9 Books to Read in Celebration of Women's Equality Day
Women’s Equality Day honors the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote. In celebration of this landmark success in the fight for gender equality and recognition of the uphill battle still left to go, we’ve cultivated a list of powerful New Press books that focus on gender-justice issues. These titles tackle women’s rights at the intersection of climate science, education, criminal justice, racial justice, and more; delving into the struggles that women face in modern-day America, as well as commemorating the success of women who paved the way for our current generation.
Who Would Believe A Prisoner? Indiana Women’s Carceral Institutions, 1848–1920
By The Indiana Women’s Prison History Project, edited by Michelle Daniel Jones and Elizabeth Nelson
Written by ten incarcerated or formerly incarcerated women working under conditions of sometimes-extreme duress—excavating documents, navigating draconian limitations on what information incarcerated scholars could see or access, and grappling with the unprecedented challenges of co-authors living in and out of prison walls—Who Would Believe a Prisoner? is an “ambitious and frequently disturbing history” of America’s first women’s prison and “a forceful critique of the roots of the carceral state” (Publishers Weekly). Read an excerpt from Who Would Believe a Prisoner? in Inquest.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape
Feminist intellectual and writer Sohaila Abdulali’s What We Talk About When We Talk About Rape is a bold and necessary work that meditates on the thorniest questions about rape through moving interviews with survivors from around the world. This book is a “powerful tool for examining rape culture and language on the individual, societal, and global level that everyone can benefit from reading” (Joey Soloway).
Mouths of Rain: An Anthology of Black Lesbian Thought
Edited by Briona Simone Jones
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for LGBTQ Anthology, Mouths of Rain outlines the intellectual history and contributions of Black lesbian writers and theorists. Named after the poem by Audre Lorde, Mouths of Rain is “transformative, vital reading” (Library Journal) that addresses themes such as misogynoir, anti-Blackness, love, romance, “coming out,” and more. Read an excerpt from Mouths of Rain in Literary Hub.
The Trials of Madame Restell: Nineteenth-Century America’s Most Infamous Female Physician and the Campaign to Make Abortion a Crime
The Trials of Madame Restell is a biography of one of the most famous abortionists of the nineteenth century, an especially relevant read in the aftermath of the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Here, Nicholas L. Syrett “reveals an entire underground industry that flourished in 19th-century American cities, and tracks the rise of opposition to women’s reproductive care over time” (Publishers Weekly).
37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination
Sherry Boschert’s 37 Words is at heart a history of the 1972 legislation popularly known as Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination in education. Through the stories of women fighting for an education free from sexual harassment and discrimination, Boschert provides “a clearer understanding of Title IX’s impact, its shortcomings, and the continued threats faced by female students as they seek access to educational opportunities” (Library Journal). Read an excerpt from 37 Words in The Nation.
Award-winning professor Tressie McMillan Cottom’s Thick is a personal essay collection that delves into eight highly praised treatises on beauty, media, money, and more. This National Book Award finalist is a “transgressive, provocative, and brilliant” (Roxane Gay) work that speaks to the experience of being a woman in our current time. Read an interview with McMillan Cottom about Thick.
Intertwined: Women, Nature, and Climate Justice
Women make up almost 90 percent of casualties during dangerous climate events, as well as the majority of people displaced in the aftermath. In Intertwined, writer and wildlife biologist Rebecca Kormos elevates the voices of women working to prevent the climate crisis and makes a powerful argument that women’s empowerment is one of the most important solutions to climate change and biodiversity loss. Read an excerpt from Intertwined in Literary Hub.
Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools
Pushout “is essential reading for all who believe that Black lives matter” (Kimberlé Crenshaw). Here, Monique Couvson chronicles the experiences of Black girls across the country and identifies how policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy push countless students out of schools and into unstable lives, while suggesting how our governmental and educational institutions should improve to help Black girls flourish instead.
Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Women’s Speeches from the Civil War to the Twenty-first Century
By Janet Dewart Bell
With an expansive historical lens, Blackbirds Singing gathers an array of recognized names, as well as new discoveries, to celebrate the tradition of Black women’s political speech and labor, allowing the voices and powerful visions of African American women to speak across generations of building power for the world. From Harriet Tubman and Ella Baker to Barbara Lee and Barbara Jordan, these magnificent speakers explore ethics, morality, courage, authenticity, and leadership, highlighting Black women speaking truth to power in service of freedom and justice. Read an excerpt from Blackbirds Singing here.