OPEN ACCESS FEMINISM
Links to full access PDFs of feminist books, articles, and papers by a variety of thinkers and radical activists.
Please note this by no means represents an exhaustive list of excellent or revolutionary feminist and radical thinkers. New links will be added regularly when they are found. Please contact us if you have any suggestions or links to add, or if links are broken.
2022 Summer Reading List: AVAILABLE NOW !
summer_reading_list.pdf |
Andrea Dworkin (1946 - 2005)
American radical feminist and theorist. She is best known for her analysis of pornography, although her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 40 years. The central theme of Dworkin's work is re-evaluating Western society, culture, and politics. She did this through the prism of men's sexual violence against women in a patriarchal context.
Our Blood - Prophecies and Discourses on Sexual Politics
A searingly powerful public address, exposes the sexual violence, psychological abuse, and cultural denigration to which men have subjugated women.
American radical feminist and theorist. She is best known for her analysis of pornography, although her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 40 years. The central theme of Dworkin's work is re-evaluating Western society, culture, and politics. She did this through the prism of men's sexual violence against women in a patriarchal context.
Our Blood - Prophecies and Discourses on Sexual Politics
A searingly powerful public address, exposes the sexual violence, psychological abuse, and cultural denigration to which men have subjugated women.
andrea-dworkin-our-blood-prophesies-and-discourses-on-sexual-politics-1976.pdf |
Women Hating (1974) Dworkin examines the place and depiction of women in fairy tales and pornography (focusing on the French erotic novels Story of O and The Image and the magazine Suck). She then looks at the historical practices of Chinese foot binding and Medieval European witch burning from a radical feminist perspective. The book's final section discusses the concept of androgyny within various cultures' creation myths and argues for "the development of a new kind of human being and a new kind of human community" free from gender and gendered roles. |
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Letters From a Warzone (1988)
Dworkin discusses her experiences as a woman and a battered wife, her life of demonstrating, organizing, and addressing other women and the government, and the current state of the women's movement. |
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Right-Wing Woman (1983)
Dworkin argues that the Amercian political right mobilizes women by exploiting their fears, and discusses the issues of abortion, sexual equality, anti-Semitism, and anti-feminism |
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Intercourse (1987)
Dworkin presents a radical feminist analysis of sexual intercourse in literature and society. Dworkin is often said to argue that "all heterosexual sex is rape", based on the line from the book that says "violation is a synonym for intercourse." |
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More Andrea Dworkin books and essays can be found HERE
Shulamith Firestone (1945-2012)
The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970) - LINK
Within her book, Firestone asserts that modern society could not achieve true gender equality until women's biological traits are separated from their identity. The Dialectic of Sex was largely influenced by the existing views of Simone de Beauvoir. Firestone supported the belief that the women were limited by the need for them to have children, and by reproducing they could not be individualistic. She also connected the ideas in her book to de Beauvoir's view that motherhood oppressed women, and women became victims in a patriarchal based society.
The Dialectic of Sex: The Case for Feminist Revolution (1970) - LINK
Within her book, Firestone asserts that modern society could not achieve true gender equality until women's biological traits are separated from their identity. The Dialectic of Sex was largely influenced by the existing views of Simone de Beauvoir. Firestone supported the belief that the women were limited by the need for them to have children, and by reproducing they could not be individualistic. She also connected the ideas in her book to de Beauvoir's view that motherhood oppressed women, and women became victims in a patriarchal based society.
The Great Cosmic Mother (1987) by Monico Sjoo and Barbara Mor
This classic exploration of the Goddess through time and throughout the world draws on religious, cultural, and archaeological sources to recreate the Goddess religion that is humanity’s heritage. Now, with a new introduction and full-color artwork, this passionate and important text shows even more clearly that the religion of the Goddess—which is tied to the cycles of women’s bodies, the seasons, the phases of the moon, and the fertility of the earth—was the original religion of all humanity (Excellent critique of monotheistic religions and their patriarchal basis, also provides a unique analysis of the European witch trials). |
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Angela Davis (1944)
Women, Race, and Class (1981) - LINK
A Marxist feminist analysis of gender, race and class. The third book written by Davis, it covers U.S. history from the slave trade and abolitionism movements to the women's liberation movements which began in the 1960.
