List of feminist literature


The following is a list of feminist literature, listed by year of first publication, then within the year alphabetically by title. Books and magazines are in italics, all other types of literature are not and are in quotation marks. References lead when possible to a link to the full text of the literature.

14th century

De Mulieribus Claris, Giovanni Boccaccio

15th century

The Book of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pisan The Treasure of the City of Ladies, Christine de Pisan The Tale of Joan of Arc, Christine de Pisan

16th century

Orlando Furioso Canto 37, Ludovico Ariosto The Superior Excellence of Women Over Men, Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa The Defense of Good Women, Thomas Elyot La Nobiltà delle Donne, The Nobility of Women, Lodovico Domenichi Difese delle Donne, A Defence of Women, Domenico Bruni da Pistoia La bella e dotta difesa delle donne in verso, e prosa, di messer Luigi Dardano... contra gli accusatori del sesso loro. Con un breue trattato di ammaestrare li figliuoli, The Beautiful and Learned Defence of Women in Verse, Prose... against the detractors of their sex, with a brief tract to be administered to sons, Luigi Dardano Discorso sopra il Principio di Tutti I Canti di Orlando Furioso, Discourse on the Principles of all the Canti of Orlando Furioso, Laura Terracina Le Promenoir de M. de Montaigne qui traite de l'amour dans l'œuvre de Plutarque, Marie le Jars de Gournay Her Protection for Women, Jane Anger

17th century

The Worth of Women, Il Merito delle Donne, Moderata Fonte
  • "Poem 92, called Philosophical Satire", Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz The Nobility and Excellence of Women and the Defects and Vices of Men, Lucrezia Marinella A Muzzle for Melastomus, the Cynical Baiter of, and Foul-mouthed Barker Against Eve's Sex. Or An Apologetical Answer to that Irreligious and Illiterate Pamphlet Made by Jo. Sw. And By Him Entitled, "The Arraignment of Women", Rachel Speght Ester Hath Hang'd Haman: An Answer To a Lewd Pamphlet, Entitled "The Arraignment of Women," With the Arraignment of Lewd, Idle Forward, and Unconstant Men, and Husbands, Ester Sowernam Swetnam the Woman-Hater, Anonymous Égalité des hommes et des femmes, Marie Le Jars de Gournay, translated into English as The Equality of Men and Women Grief des dames, Marie Le Jars de Gournay, translated into English as The Ladies' GrievanceWomen's Speaking Justified, Proved, and Allowed of by the Scriptures, All such as speak by the Spirit and Power of the Lord Jesus. And how Women were the first that Preached the Tidings of the Resurrection of Jesus, and were sent by Christ's own Command, before he Ascended to the Father, John 20. 17., Margaret Fell An Essay to Revive the Antient Education of Gentlewomen in Religion, Manners, Arts & Tongues, with An Answer to the Objections Against this Way of Education., Bathsua Makin De l'égalité des deux sexes, François Poullain de la Barre De l'Éducation des dames pour la conduite de l'esprit dans les sciences et dans les mœurs, entretiens, François Poullain de la Barre La Princesse de Clèves, Madame de La Fayette Female Advocate or, an Answer to a Late Satyr Against the Pride, Lust and Inconstancy, &c. of Woman. Written by a Lady in Vindication of her Sex, Sarah Fyge Egerton A Serious Proposal to the Ladies, for the Advancement of Their True and Greatest Interest, Mary Astell An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex. In Which Are Inserted the Characters of a Pedant, a Squire, a Beau, a Vertuoso, a Poetaster, a City-Critick, &c. In a Letter to a Lady. Written by a Lady, Judith Drake A Serious Proposal, Part II, Mary Astell The Adventure of the Black Lady, Aphra Behn

