For further reading on equality, feminism and oppression , I highly recommend the following books !
INVISIBLE WOMEN
Invisible Women: An outstanding piece of research by Caroline Criado Perez on how data gathering and analysis systematically prejudices the needs of women all over the world and the myriad negative ways this impacts women. Mandatory feminist reading for all men and women!
THE MENTAL LOAD
The Mental Load: A really insightful and original take on The Mental Load by French journalist and comic illustrator Emma. Her brilliant work resonated immediately with feminist women all over the UK since her comic sketches were first published in The Guardian newspaper.
UTOPIA FOR REALISTS
Rutger Bergman’s approach to building a better world is as refreshing as it is well-researched. He proposes radical new ideas to global challenges that many have deemed insoluble for decades. This book demonstrates that eliminating disparities in income and living standards, along with other inequalities, is a feasible goal which should be actively pursued.
WOMEN DON'T OWE YOU PRETTY
In this book, Florence Given offers really sound advice to young women about discovering their own identity, having confidence in who they are and setting boundaries for how we allow others to treat us. In particular, she highlights why women should not succumb to sexist expectations of what it means to be a woman.
LEADERSHIP AND LIBERATION
The most comprehensive and clear-thinking book I have ever read on leadership. It examines what true leadership involves, how leaders influence the people around them and illustrates how being an effective leader is something anyone can do. It also looks at the challenges faced by leaders and how leadership is not just a means of initiating positive change but also confronting inequality.
PERSONAL STRUGGLES
This book by the psychologist Dr Seán Ruth is the first in a self-help series called ‘MindYourSelf’, curated by Dr. Marie Murray. Personal Struggles explains in simple terms what oppression really means, how it impacts the lives of individuals and how to escape these oppressive dynamics. Few people clearly understand the ways everyone’s lives are affected by oppression and may not even be aware of our role in oppressing others.
30 HOURS
Dr Nadiane Kruk was an academic high achiever in Brazil who became a professor of civil engineering. When she became a mother she began to notice how the unequal social structure in Brazil profoundly impacts the choices available to women when it comes to parenting and having a career. When she and her husband moved to Germany with their two children, Nadiane observed that despite very different work and social systems, here too both gender equity and work–life balance were impossible. Her book describes the challenges she has experienced trying to make it all work as a mother and proposes a viable solution to enabling men and women everywhere to achieve both of these goals
Feminism Backwards
Rosita Sweetman deals out a frank and sharp whirlwind history of the feminist movement as it has impacted Irish society over the last 100 years. One of the original members of the Irish Women's Liberation Movement herself, Rosita is perfectly placed to recount exactly what it was like living through the 60s and 70s as courageous women battled to change a society where Church and State had held an unquestioned stranglehold on womens' autonomy for decades. She also speaks remarkably candidly about her personal experiences of education, work, relationships, sexism, pregnancy, motherhood and mental health.
Kim JiYoung, Born 1982
In this wonderful novel about the life of a young woman in South Korea, Cho Nam-Joo gently and beautifully captures the reality of the limitations imposed on girls in Korean society from the time they are born. Although relating the personal story of one woman, Kim Ji Young could be any woman and sadly, indeed represents many women. The fact that Kim Ji Young's experience will be replicated for many others brings home the reality of the oppression facing all women in this sexist society, internalised by men and women alike.
Raus aus der Mental Load Falle
Psychologist and mother Patricia Cammarata describes here with great honesty how the burden of the mental load impacted her whole life, including the breakdown of her marriage. From there, she applied her project management training to examine why the mental load of home responsibilities makes daily life so hard for millions of couples. Her excellent practical book looks at what we can do to try to reduce this pressure and describes the processes and tools she successfully developed to helped create a more balanced and happier life with her children and new partner.
The Women's History of the Modern World
This brilliant book by Dr Rosalind Miles (which I read in May 2022) covers all you need to know about women's struggles over the last 200 years in their pursuit of equal rights to men. Brilliantly researched and hugely engaging, she walks us through the realities of the countless injustices women have faced in the pursuit of the right to be educated, vote, choose who to marry (should they wish to marry), own land, equal pay, have autonomy over their own body and have a voice at the table in government.
Soldier Sailor
This wonderful novel by Claire Kilroy brilliantly captures the reality of what being a new mother feels like. Written in the form of a letter to her baby/toddler son, it conveys her simultaneous feelings of overwhelming love and responsibility that come with being sole carer, along with the unbridled truth of the exhaustion and depression. Claire's writing is beautiful and razor sharp and she speaks with the experience that only those who have been in the trenches of motherhood themselves possess. The book captures the rage women feel at the loss of their previous freedom and identity and the resentment that builds between couples when one party abdicates their share of the parenting responsibility. Although 9 years in gestation, (ironically due to lack of childcare), this book is absolutely worth the wait. You won't be able to put it down.