These are some (Feminist) books you can read as a feminist, an ally, an activist, a socialist and as just a random person who wants to understand the hell that’s going on in our world.
FEMINISM FOR THE 99%, A MANIFESTO
Three women wrote this book together and my first reaction was chuckling to “women are the problems of women in the mud.”
This book exposes how liberal feminism ain’t no feminism at all. By the time you’re done, you’d cry if anyone labels you a liberal feminist. The exposure of liberal feminism reaches a crescendo on page 53 and it got me saying liberal feminism is actually glorified Patriarchy that cares about its own rights but has a problem with the rights of others.
This book explains how feminism can never be effective until you start realizing that dismantling Patriarchy is not the end goal. The grandmaster is capitalism and for a woman, for everybody to be free irrespective of the gender, we must combat capitalism and bring it to its knees.
Actually, I think capitalism is self-sabotaging and if only we could all understand the great importance of intersectionalism, it would be a piece of cake achieving equality. I was bored reading this book in the beginning mainly because I was used to narrative styles of writing and because I already knew about the ideas being preached. However, this book got madly interesting (for me) from page 67 down to somewhere around page 80. It mentioned a concept called “social reproduction” or “people making.” My brain went haywire and I connected the dots so fast.
“Damn! This is why Patriarchy needs to sexualize and objectify women’s bodies? This is why they won’t let us abort? This is why women’s bodies get privatized so bad? Profit is the end game!”
It dawned on me that we’re fighting a messenger which is Patriarchy. The big boss is a monster called capitalism tightly guarded by other messengers like racism, ageism, and religion. I would make analyses on this later, especially about social reproduction. You wouldn’t read that book if I start regurgitating everything therein now, would you? 🙂
It could be a bit complex at first especially if you don’t have any foundation whatsoever about capitalism. It took me a lot of time before I willingly started trying to understand capitalism myself. I was a feminist and I didn’t have any business with being a socialist right? Until I stated connecting the dots.
The next books are very simple and enjoyable; one’s a narrative and the other is a comic-styled book about two women.
A REBEL’S GUIDE TO ALEXANDRA KOLLONTAI and RED ROSA
These books explain the roles of notable women in the Russian and German revolutions. They made me see that feminism is very vital for a revolution to be successful, emphasis on successful, in any country. It’s even common sense actually. You don’t keep half of the masses down and expect a revolution to be successful and sustained, it’s purely common sense and I laugh at our so-called revolutionaries in Nigeria who are misogynistic. I wonder where they derive their own ideas of revolution from because looking at past male leaders of revolution, they worked side by side with women, they understood the need for women to even be parts of the leadership and here they are in my country, making Misogyny a necessary ingredient for a revolution?
The first book is about the participations of Kollontai in the Russian revolution. I’d say that’s the first woman in history to which intersectionalism could be remotely linked to. I don’t know who I like more between Kollontai and Rosa Luxembourg whom the second comical book is about. I think this is the book I’m buying any child in whom I can see any sort of resistance. I think I like Rosa more. She’s very brilliant, she’s courageous and I would love to meet her in so many other people because the bodies don’t matter, the spirits do. You know she never married and have kids? She’s a “cat lady” in the words of misogynists. She only married for German citizenship and the “couple” departed immediately after the wedding. She was polyamorous too.
She would make me understand the importance of writing and educating the masses. Many times I wonder if it’s worth it y’know? Typing and typing away and arguing but she made me see that not only is it important, it is necessary. She made me understand the power of organizing people of like-minds or at least those very close to your ideas. You cannot be a lone ranger, you’ll be drawn out and crushed in no time.
RED ROSA explains capitalism the way anyone would explain to a child, you can see this on page 16-22.
I think reading about her “woke me up” from my slumber, and the breaking point and shattering of whatever lingering fears in my heart was a time Rosa got arrested and was stripped naked. What more indignity could be done to a woman in a Patriarchal world? I expected her to be subdued y’know? But hell no! This fierce woman would hit one of the guards’ head out of anger later when her friend came to see her in prison.
