Book picks similar to
Women of Wisdom: Talks with Women Who Shaped Our Times by Lynn Gilbert
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Entitled: How Male Privilege Hurts Women
Kate Manne - 2020
Ranging widely across the culture, from Harvey Weinstein and the Brett Kavanaugh hearings to “Cat Person” and the political misfortunes of Elizabeth Warren, Manne’s book shows how privileged men’s sense of entitlement—to sex, yes, but more insidiously to admiration, care, bodily autonomy, knowledge, and power—is a pervasive social problem with often devastating consequences.In clear, lucid prose, Manne argues that male entitlement can explain a wide array of phenomena, from mansplaining and the undertreatment of women’s pain to mass shootings by incels and the seemingly intractable notion that women are “unelectable.” Moreover, Manne implicates each of us in toxic masculinity: It’s not just a product of a few bad actors; it’s something we all perpetuate, conditioned as we are by the social and cultural mores of our time. The only way to combat it, she says, is to expose the flaws in our default modes of thought while enabling women to take up space, say their piece, and muster resistance to the entitled attitudes of the men around them.With wit and intellectual fierceness, Manne sheds new light on gender and power and offers a vision of a world in which women are just as entitled as men to our collective care and concern.
American Lady: The Life of Susan Mary Alsop
Caroline de Margerie - 2011
A descendent of Founding Father John Jay, Susan Mary was an American aristocrat whose first marriage gave her full access to post-war diplomatic social life in Paris. There, her circle of friends included Winston Churchill, Isaiah Berlin, Evelyn Waugh, and Christian Dior, among other luminaries, and she had a passionate love affair with British ambassador Duff Cooper. During the golden years of John F. Kennedy’s presidency—after she had married the powerful journalist Joe Alsop—her Washington home was a gathering place for everyone of importance, including Katharine Graham, Robert McNamara, and Henry Kissinger. Dubbed “the second lady of Camelot,” she hosted dinner parties that were the epitome of political power and social arrival, bringing together the movers and shakers not just of the United States, but of the world. Featuring an introduction by Susan Mary Alsop’s goddaughter Frances FitzGerald, American Lady is a fascinating chronicle of a woman who witnessed, as Nancy Mitford once said, “history on the boil.”
"Stagecoach" Mary Fields: Montana's Legendary Pioneer
Julie McDonald - 2016
Little is known of her during her 30 plus years as a slave in Tennessee, or her life shortly thereafter. Her arrival and subsequent life in Cascade, Montana would make her a legend. Enjoy this great, inspiring and very humorous story of one amazing woman!
Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution
Rachel Moran - 2013
The result is riveting, compelling, incontestable. Impossible to put down. This book provides all anyone needs to know about the reality of prostitution in moving, insightful prose that engages and disposes of every argument ever raised in its favor.” —Catharine A. MacKinnon, law professor, University of Michigan and Harvard UniversityBorn to mentally unstable parents, Rachel Moran left home at the age of fourteen. Being homeless, she became prostituted to survive. With intelligence and empathy, she describes the fears she and others had working on the streets and in the brothels. Moran also speaks to the psychological damage that accompanies prostitution and the estrangement from one’s body. At the age of twenty-two, Moran escaped prostitution. She has since become a writer and an abolitionist activist.
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead
Cecile Richards - 2018
Richards had an extraordinary girlhood in ultra-conservative Texas, where her hell-raising parents—her civil rights attorney father and political activist mother—taught their kids to be troublemakers. In the Richards household, the “dinner table was never for eating—it was for sorting precinct lists.”She watched her mother, Ann, transform herself from a housewife to a force in American politics who made a name for herself as the straight-talking, truth-telling governor of Texas. But Richards also witnessed the pitfalls of public life that are unique to women, and the constant struggle to protect and expand equal rights—both exemplified by her marathon congressional testimony, where she held her own against hostile questions for five hours.As a young woman, Richards worked as a labor organizer alongside women earning a minimum wage, and learned that those in power don’t give it up without a fight. Now, after years of advocacy, resistance, and progressive leadership, she shares her story for the first time—from the joy and heartbreak of activism to the challenges of raising kids, having a life, and making change, all at the same time. She shines a light on the people and lessons that have gotten her through good times and bad, and encourages readers to take risks, make mistakes, and make trouble along the way. Richards has dedicated her life to taking on injustice, and her memoir will inspire readers to hope and action.
