Reddit mentions: The best business books for women

I am cutting and pasting from a HelloGiggles interview i did because this is not a short list:

EG: I love Gail Collins. She’s a New York Times journalist. She wrote a book called America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. It’s the feminist history book you never had. It’s a book you cannot put down. It’s so jam packed with information, and you just can’t believe you don’t know this stuff. She has a whole thing about how pioneer women basically built San Francisco. Because when the gold rush happened, there was no one to cook for the men. So women would come out, set up shop, and make tons of money. They were business owners and had autonomy and control of their finances for the first time. Stuff like that. I mean, Bear Grylls would look like Tom Brokaw compared to these pioneer women. That’s not even a good analogy. But these women would like, crawl up mountains while giving birth. Their skirts would catch on fire all the time. The shit that they went through was insane. So you’re reading this, and [Collins is] just giving you all of it. It’s the most fascinating book I’ve ever read.

Of course, all of Roxane Gay’s books. She’s necessary reading. I just read In Her Words, the Eleanor Roosevelt book. That was uplifting, and also so sad to see this woman with this knowledge and access to power whom, if she had been given the chance…god, the things she could have done. You should read Susan Faludi’s Backlash. That’s super necessary feminist reading. I also like this book called White Trash. It’s about America’s history of poverty and how it explains a lot of what’s happening today. But because it’s written by a woman — it’s written by Nancy Isenberg — it has a feminist slant to it. It’s fantastic.

Oh, and Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu. It’s a graphic novel of incredible women. It’s gorgeous and informative and great. And it’s a great book for a teen, or an adult who likes graphic novels like me. Also Bitch Planet. It’s a graphic novel that’s The Handmaid’s Tale of space. That’s great. And of course, The Handmaid’s Tale. Read Margaret Atwood. And not just The Handmaid’s Tale. She’s written tons of other books that are thematically similar and just as depressing.

Also, Samantha Irby. Her books…I don’t know what to say about her books. I have a really loud laugh, and when something tickles me and gets me really hard, I laugh really loudly. And I do it like, every other page with her.

Thanks so much!

As for what to read, it really depends on what you're interested in but I always recommend the classics when it comes to anything to do with the left first.

However, if you'd like something more modern and lighter here are some of my recent favorites:

• Why Marx Was Right - Terry Eagleton is a fantastic author and this book has sold more than one friend of mine on the concept of Marxism. A great resource to learn more about the socialist left and hear the other side of the story if you've been sold the mainstream narrative on Marx.
  
  
• A Cure for Capitalism - An elegant roadmap for ethically dismantling capitalism by the most prominant Marxist economist alive today, Richard D. Wolff. Very utility-based and pretty ideologically pure to Marx while still taking into account modern economic circumstances.
  
  
• No Such Thing as a Free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy - this one is a great take-down of how modern NGO organizations (especially the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation) are the premium outlet for soft imperialism for the US.
  
  
• Until We Reckon: Violence, Mass Incarceration, and a Road to Repair - added this because it was a very impactful, recent read for me. A lot of left-of-republican people support some kind of prison reform but we usually view it through the lens of helping "non-violent offenders". This book digs into that distinction and how we, as a society, can't seriously try to broach meaningful prison reform before we confront the notion of helping those who have done violent things in their past.
  
  
• [Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women] (https://www.amazon.com/Backlash-Undeclared-Against-American-Women/dp/0307345424/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550926471&sr=1-4&keywords=backlash) - probably my favorite book on modern feminism and why it is, in fact, not obsolete and how saying/believing as much is key to the ideology behind the attacks from the patriarchal ruling class. Can't recommend it enough if you're on the fence about feminism.
  
  
• How to Read Donald Duck: Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic - Written in the 70's by a couple of Marxists during the communist purge in Chile, this book does a fantastic job of unwrapping how ideology baked into pop culture can very effectively influence the masses. Though I can only recommend this one if you're already hard sold on Socialism because you might not even agree with some of the core premises if you're on the fence and will likely get little out of it.
  
  
• Capitalist Realism: Is There No Alternative? - Mark Fisher's seminal work deconstructing how capitalism infects everything in modern life. He killed himself a few years after publishing it. My most recommended book, probably.

Congratulations! What a sweet little baby!

As for pumping, you can probably wait a couple more weeks to really get going, but I think your best bet is to start pumping after one feed a day, probably early in the morning as this is when most women produce the most milk. This should help you build a stash without encouraging a massive oversupply and help you get ready to go back to work.

This book was helpful for me for going back to work.

Is that so?