Women, Race, and Class (1981) - LINK
A Marxist feminist analysis of gender, race and class. The third book written by Davis, it covers U.S. history from the slave trade and abolitionism movements to the women's liberation movements which began in the 1960.
Beyond the Frame - Women of Color and Visual Accumulation (2005) (With Neferti Tadiar) - LINK
Beyond the Frame explores the importance of visual images in the identities and material conditions of women of color as they relate to social power, oppression, and resistance. The goal of the collection is to rethink the category of visual theory through women of color. It also explores the political and social ramifications of visual imagery.
Beyond the Frame explores the importance of visual images in the identities and material conditions of women of color as they relate to social power, oppression, and resistance. The goal of the collection is to rethink the category of visual theory through women of color. It also explores the political and social ramifications of visual imagery.
More works by Angela Davis can be found HERE
Naomi Wolf (1962)
American journalist and author. She is described as the leader of the "third wave" feminist movement (1980s-1990s) and has written several outstanding feminist texts, including The Beauty Myth, Fire with Fire, Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood, and Vagina: A New Biography.
The Beauty Myth (1990) - LINK
The basic premise of The Beauty Myth is that as the social power and prominence of women have increased, the pressure they feel to adhere to unrealistic social standards of physical beauty has also grown stronger because of commercial influences on the mass media. This pressure leads to unhealthy behaviors by women and a preoccupation with appearance in both sexes, and it compromises the ability of women to be effective in and accepted by society.
Wolf also posits the idea of an iron maiden, an intrinsically unattainable standard that is then used to punish women physically and psychologically for their failure to achieve and conform to it. Wolf criticizes the fashion and beauty industries as exploitative of women, but claims the beauty myth extends into all areas of human functioning. Wolf writes that women should have "the choice to do whatever we want with our faces and bodies without being punished by an ideology that is using attitudes, economic pressure, and even legal judgments regarding women's appearance to undermine us psychologically and politically". Wolf argued that women were under assault by the "beauty myth" in five areas: work, religion, sex, violence, and hunger. Ultimately, Wolf argues for a relaxation of normative standards of beauty.
Vagina: A New Biography (2012) - LINK
A brilliant and nuanced synthesis of physiology, history, and cultural criticism, Vagina: A New Biography explores the physical, political, and spiritual implications of this startling series of new scientific breakthroughs for women and for society as a whole, from a writer whose conviction and keen intelligence have propelled her works to the tops of bestseller lists, and firmly into the realms of modern classics.
Caliban and the Witch - Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation by Silvia Federici (1998) - LINK
It is among the most important works to explore gender and the family during the primitive accumulation of capital.
It is among the most important works to explore gender and the family during the primitive accumulation of capital.
Sexual Politics by Kate Millet (1970) - LINK
Simone de Beauvoir (1908-1986)
French philosopher and writer.
The Second Sex (1949) - LINK
A metaphysical and existential examination of the treatment of women throughout history and their lives.
French philosopher and writer.
The Second Sex (1949) - LINK
A metaphysical and existential examination of the treatment of women throughout history and their lives.
Adrienne Rich (1929-2012)
American poet, essayist, and radical thinker.
Of Woman Born - Motherhood as Experience and Institution (1976) - LINK
Rich examines her own experiences as a woman and mother, discusses the potential relationship between women and reproduction, and analyzes the assumptions, stereotypes, and restrictions of a patriarchal society.
American poet, essayist, and radical thinker.
Of Woman Born - Motherhood as Experience and Institution (1976) - LINK
Rich examines her own experiences as a woman and mother, discusses the potential relationship between women and reproduction, and analyzes the assumptions, stereotypes, and restrictions of a patriarchal society.
"Compulsory Hetereosexuality and the Lesbian Experience" (1980) - LINK
Written to encourage hetereosexual feminists to examine heterosexuality as a political device.
