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The Portable Feminist Reader

Edited by Roxane Gay
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Paperback
$25.00 US
Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Classics
5.08"W x 7.66"H x 1.15"D  
On sale Mar 25, 2025 | 672 Pages | 9780143110392
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A dynamic and strikingly relevant look at a feminist canon as expansive rather than definitive

A Penguin Classic

For Roxane Gay, a feminist canon is subjective and always evolving. A feminist canon represents a long history of feminist scholarship, embraces skepticism, and invites robust discussion and debate. Selected writings by ancient, historic, and more recent feminist voices include Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, Anna Julia Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Dorothy Allison, Leslie Feinberg, Eileen Myles, Mona Eltahawy, bell hooks, Sara Ahmed, Cherríe Moraga, Audre Lorde, The Guerrilla Girls, and many more. With an introduction, headnotes, and an inspired list of multimedia recommendations, Roxane Gay presents multicultural perspectives, ecofeminism, feminism and disability, feminist labor, gender perspectives, and Black feminism. Through the Portable Feminist Reader, readers explore the state of American feminism, its successes and failures, and what feminism looks like in practice, as a complex, contradictory, personal and political, and ever-growing legacy of feminist thought.
Introduction by Roxane Gay
A Note on the Text

THE PORTABLE FEMINIST READER

Part I: Laying a Foundation
“Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex” by Kimberlé Crenshaw
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh
"Derailing for Dummies" by Unknown
“No More Miss America” by Various
“Feminism Is So Last Week” by Jessica Valenti
“Women’s March Guiding Vision and Definition of Principles” by Various

Part II: Early Feminist Texts
“Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex” by Henricus Cornelius Agrippa
A Serious Proposal to the Ladies by Marie Astell
A Brief Summary, in Plain Language, of the Most Important Laws concerning Women; Together with a Few Observations Thereon by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
“Are Women a Class?” by Lillie Devereux Blake
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“The Higher Education of Women” by Anna Julia Cooper
“On Women’s Right to Vote” by Susan B. Anthony
“The Black and White of It" (from Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases) by Ida B. Wells

Part III: Multicultural Perspectives
“Under Western Eyes” by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
“Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?: Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod
“Why Do They Hate Us?” (from Headscarves and Hymens) by Mona Eltahawy
“La Guera” by Cherríe Moraga
“La Prieta” by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
“Growing Up as a Brown Girl: My Chonga Manifesto” by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez
“I Am Woman” by Lee Maracle
“Sovereignty of the Soul: Exploring the Intersection of Rape Law Reform and Federal Indian Law” by Sarah Deer

Part IV: Feminist Labors
“The Laugh of the Medusa” by Hélène Cixous
“The Politics of Housework” by Pat Mainardi
“I Want a Wife” by Judy (Syfers) Brady
“Women and the Myth of Consumerism” by Ellen Willis
“A Question of Class” by Dorothy Allison
“The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist” by the Guerrilla Girls
“Men Explain Things to Me” by Rebecca Solnit

Part V: Gender Considerations
“A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century” by Donna J. Haraway
“The Woman-Identified Woman” by Radicalesbians
“Women Like Me” by Wendy Rose
“We Are All Works in Progress” by Leslie Feinberg
“Girl” by Alexander Chee
Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein
“Being Female” by Eileen Myles
“Volcano Dreams” by Gabrielle Bellot

Part VI: Black Feminism(s)
“The Combahee River Collective Statement” by Various
“Race, Gender, and the Prison Industrial Complex” by Angela Y. Davis and Cassandra Shaylor
“The Uses of Anger” by Audre Lorde
“Holding My Sister’s Hand” by bell hooks
“In the Name of Beauty” by Tressie McMillan Cottom
“The Problem with Sass” by Brittney Cooper
“The Meaning of Serena Williams” by Claudia Rankine
“Black Girls Don’t Get to Be Depressed” by Samantha Irby

Part VII: Sexual Politics
“Manifesto of the 343 Sluts” by Simone de Beauvoir
“Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality” by Gayle S. Rubin
“The Sexual Geopolitics of Popular Culture and Transnational Black Feminism” by Janell Hobson
“Rape Joke” by Patricia Lockwood
“If Men Could Menstruate” by Gloria Steinem
“Assume the Position” by Patricia Hill Collins
“Hooters Chicken” by Lizz Huerta
“I Used to Give Men Mercy” by Terese Mailhot
“Happy Hookers” by Melissa Gira Grant
“Your Ass or Mine” by Virginie Despentes
“To the Man Who Shouted ‘I Like Pork Fried Rice’ at Me on the Street” by Franny Choi

