasize the importance of education and being well-informed; in particular, the Boston Women's Health Book Collective puts forward the argument that learning about women's health can help women understand their own image "on a firmer base," becoming "better friends and better lovers, better people, more self-confident, more autonomous, stronger, and more whole." Margaret Sanger argues for birth control as a way of giving women more agency over their bodies. Susan B. Anthony also claims that it is important for marriage to "be a luxury, not a necessity"and that only working women can see it as so because "whoever controls work and wages, controls morals." John Stuart Mill shares the same philosophy, saying that the "power of earning is essential to the dignity of the woman." Most memorably of all, Virginia Woolf presents an elegant solution in Three Guineas, arguing that financial support in preventing war, promoting women's education and providing for professional women would help women have a more significant presence in the public sphere.

The road to gender equality, however, is no easy path. Qasim Amin, writing from Egypt, considers the status of women "inseparably tied to the status of a nation. She rejects the traditional veil and instead advocates for "a type of upbringing that will itself become an impenetrable veil and fortress protecting a woman from all forms of corruption at each stage of her liberation.” Mary Wollesetencraft blames upper-class women who are "so intoxicated by the admiration" they receive that they neglect to assert their own rights as individuals. (In other words, she is saying, "wake up," to these women.)

The problems of "intersectional feminism" is also tackled in some essays. In "Two Speeches," Sojourner Truth points out the problem of racial discrimination overlaps with gender inequality, stressing that black women do not share the same rights as white women despite their common dream for feminism. Palesa Beverly Ditsie from South Africa urges the members of the Fourth World Conference on Women to "remove the brackets from sexual orientation," saying that some women are victims of not only gender, but also sexual, discrimination. Only through transcending such obstacles can, as Anna Julia Cooper says, "the cause for freedom" become "not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class," but "the cause of human kind." And of course, as Pat Mainardi humorously pointed out in The Politics of Housework, the gender stereotypes of men are bulwarks to the advancement of gender equality.

Right before we get to the contents page, we see that the book is dedicated "to John."
Indeed, The Essential Feminist Reader is not only a must-read for women, but also for men. As Jonah Gokova from Zimbabwe reminds us, "the term 'gender' is not synonymous for 'women.'" Rather, the Federation of South African Women defines it as the search for "permanent peace throughout the world." The anthology is a testament to how the power of the written word is harnessed in fighting for equal rights and, as Betty Friedan wrote, in helping women become "complete."

To quote Sarah M. Grimké: "Thine in the bonds of womanhood,"

May

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has been such a gem of a read and such a gem of a thrifting find. Going in, I really had it my head that this was going to be tedious and bogged down. I think I automatically assumed academia (my bad) and just never went any further into looking at it. I was wrong. This is such a great collection, and I found pretty much the entirety of it engaging and well-paced. There are 64 international pieces ranging from the year 1405 to 2004. It's wicked cool. I say "pieces" because this anthology has a variety of entries, many of which have been shortened from their original form. There are essays, speeches, art pieces, demands, excerpts from novels and plays, etc. I read a few pieces I had read before, but for the most part, these works and their authors were new to me. I loved it.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I dunno how this could get fewer than five stars given the quality of the documents it contains. The stuff from the second half of the 20th century is particularly impressive, but all of it very effectively conveys the status and/or ideals of women in the relevant time period (depressingly, many of the goals overlap, no matter the century from which the documents emerge).

[aanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just brilliant!!! My favourites would definitely be the excerpts of De Beauvoir's 'The Second Sex' and and Cioux's 'Laugh of Medusa.' There were many powerful and influential writings all in one book that really should be essential to read ⭐️

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I completely agree with the title of this book-- the writings included in it are, indeed, "essential". That said, I'd read many of them beforehand, and so I can't give it more than a three and a half star rating because I didn't REALLY enjoy it reading some of these essays a second time. On the other hand, this book would be absolutely perfect as a primer/ introduction to feminist thought for a college course, and therefore, the book definitely serves its purpose as an excellent reference material with tons of great writers and thinkers combined into one tome.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection did a satisfying job incorporating works from a variety of contexts and writers (i.e,. authors weren't all white American/Western European upper-class women). I was particularly pleased when essays would refer to works I had read earlier in the collection.

