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Feminist Gift Ideas?

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Jessica from sidewords has a question for the peanut gallery:

I need feminist gift ideas! I found a few links to socially-conscious gifts, but what about some ways to subtlely introduce feminism to the uninitiated?

I babysat for a girl once a week for about seven years, and have maintained a solid relationship with her since then. She’s sixteen now, and she has almost completed the patriarchal transformation from confident-independent-athletic-girl, to boy-crazy- appearance-obsessed-girl.

She used to love riding her bike. She was eager to take tennis lessons. She took archery lessons. Coaches told her she had serious talent for track. She took years of horseback riding lessons and planned to own her own ranch someday. She expressed a desire to be on the volleyball team. Now she says she wants to go to college somewhere near her boyfriend and that she can’t try out for any sports teams because she’s manager of his football and wrestling teams. Her Mom is a brilliant woman with a PhD in education and moderate political views, but her Dad’s a complete wingnut. She wears a purity ring and recently told me she believes abortion should only be allowed in cases of rape or incest.

I know some of this is a phase, but for now, what on earth do I get her for Christmas?

I’ve tried athletic-minded gifts, like a tennis racquet, lessons, rock-climbing gym gift cards, etc., but they haven’t caught on.

Maybe you or your readers have some ideas?

Thanks,
Jessica

So, I know a lot of you have said that you had your minds opened to feminism at about this age. What would you have given your sixteen-year-old self to get started on that path? Trojan horse kinds of gifts — you know, the kind of gift that seems fun! and girly! but actually gets a girl to think without bludgeoning her with message — particularly welcome.

52 thoughts on Feminist Gift Ideas?

  3. I think Ms skews too old and too explicitly feminist. If this were a feminist-minded high schooler already, I’d say Ms would be a good gift, but it’s definitely not a Trojan horse. Bust or Bitch skew young, and have fluffy content as well as the hard stuff.

    Besides, Daddy Wingnut will definitely have heard of and disapprove of Ms. It’s as popular in dittohead circles as Hustler is in feminist circles. He might disapprove of a magazine called Bitch, but probably just for the unladylike name, but it’s unlikely he’d know about the feminist content. Nor would the recipient.

    A mainstream fashion magazine (if she doesn’t seem like a Bitch or Bust girl) with good feminist articles is Marie-Claire. They also have tons of anorexic fashion models, but a lot of the content is pretty hard-hitting for a magazine that’s considered to be in the Vogue class. And it’s not a dog-whistle title to wingnuts. But Marie-Claire might also skew a little old.

  6. Oh my jeebus – I hate to see this happening to smart young women. I always give teh nieces books about science (bugs they like), but they are still young. Good luck!

  7. Buffy DVDs would be awesome. Also, this book is kind of an “Our Bodies, Ourselves” in more girly pink trappings. But it’s very smart and witty, and hammers on a lot of the more common feminist points (respect yourself and your body, don’t do stuff because boys tell you to) without being preachy.

  8. Some ideas:
    Bust is great, and probably won’t set off the family radar.
    Marie Claire is more mainstream so it might fly. I read it at 16.
    What about music? There are some great socially-minded and feminist artists.
    Aren’t football and wrestling fall/winter? If she’s trying out for track, just pick up some nice running clothes.
    Also, if you have the time/resources, volunteer to take her on college visits. If you know some college-aged feminists, hook her up with them for tours/overnight visits.
    Can’t think of anymore Trojan horse gifts … my main introduction to feminism was Girl Scout camp. If she’s an outdoor girl, maybe she could work at one this summer.

  11. I vote Bust, that helped take me to the feminist side a few years ago. Buffy is also key, we kids still watch that nowadays! Ani cds if she likes the folk.

  14. How about “The Woman Who Rides Like a Man” by Tamora Pierce?

    I’d recommend the first book in that series- or at their price, all four. Alanna: The First Adventure, In The Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like A Man, and Lioness Rampant is the order :).

    I really loved “Bust” when I was around 16.

  15. I agree that the best “Trojan horse” magazine of all of these is probably Marie-Claire. For someone who’s bought into anti-feminism to the point of wearing a purity ring, Bust might be a bit too much.

    For some reason, the idea of getting her “The Autobiography of Helen Keller” popped into my head. On one level, it’s a disability memoir and thus won’t set off any alarms, but Keller was an extremely independent and socially progressive woman (she was a socialist) and even her autobiography reflects that.