Part VIII: Feminist Praxis
“Ecofeminism: Toward Global Justice and Planetary Health” by Greta Gaard and Lori Gruen
“Gendered Geographies and Narrative Markings” by Mishuana Goeman
“Slow” by Susan Stinson
“Feminism and Disability” by Jenny Morris
“Toward a Feminist Theory of Disability” by Susan Wendell
“Sick Woman Theory” by Johanna Hedva
“Making Space Accessible Is an Act of Love for Our Communities” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna- Samarasinha

Part IX: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
“Sisterhood Is Powerful” by Susan Brownmiller
“Killing Joy: Feminism and the History of Happiness” by Sara Ahmed

Acknowledgments
Suggestions for Further Reading/Watching/Seeing/Listening
Credits
“It’s up to all of us to remember why we devote a month to the accomplishments and sacrifices of women throughout history. This volume, featuring pieces from authors including Dorothy Allison, Eileen Myles and bell hooks, celebrates feminist scholarship and offers up a modern vision of the feminist canon.”—The Seattle Times

“This book makes feminism urgent, perhaps more than ever before. (…) Worth picking up for Gay’s introspective yet inclusive introduction alone, this new collection provides accessible entry points into feminism and offers even advanced scholars new ways of viewing the complex, intersectional histories of feminist thought, literature, and action.” —Starred Library Journal

“[An] excellent, expansive collection. (…) Readers will be engrossed by this dynamic and engaging collection.” —Booklist

“With its capacious perspective, the collection speaks to a range of feminist concerns, past, present, and future. (…) A timely, spirited collection.” —Kirkus Review

“This volume includes newer feminist classics chosen by the incomparable Roxane Gay. From Anna Julia Cooper and Cherríe Moraga to Mona Eltahawy and Sara Ahmed, the pieces here expand the canon just when we need it most.” —Ms. Magazine

About

A dynamic and strikingly relevant look at a feminist canon as expansive rather than definitive

A Penguin Classic

For Roxane Gay, a feminist canon is subjective and always evolving. A feminist canon represents a long history of feminist scholarship, embraces skepticism, and invites robust discussion and debate. Selected writings by ancient, historic, and more recent feminist voices include Henricus Cornelius Agrippa, Anna Julia Cooper, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Dorothy Allison, Leslie Feinberg, Eileen Myles, Mona Eltahawy, bell hooks, Sara Ahmed, Cherríe Moraga, Audre Lorde, The Guerrilla Girls, and many more. With an introduction, headnotes, and an inspired list of multimedia recommendations, Roxane Gay presents multicultural perspectives, ecofeminism, feminism and disability, feminist labor, gender perspectives, and Black feminism. Through the Portable Feminist Reader, readers explore the state of American feminism, its successes and failures, and what feminism looks like in practice, as a complex, contradictory, personal and political, and ever-growing legacy of feminist thought.

Table of Contents

Introduction by Roxane Gay
A Note on the Text

THE PORTABLE FEMINIST READER

Part I: Laying a Foundation
“Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex” by Kimberlé Crenshaw
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” by Peggy McIntosh
"Derailing for Dummies" by Unknown
“No More Miss America” by Various
“Feminism Is So Last Week” by Jessica Valenti
“Women’s March Guiding Vision and Definition of Principles” by Various

Part II: Early Feminist Texts
“Declamation on the Nobility and Preeminence of the Female Sex” by Henricus Cornelius Agrippa
A Serious Proposal to the Ladies by Marie Astell
A Brief Summary, in Plain Language, of the Most Important Laws concerning Women; Together with a Few Observations Thereon by Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon
“Are Women a Class?” by Lillie Devereux Blake
“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
“The Higher Education of Women” by Anna Julia Cooper
“On Women’s Right to Vote” by Susan B. Anthony
“The Black and White of It" (from Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases) by Ida B. Wells