Women have been a leading force in sanitation strikes, calling for equal treatment and job security. This particular service industry has been the focus of multiple feminist manifestos and employment goals. Women fought long and hard to gain the right to work in sanitation, and they’re continuing that effort to open up the field more. This issue is so big that Parks and Rec even made an episode about it.


Female sewer workers have repeatedly sued the DEP for unfair treatment, seeking to open up the industry and gain equal status with their male peers. Sewer work is often targeted for its biased hiring practices. Hundreds of female candidates fight for limited available positions, but most are turned away, despite having the necessary experience and skills. Feminist workers recognize that these women are willing and able to do the work, but aren’t getting the opportunity to gain employment here.


Historically, coal mining is one of the most highly targeted careers for gender bias. Women have been petitioning for the opportunity to mine safely since the Industrial Revolution. This is actually one of the primary and best studied examples of women fighting to enter traditionally male fields. Lots of women, who both succeeded in the mines and didn’t, continue to petition for increased access to this field.

And yeah, women want white collar jobs too. Go figure - A diverse population of women, with different abilities, interests and levels of education, are all fighting for the right to seek diverse forms of employment. Fighting for equality in one sphere doesn’t mean that we’ve forgotten about the others.

Just because you aren’t paying attention to the feminist movement doesn’t mean that the feminist movement is nonexistent.

My favorite for infants was Happiest Baby on the Block: Happiest Baby on the Block

My favorite for toddler is "Raising Your Spirited Child": Raising Your Spirited Child

My favorite for breastfeeding was "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding": Womanly Art of Breastfeeding

My favorite for pumping at work was "Work, Pump, Repeat": Work, Pump, Repeat

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Enlightened Sexism and Where the Girls Are by Susan Douglas.

[Both focus on feminism as portrayed in the media, the first book is more current. Her writing style is funny and easy to read]

The World Split Open by Ruth Rosen

[A good readable history of the women's movement in the 1960s-70s]

Backlash by Susan Faludi

[really clear explanation about the antifeminist messages, esp. in the media; first published in 1991 but most of those messages are still around]

These are my picks— Susan Douglas is a special favorite among students in the US women's history classes I've been a TA for. (History and the role of the media go a long way towards explaining the state of women's rights issues today).

I'm actually reading a book that touches on this issue. The author argues that the two things all people need to achieve ambitions are recognition and the pleasure that comes from mastery, but there are biases in our society that hinder women from gaining recognition and mastery. Sounds like you hit up against the recognition problem.

Edit: Unfortunately, neither the author nor I have any advice, except maybe to keep trying. I'm also sympathetic since I've had/am having a rough time networking and securing good mentors too.

Feminism is a really vast field, with so many different stances within it. People who deride feminism when they actually disagree with a single theory or theorist are equivalent to people saying physics is terrible because they disagree with Newton.

To be frank, the anti-feminist backlash has existed since feminism existed and a single theorist/activist is not the cause of it.

The point bell hooks is making is that people should embrace their natural beauty without feeling the need to conform to what the mainstream thinks deems beautiful. She is saying that black is beautiful, and she is saying this to a world that has an extreme and well-documented history of derogating blackness. This is a powerful and valuable perspective, whether or not you agree with her take on blonde wigs.

Catherine Hakim, a British sociologist, talked about it in Work-Lifestyle Choices in the 21st Century - there are probably better books but I can only recommend the one's I've read. There's an episode of The Agenda which discusses the theory with several scientists. Steven Pinker talked about it in a (more general) debate with Elizabeth Spelke and he references a lot of studies throughout. There's also a Norweigian documentary called The Gender Equality Paradox.

They're mostly vidoes/books of scientists talking about the theory but if you want to fish out the specific studies, you're welcome to.

Two that I think are great without going back too far are Naomi Wolf's The Beauty Myth, and Female Chauvinist Pigs.

I'm looking at amazon.com and thinking of ordering a new one from bell hooks, who I've always liked. As an African-American woman, hooks has always had a broader perspective.

I'd also recommend Susan Faludi's Backlash.

Amanda Marcotte's recent It's a Jungle Out There was a quick read and good.

I'm currently looking at Valenti's Full Frontal Feminism and by Siegel and Baumgardner's Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone Wild, but they're about 4th and 5th on my current reading list and I can't yet say how I'd rate them.

Also on my reading list is Does Feminism Discriminate Against Men?: A Debate (Point/Counterpoint) by Warren Farrell, Steven Svoboda, and James P. Sterba on my list. Looking forward to that one. Warren Farrell is a former feminist and the father of the men's liberation movement. The movement had progressive roots, but I think Farrell's moved more center, and certainly the men's movement has some very conservative branches. I think it will be interesting splitting apart any anti-feminism from the pro-men's liberation stuff.