  16. In the same light as the buffy dvds, veronica mars dvds. It is actually much better, I think, becase veronica does not recieve powers, she learns how to become a kick-ass girl.

  17. I loved Tamora Pierce to pieces when I was 9 or so, but 16 is way too old to start on those books (I think, but then I keep getting them out from the library, so maybe I shouldn’t talk). I could think of some sci-fi with good themes (I think a central one is women putting aside men to do Important Work).

    Our Bodies sure wouldn’t hurt, and neither would Buffy. I dunno how must feminist philosophy will help until she finds something that’s important to her than her boyfriend, and that can be tough in high school. At least she’s managing sports teams- that’s nothing to sniff at.

  18. Sounds to me as if this kid has been “gotten at” by the specifically Christianist branch of Wingnutteria, so I would suggest a book of feminist Christian thought. Elaine Pagels, possibly? Or: can’t remember the name of the woman who wrote the book about Mary Magdalene — not some dopey “DaVinci Code” knockoff, but an actual scholarly work, title is something like “The Woman with the Cup”.

    My standard Bat Mitzvah gift to the tween/teenage girls I help with their Haftorah parts (the singing more than the text), is “Standing Again at Sinai” by Judith Plaskow, a terrific feminist writer who’s also very well-versed in traditional Jewish scholarship. I’ve often heard back from them that Plaskow’s ideas were their first experience of Jewish thought from a feminist perspective.

    I bet that most Christianist wingnut-raised kids, as opposed to normal Christian kids, have never been exposed to feminist thought of any kind, religious or otherwise. So I would suggest a book that would open a teenage girl’s mind to feminism within a Christian context.

  19. I love the Tamora Peirce books, I have one of the later serieses on audio book “trickster’s choice” and I may be old, but it still amuses me while I do other things.

    Also a great, but more mature, feminist fantasy writer is Mercedes Lackey, By the Sword is a good book and so is Fairy Godmother. (but there IS premarital sex in both of those books, which I don’t think is too mature for a 16 year old) She also has a historic series that’s very feminist as well I think the first one of that is The Serpent’s Shadow… I think.. no premarital sex in those.

    Any good feminist type history books?

  20. Ooo, I agree with the Veronica Mars DVDs.

    I’m 18, rarely got a chance to watch the show because I’ve been working all my life, but whenever I do see an episode (even if I have NO clue what is going on) I watch it. A lot of my friends watch it as well.

    And Veronica Mars is a strong female character. 🙂

  21. Well, I looked up some stuff about Veronica Mars being feminist and it doesn’t look so good. Like I said I only watch it every now and then.

    -she thinks she was raped, but then she finds out/or they put it all together as she was just drugged. Went to a bed alone, and fell asleep. Blogs say that is stupid because I guess it was a pulled out conflict in a season. However, in my opinion, at least rape is getting some play in normal TV and she suffered from it and was confused.

    -Her current boyfriend had a child with his ex-girlfriend. And it didn’t phase her. Oh no. I don’t know if he supports the child, if he sees the child..the blogs do not say anything about that. However, I went to a school for pregnant teenagers (even though I was not pregnant) and I just want to say that in this day and age…while it’s sad, it’s something that happens. Teenagers accept that more. I know lots of guys that have dated teenage mothers knowing that they had children and were ready to take on the responsibility and even took the child to watch it so the women could go do something. You just have to be more open about it because a lot of teenagers are getting pregnant.

    -Her mother is dead. And she hangs out with a lot of boys. I guess this is anti-feminist?

    However, she is still a strong character as she goes around investigating things in her town and helping innocent people go free, and guilty people go to jail.

  22. Thank you all for helping! I sent this email to several of the blogs I frequent, thinking maybe one would post it, but three have helped out. What an awesome community the feminist blogosphere is.

    I got her hooked on Buffy awhile ago and routinely host slumber party/Buffy marathons for her and a couple friends. Veronica Mars is definitely next on the list.

    Tori Amos is a great idea. And Ani. I’ve gotten a few music suggestions, I think she’ll definitely be getting a mix CD.

