Feminism: Reinventing the F-Word

Gr 6 Up—Young people interested in learning more about the history of women's rights in America will gain much from this well-written review of feminism. Higgins discusses the negative connotation attached to the concept, following up with a detailed explanation of the goals and theories behind modern-day feminism. She then takes readers on a historical journey through the three waves of feminism and covers suffrage, abortion rights, forced sterilization, and the demand for equal rights. Higgins also touches on how the newest incarnation of feminism seeks to expose how race, class, ability, age, and sexual orientation affect the female experience. Wage gap issues, violence against women, and unrealistic beauty standards are all reviewed in separate chapters, supported by photographs and statistics that amplify the impact of the heavy topics. Higgins concludes by considering how young feminists might move forward in the digital age. Ample back matter encourages readers to seek out information and take action. This informative, impeccably researched investigation of the history of feminism will do more than fill a collection gap—it firmly emphasizes that feminism and feminist are not dirty words.