On My Own Two Feet: The Journey from Losing My Legs to Learning the Dance of Life
Amy Purdy - 2014
When the Las Vegas native was just nineteen, she contracted bacterial meningitis and was given less than a two percent chance of survival. In a near-death experience, she saw three figures who told her: “You can come with us, or you can stay. No matter what happens in your life, it’s all going to make sense in the end.” In that moment, Amy chose to live.Her glimpse of the afterlife—coupled with a mysterious premonition she’d had a month before —became the defining experiences that put Amy’s life on a new trajectory after her legs had to be amputated. She wouldn’t just beat meningitis and walk again; she would go on to create a life filled with bold adventures, big dreams, and boundless vitality—and share that spirit with the world. In 2014, Amy—the only competitor, male or female, with two prosthetic legs—claimed a bronze medal for the U.S. Paralympic team in adaptive snowboarding. She then became a contestant on season eighteen of Dancing With the Stars, and viewers were captivated as the girl with bionic legs managed to out-dance her competitors all the way to the finale.Amy’s journey is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the capacity we all have to dream bigger, defy expectations, and rewrite our stories. Amy was given a second chance for a reason—to use her life to inspire others. Her powerful memoir urges us to live life to the fullest, because we are all a lot more capable than we could ever imagine.
Why I Am Not a Feminist: A Feminist Manifesto
Jessa Crispin - 2017
. . or so the feminists keep insisting. But somewhere along the way, the movement for female liberation sacrificed meaning for acceptance, and left us with a banal, polite, ineffectual pose that barely challenges the status quo. In this bracing, fiercely intelligent manifesto, Jessa Crispin demands more.Why I Am Not A Feminist is a radical, fearless call for revolution. It accuses the feminist movement of obliviousness, irrelevance, and cowardice—and demands nothing less than the total dismantling of a system of oppression.
Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution
Sara Marcus - 2010
A dynamic chronicle not just a movement but an era, this is the story of a group of pissed-off girls with no patience for sexism and no intention of keeping quiet.
Women in the Picture: What Culture Does with Female Bodies
Catherine McCormack - 2020
Catherine McCormack illuminates the assumptions behind these stereotypes whether writ large or subtly hidden. She ranges through Western art—think Titian, Botticelli, and Millais—and the image-saturated world of fashion photographs, advertisements, and social media, and boldly counters these depictions by turning to the work of women artists like Morisot, Ringgold, Lacy, and Walker, who offer alternative images for exploring women’s identity, sexuality, race, and power in more complex ways.
Sworn to God
Steven A. McKay - 2020
Certainly the bailiff, John Little, has his suspicions about some of the warrior-like male acolytes, but are his fears justified? Infiltrating the group seems to be the best course of action, although the volatile Will Scaflock is none too happy about being nominated for the job by Friar Tuck...Following on from 2019's Faces of Darkness, this standalone new story sees three legendary heroes battling invisible 'Black Lords' and far more dangerous earthly foes, but can they figure out what's really going on in St Joseph's before anyone else dies?With twists and turns aplenty, and based on real events, historical fiction fans are sure to enjoy this action packed thriller as much as they did the author's previous bestsellers The Druid, Lucia and Wolf's Head.
