On March 11th, we held our first Feminist Book Club meeting! Our first book selection was Jessica Valenti’s Sex Object: A Memoir. Valenti’s story pointed the question “Who would I be if I didn’t live in a world that hated women?” to herself and challenged readers to simply observe the realities of women’s existence, rather than try to explain, find meaning in, or solve the atrocities women face. It was heavy, honest, and at times hilarious, but most significantly: it was painfully relatable. At the end of it all, good food was eaten, warm tea was drank, and meaningful conversation was had.
Throughout our discussion, the following books came up and were strongly suggested to all:
- All the Lives I Want, Alana Massey
- Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay
- So Sad Today, Melissa Broder
- Feminist Fight Club, Jessica Bennett
Biggest stand out moment of the meeting goes to Feminist Book Club member Jocelyn with her killer quote: “…coming here is crucial to my existence.”
Moving forward, this book club will meet on a bi-monthly schedule in various locations across New Hampshire’s Seacoast region. Meetings will be held on Sunday afternoons and will center around feminist writing and community. Each book selection will be paired with “secondary materials” that will be distributed via email prior to the meeting. Book selections will be broken into the following categories:
- Contemporary Feminist Theory
- Feminist Classics
- Fiction by WOC (Women of Color)
Sex Object: A Memoir was categorized as Contemporary Feminist Theory and the confusion surrounding that particular labeling got our wheels turning here at Feminist Oasis about what “contemporary feminist theory” means… stay tuned for a blog post that will dive deeper into these semantics in the near future!
And in case you’re curious:
Yes – you can join us at the next meeting!
On Sunday, May 20 we’ll meet to discuss our Feminist Classics pick: Feminism is For Everybody by bell hooks.
Learn more and register here.
We can’t wait to see y’all in May!