Rolodex of Feminism and Moving Forth

After a brief conversation last night trying to help a friend find a word/term for describing a group of feminist from author Ruth Rosen, I realized how much of a feminist virgin I am. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have a whole line of blog entries to fill here of all of my personal experiences of being, acting, and learning feminism.

Putting that aside, what I am really lacking is the education of past feminist writings. I have wished, on a number of occasions, that I could rent a hotel room for a week and just read all the books that are on my third shelf. Room service would be frequent and bath time would be full of bubbles and books. Here is a short list or bibliography of sorts that feature my not yet finished books, barely cracked spines, and the books I should have read a long time ago.

1.) The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America by Ruth Rosen (2000)
2.) Sexual Politics by Kate Millett (1969)
3.) Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi (1992)
4.) Epistemology of the Closet by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (1990)
5.) Gender Trouble by Judith Butler (1990)
6.) Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations by bell hooks (1994)
7.) Different Daughters: A History of the Daughters of Bilitis and the Rise of the Lesbian Rights Movement by Marcia M. Gallo (2007)
8.) Women, Race and Class by Angela Davis (1983)

What else is on the shelf?

1.) Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons (2003)
2.) When Everything Changed by Gail Collins (2009)
3.) Girls Speak Out by Andrea Johnston and Gloria Steinem (2005)
4.) Faces of Feminism: An Activist’s Reflections on the Women’s Movement by Sheila Tobias (1998)
5.) Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism’s Work is Done by Susan J. Douglas (2010)
6.) Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists by J. Courtney Sullivan and Courtney E. Martin (2010)
7.) Stonewall by Martin Bauml Duberman (1994)
8.) To Be Real: Telling the Truth and Changing the Face of Feminism by Rebecca Walker (1995)

With this wish of one day spending seven days (or more) dedicating myself to reading other feminist works, I’ll keep in mind that we all come to our own in our own time. I’ll also remind myself that it took me a few years to set the wheels in motion to research other feminist artist and I’m still adding to the list today.

The bottom line to this experience last night was that I enjoyed trying to help figure out the missing link and I look forward to future discussions that bring the past into the present; adding to my rolodex of feminism and moving forth.