What makes a book ‘feminist’? Well, if Dua’s Monthly Read for March – Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay – is anything to go by, there’s no one specific answer, much like no two experiences of being a woman and a girl are the same. But what that does mean is there’s a whole spectrum of feminist literature out there to explore – and if anyone is equipped to share recommendations, it’s Roxane.
As she explains in her interview with Dua (which you can watch here), Bad Feminist “started as a series of essays on pop culture, gender, politics, race – all from a Black feminist lens. It was my way of articulating my understanding of the world”. And after reading her hilarious, emotional and thought-provoking works, you’ll be eager to dive into more perspectives from more women.
Here, Roxane shares five new feminist books to add to your lists, ranging from fictional stories to non-fictional accounts of the nuances of being a woman today. Prepare for your TBR pile to get that bit taller...
Easy Beauty by Chloe Cooper Jones
The writing is, of course, exceptional. But so is the way that [Pulitzer Prize finalist] Chloe Cooper Jones articulates her embodied experience as she travels around the world trying to find, within herself, the person she is meant to be. I loved reading about her adventures, her work, her marriage and motherhood, her bond with her mother, her memories of her father. There were a lot of eye-opening and infuriating revelations that really expanded my understanding of how people engage, quite terribly, with disability. This memoir does what all great writing should do – entertain and illuminate.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin
This bracing novel drops you right in the middle of action. The world has been overturned by a plague that turns men into monsters. Only women and Trans men have survived and the stakes for Trans women are precarious as they hunt for sources of oestrogen to keep themselves alive in every sense of the word. Manhunt revels in contradictions and complexity. The novel is uncomfortable, but not because of the gore or violence. It's uncomfortable because when you look at how this world we live in treats Trans people, what happens in Manhunt seems entirely plausible – and maybe we should all sit with that for a minute or 10. It's a reminder that survival is a brutal thing, that desperation reveals who we really are and that, even at the end of the world, everyone just wants to be seen and understood and acknowledged as they really are.
Ordinary Notes by Christina Sharpe
This book is anything but ordinary. It offers a collection of notes or small essays that are brilliant, provocative and really encourage deep thinking about the past and present, race and gender, social justice and much more.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
I love a polyphonic, woman-centred novel and, from the first word to the last, I admired the scope and ambition of this one. While it shares the stories of 12 different women, it also speaks to the complexity of the Black British experience and is written with a truly unique structure and syntax. Bernardine offers a masterclass in novel writing with this one.
Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom
This engaging essay collection is thick in every sense of the word – thick with wit and depth and intelligence as the author tackles Black womanhood, contextualising whiteness, beauty in a capitalist society, class mobility and much more. The range of the essays is incredible. She engages, in fascinating ways, with the forces that bear down upon her from her subject position in prose that effortlessly blends the personal with the theoretical. She articulates a Black woman’s work and, more importantly, a Black woman’s worth in a society determined to devalue her. To say this collection is transgressive, provocative and brilliant is simply to tell you the truth.
There’s More – Delve Deeper Into Bad Feminist With The Service95 Book Club...
WATCH Dua Lipa's inspirational interview with Bad Feminist author Roxane Gay
PRESS PLAY on Roxane Gay's recommended songs to listen to while writing
DISCOVER what American writer, podcaster and educator Ashley C Ford learned with Roxane Gay as a mentor
