Feminism Is...

291 Pages·2019·88.91 MB·English

by  Alexandra Black

CONTENTS
HOW TO USE THIS eBOOK
FOREWORD by Roxane Gay
A POLITICAL and SOCIAL movement
What is FEMINISM?
Is it a MAN’S world?
The RIGHT to an EDUCATION
FIGHTING for a cause
Biography: SOJOURNER TRUTH
VOTES for women!
Biography: EMMELINE PANKHURST
WOMEN at war
(Un)Equal RIGHTS!
Women’s LIBERATION
Biography: GLORIA STEINEM
Living WITHOUT MEN
BACKLASH!
Girl POWER!
Everyday SEXISM
#METoo
Biography: CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE
BODY and IDENTITY
Are WOMEN and MEN the same?
All in the MIND?
Are GIRLS BORN or MADE?
Biography: SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR
Is GENDER fixed?
INTERSECTING identities
Biography: BELL HOOKS
WOMANISM
RELATIONSHIPS and FAMILIES
Female FRIENDSHIPS
GIRLS who like BOYS
GIRLS who like GIRLS
Biography: JUDITH BUTLER
Happily MARRIED?
HAVING it all?
Raising GIRLS and BOYS
FAMILY values
An unfair DIVORCE
CONTROLLING your own BODY
Biography: FRIDA KAHLO
No ALWAYS means NO
DOMESTIC violence
RECLAIM the NIGHT
EDUCATION and WORK
An EQUAL EDUCATION?
Biography: MALALA YOUSAFZAI
WORK matters
WOMEN’S jobs, MEN’S jobs?
Biography: AUDRE LORDE
Doing it ALL
Gender PAY GAP
Is LANGUAGE man-made?
What is MANSPLAINING?
Women IN CHARGE
CULTURE and SOCIETY
The BEAUTY myth
Do FEMINISTS wear HEELS?
BODY image
The MALE GAZE
Does SEX sell?
Women in the MEDIA
Social MEDIA
Becoming INVISIBLE
Is PORNOGRAPHY ever OKAY?
Biography: ALICE SCHWARZER
Feminism and SEX WORK
WOMEN of the world UNITE!
Biography: RIGOBERTA MENCHÚ
A global FEMINISM
Can MEN be FEMINISTS?
Directory of feminists
Glossary
Acknowledgments
Imprint
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Though they would never identify as feminists, I learned a great deal of what I
know about feminism and why it matters from my mom and dad. When I was a
young girl, they allowed me to imagine the grandest things for myself. They
encouraged my ambition. They encouraged me to thrive despite the ways the
world might try to limit me as a black girl. Together and individually they
always modeled the importance of equality and equity between men and women.
They modeled how a family should live together and love one another.
Despite such a supportive childhood, I didn’t really claim feminism or, if I am
being honest, understand feminism until my early thirties. Throughout my
twenties, I thought it would reflect badly upon me if I said I was a feminist. I had
strange ideas about what feminism actually was. I did not want to be the kind of
woman who dared to admit she believed herself to be equal to a man even
though I knew, and have always known, I am equal to any man. I didn’t want to
be a troublemaker even though I was, and am, very much a troublemaker when it
comes to fighting for what I believe in.
Feminism often gets a bad rap. People say feminists hate men and that we’re
angry. They say we’re trying to take something away from men, when really
we’re fighting for our right to be treated as human, to live in our bodies safely, to