I personally don't think there's any conflict between men and women's liberation, but I want to be more informed as to the current arguments.

My friend is releasing a book in a few month about how to encourage girls to be entrepreneurial in STEM. Since their mother is already technically inclined, you could be the parent that helps them think about problems differently and encourages them to have an entrepreneurial mindset!

Thanks for the tips!
Also, for the other newbies out there: I found the book "Work, Pump, Repeat" by Jessical Shortall to be an easy read with many (seemingly) helpful tips:
https://www.amazon.com/Work-Pump-Repeat-Survival-Breastfeeding/dp/1419718703

hm, it's meant to be satirical, I hope why it's satire :)

and she worked at google and Yahoo, real world experience she has not.

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A satirical take on what it’s like to be a woman in the workplace, Cooper draws from her experience as a former executive in the world of tech (she’s a former Googler and Yahooer). You can get the book here. 

Be that as it may, Iain A Banks opens The Business with about 4 pages of phone dialog, no attributions or anything, just dialog. And it's frickin' brilliant.

http://www.amazon.com/Business-Novel-Iain-Banks/dp/0743200152

Rules, you know what they're good for...

> By no means do I consider myself a feminist.

You said that because the past couple of decades in the US have put lots of effort into reversing women's rights and equality of the sexes. The book Backlash documents the reversal of women's rights in the US.

Historically, Christianity (as was practiced in Europe) was all about ownership of women. Just look at the wedding ceremony - the ownership of the female passed from the father to the husband. That her presence in the church was sinful enough that when the priest kissed the husband (to confer the blessing of the church), the husband was to transfer some of that to the female with the magic phrase "you may now kiss the bride." All women had to be owned: by their fathers, husbands, brothers or sons. And those without worldly men to own them, they were to be owned by the church (as nuns or beguines), and for the remainder, the only male left to own the remaining (unowned) women was satan.

Alternatively, the reason for the tight control over women was to ensure that the children produced were indeed the offspring of the male. Which is why we're still so obsessed with the "legitimacy" of children.

Hey, I’m going back to work next week. I recently read Work. Pump. Repeat. and it’s helped ease my anxiety about how pumping at work is going to go. She gives you lots of tips and includes checklists. Highly recommend it for anybody who’s got questions about pumping at work.

Also, I found this book to be really useful: https://www.amazon.com/Work-Pump-Repeat-Survival-Breastfeeding/dp/1419718703/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1499743430&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=work+pump+repeat

This is a good book for a plan for going back to work.

Work. Pump. Repeat.: The New Mom's Survival Guide to Breastfeeding and Going Back to Work https://www.amazon.com/dp/1419718703/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_TEC5Bb245CNAK

The Meaning of Freedom and Other Difficult Dialogues.

The Abrahmson Effect.

Men Explain Things to Me.

I thought I'd link to the review instead of the book itself because that's how I found out about it and because it gives a nice overview of what the book is about and why it might be worth reading.

Amazon Link.

I wanna buy it but it's a bit expensive.

> Nothing illegal (by US laws at least) - including requests for pirated materials (movies/books/music).

https://www.amazon.com/Successful-without-Hurting-Mens-Feelings/dp/1449476074

Read this book.

The feminist writer Susan Faludi wrote a book in 1991 about the 80s backlash against women's liberation movements.

Books and/or magazines. It's a little old, but a copy of this is a great read, especially when you first return to work: The Milk Memos

Eta: and possibly a white noise machine (cheap one here: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0097D4ZMU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=15HYMHJ98709J&coliid=I297PE130J73O8) or radio to cover up the woosh-woosh sound of the pump, if you can hear it with the door closed. Some people are sensitive about that.

I'm not familiar with that book, could you link me to it? I'm assuming it's this one: Amazon Link

There are many more that exist, of course, but here are some of my favourites:

Bitchfest - A collection of essays from Bitch magazine

Female Chauvanist Pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture by Ariel Levy

Men explain things to me - Rebecca Solnit

Backlash - Susan Faludi

Bad feminist by Roxane Gay - I'm just in the middle of reasing this now, really enjoying it.

There was actually a book on it recently, "The Richer Sex." Basically it was about how most people think they wouldn't have a problem with it, but irl it actually pushes some buttons they didn't know they had. Women realize the stress that being the breadwinner brings and men realize how much of their self-worth derives from bringing home the bacon. Basically, it's a much more complex issue than people tend to realize before they encounter the situation themselves.

