8 awesome new books by super-smart women
A little over a year ago, Canadians were jovially sporting their "Because it's 2015" T's and whimsically declaring the future to be female. But then, the U.S. election became a noxious compost of misogyny, Hillary Clinton lost to a noted groper and said groper rolled back decades' worth of reproductive-rights progress. Feminism, both north and south of the border, took a sharp turn for the anxious, angry and urgent. The #currentmood meme for this year's International Women's Day is more likely to be a panicked Cathy cartoon in a pussy hat than an aloofly empowered Joan Didion. Thankfully, this spring brings smart writers offering fresh insights and provocative arguments on where women have been and need to go next, so you can process the increasingly complicated fight for equality and decide what matters to you (without screaming into your pillow every night).
International Women’s Day books
Divided We Stand by Marjorie J. Spruill
Before ladies in pussy hats glared disbelievingly at the women who helped elect Trump, there was the U.S. National Women’s Conference of 1977, where two feminist factions raged: the one you probably know about, fronted by Gloria Steinem for things like abortion and gay rights, and the other one, known as the pro-family movement that fought against equal rights. Spruill asesses the lasting impact of that left-right schism on today’s woefully divided US politics. On shelves now.
Why I’m Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto by Jessa Crispin
“Contemporary feminism is not only embarrassing but incredibly misguided to the point where I can’t associate myself with it.” This is how Crispin, the founder of the defunct literary blog Bookslut, describes the thesis of her new book of essays. Her beef? For starters, she argues, feminism is no longer an outsider endeavour energized by radicals; today, it is more toothless, mainstream lifestyle than vital political movement, a consumer-driven culture of safe spaces, leaning in and Twitter in-fighting. Her solution? Destory capitalism and with it — altogether now — the patriarchy. On shelves now.
The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit
The literary critic, who is often credited with launching the term “mansplaining” into the popular lexicon, writes with sparkling insight about topics that would be dryly academic if tackled by a writer of less wit: the bro-dominated literary cannon (“80 Books No Woman Should Ever Read”), rape jokes (“The Short Happy Recent History of the Rape Joke”), and, of course, the timeless phenomenon of mansplaining (“It is a fact universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of an opinion must be in want of a correction. Well, actually, no it isn’t…”). March 14.
Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
When the Nigerian novelist’s childhood friend asked her for advice on raising her baby girl, Adichie wrote her a letter with 15 practical suggestions that now make up this lovely and lucid purse-sized manual for modern womanhood. March 7.
Free Women Free Men by Camille Paglia
The professor and social critic has scolded feminists, taken down Madonna, defended The Real Housewives, praised the stiletto as high art and argued that women should love football. The best of her insightful, acidic essays are collected in this new volume. March 14.
We: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere by Gillian Anderson and Jennifer Nadel
Yes, that Gillian Anderson — the X-Files one who seems, miraculously, to never age — has co-authored a guide to self-discovery in the new feminist era. With sections like, “Gratitude: A mind-altering substance,” and “Meditation: Creating a Safe Space,” it’s a tad more self-help-y than most of the female empowerment tomes out this spring. March 8.
Somebody With a Little Hammer by Mary Gaitskill
The beloved novelist pulls her title from an Anton Checkov quote that reads, “At the door of every contented, happy man somebody should stand with a little hammer, constantly tapping, to remind him that unhappy people exist…” That dark sensibility infuses her new collection of essays, which includes a personal reflection on “acquaintance rape,” a cultural analysis of porn star Linda Lovelace and a poignant opus on her lost cat. April 4.
The H-Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness by Jill Filipovic
Lawyer, feminist writer and Ivanka Trump critic Jill Filipovic travelled across the U.S., asking women what they really want. Their answer? Happiness. She unpacks the many barriers to achieving that goal in the 21st century, when women are working harder than ever, both professionally and as mothers, and lays out a plan for legal, cultural and social change. May 2
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