    I’m on the fence about Bust. I like it, but I’m just not sure she’ll actually read it when it arrives. Of course, all she has to do is page through and read one thing once that sticks with her…

    I’m not familiar with Tamora Pierce, but I’ll check her out.

    You are all great. Thanks again.

    Jessica

  23. The Firebrand, by Marion Zimmer Bradley, is a good book for corrupting patriarchial minds. It’s a retelling of the Trojan War, from Cassandra’s (irritatingly spelled Kassandra) POV, and sneaks in an awful lot of feminist theory, disguised as fiction. Hell, pretty much anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley, like Mists of Avalon or The Shattered Chain (which is the first of the Darkover Free Amazon novels) would qualify as Trojan Horse Feminism…

  24. I heard a review of this book on NPR the other day, and I’m planning on getting it for myself. I think your niece might like it if she reads for pleasure.

    College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens and Co-Eds, Then and Now
    by Lynn Peril

  25. What about the NOW 2007 Calendar? I guess dad might disapprove, but, it’s pink and you could includit it with a book or something, and, if questioned, say that you liked the message of the contest.

  26. So I would suggest a book that would open a teenage girl’s mind to feminism within a Christian context.

    Oh, duh, how could I forget: My Red Couch, a collection of essays by young Christian Feminists. It’s fantastic!

  27. the “Alanna” books are actually not my favorite tamora Pierce. They’re a little *too* on-message, if you ask me; it was early in her career and the character doesn’t have a lot fo depth beyond jus t” a girl who kicks ass.”

    Trickster’s Choice is my absolute favorite, plus has a heroine who manages to be both a pretty good feminist and a girly-girl, so ti might be better received. The sequel was pretty disappointing though.

    Personally, at 17, i’m beginning to find some of Pierce’s books irritatingly childish, but I loved them to death form 13-15. The first series of hers I read, and still one fo my favorites, is “Circle of Magic,” which has MANY storng female characters. The pagan overotnes might provoke a harsh reaction from daddy wingnut, though.

    I would advise staying away from Mercedes Lackey. I read most of her Valdemar books, and I suspect that they’re too hyper-liberal for this family. Not just premarital sex, but legions of gay men, goddess-worship, and plenty of casual sex as well. none of this is described in detail, but it’s definitely there.

    The girl in question might find them too shocking to be enlightening.

  28. Regarding Tamora Pierce books, I’d recommend the Protector of the Small series as the best for practical feminism.

    I wouldn’t give a kid of mine the Alanna series without also having some discussions about Alanna’s relationships with controlling bastards. It’s natural enough that she has them, but their assholery is too easily dismissed in the narrative as just personality conflict instead of the raging disrespect it really is.

    Given the age of the girl, if she’s of a literary bent, I’d suggest The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.

  29. Yes, thank you! I can’t believe I forgot Protector of the Small!

    For those uninitiated in Tamora Pierce, both deal with a girl who becomes a knight. Alanna does so secretly, while Keladry (the protector of the small) does so openly, and has to deal with prejudice as a result.

    Alanna is a little too superhuman for my taste. She’s a preternaturally talented swordsman who also heals the wounded and casts spells, plus the chosen representative of a goddess and the bearer of a magic sword.

    Keladry is much more human and approachable, plus is in many ways a better role model. She’s a leader, rather than a loner like Alanna. Also, she does a better job of hanging onto traditionally “feminine” virtues like compassion.

    Tamora definitely did a better job on her second try.

  30. First, just understand that a) being antifeminist may be her way of dealing with her dad/her own confusion at this age and b) you’re not going to change her overnight with the perfect book.

    A much superior IMO writer to Pierce or Lackey is Robin McKinley. She’s what got my fundie-self thinking feminist thoughts! Try The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, or The Outlaws of Sherwood. Excellent quick moving adventure tales with great female and male characters. (Deerskin is also good, but about a rape/incest survivor, and therefore kinda tough to read).

    This is assuming she likes fantasy, though McKinley is not a typical annoying fantasy writer.

    If she likes sci fi Ursula Le Guin is always good–esp. The Left Hand of Darkness, but any of her short story collections are an easier read.

    Nonfiction–much as she is maligned, Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth did a lot to set my feminism on fire.

    If she’s not really a reader, you might do better with DVDs or music.

