Picture this: me, last Tuesday, sitting in my favorite corner of Bean & Breeze Café, sipping a lavender oat latte, when I accidentally snorted loudly at this line: “We teach girls to shrink themselves to make space for male egos, but we never teach boys to bake cookies for feminist meetings.” The barista shot me a look. A grandma at the next table clutched her croissant defensively. Worth it.
That book? Hood Feminism by Mikki Kendall – and honey, it’s the literary equivalent of that friend who texts you at 2AM going “BUT HAVE YOU CONSIDERED…” until you see the matrix. Which brings me to today’s agenda: feminist reads that don’t just gather dust but actually light fires in your prefrontal cortex.
1. When “Self-Care” Met Capitalism (And It Got Messy)
Let’s start with the elephant in the burnout room: Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed edited by Meghan Daum. Not technically a “feminist manifesto,” but hear me out. This collection of essays about choosing child-free lives had me re-examining why I’ve been low-key curating a Pinterest “future nursery” board since 2017. Spoiler: Turns out my biological clock sounds suspiciously like my mother’s voice.
Personal plot twist: After reading Laura’s essay about grieving the imaginary children she’d never have, I did something radical – I asked my therapist, “What if my ‘feminist choices’ are just performative rebellion?” Cue the longest 45 seconds of silence in recorded history.
2. The Myth of the Catfight (And Why We’re All Being Gaslit)
Enter Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer. This deep dive into female friendships isn’t about brunch dates and matching BFF necklaces. It’s about how society pathologizes our relationships (“Are women just naturally competitive??”) while ignoring systemic barriers.
Case in point: Last month, my colleague Jess and I discovered we’d both been underpaid compared to Dave (who literally brings a fidget spinner to client meetings). Instead of resenting each other, we compared salary negotiation scripts over tequila shots. Take that, patriarchal divide-and-conquer playbook.
3. Body Positivity’s Dirty Little Secret
Now brace yourself for The Body Is Not an Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor. This isn’t your aunt’s “love yourself” platitudes. Taylor goes full Sherlock on how body shame props up capitalism (“Buy this cream to erase your cellulite!”) and white supremacy (“Eurocentric beauty standards aren’t accidental”).
Personal glow-up: After reading this, I wore bike shorts to yoga class. Not the Insta-worthy kind – the ones that give me “sausage casing” vibes. A 20-something gave me a subtle thumbs up. Either solidarity or pity. I choose to believe it was feminist solidarity.
4. When Anger Becomes Your Superpower (No Cape Required)
Finally, Rage Becomes Her by Soraya Chemaly. This book reframes female anger not as “hysteria” but as “the universe’s most accurate bullshit detector.” Chemaly cites studies showing women’s anger is perceived as 20% less justified than men’s – even when describing identical situations.
Field test: When a dude interrupted me mid-presentation last week, I didn’t smile politely. I said, “I’ll circle back to that after finishing my thought.” His shocked Pikachu face? Priceless.
The Uncomfortable Truth No One Talks About
Here’s the tea: feminist reading isn’t about collecting “woke points.” It’s about constantly catching yourself in societal mirrors. Like when you realize your “girlboss” hustle culture is just patriarchy with a pinkwashed logo. Or when you catch yourself judging another woman’s life choices… and have to unpack why.
So next time you’re tempted to buy another “Nevertheless, She Persisted” tote bag (guilty!), maybe grab one of these instead. Warning: Side effects may include awkward coffee shop epiphanies, the sudden urge to dismantle systems, and significantly improved side-eye game.