Although, many speeches began to sound repetitive. I would have enjoyed more works of satire, fiction, and poetry to mix it up.

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This serves as a good introduction to feminism in that it covers a wide variety of topics and forms of feminism. I was surprised that it featured documents dating back to the 15th century. Also, it provides documents from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, so there are other perspectives that from a western point of view.

[JaNel · Rating 5 out of 5]

p. 200-204 WILPF women's Internation League of Peace and Freedom warned that the Treaty of Versailles would lead to more wars...among other things.

p. 205 Dubois ...woman must have lifework and economic indepence...and the right of motherhood [right to choose] at her own discretion=education, career, sexual freedom and birth control

p. 215 Margaret Sanger "Any means of freedom which will enable women to think and live for themselves first will be attacked as immoral by...the church and society.

p. 216 *** first three paragraphs

p. 254 Simone de Beauvoir "The Second Sex" 1949, a man says, "you think this because you're a woman." The woman can't claim the reverse (that YOU think that because you're a man) and have that be of equal argument because it has been assumed that the man's POV is the standard. woman has to DENY or ignore her SELF and claim only that she thinks this because it's independently true. She SHOULD be able to say, "Yes, I think this because I'm a woman...and it's different than yours and of equal value to your POV."
p. 258 WHY does woman not revolt? Why has she been so submissive thoughout history? and accepted her status? Because she is dispersed among her oppressors--unlike other types of oppressed people (slaves, Jews, etc,) who have unity. "The bond that unites her to her oppressor is not comparable to any other."
"How is it that this world has always belonged to man and that things have only begun to change recently?"
p. 258 Other people have taken turns defining the term "feminine" or "woman" and then they use their definition as a cage. I rebelled against this in my teens. When I saw what people meant by "woman, female, girl." I didn't want to be that. And many people told me that I wasn't a "typical" girl--that I was more male in many ways, positive ways--like I could reason and I liked education and I knew what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to be or do--as if these qualities were only male and their weaker opposites were feminie. In that case, who WOULD want to be femine? It took me many years to shake off THEIR definition and realize that I WAS a woman, ANY way I decided to think or be. Who were they to define ME? Women do not need to imitate men in order to be strong, smart, confident, or anything other positive characteristic. These qualities are not the territory of masculinity. Nor are their opposite uniquely feminine. ALL of these qualities are HUMAN--and any human being can have them. Society, churches, whoever, whatever should stop trying to define people. They should be able to define themselves in whatever way they wish with all the human qualities that there are.

p. 276-277 Betty Friedan the "problem" after women seemed to have achieved the PEAK of motherhood [i.e. the 50s housewife who was actually living the conservative definition of woman--simply nurturing and staying home] feminism is that "she has no identity EXCEPT as a wife and mother." This expectation denies the CORE identity that every person IS--before, during, and after parenthood. No one is ONLY a parent. If they are, they are unfulfilled in other aspects of themself. This is just basic psychology.

p. 281 "men will not need another's weakness to prove their own masculinity."

p. 286 "Men find themselves unable to live up to the definitions of masculinity which they have defined for themselves."

Pauline Murray "...and women are no longer willing to accept the definition of feminity defined for them...they are seeking their own image of themselves nurtured from within rather then imposed from without."

p. 288-294 Pat Mainardi "Politics of Housework" **** excellent points

p. 306 "childbearing should not be treated as purely a matter concerning women..." Bearing and raising children is in the benefit of all society and all of society should support it with social programs that encourage maternity leave, paternity leave, funding for stay-at-home parents, flexible work and other family friendly work strategies.
--"women's work" should get the respect it deserves and then mean might not be so hesitant to do it--except that no one wants to do it.
--women are just used to doing it
--children need to be socialized to all of these changes=education

p. 301 "prostitution represents the exploitation of th epoor by the rich" To test this, offer prostitutes a choice and see if they would not choose other work of equal or better pay.