  31. I would advise staying away from Mercedes Lackey. I read most of her Valdemar books, and I suspect that they’re too hyper-liberal for this family. Not just premarital sex, but legions of gay men, goddess-worship, and plenty of casual sex as well. none of this is described in detail, but it’s definitely there.

    Yup. Proto-yaoi.

  32. Has anyone else read Where the Girls Are? It’s a book about women in pop culture, 1950-1990. It’s a great and accessible read, very funny, and incisive without being, uh, scary.

  33. It’s a little different than most of the other (great!) ideas posted here – but you could make a microloan in her name through kiva.org, or buy a gift certificate and let her make her own choice of recipient. It’s not a specifically feminist organization, and there are plenty of deserving men seeking loans too, but it’s an opportunity to directly provide a woman with the means to empower herself. Someone somewhere receives the funds to start or expand a business [read: sustainable means of support] and after a while, the money comes back, plus something like 2%. Win-win, no?

  34. Tamora Pierce – both the Lioness Rampant and Immortals series were fabulous. Protector of the Small is better from a feminist standpoint because it’s less about the main character being special and more about her being a total badass. It didn’t have the same magic for me, though, maybe because I was post-pubescent by the time I read it.

    I wouldn’t give a kid of mine the Alanna series without also having some discussions about Alanna’s relationships with controlling bastards. It’s natural enough that she has them, but their assholery is too easily dismissed in the narrative as just personality conflict instead of the raging disrespect it really is.

    Which characters are you talking about? I think Jon was handled kind of like this, but he also wasn’t *consistently* disrespectful and it was made clear at the end that Alanna could not do what he expected of her, which was something like stay at home and give up her knighthood, but couldn’t have been exactly that because he ended up marrying a varrior-voman (no, you have to say it like that, you do) anyway.

    In the same light as the buffy dvds, veronica mars dvds. It is actually much better, I think, becase veronica does not recieve powers, she learns how to become a kick-ass girl

    But all the important other main characters are male, whereas there are a variety of non-powered female characters on Buffy (and characters who work for their supernatural power, like Willow).

    Plus Veronica Mars recently had an “feminists fake rapes” (though there were real rapes going on) arc, so gag me.

  35. Has anyone else read Where the Girls Are?

    Yes! I second this suggestion. My sister read it for a soc class in college and passed it off to me as something fun to read. Also, there is something that makes me giggle about her descriptions of Sally Field in the Flying Nun.

  37. McMaster-Bujold’s Barrayar series has some serious female characters acting subversively throughout and deals with a patriarchal society expanding out into a modern universe. As the main hero is male it could sneak under the patriarchy radar. McKinley is good, as is Patricia Wrede.
    For Dvds, I would go with Whedon’s Firefly as a more integrated piece, as well as just more kick ass fun.

  38. Nonfiction–much as she is maligned, Naomi Wolf’s The Beauty Myth did a lot to set my feminism on fire.

    I’m an ex-fundi too, and I’ve got to say that you need to help build a bridge to feminism rather than trying to catapult the poor girl to the other side. I like the Beauty Myth suggestion because it is the kind of work that begins to do just that…

    A lot of girls from conservative families are taught to be critical of how the media portrays young women. I’m a woman who works with these issues now in my professional life, and I’m able to talk to my parents about the progressive work that I do because they “get it.” Their criticism of pop culture comes from a different place and I know we come to different conclusions, but we can at least dialogue about it. Her parents will thank you for the gift, and she’ll be open to receiving it as well.

    And by the way, being a kickass role model is also a pretty great way to influence a girl… keep up the good work.

  41. I’m not sure that I can speak to the same impulse as some of those who’ve posted here: I’m male and my sixteenth birthday came and went in the days of hair bands. That being said, The Mists of Avalon by MZB is one book that got me started as a (pro)feminist man. But again, it is a fantasy and a thick book, so present accordingly.

    I did love the Valdemar series by Lackey for the same reasons that others have suggested to avoid them: they are filled with all sorts of people living out their lives. I saw them as pro-woman, pro-sex, pro-multicultural, pro-difference (we all have different “gifts” and no one is better or worse than another). Get a whole lot of work done with one series. I’d suggest the ones written earliest. She began retreading the ground in the later trilogies.