The guard said their time was up and she hit him like “shut the fuck up! We’re discussing the revolution!” (My words). This woman didn’t even recognize any indignity or even death any more. She was the revolution, the revolution was her. They were one, married in body, soul and spirit. She honestly woke me the fuck up! My awakening would reach a funny crescendo when I read the next book:
A REBEL’S GUIDE TO MALCOLM X
I think Malcolm had a very rich life even if it was cut short. He’s about the second man I’ll ever forgive and excuse for being sexist, the first being Fela Anikulapo. I feel they would have done better if they knew better. I am sure they wouldn’t have been sexist if they had enough knowledge and their circumstances were different. Maybe I am being biased, or maybe they went about their activism and clamour for liberation with so much passion that I could sense their genuineness.
Almost every sexist man I’ve met knows it’s wrong, but they’ll openly defend sexism because they need to protect their so-called privileges so bad. I don’t think Malcom and Fela tried to protect any privileges, they were genuinely ignorant (I guess) and ignorance is not something present-day revolutionaries must accommodate in our personal lives.
My favourite quotes of Malcolm’s are: “… by any means necessary” and “extremism in defence of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue.”
This second quote had me screaming yes yes yes!!!
Malcolm understood the assignment of intersectionalism to an extent, to an extent because like I’ve already pointed out, he was sexist. And I’m glad the Black Panther overcame that limitation when they emerged after Malcolm’s death. This is the point of history, especially the history of past revolutionaries. We read about them, their ideas, their personalities and make sure to do better. I think we have already started making our mistakes and the next generation will build on the template. We’ll serve as spring boards for them and I sure as hell don’t want anybody oppressing our coming daughters. I want them jumping high as hell from our spring boards. They must not start from the dirt and scratches we have started from.
THE MIND OF BOKO-HARAM SUICIDE BOMBER by David Ayo Salako
Well? This may not look related to feminism at first glance at the topic. However, we cannot separate the importance of understanding the minds of those who passionately hate ideologies like feminism. I read this because of the personal obsession of understanding how people’s minds work.
If we understand this, I feel we’ll move faster. If feminism (especially a particular feminist organization) reaches a certain level, it’ll start attracting terrorists and KKK-like kind of men and we have to prepare for that. I’m not sure I really got what I was looking for from this book but it’s a good start for someone getting interested in Psychology as a feminist.
LENIN- THE STATE AND THE REVOLUTION
Uhm, I’m still on page 15 😅.
And I’m about to start reading ORIGINS OF THE FAMILY, STATE AND PRIVATE PROPERTY by Engels.
Reading about Rosa would push me to read these two.
You know how you start reading about a particular idea and questions keep popping up right? You want to connect the dots so bad, and you can’t rest until you fully understand.
The quest for knowledge is insatiable and it’s as if you’re pouring water inside a basket. It never gets filled. It may look daunting and overwhelming sometimes, you read and then you know you don’t know shits and then you want to read some more and on and on it goes.
I think the feeling of happiness, fulfilment and being in control you get from getting knowledge is worth it at the end of the day. You don’t get easily pissed off anymore because now you know.
For example: If a misogynist body-shames me now, I neither see him nor his act of body-shaming. I see capitalism privatizing my body and erecting a structure called Patriarchy to deal with me if I don’t stay in line.
It makes sure Patriarchy never gives me the closure and satisfaction that I have stayed in line so that for the rest of my life, I’m trying to please this narcissistic monster while the capitalism keeps getting all of my surplus values.
And the man body-shaming me? Oh, we’re both on a sinking ship and I pity him because he doesn’t even know. He’s been brainwashed to think he’s the captain on the ship when indeed, he’s very irrelevant and can be cast off if he becomes a burden or stops serving its purpose to capitalism.
Ol’ boy, the system can switch to matriarchy in no time while still using capitalism to fuck us all up! The only difference being that women would now be given power to keep men in line for the master.
Patriarchy gives no shit about the penis in your loins.
Now tell me, dear reader, how on earth will I still get angry at a man ignorantly thinking he’s above me because he has a penis and feels he needs to subdue me and make me fall in line when I’m aware he’s just one of the master’s favourite dogs but a dog all the same?
I shall drop my pen in the basket of love for now. 😅
SISÍ AFRIKA.
PS: I wrote this sometimes in 2021.