p. 326 ****"We reject pedestal, queenhood, and walking ten paces behind. To be recognized as human, levelly human; that is enough." The Church tries to do this--put womanhood on a pedestal in order to justify not giving her equal power.

p. 332 'racism, sexism, and homophobia are inseperable" all are just different ways to discriminate.

p. 333 look at it as "non-dominant" differences=no one's difference is weighed any heavier than anyone else's. There IS no one right way to be.

p. 365 "woman" is not a natural/automatic state--it is constructed by society, by roles, expectations, socializing. The goal should not be to DEFEND "woman" and reenforce society's definition, but to get rid of the need for a definition. Let people be people first--and last--that's all--just a person. But to bring about changge in the way they're all being treated (which they have in common), they must see themselves as a class or group. This is why any discrimination against one group (women) is related to discrimination of another (gays). All discrimination must be challenged eventually--freedom for one oppressed people, should be freedom for all "types."

p. 413 "the myth that men are the economic bread-winners and women mainly mothers and care-givers...has NEVER been the norm, except in a narrow (and recent) class segment.
-women who work 10-12 hours a day in subsistence agricultural societies...may be registered as "housewives" in a nat'l census."
--this makes the idea that GOD prefers this (and has always preferred this) even more ridiculous
--this stance merely overlooks women's contributions to the economy.

Regarding men's fear that women will "take" their jobs. What makes men think that the jobs (or the world) is theirs to take? Why is everything theirs first? Why is that the default and everyone else has to wrest their own rights as a human away from them, one meagre scrap at a time?

p. 422 "patriarchy forces men, whether they are aware of it or not, to be collaborators in a system that oppresses women."

[Luz C. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fact that this anthology contains selections of feminists around that world –like the Mexican Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (seventeen century) or the Brazilian Francisca Diniz (nineteen century), or the Committee on the Status of Women in India (twentieth century), and not just your predominant standard English and U.S. feminist thinkers –becomes then an invaluable resource for everyone interested in the history of women.

When a group of outstanding Canadian women –among them Margaret Atwood, former prime minister Kim Campbell, Senator Nancy Ruth, retired senator, author and fashion designer Vivienne Poy and Sally Goddard, mother of Nichola Goddard, the first female Canadian soldier killed in combat, launch a campaign (September 2013) for gender-neutral language in English lyrics of O Canada from “in all thy sons command” to “in all of us command”, since as Atwood says “it suggests only male loyalty is being invoked” –makes me appreciate the history, the struggle, the long road all these other women and men have started, and how much more needs to be done.

The French, Sylviane Agacinski’s “Parity of the Sexes” was a delightful surprise, an eye-opener. In 2001, under socialist prime minister Lionel Jospin (Agacinski’s husband), France instituted parité by reducing state funding for political parties if they failed to field equal numbers of female and male candidates. As a result, at the next election women’s share of seats on city councils doubled, to almost half. Canadian women still represent a minority of candidates in federal elections, if only Harper’s wife convinced him of instituting parité... dream on.

[Muhammad Murad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have superficially read its different chapters.
In the introduction, Freedman gives a comprehensive definition of feminism that it is the belief that women have same human capacities as men. It is the collection/selection of 64 different essays, poems, fictions, dramas, speeches and other forms of political and ideological ideas related to feminism. Freedman selected ideas from different parts of the world in the chronological order starting with Christine De Pizan's, "The Book of the cities of ladies" from 1405 in France to Revolutionary Association of the women of Afghanistan, "Statement on the Occasion of International Women's Day" 2004 in Afghanistan. The selection covers ideas of all facets of feminism covered during all three waves of feminism. It covers works of Harriet Taylor Mill and John Stuart Mill (Liberal Feminism), Friedrich Engels and Alexander Kollontai (Marxist Feminism), Emmeline Pankhurst (Radical Feminism), W.E.B. Du Bois (Black Feminism) and many more. It is a must-read for those who have interest in the subject.

