Just like men,
Women want the freedom to be utterly mediocre and then heralded for years to come. But until we have equality, we need as many books on great forgotten women as possibleThe ever-insightful late Toni Morrison once famously said: “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” The publishing industry’s appendage to that is: “And even if it has, write it anyway.” This week, it was announced that
Hillary Clinton and her daughter
Chelsea will publish The Book of Gutsy Women – about the women who have inspired them and are “leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done”.
Over the past few years, a slew of similar books has attempted to fill the yawning gaps left in recorded history regarding women’s contributions. Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo’s Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls and its sequel taught girls to aspire to something more than tiaras and coma-kisses. Books aimed at adults such as 100 Nasty Women of History, the Forgotten Women series, Bloody Brilliant Women and A History of the World in 21 Women inspired but also educated, focusing on the many pioneering women who were rubbed out of school textbooks. There are several more titles dedicated to the strides many wondrous, hitherto invisible women have made in specific fields, countries, and time periods. The Little Leaders children’s series, for example, profiles “bold black women” in history.