A Vindication of the Right of Women was one of the very first writings about feminist philosophy. At the time Mary Wollstonecraft would have never have heard the term "feminism" before, yet she summarizes really eloquently the underlying theories of equality between the sexes, and how that women should be classed equally to men. It's very classic, which I'm not personally a fan of, but that's just a reflection on the era it was written. There are many instances where the word 'hitherto' was used that threw me but I got used to the style enough to have properly absorbed the message by the end. A good book and one any feminist should know.
We should all be feminists is a much more modern, though equally if not more concise than the rights of woman. It's based of a Ted talk given by the Adichie in which she details her own experiences and writes authoritatively on an issue that should be widely discussed, the cultural and societal norm for men to be more well respected than women. For her driver to thank her male companion for a tip she gave. How a waiter greeted her male companion but not her, and how her lovely, well educated male friend believed that gender prejudice was an issue of the past and not the present. Written passionately and containing an important message for readers, its well worth a read.
Girl up is both a witty feminist book, and an all around growing up guide for teens. It addresses a wide range of issues and uses examples from Bates' feminist website where women share the struggles they've been through. She's all inclusive, and mentions topics outside normal mention when we talk about feminism such as mental health. Bates also has anatomy lessons of the female genitalia that may have missed some people completely by. I didn't know a few things about my anatomy that, thanks to reading this book, now I do. That frankly has me tongue tied. Featuring dancing vaginas, colour by numbers genitalia and a no nonsense attitude to feminism, both me and Emma Watson (who wrote a short intro) would recommend this book.
