odyssey au where everything is the same but odysseus is replaced by jean ralphio
PENNY P! You just missed the CRAZIEST of crazies. War. Gods. Monsters. Naked - MOM?!?! Betrayal. Fleeing the scene. Trapped on an island. Coming here. Disguising myself as a beggar for a week ‘cause technically I’m homeless
This is definitely one of the must-reads for any intersectional feminist. A bit dated at this point, but still important, it takes a look at the very issues of exclusion that have hindered the feminist movement since abolition days.
2. Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg
Honestly, this will just be one of the best books you’ll ever read. It’s not only an important queer, feminist book, it’s also just a beautifully told story of struggle and love.
3. Woman, Native, Other by Trinh T. Minh-ha
Minh-ha delivers a full-frontal attack against the notion of erasure as a means of unified feminism. She argues for a feminism that fights against oppression of all kinds, because women all over the world face oppression at the hands of different forces and factors. And she attacks everything that “others” everything non-white or non-Western. It’s bold and awesome and a classic of postcolonial feminist theory.
4. Assata by Assata Shakur
Assata is part memoir of the radical awakening of a young black woman in the ‘60s and ‘70s, part personal testimony of a broken, racist justice system. In all its parts it’s a lyrical, addictive read that immerses you in one of the most important eras in the Black liberation struggle. By the end you’ll be outraged, angry, and itching for revolution.
5. Random Family by Adrian LeBlanc
Adrian LeBlanc took a lot of care with this book. Working over 10 years and forming close relationships with the families she writes about, LeBlanc offers up an intimate portrait of the lives of two women in a social class that often goes overlooked or misrepresented in popular U.S. culture and scholarly study. It’s importance is in the deeply personal rather treatment, rather than the almost zoological portrayals that often befall lower economic classes.
6. Sex Workers Unite! A History of the Movement from Stonewall to Slutwalk by Melinda Chateauvert
Sex workers are often cast as unwilling victims. Melinda Chateauvert challenges this portrayal by showing that many sex workers are in fact empowered, legitimate workers and have been powerful agents of social change throughout history. This book will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about sex work.
7. The Sacred Hoop: Recovering the Feminine in American Indian Traditions by Paula Gunn Allen
An oldie but a goodie, The Sacred Hoop is a corrective on the crucial role of indigenous women in history and tribal tradition. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s an important one that asserts the presence of Native American women.
8. This Bridge Called My Back by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa
This anthology is incredible! It’s got essays, interviews, poetry, and even visual art from women of so many different backgrounds. It’s kind of what intersectional feminism should look like in book form. Or, at least, darn close to it.
9. Women and Gender in Islam by Leila Ahmed
Need to check your assumptions about Islam and the treatment of women in the Middle East? Leila Ahmed’s book is an invitation to do just that. So many stereotypes and assumptions about Muslim women and their treatment under Islam abound, but one can hardly make snap judgements about Islam any more than you can about any other religion. Ahmed dives into the text itself and the history of the Western gaze that has led to misunderstanding about Islam and gender.
10. Gender Trouble by Judith Butler
With Gender Trouble, Judith Butler went straight for bold by questioning the very notion of gender as a part of feminism. If you took a Gender Studies course in college, it was probably on the syllabus. But it’s always worth another look, considering the book was originally written in the ‘90s, when Butler’s straight talk about the complexity of gender and sexuality was pretty ground-breaking. Since then, Butler’s reconsidered some of her ideas in newer books that are also worth picking up.
11. Brick Lane by Monica Ali
Not every book you read has to be a heavy non-fiction read. Actually getting a little fiction into your intersectional diet is a healthy way to dig into perspectives outside of your own on a more personal level. Brick Lane is a look at a young Bangladeshi woman coming of age in the middle of an arranged marriage and thrust into a new culture miles away from home. Whatever perspectives you’re looking to explore, there are so many stories out there that want to be read!
12. On Intersectionality by Kimberlé Crenshaw
Since an intersectional feminist’s work is never done, naturally, you can look forward to a new book on intersectionality straight from the woman herself. Kimberlé Crenshaw’s latest comes out in October this year.
Embarrassingly, the only one of these I’ve read is Random Family, but it’s SO GOOD. I think about it literally every day.
Also for that list might I add a few of these gems, which also contain womanist works (womanism is very different from Black feminism but both are movements for and by Black women):
Women, Culture, & Politics | Angela Davis
The Meaning of Freedom: And Other Difficult Dialogues | Angela Davis
Pedagogies of Crossing: Meditations on Feminism, Sexual Politics, & the Sacred | M. Jacqui Alexander
The Womanist Idea | Layli Marpayan
But Some of Us Are Brave: All the Women are White and All the Blacks are Men | Akasha Gloria Hull
Sylvia Winter: On Being Human as Praxis | Katherine McKittrick
When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America | Paula J. Giddings
Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman | Michele Wallace
Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction,and the Meaning of Liberty | Dorothy Roberts
Revolutionary Mothering: Love on the Front Line | Alexis Pauline Gumbs
Had a dream that McDonald’s had a big ad campaign that just said “WE HAVE IT” in black cryptic writing. So I went to a drive thru and said “I saw the sign. Can I have it” and the speaker was silent for a solid ten seconds before saying “do you think you’re ready” in my voice and I screamed and drove away
Imagine twelve year old Harry not even knowing how awful his childhood with Dursleys had been until he gets to the Burrow.
Imagine him seeing Percy asleep with a book on his lap, and being baffled that a kid might feel comfortable enough in his own home to be so vulnerable in the living room.
Imagine Molly coming up to the attic to say goodnight to Ron and Harry, and Harry glancing at Ron when he hears her footsteps, trying to figure out what they had done wrong that day.
Imagine him asking George who does all the house chores, and thinking it’s a joke when George answers, “we all do.”
Imagine Ginny pestering Arthur with questions over the Daily Prophet, and Harry trying to shoot her warning looks to stop it! but then Mr. Weasley looks up and patiently answers every single one.
Imagine Bill popping in for a visit one evening and Harry being floored when Bill stops to chat with him.
Imagine Fred chasing after Harry in the yard, playfighting, but Harry actually begins to run for real fear of being hurt.
Imagine Molly burning something on the stove my accident and tossing it, imagine Harry mentioning to Ron, offhandedly, “she could’ve given that one to me, it’s what I eat at home when I mess up dinner” and not knowing why Ron is horrified.
Imagine Harry seeing what a normal, functioning family looks like, and realizing the absence of love in his own life.
If I were Harry Potter I would have addressed Voldemort as “Tim Riddle.” He’d be like “IT’S TOM RIDDLE. ALSO, IT’S NOT TOM RIDDLE, IT’S VOLDEMORT.” Ahahaha classic Tim.
Can we get a fanfic of this?
“Hey, look,” Harry Potter said, “It’s Tim Riddle.”
“IT’S TOM RIDDLE,” Voldemort whined back, “ALSO, IT’S NOT TOM RIDDLE, IT’S VOLDEMORT.”