    For many of the same reasons, most of the books by Charles de Lint, especially those in Newford, would work well. They are often considered “Urban fantasies” so not so much with the swords and sorcery. More like looking at our world a bit sideways. They are filled with wonderful characters, male and female, who care about each other and the world, He does some interesting stuff with class issues as well as gender. A bit more “subtle” perhaps, but for that reason might fly more under the wingnut radar.

    Finally, music is always a great choice. As a teen, music even more than reading, held a great impact. Lyrics combined with strong melodies can do wonders.

    Good luck.

  42. there is nothing wrong with choosing to wait until marriage to have sex. given the rates of teen pregnancy and stds, this seems like a responsible approach… provided the choice is not made out of ignorance.

    instead of a subscription to so-called “feminist” beauty magazines, how about rejecting this conceptual framework altogether and getting her something like scientific american or the economist?

  43. This is where those “mix your own nail polish” kits are appropriate. They fit in well with her pre-existing interests, and sneak a little science in, too. View them as a launching pad.

    I just got back from visiting my sister-in-law’s family. There is a 6 yr old neice and an 8 yr old nephew (cousins). They were a blast to play with, but they are both fully indoctrinated into their appropriate gender roles. The six yr old’s room is decorated in Disney Princesses, but she said she really likes Bratz (she’s six!). I tried to convince her that Snow White went to college and became an accountant after she met the prince, but I don’t think she bought it.

  44. Try Madeleine L’Engle’s novels for young adults? She’s a serious Christian and her books have kick-ass, strong heroines dealing with issues of conformity. They may be dated now, I don’t know.

  45. All the talk about the Tamora Pierce books is interesting since I just (and I mean last night!) finished reading The Immortals. It was just lying around, so I read it–clearly it’s a bit young, but it’s also just good to get strong female characters out there.

    Another author I’d recommend is Jane Yolen. If you can get her to read U K Le Guin that would be awesome (the Earthsea series, great though it is, includes next to no female characters, with one major exception being The Tombs of Atuan).

    An influential book I read when I was around 16 was Sandra Cisneros’ The House on Mango Street. At the time I was yet another book about a female growing up and breaking out kind of thing for me (being a guy) but I really did appreciate it down the road. I also read Barbara Kingsolver’s The Bean Trees which is incredible at giving you a perspective that is really foundational for feminism, but it’s also the kind of thing that I could really see this young woman saying, “I will NOT let that happen to me! That’s why I’m sticking close to home, etc.”

    Good luck with all of this!

  46. Big second on Robin McKinley — her book “Beauty” is a re-telling of the “Beauty and the Beast” fairytale, with Beauty being a strong, NOT beautiful young woman who reads and studies incessantly and rides a war horse. 🙂 Well, he wasn’t actually *trained* for war, but was a war horse type, anyway….

    Patricia Wrede’s “Enchanted Forest Chronicles” are *hilarious* and skewer a number of conventional fairy tale stereotypes really well. The Princess Cimorene is a fantastic character.

    However, if your young woman is NOT interested in swords and sorcery fantasy type novels, she will probably not appreciate these. Sorry! 🙁 I’d go with one of the non-fiction ideas at that point.

  47. Well, I looked up some stuff about Veronica Mars being feminist and it doesn’t look so good. Like I said I only watch it every now and then.

    -she thinks she was raped, but then she finds out/or they put it all together as she was just drugged. Went to a bed alone, and fell asleep. Blogs say that is stupid because I guess it was a pulled out conflict in a season. However, in my opinion, at least rape is getting some play in normal TV and she suffered from it and was confused.

    Actually, at the end of season 2, she discovered that she was raped by someone that she’d excluded as a suspect, because she talked to him and believed his shit. In fairness, he was a pretty cold guy who turned out massively crazy.

    The biggest problem as regards feminism and rape in Veronica Mars is in season 3, where the campus feminists at her college fake a series of rapes, inspired by a couple of real rapes, in an attempt to get fraternities kicked off campus. Still, the frat guys are real bastards laughing up every rape and pouring salt in every wound, and the campus feminists come across as human. Wrong, but human. So, they aren’t ideal feminists, but they’re only slightly cartoon-ized… and Veronica as a strong female lead more than makes up for it.

