Feminism

January 1, 2016

Gr 6 Up-Young people interested in learning more about the history of women's rights in America will gain much from this well-written review of feminism. Higgins discusses the negative connotation attached to the concept, following up with a detailed explanation of the goals and theories behind modern-day feminism. She then takes readers on a historical journey through the three waves of feminism and covers suffrage, abortion rights, forced sterilization, and the demand for equal rights. Higgins also touches on how the newest incarnation of feminism seeks to expose how race, class, ability, age, and sexual orientation affect the female experience. Wage gap issues, violence against women, and unrealistic beauty standards are all reviewed in separate chapters, supported by photographs and statistics that amplify the impact of the heavy topics. Higgins concludes by considering how young feminists might move forward in the digital age. Ample back matter encourages readers to seek out information and take action. This informative, impeccably researched investigation of the history of feminism will do more than fill a collection gap-it firmly emphasizes that feminism and feminist are not dirty words. VERDICT A highly recommended first purchase.-Abby Bussen, Muskego Public Library, WI

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2015
This small, colorful book introduces readers to the complexities of an ever evolving movement, drawing partly on world history but mainly concentrating on the United States in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The introduction, "Are you a feminist?" gives an excellent historical overview and then, noting the controversial nature of this "f-word," offers definitions to ponder. The six chapters that follow cover an enormous breadth of material--including workplace discrimination, Guerilla Girls, rape culture, reproductive and gender justice, and more--presented in short, accessible paragraphs and charts. Disagreements among feminists are discussed without judgment. There is some questionable use of statistics, but that is not too problematic, since anyone who reads the book will feel compelled to do further research. Oddly, the artwork misses the mark more than once. For example, the photograph of Kelly Clarkson is not the controversial one described in the text. Also, it seems silly to show thin, white Ashley Judd in a T-shirt that says, "This is what a feminist looks like" in a book emphasizing intersectionality and inclusion. Why not show an Asian-American man wearing it, for example? Equally disconcerting in this mostly progressive book is its apparent conflation of minimum wage and living wage and, in its thumbnail biographies, the inclusion of Ms. magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem but not co-founder Dorothy Pitman Hughes. A good starting point for discussions. (timeline, glossary, source notes, bibliography, further information, resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from February 1, 2016
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* Feminism has come a long way from the fight for suffrage, and in its current manifestation, it can be difficult for some to determine precisely what feminism stands for or, indeed, if it's necessary at all. It seems like women have more freedom than ever, but, as these two titles emphasize, in both the political and personal spheres, there's a lot of ground yet to cover. Higgins' Feminism: Reinventing the F-Word offers a comprehensive and stunningly up-to-date account of the history of feminism. She begins with the basicskey terms, long-held beliefs about the inequality of the sexes, the history of transactional marriage arrangements, legal limits on women's rights, etc.before launching into milestone moments from the last century, such as the Nineteenth Amendment and Betty Friedan's earth-shaking 1963 manifesto, The Feminine Mystique. That historical coverage is relatively brief, however, because the meat of Higgins' volume is the myriad ways feminism has changed in the past few decades, thanks to the ever-widening scope of the movement. Higgins expertly and clearly tracks the rise of intersectionalitythe idea that feminism should focus on issues facing all women, not just those facing white, middle-class womenby following up descriptions of major beliefs or actions of feminists with criticisms raised by other women in the movement. It's a remarkably effective tactic for tracing the splintering, spiraling growth of feminism while simultaneously showcasing perhaps the biggest concern of contemporary feminism: How do you construct a movement encompassing such a wide, varied range of issues facing more than half the world's population? Higgins' answer, of course, isn't a wholesale elimination of feminism; rather, her point seems to be that there's a place for all concerns facing womeneven if those concerns are contradictory, muddled, and far from perfectand the best way to advocate for women worldwide is to empower them to stand up for themselves. With plenty of grassroots organizations listed in the back matter and photos of a diverse array of women, cis and otherwise, peppering the pages, Higgins invites burgeoning feminists to find their own places among the vast movement.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)