7 feminist podcasts to smash the patriarchy to
By Emily Scott
What Would A Feminist Do?, Promotional Image via The Guardian
What Would A Feminist Do?
When I was in college and just discovering feminism, I bought a book called Full Frontal Feminism as an introduction to the movement. I sat down on my porch and started reading it and didn’t get up until I finished it. And that’s how I fell in love with Jessica Valenti, the author of that book (and several others), columnist for The Guardian, and host of What Would A Feminist Do?, our next feminist podcast.
What Would A Feminist Do? explores a different feminist issue every other week, beginning with a “rant” in which Valenti explains her thoughts on some aspect of the issue. Then, she invites one or two guests, usually feminist writers who have discussed the topic in their work, to contribute to the conversation.
What Would A Feminist Do? is a pretty straightforward primer on various issues in feminism, but what stands out is that Valenti never shies away from complexity. Feminism is complicated. What is degrading to one woman is empowering to another. Some people try to pin down a hard and fast definition of what can and cannot “count” as feminism, but Valenti embraces the quagmire.
Should you change your name when you get married? How much housework should you be doing? What should you do about workplace harassment? Valenti seeks to discuss the social implications of these questions, but ultimately the answer is, “What do you want to do?”.
So, what would a feminist do? Whatever she wants.
Where To Start: “Hillary Clinton and female leadership” features an excellent interview with Rebecca Traister, author of All The Single Ladies.
Next: 2 Dope Queens