[Manda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exactly what it says on the cover, this covers some of the most revolutionary literature in the women's movement from Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman to Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique, with lots more besides. I appreciated that this was a mainstream feminism book that did not ignore the intersectionality of racism and sexism and that plenty of texts pertaining to that were included.

[Bored · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of anthologies like this, but my main objection to these is the ways in which they edit lengthy texts. What can I say, except that I like to read a work entirely. With that caveat, I think The Essential Feminist Reader is an excellent collection of works, and it goes a long way to not only introduce the reader to the essential works of feminist literature. When you sit down to read this collection, you realize just how interconnected race, class, and sexuality are to feminist theory. This idea is prevalent throughout feminist theory, but seeing this repeated through so many texts as I worked through the collection allowed me to see the evolution of these ideas more than previously. I may not be a fan of anthologies, but I am glad I chose this as the required reading for my Feminist Theory course.

[Ashley Peacock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great selection of texts, not just focused on modern 20th century feminism, but spanning hundreds of years. It's actually quite jarring to see that, despite the many advances of feminism, women still face many of the same issues that not only our mothers and grandmothers faced but also our great-grandmothers and great-great-grandmothers. There's also a great emphasis on intersectionality and the importance of black and non-western feminism, which I think is crucial to third wave feminism and the progress of feminism in general. I picked this up for some light reading to familiarize myself with more feminist texts, so it took me a while to get through. I can definitely see this as an essential anthology for any women's studies or feminist studies course.

[J.C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful compilation of various feminist essays, speeches, sometimes art. I haven't read a whole lot of feminist theory or ideology before this, so I felt like the book has greatly expanded my understanding of the subject.

My only problem with it is that the passages are very short, three-four pages max on most of them. Which works if you want a quick glance over the history of feminism, but if you're expecting something more in depth, it'll be necessary to follow this up with other books. Not a bad thing, of course.

[Ian Cattanach · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. It had some old (1800) essays, and such. Overall it gave me a a Continental philosophy, and whole timeline of the feminist movement. It is important as man I think to be humbled by some of the struggles of this other gender that is half of the world. We talk about racial oppression but a race is usually under 50% of the population. But when 50% of the world is basically oppressed it raises some questions. This book will deliver some answers about what we can do, and how you can change. :)

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for anyone who wants an outline of the basics of feminist history (and a bit of theory). Highly recommend to anyone trying to get a sense of which feminist writers from pre-2004 are most interesting to them personally, just as a jumping-off point. These snippets definitely don't go in-depth (and they aren't supposed to), so this really isn't THE FEMINIST BOOK that some people might assume it to be. That being said, I found the introductions incredibly useful and interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a pretty splendid collection of many classic feminist texts, along with some minor treasures, particularly the Middle Eastern excerpts. I only wish Freedman had stuck to non-fiction pieces, as the utopian novel excerpts were unentertaining, mind-numbing, overly obvious pieces of literary crap.

[Sofia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful collection of Feminist writings with speeches, short stories, excerpts from novels and government documents. Spanning from 1405 and ending in 2004. There is something in there for everyone. The best part of this book was being introduced to some of the very first writing in the feminist genre and hearing voices that spoke out on by behalf centuries before I was born.

[Jjazzrockes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haven't read all of the essays, just the ten or so I needed for school but it, first of all, is very broad - not just western feminism, and spans a large period of time, and spans a large swath of ideas. It stops, if you're wondering, around 2004, so while it won't do you much good for the essential modern writings (which is really more news) it is excellent background material.

[elle i · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting cross-section of feminist lit. Though I appreciated the breadth and variety of the material, I found it very difficult to read to cover to cover as the salient topics are repeated from culture to culture. I will pick this up again in the future as a reference.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent collection of historic feminist texts from around the world, not just Western Europe and North America. It showcases a range of perspectives from a variety of cultures and creeds. All told, it’s a great anti-dote to the one-dimensional stereotypes.