The Reluctant Liberalist @thereluctantliberalist - Tumblr Blog

Some books we love now/forever

So many of us grew up on a steady diet of books written by white, male writers. These were the books taught in our schools, considered classics, ‘real literature.

How did so many of us start reading books written by women then? Time and opportunity. Maybe a book bought by chance, not on the school-approved reading list, a novel considered ‘chick lit’ that was actually fantastic or texts recommended to us by other women. Within the collective we are constantly talking about books written by women, enthusiastically recommending them to each other and talking about how they have helped us negotiate life, love, activism, literature and the everyday.

The following is a list of books that have impacted us as feminists, strengthened our resolve to fight, made us cry because we recognise so much of ourselves in their stories, made us laugh for perhaps the same reason. This list is a mix of classic and contemporary, fiction and non fiction by various amazing women. More power to them.

Note: Some of us have also mentioned why we think the books we’re recommending are so great. Happy reading!

FICTION

CARSON McCULLERS - The Heart is a Lonely Hunter “it is stunning, sad, and the most beautiful novel i have read to date. qasam se” SK

URSULA LE GUIN “because woh sirf science fiction ki maa nahi, woh feminism ki bhi maa hai. Her essay ‘Introducing Myself’ is such a delight.” SK You can read Introducing Myself here: https://www.scholarsonline.org/~go…/LeGuin_Intr_myself.pdf

SYLVIA PLATH: The Bell Jar

VIRGINIA WOOLF: Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse, Orlando

ELENA FERRANTE: Everything written by this woman is incredible from The Days of Abandonment to The Neapolitan Novels to The Lost Daughter. Highly highly recommend.

TONI MORRISON: Beloved, Song of Solomon, Sula, Tar Baby, The Bluest Eye, Jazz “Beautiful, powerful novels by a truly brilliant woman of colour. Her novels are unlike anything else you will ever read” AC

CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHE- Americanah

MARGARET ATWOOD- The Handmaid’s Tale has been getting loads of press recently but Atwood has written several novels, short stories and even poetry.

MARIYLNNE ROBINSON- Gilead, Housekeeping. Quiet, graceful stories that will stay with you for weeks after you’ve read them.

ANGELA CARTER-

LUCIA BERLIN- Seriously badass, seriously underrated. Wrote some incredible short stories.

JEAN RHYS: Wide Sargasso Sea

JEANETTE WINTERSON- Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit

JENNY DISKI- In Gratitude is a hilarious, powerful memoir but her fiction is also great.

HAN KING- The Vegetarian

NAOMI ALDERMAN- The Power

ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN- You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine “Haunting.” AC

RATIKA KAPUR- The Private Life of Mrs Sharma. A really lovely book that needs to be read and talked about more!

MEENA KANDASMAY- When I Hit You

ISMAT CHUGHTAI- various short stories

NON FICTION

WHY LOITER- Shilpa Phadke, Shilpa Ranade, Sameera Khan - “because it gave me the language to articulate my politics, because it gave me the affirmation to fight for the smaller things in life” SK

LIVING A FEMINIST LIFE- Sara Ahmed “A thoughtful, impactful meditation on feminism and why it’s more than okay to be a feminist killjoy. Fantastic.” AC

SEEING LIKE A FEMINIST - Nivedita Menon “My feminist idol” ZR

FLANEUSE- Lauren Elkin. Stories of badass women walking in different cities throughout history.

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN- Virginia Woolf “ESSENTIAL reading. Will always always be relevant” AC

FEMINISM WITHOUT BORDERS- Chandra Mohanty

THE PROJECT OF FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY and DISLOCATING CULTURES- Uma Narayan

“Narayan and Mohanty both helped me find my own place in feminist thought and make sense of the world from my vantage point. They’re fantastic post-colonial feminist authors, both Indian and talk about issues of representation and agency of women in the third world.” SHK

PLAYING WITH FIRE- Richa Nagar- “she talks about a more practical and accessible form of feminist academic thought and takes away the practice of theorizing from an elite few.” SHK

DO MUSLIM WOMEN NEED SAVING- Lila Abu-Lughod

POLITICS OF PIETY- Saba Mahmoud

PERSEPOLIS- Marjane Satrapi

MEN EXPLAIN THINGS TO ME- Rebecca Solnit. “One of the most relevant, radical voices today. Also recommend her essays available online and pretty much anything else she writes.” AC

AGAINST INTERPRETATION- Susan Sontag. Easily one of the most intelligent writers of the 20th century, wrote about everything from war to photography to illness. Her essays are available online

For non fiction, novels and academic work http://b-ok.org/ is a good resource. Has PDFs available for most of the works mentioned above.

