The breadth of issues considered here is tremendous, from education to mansplaining to gender and intersectionality, whether men can be feminists, sex work, backlashes to feminism and voting and political rights. Schwarzer were advocating feminist ideas that others find problematic. I especially liked the biographies because they included feminists I already knew and those who were knew to me (such as bell hooks and Alice Schwarzer) but they didn’t shy away from identifying where some of those people (e.g. The authors start by discussing what feminism is and then go through a list of the key issues and moments in feminist history, adding in biographies of key figures in the historical and modern feminist movement (including Emmeline Pankhurst, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Malala Yousafzai). In this well structured introduction to feminism aimed at teens (introduced by TV presenter Gemma Cairney), they set out some of the key moments in feminist history and the main issues it’s tackling today.Īs an introduction text to the subject, I have to say that I found this book to be really well structured. However, it is not a book that leads to a great deal of critical thinking on the part of the reader.Īlexandra Black is a writer specialising in non-fiction, Laura Buller writes for younger readers, Emily Hoyle is a writer who has covered feminism and Dr Megan Todd is a lecturer in social science at the University of Central Lancashire.
I would probably recommend this to a young person (female or male) who wanted to become acquainted with what feminism is. The word may have another frame of reference in other cultures. This is a UK account of feminism, although it uses international examples. However, at times, by omitting a particular strand within feminism, it silences voices, which is also disturbing. The vast majority of its topics are ones which it would be hard to disagree with, and the history sections are presented in a straightforward fashion, without opinion or spin in any direction. The basic tenet of this book is that feminism is something which is, or should be, quite normal, and goes along with a belief in human rights.
This is not to say that it is doing so on topics where there is wide divergence, but it jars with the generally nuanced position of the book. It does, however, have an annoying tendency to put 'feminists believe', which gives the impression that all feminists believe it, or, if you don't, then you are not a true feminist. On most issues, it presents contrasting views within feminism, for example on sex work. This book draws a generally good balance between Dorling Kindersley style and a relatively complicated and nuanced subject.
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