The Blurb On The Back:

Feminism is …

… the struggle for equality between women and men.

It didn’t just start with #MeToo.  The fight for women’s rights has been around for hundreds of years.  Today’s feminism is more diverse than ever before and asks all kinds of questions.  How does sexism affect women?  Is gender fixed or fluid?  What is intersectional feminism?

Get to grips with the big issues in this lively introduction, and meet some inspirational rebels who were not afraid to stand up for what they believed.

You can order Feminism Is … by Alexandra Black, Laura Buller, Emily Hoyle and Dr Megan Todd from Amazon UK, or Waterstone’s.  I earn commission on any purchases made through these links.

The Review (Cut For Spoilers):

Alexandra Black is a writer specialising in non-fiction, Laura Buller writes for younger readers, Emily Hoyle is a writer who has covered feminism and Dr Megan Todd is a lecturer in social science at the University of Central Lancashire.  In this well structured introduction to feminism aimed at teens (introduced by TV presenter Gemma Cairney), they set out some of the key moments in feminist history and the main issues it’s tackling today.

As an introduction text to the subject, I have to say that I found this book to be really well structured.  The authors start by discussing what feminism is and then go through a list of the key issues and moments in feminist history, adding in biographies of key figures in the historical and modern feminist movement (including Emmeline Pankhurst, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Malala Yousafzai).  I especially liked the biographies because they included feminists I already knew and those who were knew to me (such as bell hooks and Alice Schwarzer) but they didn’t shy away from identifying where some of those people (e.g. Schwarzer were advocating feminist ideas that others find problematic. 

The breadth of issues considered here is tremendous, from education to mansplaining to gender and intersectionality, whether men can be feminists, sex work, backlashes to feminism and voting and political rights.  I thought that the authors went into just the right amount of detail to cover the types of things considered in each subject while setting out the key concerns and – key for me – it’s not especially ‘preachy’ in its tone – the authors are happy to allow readers reach their own conclusions.

There’s a glossary of terms at the back and a directory of feminists at the back but I was disappointed that the authors didn’t include a further reading/resource section because I think that such a solid introduction should have had the foresight to help readers who want to find out more on the strength of it.  That said, I thought this was a really strong book and perfect for anyone (whether they’re a teen or a grown up) who wants to know more about the topic.  

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.