We will be adding to this list as we read and discover more. We will also be compiling a separate list for poetry.

kokoona-deactivated20160520

weavemama

THIS IS TOO PURE

weavemama

also it’s true how baby cheetahs are considered “socially awkward” omfg we need to protect them at all costs

beehivee-deactivated20210203

I saw this at the San Diego zoo. They were grooming each other and just chilling and it was so sweet

lyjerria

your standards should be high for both your friendships and romantic relationships. everyone you surround yourself with should have qualities you actually admire.

namrekeya-deactivated20161028

hi noor! recently there's been a lot of articles circulating about homosexuality in islam, in the MENA etc and i'm wondering if in your readings you ever came across a book or article you could recommend that critically assesses the history of gender/sexuality in the MENA pre- and post-colonization? i read 'sex and the citadel' which offered me a taste but i guess i'm looking for something more critical like levine's "prostitution, race, and politics" but focusing on the MENA? thank you!

Hey!

You’re right – Sex and the Citadel was a total mess. I think I recommended it to you on another blog two years ago (sorry!) and since then, I’ve started to understand why it rubbed me the wrong way – and even how it didn’t rub me the wrong way at the time but should have. (We all read and learn, it’s part of the process! Plus, at least some of the information in there was helpful, even if the analysis was totally off-putting.) I’m happy you liked the Levine text, though! I love it, too.

So…your instinct to find something more critical is definitely coming from the right place. Since you sent a second message saying I could post this publicly, the four main texts I would recommend are:

Article: Monster, Terrorist, Fag: The War on Terrorismand the Production of Docile Patriots, Jasbir K. Puar & Amit S. Rai

Book: Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times, Jasbir K. Puar

Article: Re-Orienting Desire: The Gay International, Joseph Massad

Book: Desiring Arabs, Joseph Massad

These are sort of what everyone reads once they become interested in queer/critical theory in the middle east and south asia. And although these texts are considered foundational, they aren’t immune to critique (esp. the last two: A lot of people I know can’t stand these texts so please don’t yell at me anonymously.) That being said, I think they’re a good place to start. I really support the practice of grappling with these kinds of texts and engaging with them honestly before leveling (or even trying to understand other) critiques.

I also loved sections of Paul Amar’s book, The Security Archipelago but here’s a nice and concise article he wrote with Omnia El Shakry (who is awesome so check her out!) entitled Curiosities of Middle East Studies in Queer Times.

I hope this helps! I’m going to tag @khofnak for good measure because they always have far better recommendations.

khofnak

Great recommendations!

i agree, with anyone studying sexuality/gender in MENASA it’s worth studying homonatonalism/pinkwashing. Here are some other stuff I can recommend:

Afsaneh Najmabadi - Women with Mustaches and Men without Beards

Saadia Toor - Gender, Sexuality, and Islam under the Shadow of Empire

Joseph Massad - Islam in Liberalism

postcolonialfeministing

Point Loma, San Diego.

Kilgrave

Indubitably televisions most REAL and VILE villain! I love this character because of all the conversations he makes real because of his powers. Mind controlling purple man may not seem very close to reality but the creators of Jessica Jones have utilized him well to have the necessary conversations around consent, the power and the violation of it. The creators seem to be very mindful of bringing out the sheer terror and helplessness that Kilgrave induces in his victims and have painstakingly created that aura around him. Jessica's PTSD and flashbacks keep audiences grounded and focused on the subject of rape and after effects. They are constantly reminded that this is not just a superhero show. It's very real and pertinent to women and their daily lives, even Jessica is not free.

Fuck that

I can barely process the words I’m reading today, forget healing :|

#gradschoolwoes

2017

Dedicating this year to learning and transformation.

Being in feminist spaces and being able to take in everyone’s concerns and energies and anger, forming a community, focusing on making my own presence felt and validated are things that I am focusing on this year.

Here’s to 2017 and the journey of reconnecting with myself. Here’s to healing and coping. Here’s to being incomplete and inaccessible on some days. To being absent and fighting to reconnect and restart the process.

Here’s to making the most of this space and time that I’ve been given. Grateful and privileged to be here today <3

#Healing #well being #self care #2017 #feminism

becauseiamawoman-deactivated202

Malala’s Win: A Pakistani Feminist's Perspective

By: Pop-feminist

I recall the exact moment I found out that Malala Yousufzai had won the Nobel Peace Prize. I was at work when a friend who works for a women’s rights organization outside of Pakistan congratulated me via text. We both sat in our respective places, very far away from each other but in complete awe of what had just transpired: a 17-year old from my own country had just won the Peace Prize.

I quickly scanned the internet for confirmation and there it was –articles and headlines announced the win proudly. The unthinkable had happened; in a world where girls are patronized, pressurised and ridiculed, a teenage girl finally received one of the most coveted and esteemed diplomatic prizes on earth. A leap for womankind indeed, as if all women were represented under one bracket, all barriers of race and culture suddenly removed.

For me, navigating the conversation surrounding Malala has become a balancing act over the years. Dealing with the misogyny and hatred leveled towards this 17-year old at home and with the constant onslaught of racist and misguided articles from the international media has been a lose-lose situation for me, an intersectional Pakistani feminist. It took me a long time to figure out how I could support Malala with a clean conscience without being party to racism and other problematic narratives. And this is what I settled on: Supporting a 17 year old girl who faced an assassination attempt simply for demanding more than what what was her lot in life but not the racist, islamophobic, pro-drone propaganda that the west is peddling through her.

