Women’s History Month is an annual celebration of women’s contributions to American history and contemporary society, and a great time to familiarize yourself with women’s stories, women authors, organizers, and media makers. This week, we’re featuring feminist manifestos, old and new, available at Collins Library. Manifestos have been an historically important genre for feminist thinkers and activists to challenge the status quo of gender and sex, make declarations about identity and politics, and advocate for change in our communities.
Search for these titles and many more in Primo and be inspired by perspectives from a variety of feminisms and time periods. Stay tuned for future posts this month highlighting more aspects of women’s historical, cultural, and creative production!
Burn it Down!: feminist manifestos for the revolution edited by Breanne Fahs
Spanning three centuries and four waves of feminist activism and writing from the nineteenth century to the present day, this collection chronicles the rage, dreams, and calls to action from women in a variety of contexts. The urgency and awareness represented in these documents, Fahs argues, are where new and revolutionary ideas are born.
Feminist Manifestoes: a global documentary reader edited by Penny A. Weiss
This collection brings together 150 documents, each with their own introduction, from feminist organizations and gatherings in over 50 countries over the course of three centuries. In the introduction, editor Penny Weiss explores the value of these documents, especially how they speak with and to each other.
Hood Feminism: notes from the women that a movement forgot by Mikki Kendall
In this collection of essays, Mikki Kendall critiques the modern feminist movement, arguing that it has chronically failed to address the needs of all but a few women. Kendall explores a variety of topics such as access to education, healthcare, wage inequality, food insecurity and more to show how race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender.
Women & Power: a manifesto by Mary Beard
In two essays, well-known classicist, Mary Beard, offers a timely exploration of our cultural assumptions about women’s relationship with power, through examples ranging from the classical world of Medusa and Athena to modern women such as Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren.