Saturday, November 21, 2009

Women's Studies



When I decided to do the Women Unbound reading challenge, I needed to pick books related to feminism.  I started making a list and checking it twice -- well, probably checking it a half dozen times before I wrote about my eight choices (though I reserve the right to change my mind -- again).  This is my longer list, if anyone needs good ideas for books that fall under the "women's studies" label.

FICTION
  • Diary of a Mad Housewife ~ by Sue Kaufman, 1967
  • The Triumph of Deborah ~ by Eva Etzioni-Halevy, 2008
  • Eleanor vs. Ike ~ by Robin Gerber, 2008
  • Evensong ~ by Gail Godwin, 1999
  • The Camel Bookmobile ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2007
  • Staircase of a Thousand Steps ~ by Masha Hamilton, 2007
  • The Secret School ~ by Avi, 2001
  • One Thousand White Women ~ by Jim Fergus, 1998
  • The Red Tent ~ by Anita Diamant, 1997
  • Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God ~ by Joe Coomer, 1995
  • Herland ~ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1915
  • The Secret Life of Bees ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 2002
  • The Pull of the Moon ~ by Elizabeth Berg, 1996
  • Prodigal Summer ~ by Barbara Kingsolver, 2000
  • Possessing the Secret of Joy ~ by Alice Walker, 1992
  • Mrs. Dalloway ~ by Virginia Woolf, 1925
  • The Hours ~ by Michael Cunningham, 1998
  • The Left Hand of Darkness ~ by Ursula K. Le Guin, 1969
  • Rashi's Daughters: Joheved ~ by Maggie Anton, 2005
  • Their Eyes Were Watching God ~ by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937
  • The Awakening ~ by Kate Chopin, 1899
  • The Women's Room ~ by Marilyn French, 1977
  • Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen ~ by Susan Gregg Gilmore, 2008
  • Some Days There's Pie ~ by Catherine Landis, 2002
  • The Penelopiad ~ by Margaret Atwood, 2005
  • Ahab's Wife ~  by Sena Jeter Naslund, 1999
  • A Thousand Acres ~ by Jane Smiley, 1991
NONFICTION
  • Cherokee Women ~ by Theda Perdue, 1998
  • Why Women Should Rule the World ~ by Dee Dee Myers, 2008
  • Mrs. Man ~ by Una Stannard, 1977
  • The Feminine Mystique ~ by Betty Friedan, 1963
  • Women's Ways of Knowing ~ by Mary Field Belenky, et al, 1986
  • In a Different Voice ~ by Carol Gilligan, 1982, 1993
  • Dance of the Dissident Daughter ~ by Sue Monk Kidd, 1996
  • GirlDrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism ~ Nona Willis Aronowitz and Emma Bee Bernstein, 2009
  • The Boundaries of Her Body: A History of Women's Rights in America ~ by Debran Rowland, 2004
  • Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings ~ edited by Miriam Schneir, 1972
  • We Are Our Mother's Daughters ~ by Cokie Roberts, 1998
  • Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation ~ by Cokie Roberts, 2004
  • The Silent Passage: Menopause ~ by Gail Sheehy, 1992
  • A Year by the Sea: Thoughts of an Unfinished Woman ~ by Joan Anderson, 1999
  • In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution ~ by Susan Brownmiller, 1999
  • In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose ~ by Alice Walker, 1983
  • Out of Africa ~ by Isak Dinesen, 1938
  • Lives of Our Own: Secrets of Salty Old Women ~ by Caroline Bird, 1995
  • What We Know So Far: Wisdom Among Women ~ edited by Beth Benatovich, 1995
  • Bookends: Two Women, One Enduring Friendship ~ by Leona Rostenberg and Madeleine Stern, 2001
  • Sisterhood Is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings from the Women's Liberation Movement ~ edited by Robin Morgan, 1970
  • A Room of One's Own ~ by Virginia Woolf, 1929
  • Women Who Run with the Wolves ~ by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, 1992
  • Reinventing Home: Six Working Women Look at Their Home Lives ~ by Laurie Abraham, et al, 1991
CHILDREN'S (because we're all children at heart)

  • Blueberry Girl ~ by Neil Gaiman, 2009
  • Miss Rumphius ~ by Barbara Cooney, 1982

6 comments:

June said...

Two missing that had an impact on me are: The Women's Room by Marilyn French and The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Both very good books, and I've read them both. I'll go back and add them to my list. Thanks, June.

Care said...

wonderful list! There are quite a few I want to know more about. I'm rereading Mrs. Dalloway soon for this challenge AND the Woolf in Winter.

Tiina said...

Great lists! I have some books on my nonfiction list that you might find interesting: http://abookblogofonesown.blogspot.com/2009/11/chapter-31-women-unbound-challenge.html

Greetings,
Tiina

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for listing my book "Eleanor vs. Ike" which is the fictional story of what would have happened if Eleanor Roosevelt ran for President in 1952 against Eisenhower. No spoiler on who wins!

Bonnie Jacobs said...

Oops! Sorry, Robin, in making my lists I see that I accidentally put your novel, Eleanor vs. Ike, in the wrong category. I will correct my mistake right now by editing my post. Thanks for writing such a wonderful book -- I have always admired Eleanor Roosevelt and all she accomplished. I'll get a review of the book posted during the Women Unbound reading challenge.