Second wave feminism (from the 1960s to the early 1980s) was about getting women into the workplace (even blue collar jobs) and creating legislation to prevent discrimination in the work place. Susan Faludi's Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women has examples in her chapter on work. Here if you look at the excerpt offered on page 398 and 405 she looks at the struggles blue collar women faced and how they fought to succeed.

Women fighting for jobs in sanitation:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mierle_Laderman_Ukeles
  
  
• http://www.nydailynews.com/news/meet-new-member-new-york-city-sexiest-strongest-article-1.989851
  
  
• http://www.nytimes.com/1987/01/31/nyregion/2-female-sanitation-workers-earning-high-marks.html
  
  Women fighting for jobs in sewers:
  
  
• http://www.nydailynews.com/news/agency-man-world-women-sewer-workers-sue-dep-unfair-treatment-article-1.418539
  
  
• http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-07-26/news/0207260005_1_construction-supervisor-deep-tunnel-william-ryan
  
  
• http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2449512/Pays-OK-hours-stink-Meet-Britains-female-SEWAGE-apprentices.html
  
  Women in coal mines! This particular job is the best studied when we're talking about women fighting to enter "dangerous male dominated jobs":
  
  
• http://libraryguides.berea.edu/womenandcoal (lots of sources here)
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Daughters-Mountain-Central-Appalachia-Studies/dp/0271029048
  
  

These cows have been trying to be the first to declare THE BACKLASH for 20 years.

For the most part no one really gives a shit about them.

http://www.amazon.com/Backlash-Undeclared-Against-American-Women/dp/0307345424/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375367253&sr=1-1
Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women [Paperback]
Susan Faludi (Author)

I remember reading Backlash by Faludi in 1992 and raging so hard at what had happened with women while I was growing up. (I was a kid and teen in the 80s). There are so many Gen X women who grew up with Reagan and the bullshit pulled on us by the religious right and yet we have plenty of role models to look up to.

A woman almost won the presidency and the only reason she lost is because of a 30 year vendetta against her, Russia supporting her candidate, and the fucking FBI director going rouge and fucking the election.

I have a young daughter and she was playing with an umbrella using it as a lightsaber so she could kill all the bad guys.

Im in my 40s so I have lived through some crappy Presidential reigns.

Though we have to fight for the next four years, or possibly even longer, this too shall pass.

welp, it depends on what facet of feminism you'd like to learn about. at it's core, it's just, women and men are equal, yeah? that's not hateful. the feminist concepts of gender equality and patriarchy are things that effect everyone, of whatever gender. the 'patriarchy' is the theory that, in this culture, men generally hold more power than women, institutionally and socially. [a lot of us prefer the word kyriarchy.] you, personally, may not feel like you hold any power in your day to day life, and you prolly don't. you're probably not rich, maybe you're not even white. so you probably don't feel super powerful. and no one's saying you are. but statistically, you have a higher chance of holding a position of power in your life. be it a cop, a ceo, or a president. you are also less statistically likely to be raped, to have your intellect doubted, etc etc. and feminism is just about breaking down the reasons our society works that way, recognizing them, and trying to get people to change those bad ways.

men aren't exempt from these issues! men are afraid of acting in ways that culture has 'feminized'. being afraid, being weak, asking for help from others are 'unmanly' practices. so when a man is abused or mentally suffering, culture tells you to suck it up or shut up. your only outlet is anger and violence, but you'll also be punished if you act too angry and violent, cause then you're being 'hysterical' and men also keep their cool.

feminists work to end pressures and violence against men and boys as well. so, i'm curious what you've read that would make you think otherwise. there are some writer who were respected in the 70s, who wrote some 'hateful' things. andrea dworkin and janice raymond come to mind. but most 'third wave feminists' [that's the current 'wave'] disagree with those things now. feminism, like science and psychology, is not a religion. it is a sphere of people working towards a common goal. many of those people are going to disagree on things, and some ideas will be left behind and moved on from. so, when you say feminism is hateful, it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. because some people who called themselves feminists were hateful, the idea of women's equality is hateful? that's sorta like saying 'science is worthless because it's not always right'. philosophical and social research and theory doesn't really work that way.

if you'd like to read whole books about the subject, i'd try these:

backlash by susan faludi
women, race, and class by angela davis
the sexual contract by carole pateman

[note, some of these are kinda old, but that's because this is fairly basic, intro stuff. newest stuff is usually about queer theory, the prison industrial complex, etc, because most of the 'women should be equal to men' stuff is kinda a given. :p]