Feminist books that aren't about the U.S.

February 27, 2016 7:59 AM

I've started an English-language feminist book club in an East Asian city and I'm looking for more titles that aren't written by or about women in the U.S. Books about women in Asia and feminism in this part of the world would be ideal. What are some great book club picks for our group?

I'm looking for fiction and non-fiction suggestions, but I'd like to avoid books written in very challenging or academic styles, because many book club members don't read/speak English as a first language.

Thanks!

posted by horizons to Media & Arts (17 answers total)

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Iranian author Azar Nafisi.

From the publisher's blurb:
For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. They were all former students whom she had taught at university. Some came from conservative and religious families, others were progressive and secular; several had spent time in jail. They were shy and uncomfortable at first, unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they began to open up and to speak more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Their stories intertwined with those they were reading—Pride and Prejudice, Washington Square, Daisy Miller and Lolita—their Lolita, as they imagined her in Tehran.
posted by FencingGal at 8:06 AM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Factory Girls by Lesley Chang- fascinating account of the women from all over China who work in Shenzhen's factories
posted by bearette at 8:15 AM on February 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
posted by gemutlichkeit at 8:24 AM on February 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

How about Malala Yousufzai's book, I Am Malala?
posted by Aravis76 at 8:41 AM on February 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

"Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China" by Jung Chang.
Chang tells the stories of herself, her mother, and her sister as women living in China. The book spans the years 1909 to 1978, so it's simultaneously a history of China during these years, focusing on the lives of women

I'm not sure how you feel about graphic novels, but "Persepolis" by Marjan Satrapi is a terrific book about the author's childhood and young adulthood in Iran during and after the revolution.
posted by FencingGal at 8:47 AM on February 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

"Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng.

Seconding "Persepolis".
posted by frantumaglia at 9:09 AM on February 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

Seconding 'Factory Girls,' which is incredible
posted by raisindebt at 9:30 AM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

The Good Women of China by Xinran is a great non-fiction book, filled with interviews that Xue Xinran (a radio broadcaster/journalist) conducted of Chinese women. Very poignant look if you want to focus on feminist issues in Communist China.
posted by the_wintry_mizzenmast at 9:35 AM on February 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Shauna Singh Baldwin, What the Body Remembers--about women in India during Partition
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 9:36 AM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Anything by Taslima Nasrin. "Lajja", or "Shame", is her best known work.
posted by redlines at 11:15 AM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Jamaica Kincaid, The Autobiography of My Mother--about a woman on the island of Dominica whose mother died in childbirth.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 1:31 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Oh, also anything by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (African, but talks about issues that may be relevant to Asia).
posted by redlines at 1:34 PM on February 27, 2016 [2 favorites]

Out - Natsuo Kirino

Woman on the Other Shore - Mitsuyo Kakuta

Revenge - Yoko Ogawa

Manazuru - Hiromi Kawakami

(Most of my non-UK/US reading has been Japanese.)

Eileen Chang has been translated as well, but depending on your country, the kind of people interested in a feminist book club will have already read her.
posted by betweenthebars at 3:03 PM on February 27, 2016 [3 favorites]

This might be borderline (geographically and subject-wise) but because I loved it so much - Talking About Jane Austen in Baghdad. It's a real-life collection of emails between Bee, a radio producer in north London, and May, a university lecturer in Baghdad, and explores their lives alongside one another as their friendship blossoms. May's accounts of life in warn-torn Baghdad are heart-rending, and the book turns into an account of their combined efforts to one day get her out of the city to safety.

Because they're emails, it's very accessible language, and May is a teacher of English as a foreign language, which might chime with your students [edit- sorry, I see they're not students, but might still chime for speakers of English as a second language]. While not a feminist tract, I think it's fair to say both women are feminists in very different circumstances, and write about their lives and the different challenges they pose from that perspective.
posted by penguin pie at 4:27 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Arundhati Roy?
posted by eviemath at 5:13 PM on February 27, 2016 [4 favorites]

Women of the Silk by Gail Tsukiyama
The Gods of Tango by Carolina de Robertis

These are less about the feminist movement per se, but both are about empowered women so they may fit what you're looking for. Worth checking out.
posted by onecircleaday at 11:23 PM on February 27, 2016 [1 favorite]

Cynthia Enloe's Bananas, Beaches and Bases: Making Feminist Sense of International Politics is a classic for a reason and isn't too academic as far as I remember. I'll poke around in my harddrive/bookshelves and see if I can come up with other recommendations! (dusts off Korean Studies degree)
posted by spamandkimchi at 12:56 PM on February 28, 2016