Mary McGrory: The First Queen of Journalism
John Norris - 2015
She was a trailblazing columnist who achieved national syndication and reported from the front lines of American politics for five decades. From her first assignment reporting on the Army–McCarthy hearings to her Pulitzer-winning coverage of Watergate and controversial observations of President Bush after September 11, McGrory humanized the players on the great national stage while establishing herself as a uniquely influential voice. Behind the scenes she flirted, drank, cajoled, and jousted with the most important figures in American life, breaking all the rules in the journalism textbook. Her writing was admired and feared by such notables as Lyndon Johnson (who also tried to seduce her) and her friend Bobby Kennedy who observed, “Mary is so gentle—until she gets behind a typewriter.” Her soirees, filled with Supreme Court justices, senators, interns, and copy boys alike, were legendary.As the red-hot center of the Beltway in a time when the newsrooms were dominated by men, McGrory makes for a powerfully engrossing subject. Laced with juicy gossip and McGrory’s own acerbic wit, John Norris’s colorful biography reads like an insider’s view of latter-day American history—and one of its most enduring characters.
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do about It
Kate Harding - 2014
Congressman Todd Akin’s “legitimate” gaffe. The alleged rape crew of Steubenville, Ohio. Sexual violence has been so prominent in recent years that the feminist term “rape culture” has finally entered the mainstream. But what, exactly, is it? And how do we change it? In Asking for It, Kate Harding answers those questions in the same blunt, bullshit-free voice that’s made her a powerhouse feminist blogger. Combining in-depth research with practical knowledge, Asking for It makes the case that twenty-first century America—where it’s estimated that out of every 100 rapes only 5 result in felony convictions—supports rapists more effectively than victims. Harding offers ideas and suggestions for addressing how we as a culture can take rape much more seriously without compromising the rights of the accused.
The Women's Suffrage Movement
Sally Roesch Wagner - 2019
This one-of-a-kind intersectional anthology features the writings of the most well-known suffragists, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, alongside accounts of those often overlooked because of their race, from Native American women to African American suffragists like Ida B. Wells and the three Forten sisters. At a time of enormous political and social upheaval, there could be no more important book than one that recognizes a group of exemplary women--in their own words--as they paved the way for future generations. The editor and introducer, Sally Roesch Wagner, is a pre-eminent scholar of the diverse backbone of the women's suffrage movement, the founding director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, and serves on the New York State Women's Suffrage Commission.
The Billionaire's Gift (The Billionaire Club #5)
Johanna Evelyn - 2020
Can they both put their trust in God’s timing? Joshua Banks has never been on a second date in his life. The examples he grew up with caused him to close his heart to anything resembling a relationship. But when his meddling friend invites a woman from her church to accompany him to a ball, he finds himself wanting more from the forced upon him blind date. All his plans go out the window when she unexpectedly kisses him. But when she tells him her reasons, she leaves him with more questions than answers. He throws caution to the wind in order to untangle her secrets only to find she’s what he needed to rebuild his faith in humanity. Kara Bell only agreed to go out with a stranger as one last act of service. She doesn’t expect the undeniable connection. Knowing a relationship between them isn’t possible, she does something out of her character. But the stolen kiss leads to hope that died long ago. Now she’s racing the clock to mend his broken spirit. But she’s afraid her attempt to bring him happiness will do the opposite. She pushes past her doubt in order to do the impossible. But can she accomplish her goals before God calls her home? Author’s Note: This story is close to my heart. The heroine in the story suffers from the same disease that has taken up residence in my own body. Kara’s story is emotional, and I hope impactful. I tried to handle the issue delicately. This is my story and although the journey might be rough, it ends happily.
Stealing The Borders
Elliot Rais - 2011
Great cinematic appeal. Hollywood should grab it fast."-- Ivor Davis / New York Times Syndicate An intimate, Humorous Tale of a Thrilling Escape From childhood. He wanted a party, they threw him a circumcision. He wanted sour cream, he got bugs. Stealing the Borders is a witty survivor story about a boy who grew up experiencing German bombs, chills of Siberia, and life in a refugee camp. - Then came the real test - the chaotic streets of New York. As he had no schooling till the age of 16, Rais developed an extraordinary instinct for survival and an uncanny perspective that allows him to see the wry side of every situation. Laugh with him, as you read the inspiring story of his escape from war-torn Europe and eventual success in the United States. Don't try to tell him he had a deprived childhood he's convinced it was a privilege! Follow his hilarious antics in his warm and touching autobiography. - He stole the border, he'll steal your heart.