Top Ten Women's Rights Resources

by Jen Nedeau

Published October 04, 2008 @ 04:58PM PT

From Wollstonecraft to Steinem to Stone, a brief primer on essential readings in the movement for women's equality.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1892)

by Mary Wollstonecraft

One of the most important documents in the history of women's rights and one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. Wollstonecraft's personal life was often troubled, and her early death cut short her evolving ideas. In the book, Wollstonecraft responds to the educational and political theorists of the eighteenth century who wanted to deny women an education. She argues that women ought to have an education commensurate with their position in society, claiming that women are essential to the nation because they educate its children and because they could be "companions" to their husbands, rather than mere wives. Instead of viewing women as ornaments to society or property to be traded in marriage, Wollstonecraft maintains that they are human beings deserving of the same fundamental rights as men.

The Feminine Mystique (1963)

by Betty Friedan

With the publication of The Feminine Mystique, Friedan created "a sweeping social upheaval that harked back to the suffrage campaigns of the turn of the century and would be called feminism's second wave," according to the New York Times. The Feminine Mystique brought to light the lack of fulfillment in many women's lives, which served as a means to ignite the second wave of the feminist movement. After the publication of this book, Friedan helped found the National Organization for Women, serving as its first president. In 1969, she was a founder of the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws, now known as Naral Pro-Choice America. With Gloria Steinem, Bella Abzug and others, she founded the National Women's Political Caucus in 1971.

Ms. Magazine (1971)

Founded by Gloria Steinem

Ms. Magazine, founded by leading second-wave feminist, Gloria Steinem, was a magazine of firsts: it was the first magazine in the United States to feature prominent American women demanding the repeal of laws that criminalized abortion, the first to explain and advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment, the first to rate presidential candidates on women's issues, to put domestic violence and sexual harassment on the cover of a women's magazine, to feature feminist protest of pornography, to commission and feature a national study on date rape, and to blow the whistle on the undue influence of advertising on magazine journalism.

Ain't I A Woman (1981)

by Bell Hooks

Titled after Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, Hooks examines the effect of racism and sexism on black women, the civil rights movement, and feminist movements from suffrage to the seventies. She argues that the convergence of sexism and racism during slavery contributed to black women having the lowest status and worst conditions of any group in American society.

An Argument for Black Women's Liberation as a Revolutionary Force (1969)

by Mary Ann Weathers

This article, originally published in "No More Fun and Games: A Journal of Female Liberation," describes essential points behind the Black Feminist movement saying that all women suffer oppression, from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

The Color Purple (1983)

by Alice Walker

This book received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award and was later adapted into a film, directed by Stephen Spielberg, and a musical of the same name. The fictional story takes place in rural Georgia and focuses on female African American life during the 1930s in the Southern United States. The protagonist of the book is Celie, who writes letters to God because her father, Alphonso, beats and rapes her. The book addresses numerous issues in the life of a black female and continues to receive high amounts of critique and praise to this day.

The Yellow Wallpaper: And Other Stories (1892)

by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

This short story, regarded as an seminal early work of American feminist literature, illustrates conflicting attitudes in the 19th century toward women's physical and mental health. The fictional account of one woman's emotional struggle delineates the horror of 19th century treatment for what is considered depression today - isolation from the world, lack of natural light, and forbidding women from reading or even thinking.

Catching a Wave: Reclaiming Feminism for the 21st Century (2003)

by Rory Dicker and Alison Piepmeier

A collection of original essays calling for new voices to redefine feminism, highlighting and identifying the reason why feminist activism is necessary, such as helping women climb to the top of institutional ladders in higher education, government, and corporate America. The book aims to point out structural inequalities in the United States and debunk the idea of a post-feminist era.

Bitch Magazine (1996)

by Lisa Jervis

A print magazine devoted to feminist analysis and media criticism. "Bitch" features critiques of TV, movies, magazines, advertising, and other elements of pop culture as well as interviews with feminist pop culture makers, review new books and music, and lots more. The magazine is known to point out the insidious, everyday sexism of popular culture, propose alternatives, and celebrate pro-woman, pro-feminism pop products.

Feminist Blogs:

• Feministing: A blog featuring young women who comment on and analyzing various gender focused issues, helping to further the the agenda for womens rights.
• Feminist.com: Feminist.com is a thriving online community fostering awareness, education and activism for women all across the world. We serve as the Internet’s definitive hub for resources and information dedicated to women's equality, justice, wellness and safety. Like a "feminist Google," Feminist.com facilitates connections between women and the many, varied organizations serving their needs and interests worldwide.
• Feministe: One of the oldest feminist blogs designed by and run by women from the ground up.
• Jezebel: A blog that covers celebrity, sex, fashion for women, all "without airbrushing." The blog is good at making the serious stuff a bit more fun, or more personal to reader.
• Broadsheet: A blog of Salon.com focusing on issues in news, politics, advertising and health that specifically affect females as well as celebrity gossip, fashion news and humor.
• Pandagon: One of the first feminist blogs started by Amanda Marcotte. Covers current events in politics, often through a feminist lens.
• Shakesville: A community feminist blog that discusses culture, politics, LGBT issues, and feminism. It was started in October of 2004 by Melissa McEwan, who initially wrote under the pseudonym "Shakespeare's Sister," and gave the blog its current title.
• Women in Media & News Blog: WIMN's Voices, the women's media monitoring group blog, features a diverse online community of fifty women blogging on media coverage of women and a range of social, cultural and political issues every day.
• MediaGirl is an online community blog by and for women (and men, too) to discuss, rant, blog, analyze, and/or laugh about media, politics and culture, all within the general context of progressive politics and feminism.

Blogher.com (2005)

Founded by Lisa Stone

BlogHer serves as a hub for women's voices to be heard. The community blog creates opportunities for women who blog to pursue exposure, education, community and economic empowerment. Today BlogHer is the number-one community for and guide to blogs by women, via annual conferences, a Web network, and an advertising network of more than 2,200 qualified, contextually targeted blog affiliates.