Part III: Multicultural Perspectives
“Under Western Eyes” by Chandra Talpade Mohanty
“Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?: Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others” by Lila Abu-Lughod
“Why Do They Hate Us?” (from Headscarves and Hymens) by Mona Eltahawy
“La Guera” by Cherríe Moraga
“La Prieta” by Gloria E. Anzaldúa
“Growing Up as a Brown Girl: My Chonga Manifesto” by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez
“I Am Woman” by Lee Maracle
“Sovereignty of the Soul: Exploring the Intersection of Rape Law Reform and Federal Indian Law” by Sarah Deer

Part IV: Feminist Labors
“The Laugh of the Medusa” by Hélène Cixous
“The Politics of Housework” by Pat Mainardi
“I Want a Wife” by Judy (Syfers) Brady
“Women and the Myth of Consumerism” by Ellen Willis
“A Question of Class” by Dorothy Allison
“The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist” by the Guerrilla Girls
“Men Explain Things to Me” by Rebecca Solnit

Part V: Gender Considerations
“A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century” by Donna J. Haraway
“The Woman-Identified Woman” by Radicalesbians
“Women Like Me” by Wendy Rose
“We Are All Works in Progress” by Leslie Feinberg
“Girl” by Alexander Chee
Gender Outlaw by Kate Bornstein
“Being Female” by Eileen Myles
“Volcano Dreams” by Gabrielle Bellot

Part VI: Black Feminism(s)
“The Combahee River Collective Statement” by Various
“Race, Gender, and the Prison Industrial Complex” by Angela Y. Davis and Cassandra Shaylor
“The Uses of Anger” by Audre Lorde
“Holding My Sister’s Hand” by bell hooks
“In the Name of Beauty” by Tressie McMillan Cottom
“The Problem with Sass” by Brittney Cooper
“The Meaning of Serena Williams” by Claudia Rankine
“Black Girls Don’t Get to Be Depressed” by Samantha Irby

Part VII: Sexual Politics
“Manifesto of the 343 Sluts” by Simone de Beauvoir
“Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality” by Gayle S. Rubin
“The Sexual Geopolitics of Popular Culture and Transnational Black Feminism” by Janell Hobson
“Rape Joke” by Patricia Lockwood
“If Men Could Menstruate” by Gloria Steinem
“Assume the Position” by Patricia Hill Collins
“Hooters Chicken” by Lizz Huerta
“I Used to Give Men Mercy” by Terese Mailhot
“Happy Hookers” by Melissa Gira Grant
“Your Ass or Mine” by Virginie Despentes
“To the Man Who Shouted ‘I Like Pork Fried Rice’ at Me on the Street” by Franny Choi

Part VIII: Feminist Praxis
“Ecofeminism: Toward Global Justice and Planetary Health” by Greta Gaard and Lori Gruen
“Gendered Geographies and Narrative Markings” by Mishuana Goeman
“Slow” by Susan Stinson
“Feminism and Disability” by Jenny Morris
“Toward a Feminist Theory of Disability” by Susan Wendell
“Sick Woman Theory” by Johanna Hedva
“Making Space Accessible Is an Act of Love for Our Communities” by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna- Samarasinha

Part IX: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
“Sisterhood Is Powerful” by Susan Brownmiller
“Killing Joy: Feminism and the History of Happiness” by Sara Ahmed

Acknowledgments
Suggestions for Further Reading/Watching/Seeing/Listening
Credits

Praise

“It’s up to all of us to remember why we devote a month to the accomplishments and sacrifices of women throughout history. This volume, featuring pieces from authors including Dorothy Allison, Eileen Myles and bell hooks, celebrates feminist scholarship and offers up a modern vision of the feminist canon.”—The Seattle Times

“This book makes feminism urgent, perhaps more than ever before. (…) Worth picking up for Gay’s introspective yet inclusive introduction alone, this new collection provides accessible entry points into feminism and offers even advanced scholars new ways of viewing the complex, intersectional histories of feminist thought, literature, and action.” —Starred Library Journal

“[An] excellent, expansive collection. (…) Readers will be engrossed by this dynamic and engaging collection.” —Booklist

“With its capacious perspective, the collection speaks to a range of feminist concerns, past, present, and future. (…) A timely, spirited collection.” —Kirkus Review

“This volume includes newer feminist classics chosen by the incomparable Roxane Gay. From Anna Julia Cooper and Cherríe Moraga to Mona Eltahawy and Sara Ahmed, the pieces here expand the canon just when we need it most.” —Ms. Magazine

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