3 Books to Read During Women's History Month
In case you didn’t get the centuries-long memo: women are freaking amazing. Resilient, smart, determined, strong as hell, and every other awesome adjective in the dictionary. Women are so amazing that all March long is Women's History Month and even yesterday was International Women’s Day. Here at Nightshift, we love celebrating badass women from all over the world. Women who push boundaries, break glass ceilings, and are always unapologetically themselves. Women who say what they mean, mean what they say, and don’t care what anyone else has to say about it.
In honor of Women's History Month, here are 3 books to read during the rest of March by women who do all of those things and more:
1 - Girls Burn Brighter: A Novel by Shobha Rao
Written by Shobha Rao, who moved to the U.S. from India when she was just seven years old, Girls Burn Brighter tells the story of Poornima and Savitha. Until Poornima’s father can find her a suitable match, she is left to care for her siblings after their mother’s death. Enter Savitha, whose joyful and independent-minded nature inspires Poornima to imagine life beyond arranged marriage. Throw in a devastating occurrence that drives Savitha away, Poornima goes on a journey to find her friend. A journey that brings her from the corners of India’s underworld to an apartment compelx in Seattle. This book alternates between the girl’s perspectives and illuminates the strength and flame of hope that burns within these two amazing women.
2- Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman by Anne Helen Petersen
Petersen is a celebrity gossip expert and Buzzfeed culture writer and in this book she takes an analytical look at how female celebrities are pushing all the boundaries of what it means to be an “acceptable” woman. We’ve all heard it before, you’re too nice, too loud, too opinionated, too sensitive, just too much. Petersen looks through the lens of “too muchness” and explores the ascension of celebrity women who embrace it: Nicki Minaj, Kim Kardashian, Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, and other badass women from politicians, to sports stars, to musical queens. This book is a conversation starter and was even voted one of NPR’s Best Books of 2017.
3 - Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics by bell hooks
bell hooks is a cultural critic, feminist theorist, writer, and one of the most badass women to know about. She’s written more than 17 books, was a professor at Yale and Oberlin, and gives amazing lectures around the world. Feminism Is for Everybody highlights feminism’s “positive promise to eliminate sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.” It’s a short read—only 138 pages—and shows readers that feminism is indeed for everybody.
Photo by Emily Marie