    -Her current boyfriend had a child with his ex-girlfriend. And it didn’t phase her. Oh no. I don’t know if he supports the child, if he sees the child..the blogs do not say anything about that. However, I went to a school for pregnant teenagers (even though I was not pregnant) and I just want to say that in this day and age…while it’s sad, it’s something that happens. Teenagers accept that more. I know lots of guys that have dated teenage mothers knowing that they had children and were ready to take on the responsibility and even took the child to watch it so the women could go do something. You just have to be more open about it because a lot of teenagers are getting pregnant.

    Okay, this is straight-up bullshit, and I really wonder where you got it. In season two, by the time her then-boyfriend found out that his former (and now comatose) girlfriend was pregnant, the two of them spent a few episodes doing everything they could to get her parents (who were destined to raise the child when it was born) thrown in jail for their wingnutty abuse of all their children (a continuation of the comatose girl’s project…). That didn’t quite work out, because the sheriff is a fucking dick (just like a real cop!) and the parents are rich. Anyway, fast forward, baby is born, comatose girl dies in childbirth, Veronica and then-boyfriend arrange to kidnap the baby, boy flees with child and raises it outside of the wingnut sphere of influence… so, he’s anything but the pump ‘n dump masculine ideal.

    -Her mother is dead. And she hangs out with a lot of boys. I guess this is anti-feminist?

    Her mother isn’t dead: her mother is a drunk, a deadbeat, a thief, and an all-around waste of flesh. I’m not sure how this would bear on feminism at all. As for her hanging out with mostly boys, I wouldn’t read much into it. She really only has one close friend who is not a romantic interest, and yeah, he’s a guy… and the runners-up are male romantic interests. Still, I don’t think it’s appropriate to read any anti-feminist conclusions into it, because she’s had plenty of female friends, they just have all been killed or otherwise taken out of the show (for now) by the move to college.

    However, she is still a strong character as she goes around investigating things in her town and helping innocent people go free, and guilty people go to jail

    Yeah… I think there’s a little more feminist cred to it than that, notably, the realistic portrayal of the police: very skeptical and indifferent about rape claims… with Veronica herself picking up the slack.

    I’d say that the worst thing about the show for a feminist is her dad, who tries to cast himself as the defender of her purity on occassion. I think it’d be nice for her to assert herself to him this season, but we’ll see.

  48. late to the discussion…

    but what about Gloria Steinem’s “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions,” and Alice Walker’s “In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens?”

    In particular, Steinem’s essay on going undercover at the Playboy club might be interesting to her. Steinem, too, was/is considered pretty glamorous… for a feminist. ;~)

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  50. I would recommend Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown or The Blue Sword, because when I read them, they totally flipped my heart over. They are all about being a strong female, and they’re gorgeously written.

    And concerning Veronica Mars, I would suggest that their portrayal of a teenage girl (Veronica) in a strong, equal, platonic friendship with a teenage boy (Wallace) is about the most progressive relationship television has ever come up with. There’s no romance, they’re no facade- she saves him, he helps her, they share their feelings; and their friendship is never once looked at askance by anyone (except his mom, who thinks she’s ‘trouble.’ snerk !) Plus, it battered down more than a few stereotypes about bitchy, vapid cheerleaders; has a fabulous father/daughter relationship, instead of the usual sitcom ‘dad doesn’t get it’ baloney; and tackles issues about race and class. It has its failings, but it’s a strong show.

  51. In case anyone is still reading this thread, I ended up getting her a balance board and the book My Secret and giving her some CDs by strong females. (Imogene Heap, Tori Amos, and All Girl Summer Fun Band. They went over really well. Even though this time around I didn’t get her any books (My Secret is mostly pictures), I’m fascinated by all the book recommendations, and can’t wait to read some of them myself. You all came up with quite a few I haven’t heard of.

    I agree with most of what has been said in defense of VM but really, the feminist group on campus being a bunch of angry women who hate men and fraternities and fake rapes makes me livid. A show with such good feminist cred as VM has no excuse for perpetuating such a ridiculous and damaging stereotype.

  52. I love to see the votes for Robin McKinley on here. The Blue Sword works so well because the society where the action takes place implicity accepts women’s abilities and equality. It is a world where feminism is triumphant. The Hero and the Crown is fantastic because it goes back in time to tell the story of the woman who brought about those changes. I didn’t know it when I first read them at about age 16, but reading McKinley’s books started me on the road to feminism (gently leaving a crater-sized feminist dent on my lil’ fundy heart).

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