We've read many great memoirs, collections of essays and cultural analyses by female authors in recent years. Here are some feminist voices that kept the conversation going this year.
In her honest and incisive memoir Shrill, Lindy West examines internet culture and body image through a feminist lens. Her absorbing essays and polemic against rape jokes in comedy combine Roxane Gay's sharpness and Samantha Irby's humor.
Shrill is available in other formats, including eBook and Downloadable Audiobook.
Rebecca Traister explores the history of single women in America and analyzes how they influence politics and social change in All the Single Ladies. She includes a wealth of data, statistics and diverse examples to create one of the most inclusive works about femininity.
All the Single Ladies is available in other formats, including eBook and Downloadable Audiobook.
Comedy star and 2 Dope Queens podcaster Phoebe Robinson offers a fresh voice in the discussion of race and gender riddled with references to pop culture. You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain interrogates biases about black women and explains why Lisa Bonet is “Queen. Bae. Jesus.” Reading Robinson's letters to her biracial niece Olivia brought me a lot of joy.
You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain is also available as an eBook.
In Sex Object, Guardian columnist Jessica Valenti explores the complicated effects of painful, embarrassing and sex-negative encounters she experienced in her life. Valenti's darkly humorous and bleak tone is apt for her discussion of bad boyfriends, harassment and death threats. Don't miss the endnotes.
Sex Object is also available as an eBook.
Ask Polly columnist Heather Havrilesky is a combination of Cheryl Strayed and Mallory Ortberg giving sisterly advice in How to Be A Person in the World. Havrilesky addresses questions from loners, daters, cheaters and anxious brides on how to be gracious at weddings, how to deal with friends or family with opposing opinions and how to navigate the modern world. Her answers are long, chatty and therapeutic.
How to Be A Person in the World is also available as an eBook.
Who's your favorite feminist voice?
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