3 Bite-Sized Books About Women’s Rights & Feminism | Campaigning, Education & Activism

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We love a good non fiction book! Unfortunately, we don’t always have time to get our teeth into those big, meaty books that explore issues in great detail. So we’ve compiled a list of three short books you can turn to if you’d like to learn more about women’s rights and feminism. Each book is short enough to read on the train or bus, or during your lunch break.

If you like our suggestions, you can find the books our affiliate profile on Bookshop.org.

We recommend you check content warnings before beginning these books – they cover some complex and difficult topics.

Misfits: a Personal Manifesto by Michaela Coel

Adapted from her 2018 James MacTaggart Lecture, Misfits explores Coel’s experiences in the television industry as a Black woman. While Coel predominately discusses race, we also think her book’s brilliant for learning about a female experience of the television industry. Only 14% of prime time TV in the UK is written by women, while only a third of Europe’s film directors are women. Whether you’re interested in feminism, intersectionality or the creative arts, this is a must read.

Women & Power by Mary Beard

Beard is a classicist and television presenter, and this is another book adapted from lectures, these ones given at the British Museum. With examples from ancient Greek and Roman mythology and history, Women & Power explores how history has treated powerful women… and how this treatment has changed – or not – moving into the modern day. It’s perfect for anyone interested in classics, mythology, storytelling and, of course, feminism.

We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

Adapted from a TED talk, Adiche discusses how toxic masculinity and patriarchal attitudes harm men as much as women. While Adiche does not discuss non-binary identities – she focusses on men and women and the binary divide we tend to see in society – we think she’s articulate, passionate and worth reading. It’s a great book to recommend to people who don’t think feminism is still required, and we like that she talks specifically about her experiences in the USA and in her home nation of Nigeria. Too many western feminist books focus on Western perspectives, so Adichie’s perspective is welcome.

What do you think of our list? Let us know in a comment – we’d love to hear any recommendations you have!

If you like the sound of the books we’ve suggested, you can find the books our affiliate profile on Bookshop.org.

Last updated on 22nd April 2022