(Part 2) Best products from r/Feminism

I'd recommend Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs. It's an interesting view of how women are objectifying each other in the way men used to/still do. I also really enjoyed The Beauty Myth.

Thanks for joining the feminist side =D

EDIT: Spelling

I'm in the middle of reading Bell Hooks' The Will to Change. It's great, and deals with a lot of the things you have questions about. You could propose this as a book to your reading group, or if you are interested, I would love to have a discussion about the book over google hangout or something.

If anyone is interested in reading this book (or others like it), and meeting via hangout to discuss it, PM me. If the book is cost prohibitive also PM me as I'm sure we can figure something out.

I’ve heard we should all be feminists is pretty good, but if you’re looking for like a collection that highlights feminist through throughout its history I suggest Feminism: the Essential Historical Writings. It’s a really good book featuring some of the most influential and important historical essays from the feminist movement. https://www.amazon.com/Feminism-Essential-Historical-Miriam-Schneir-ebook/dp/B00KEPLC5S/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=feminism&qid=1556813691&s=gateway&sr=8-5

Incorrect. The Men's Right Movement was created long before VAWA and has been involved in legal issues long before VAWA as well. The most successful rally around law reform within the MRM would be for changes within Family Court, most notably custody and support issues.


One of the first major men's rights organizations was the Coalition of American Divorce Reform Elements, founded by Richard Doyle in 1971, from which the Men's Rights Association spun off in 1973.


In the Politics of Masculinities: Men in Movements By Michael A. Messner , the creation and motivating reasons for the creation of the MRM (as we know it now) are discussed and substantiated with multiple sources. see pages 41 42 43 44 and 45


Further suggested reading would be

Contemporary Perspectives on Masculinity: Men, Women, and Politics in Modern Society by Kenneth C. Clatterbaugh

WELCOME! For a fantastic introduction to feminism aimed at an audience of men, check out Shira Tarrant's Men in Feminism. It's wonderfully accessible, quick, and easy to read. Here it is at Amazon. Used copies for under $3! http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1580052584/ref=redir_mdp_mobile

There's a pretty fascinating book called Self Made Man about a woman playing a man for a year, and it includes a chapter on her online dating experiences.

Now, one of the reasons I thought the book could have been even more interesting is that the author's a lesbian, meaning that her dating-women-as-a-men is not really 100% 'viewing the other side for once'. But her reflections and experiences are still extremely interesting.

(I liked the chapters on the bowling nights and the online dating most - the other chapters are about situations and people that are so far out there that it's kinda hard to relate to)

I really got a lot out of The Hearts of Men by Barbara Ehrenreich and I've recommended it to guys I know.

It's really very wonderful though it should be said that you won't so much "learn about feminism" as you will see the power of a robust feminist analysis. It was written in the 80s, but I found it extremely relevant as a guy born in the late 80s.

I recommend it if you want men to understand that feminism really is for everyone--it's not something to support "because you love the women in your life."

I wasn't raised religious, so never had those issues, but my parents are feminists and read me The Paper Bag Princess (http://www.amazon.com/Paper-Bag-Princess-Annikin/dp/0920236251) and Not One Damsel In Distress, (http://www.amazon.com/Not-One-Damsel-Distress-Folktales/dp/0152020470) both of which I and my sisters loved. When they get older, Tamora Pierce has a bunch of fantasy books with female protagonists, and Diane Duane's So You Want To Be A Wizard books were also favorites.

Edit: How could I forget Madeline and Pippi?! https://www.buzzfeed.com/sarahbreen/feminist-books-ftw?utm_term=.hs2PoxVvj#.ug2KJ8X0B
Also Ella Enchanted is a great retelling of the Cinderella story, I think it's either Jane Yolen or Ursula K LeGuin

The best contemporary Marxian analysis, to vastly oversimplify, sees women as an oppressed class, with much of the labour dynamics etc. intact. Marxist's construction of the proletariat and the labour relations is inaccurate on its own terms for contemporary service industries, consumer capitalism and 'fluid' human capital (blech) but it is possible to update the critique and then through that translation include other oppressed 'classes'.

I'd recommend Nina Power's One Dimensional Woman as a quick lively primer on Marxist feminism. Power is a badass and totally lives up to her name (I have a huge crush!). There's also a bunch of other good stuff out there which I'll link to when it isn't 2am and I'm not so exhausted.

Caitlin Moran's book 'How to be a Woman' is usually a good introductory book (perhaps sometimes for late-adolescents or young adults but I read it in adulthood and still thought it was great!), it provides simple explanations of basic feminist principles and simple things to notice in life/be outraged by, in a very accessible way and it's a really entertaining and friendly read.

I also googled it and it looks like it's available in Portuguese on Amazon - I hope this helps!

edit: just saw that the Portuguese version is $34 on Amazon, which is good and bad, but it means the book has obviously been translated and maybe you could find it elsewhere on Portuguese book sites if $34 is too much (I don't speak Portuguese so can't help you there!)

While I don't have anything new to contribute to this question directly as I mostly agree with other commenters I just wanted to note the history of abortion law-- it became an issue in the 1800s because men wanted to protect women from the abortionist, and somewhere along the way the rights of the fetus became an issue as well. The Catholic church did not come out staunchly against abortion until I believe it was 1869. So from my interpretation of this, this concern for the life of the fetus is a position vastly promoted by men. Here's a great, objective read on the history if you're interested

Women should not be in the military.

Read the following books and I think you'd agree:

Weak Link: The Feminization of the American Military

Co-ed Combat: The New Evidence That Women Shouldn't Fight the Nation's Wars

Women in the Military: Flirting with Disaster

The Kinder, Gentler Military: How Political Correctness Affects Our Ability to Win Wars

Maybe it's a bit below your level as a neuroscience student, but I thought the recent book Pink Brain Blue Brain did a good job on sex differences. Basically, the author's premise is that neurological sex differences are very small (but measurable) initially, but then differentiation occurs during early childhood development, mostly as a result of social reinforcement/ influence. And that of course, due to the nature of brain development (neuroplasticity), those differences eventually become hardwired, eventually resultling in larger measurable differences in older children and adults.

In the process she revisits a lot of the literature on innate sex differences. For much of it, she calls either the data or the methodology into question, and her conclusion is that the differences are generally smaller than is often claimed (or at least that the data is not very conclusive). She also has harsh words for many self-help psychology/sex difference popularizers (like Robert Bly or Louann Brizendine), who she claims accepted the inconclusive science and ran with it.

That book is not exactly about gender in the Judith Butler sense-- she's more concerned with differences in cognition that impact parenting/ academic issues (like social/communication skills, spatial reasoning, etc). Still, I found it to be very provacative and interesting, and if nothing else it's a reminder that the popularized notions of scientific discoveries don't always align very well with the data.

Edit: damned autocorrect

Make sure you fit yourself properly first. Once you find your size, figure out your shape - different bra shapes will support different boob shapes, surprisingly. I've heard really good things about this bra though: http://www.amazon.com/Panache-Womens-Underwired-Sports-Bra/dp/B005X5FG2O/ref=cts_ap_1_fbt

This book could prove interesting : https://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Fight-Club-Survival-Workplace/dp/0062439782

I haven't read the book yet but it sounds useful. Sexism can be so subtle in a male dominated workplace that it can make one crazy. Men often say they respect good ideas period but when an idea you said an hour ago suddenly comes out of a man's mouth and it is then lauded you think, "Huh. Maybe this sexism thing isn't over."

Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy

There are feminists that address men's issues. You might check out The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity and Love by Bell Hooks.