Written to encourage hetereosexual feminists to examine heterosexuality as a political device.
Audre Lorde (1934-1992)
American womanist, civil rights activist and feminist. Self-described as a "Black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet".
Links to Lorde's essays and collected works can be found HERE
American womanist, civil rights activist and feminist. Self-described as a "Black lesbian, mother, warrior, poet".
Links to Lorde's essays and collected works can be found HERE
bell hooks (1952)
American feminist, professor, and social activist.
The focus of hooks' writing has been the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender, and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination.
Some of hooks' works can be found HERE
American feminist, professor, and social activist.
The focus of hooks' writing has been the intersectionality of race, capitalism, and gender, and what she describes as their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and class domination.
Some of hooks' works can be found HERE
The Feminine Mystique (1963) by Betty Friedan - LINK
The book widely credited for sparking "second-wave" feminism in the United States.
The book widely credited for sparking "second-wave" feminism in the United States.
Catharine MacKinnon (1946)
American radical feminist legal scholar and activist. She was among the first to argue that pornography is a civil rights violation and that sexual harassment constitutes sex discrimination.
Some of MacKinnon's books and articles can be found HERE
American radical feminist legal scholar and activist. She was among the first to argue that pornography is a civil rights violation and that sexual harassment constitutes sex discrimination.
Some of MacKinnon's books and articles can be found HERE
Germaine Greer (1939)
Australian feminist and radical scholar, her goal is not equality with men, which she sees as assimilation and "agreeing to live the lives of unfree men" ("Women's liberation"). She wrote in The Whole Woman (1999), "did not see the female's potential in terms of the male's actual." She argues instead that liberation is about asserting difference and "insisting on it as a condition of self-definition and self-determination". It is a struggle for the freedom of women to "define their own values, order their own priorities and decide their own fate".
The Female Eunuch (1970) - LINK
The Female Eunuch explores how a male-dominated world affects a female's sense of self, and how sexist stereotypes undermine female rationality, autonomy, power and sexuality. Its message is that women have to look within themselves for personal liberation before trying to change the world.
Australian feminist and radical scholar, her goal is not equality with men, which she sees as assimilation and "agreeing to live the lives of unfree men" ("Women's liberation"). She wrote in The Whole Woman (1999), "did not see the female's potential in terms of the male's actual." She argues instead that liberation is about asserting difference and "insisting on it as a condition of self-definition and self-determination". It is a struggle for the freedom of women to "define their own values, order their own priorities and decide their own fate".
The Female Eunuch (1970) - LINK
The Female Eunuch explores how a male-dominated world affects a female's sense of self, and how sexist stereotypes undermine female rationality, autonomy, power and sexuality. Its message is that women have to look within themselves for personal liberation before trying to change the world.
The Whole Woman (1999) - LINK
In the book Greer argued that feminism had lost its way. Women still faced the same physical realities as before, but because of changing views about gender identity and post-modernism, there is a "new silence about [women's] visceral experiences [that] is the same old rapist's hand clamped across their mouths". She wrote: "Real women are being phased out; the first step, persuading them to deny their own existence, is almost complete."
She discusses how sex is a biological given but gender roles are cultural constructs.
In the book Greer argued that feminism had lost its way. Women still faced the same physical realities as before, but because of changing views about gender identity and post-modernism, there is a "new silence about [women's] visceral experiences [that] is the same old rapist's hand clamped across their mouths". She wrote: "Real women are being phased out; the first step, persuading them to deny their own existence, is almost complete."
She discusses how sex is a biological given but gender roles are cultural constructs.
Gender Trouble (1990) by Judith Butler - LINK
Butler argues that gender is a kind of improvised and culturally relative performance.
Butler argues that gender is a kind of improvised and culturally relative performance.
Who Cooked the Last Supper? - A Woman's History of the World (2001) by Rosalind Miles - LINK
Men dominate history because men write history. There have been many heroes, but no heroines. Here, in Who Cooked the Last Supper?, is the history you never learned--but should have!
