Book Recommendations for Women’s History Month on Social Justice and Gender

In celebration of Women’s History Month, Candid’s online librarians have compiled a special collection of books by and about women. These eBooks and audiobooks examine topics such as how the gender gap in data results in scientific bias, the history and future of feminist movements at the intersection of sexism and racism, and how women’s empowerment can change the world. The selection also features titles by women leaders, including Candid CEO Ann Mei Chang.

While the collection includes dozens of titles, here are nine essential reads:

The lack of data and research on women over centuries has created and perpetuated systemic bias and discrimination in the sciences and across sectors. Curated for Women’s History Month, these books examine some of the contributing factors and build the case for greater inclusion:

• Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez. From economic development to health care to education and public policy, we rely on data to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But “because so much data fails to take into account gender and because it treats men as the default,” argues Criado Perez, “bias and discrimination are baked into our systems.”

• Glass Walls: Shattering the Six Gender Bias Barriers Still Holding Women Back at Work by Amy Diehl and Leanne M. Dzubinski. The researchers identify male privilege, disproportionate constraints, insufficient support, devaluation, hostility, and acquiescence as core factors behind workplace inequality and offer a framework for understanding and addressing those barriers.

• Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong and the New Research That’s Rewriting the Story by Angela Saini. “Women are so grossly underrepresented in modern science because, for most of history, they were treated as intellectual inferiors and deliberately excluded from it,” writes Saini. “It should come as no surprise, then, that this same scientific establishment has also painted a distorted picture of the female sex.”

Building intersectional feminist movements

The fight for women’s rights intersects with multiple other movements for equality, yet it has not always been inclusive. If you want to learn about how feminist movements can help advance equality and justice for all communities of women, here are some titles to get you started:

• The Everyday Feminist: The Key to Sustainable Social Impact Driving Movements We Need Now More than Ever by Latanya Mapp Frett. The work of everyday feminists—many of whom are Black, Indigenous, and other people of color—is often underfunded and their profound social impact overlooked, yet important, because they are uniquely positioned to create solutions based on lived experience. Read Philanthropy News Digest’s (PND) review.

• Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall. “Mainstream feminists tend to disregard how race, class, sexual orientation, and ability intersect with gender. How can we stand in solidarity,” Kendall asks, “when some women likely are oppressing others?”

• White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind by Koa Beck. “In a time of alleged heightened ‘feminism,’ women of color and poor women are being left behind,” writes the former editor-in-chief of Jezebel, “and yet the trappings that uniquely target us, like poverty, incarceration, police brutality, and immigration, aren’t often quantified as ‘feminist issues.’”

Read the full article about women's history month by Christy Rilette at Candid. Read the full article