Book: The Essence of Feminism
A book written by an ex-feminist. Kirsten Birkett started out as a feminist, but changed her opinion as a result of the research she went through for the book. Despite aiming to be a dispassionate critique, there are moments in her arguments where a Christian world-view creeps in. Overall, it was a good way to get an introduction to the history of feminism.
Before reading the book, I wouldn’t have been able to separate the idea of women being able to vote, work for a reasonable salary, or have rights in society from feminism, but now I see feminism as a more complex philosophy. Birkett argues that to be useful, feminism needs to work out what it wants apart from “equality with men” – such a concept is too ill-defined to be useful. Worth a read.