Without politics or polemics, this brilliant and witty book overturns centuries of preconceptions to restore women to their rightful place at the center of culture, revolution, empire, war, and peace. Spiced with tales of individual women who have shaped civilization, celebrating the work and lives of women around the world, and distinguished by a wealth of research, Who Cooked the Last Supper? redefines our concept of historical reality.
Men dominate history because men write history. There have been many heroes, but no heroines. Here, in Who Cooked the Last Supper?, is the history you never learned--but should have!
Without politics or polemics, this brilliant and witty book overturns centuries of preconceptions to restore women to their rightful place at the center of culture, revolution, empire, war, and peace. Spiced with tales of individual women who have shaped civilization, celebrating the work and lives of women around the world, and distinguished by a wealth of research, Who Cooked the Last Supper? redefines our concept of historical reality.
Why Does He Do That? - Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men (2002) by Lundy Bancroft - LINK
Lundy Bancroft—a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men—uses his knowledge about how abusers think to help women recognize when they are being controlled or devalued, and to find ways to get free of an abusive relationship.
Lundy Bancroft—a counselor who specializes in working with abusive men—uses his knowledge about how abusers think to help women recognize when they are being controlled or devalued, and to find ways to get free of an abusive relationship.
Emma Goldman (1869 - 1940)
As an anarchist and early radical feminist, Goldman went beyond her contemporary liberal suffragettes to argue that government should be abolished, and highlighted how the nuclear family, marriage, and religion have contributed to the systemic oppression of women. She was also a supporter of the birth control movement, and condemned purity culture.
Anarchism and Other Essays (1910) - LINK
A collection of essays on anarchism and feminism.
As an anarchist and early radical feminist, Goldman went beyond her contemporary liberal suffragettes to argue that government should be abolished, and highlighted how the nuclear family, marriage, and religion have contributed to the systemic oppression of women. She was also a supporter of the birth control movement, and condemned purity culture.
Anarchism and Other Essays (1910) - LINK
A collection of essays on anarchism and feminism.
Feminist Philosophy Quarterly - LINK
An online, open access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to promoting feminist philosophical scholarship; papers are published and available at no cost to both authors and readers and authors retain the copyright to their work.
An online, open access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to promoting feminist philosophical scholarship; papers are published and available at no cost to both authors and readers and authors retain the copyright to their work.
Lunaception; A Feminine Odyssey into Fertility and Contraception by Louise Lacey
Lunaception |
Additional links to master posts, files, and databases
*Please note that some of these links may be broken and/or incorrect. We will do our best to edit or ensure links are up to date and accessible.
MEGA link to Feminist Books By Author - with downloadable and viewable PDFs of books and articles by dozens of thinkers (some of which have already been posted here).
MEGA link to books and articles on Abuse and Self-Help - with downloadable and viewable PDFs of books, articles, and research studies.
MEGA link to books, articles, and research on Gender Critical Theory and Gender Criticism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs.
MEGA link to books and research articles on Lesbianism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs
MEGA link to books and articles on Pornography, Prostitution, and Radical vs. Choice Feminism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs
MEGA link to books and articles on Racism, Womanism, and Black Feminism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs
Links to feminist books and essays Tumblr master post - links may be broken but provides a comprehensive reading list nonetheless
The Anarchist Library - An open access archive of anarchist and related radical thought, plenty of anarcho-feminist writings
MEGA link to Feminist Books By Author - with downloadable and viewable PDFs of books and articles by dozens of thinkers (some of which have already been posted here).
MEGA link to books and articles on Abuse and Self-Help - with downloadable and viewable PDFs of books, articles, and research studies.
MEGA link to books, articles, and research on Gender Critical Theory and Gender Criticism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs.
MEGA link to books and research articles on Lesbianism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs
MEGA link to books and articles on Pornography, Prostitution, and Radical vs. Choice Feminism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs
MEGA link to books and articles on Racism, Womanism, and Black Feminism - with downloadable and viewable PDFs
Links to feminist books and essays Tumblr master post - links may be broken but provides a comprehensive reading list nonetheless
The Anarchist Library - An open access archive of anarchist and related radical thought, plenty of anarcho-feminist writings