18th century

Some Reflections Upon Marriage, Occasioned by the Duke and Dutchess of Mazarine's Case; Which is Also Considered., Mary Astell The Ladies' Defence, Or, a Dialogue Between Sir John Brute, Sir William Loveall, Melissa, and a Parson, Lady Mary Chudleigh The Education of Women, Daniel Defoe The Emulation, Sarah Fyge The Woman's Labour, Mary Collier Letters from a Peruvian Woman, Françoise de Graffigny The Female Quixote, Charlotte Lennox An Essay on Woman in Three Epistles, Mary Leapor Je ne sçai quoi: or, A collection of letters, odes, &c., Never before published. By a Lady, Anne B. Poyntz Letters on Women's Rights, Abigail and John Adams Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Complacency, Especially in Female Bosoms, Judith Sargent Murray Philosophie eines Weibs: Von einer Beobachterin, Marianne Ehrmann Mary: A Fiction, Mary Wollstonecraft Petition of Women of the Third Estate to the King

19th century

1810s–1820s

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen

1830s

Indiana, George Sand

1840s

1850s

The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne Woman and Her Needs, Elizabeth Oakes Smith

1860s

1870s

1880s

Mizora, Mary Lane Common Sense About Women, Thomas Wentworth Higginson Women and the Alphabet: A Series of Essays, Thomas Wentworth Higginson Die Frauenfrage in Deutschland, Augusta Bender The Constitutional Rights of the Women of the United States, Isabella Beecher Hooker The Story of an African Farm, Olive Schreiner The Woman in her House, Concepción Arenal What Shall We Do With our Daughters? Superfluous Women and Other Lectures, Mary A. Livermore

1890s

20th century

1900s

1910s

Love and Marriage, Ellen Key Marriage and Love, Emma Goldman Moving the Mountain, Charlotte Perkins Gilman Our Androcentric Culture, or The Man Made World, Charlotte Perkins Gilman

1920s

Communism and the Family, Alexandra Kollontai

1930s

Proud Man, Katharine Burdekin Women in Music, edited by Frédérique Petrides Nightwood, Djuna Barnes Swastika Night, Katharine Burdekin Three Guineas, Virginia Woolf

1940s

Are Women Paid Men's Rates?, Robert L. Day, Lucy G. Woodcock, and Muriel Heagney of the Council of Action for Equal Pay Laura, Vera Caspary Woman as a Force in History. A Study in Traditions and Realities, Mary Ritter Beard The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

Dominant Constructions of Women and Nature in Social Science Literature, Brinda Rao

21st century

2000s

Feminism Is for Everybody: Passionate Politics, bell hooks Feminist Theory Manifesta: Young women, Feminism and the Future, Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards Scapegoat: The Jews, Israel, and Women's Liberation, Andrea Dworkin

2010s

Big Girls Don't Cry: The Election That Changed Everything for American Women, Rebecca Traister Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists, edited by Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference, Cordelia Fine Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work Is Done, Susan J. Douglas No Excuses: 9 Ways Women Can Change How We Think About Power, Gloria Feldt Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV, Jennifer L. Pozner Sensible Sensuality, Sarojini Sahoo Beauty Queens, Libba Bray Cinderella Ate My Daughter, Peggy Orenstein How to Be a Woman, Caitlin Moran philoSOPHIA Sister Species: Women, Animals and Social Justice, edited by Lisa A. Kemmerer A Marriage Agreement and Other Essays: Four Decades of Feminist Writing, Alix Kates Shulman Cinnamon, Samar Yazbek Being and Being Bought: Prostitution, Surrogacy and the Split Self, Kajsa Ekis Ekman

2020s

Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall Men Who Hate Women, Laura Bates
  • "This is what happens", Chris Wind Women Don't Owe You Pretty, Florence Given Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh: India's Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence, Shrayana Bhattacharya The Hive: A Short Story About The Future, Bibiana Krall Women and Work: The Sky Is Full of Sexism, Rahul Kapoor Fighting Words: notes for a future we won't have, Peg Tittle Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus Undead Sexist Cliches: Bad Anti-Woman Arguments Someone Should Drive a Stake Through, Fraser Sherman Godkiller, Hannah Kaner The Madonna Secret, Sophie Strand Abortion: Our Bodies, Their Lies, and the Truths We Use to Win, Jessica Valenti Feminism in the Kamala Harris Era: Sex, Violence, Anarchism, Liberals & Liberation, Sterling Harwood DILF: Did I Leave Feminism, Jude Doyle Flipping Patriarchy: Imagining a gender-swapped world, Man Who Has It All Feminist Haikus, Lisa Michelechild