At home, I’ve come across very polarized opinions on Malala which range from her being hailed as a women’s rights activist and role model to being accused of treachery to the state or even of staging the shooting to get rich. You see, the discussion around Malala is also a discussion of the failure of the Pakistani state to protect and serve its citizens from terrorism and poverty.

Regardless of all the accusations targeted at her, Malala has used her fame to rally for the cause of education in Pakistan and globally, and hopefully in a few years her efforts will bear fruit when girls and women who did not previously have access to education receive the opportunity to do so. Yes, the girl has accomplished a lot for women in my country, and she has done so in spite of the constant public attacks and accusations that Pakistanis have levied at her.

As a nation, we have probably never stopped to consider the value of Malala as a role model for young girls like her all over Pakistan. So what DO we consider as a nation when we vilify this 17-year old? While part of the answer is blind and inexcusable misogyny, there is a lot more to this story than what is portrayed by Western media.

Examining Malala’s story through the lens of racism is a good place to start when analyzing this backlash. Assed Baig theorized that white guilt and the white saviour complex plays a large part in the equation. Malala’s story serves as a personal feel-good story for white people sitting in their respective homes zeroing in on this one girl that was saved from brown men instead of the hundreds of thousands that are killed by white people in drones attacks, invasions and acts of war in Pakistan and adjoining countries. She makes them comfortable at the expense of other young girls and boys out there who die in Pakistan precisely due to the direct actions of American/British soldiers and the consequences of their actions. And this doesn’t settle well with a nation still under attack.

Malala’s incident sparked a genuine and much needed conversation in the international arena about the rights of children, especially in third world countries, but the accountability for the situation of these post-colonised and impoverished states remains absent. This ‘saving the brown woman’ narrative is wildly dangerous for the actual well being of these girls because it serves to justify U.S. imperialism and warmongering in these areas while having only marginal benefits for them.

So supporting her has unfortunately become part of a very complicated narrative, one in which brown women need saving from brown men by white people. As if patriarchy is a construct specific to the Pakistani nation (and nowhere else), and stripping nude with Malala tattooed to your back is a respectful solution to the prospect of young girls being hospitalized by the Taliban.

The point I’m trying to make is that good intent is not enough to solve problems and its inexcusable if part of the problem itself. The way that the west and white feminism has handled this matter has been very self serving and problematic.

As a feminist I can never fully support the Malala movement because it often means validating racist and problematic narratives such as the pro-drone justification that is part of the conversation. The world has turned a deaf ear to her requests to shut down the drone program or her open support of communism, they cherry pick her words and efforts to make a Malala that serves their purposes. Hence the distinction to make between her person and what she has been made into is a must when looking at the situation. Feminists must look deeper into the issue to figure out a way to support her without falling into the usual potholes of supporting war propaganda or stripping the agency of other brown women.

But don’t let this take away from what Malala has achieved. She has earned all the respect she has gotten from the media, and for me her greatest contribution is that she has worked hard to provide young girls and women all over Pakistan with a role model to emulate and look up to.

I was recently conducting a meeting with young girls from an underprivileged part of Karachi and it was so heartwarming to see a young girl express her aims to be just like Malala when asked to share a role model with us. She identified with the struggle to want access to education and expressed her wishes to create more colleges and universities in her area because that is the need of the hour for women there.

Malala has achieved a lot at a very young age, and she has done it with grace and poise. She needs to be supported and lauded for the work she’s done and she did it without anyone’s help. She is the brown women who saved herself. Her’s is the feminism we need, not yours.

postcolonialfeministing

“i will always be a translation.”

“you have to understand, that no one puts their children in a boat unless the water is safer than the land” —Warsan Shire, “Home”

brooklyn99fans

When the women of Brooklyn Nine-Nine show their vulnerability, it's not because they’re women. They’re vulnerable because they’re human.

“Brooklyn Nine-Nine is a woman’s world. When its women show their vulnerability, it’s not strictly because they’re women. They’re vulnerable because they’re human, just as any of Nine-Nine’s male characters are. The women aren’t portrayed as being in petty competition with one another or absorbed by romantic pursuits. And they’re rewarded for their endeavors based on merit rather than gender. It might not be the same way if you walked into your local police precinct, but if nothing else, shouldn’t a successful television sitcom be able to idealize a more equal world for us? After all, when you take tacky gender-specific jokes out of the equation, you make room for some really smart, thoughtful humor to shine. And that’s exactly what Brooklyn Nine-Nine does, which poses the question: wouldn’t it be nice if more of our pop culture wasn’t preoccupied with the differences between men and women, and just let everyone be people instead?”

I fall in love with cities.

I am definitely a places person. And am currently nursing a broken heart over a city I knew for 2 months.

I moved to Ankara in September. It wasn’t the most welcoming place. VERY different from Karachi (but astoundingly alike as I discovered over time), different language, people, culture from home. I don’t even remember when it went from being a place I struggled to keep up with, to the place I was looking forward to calling home.

I fell in love with the heart of the city. I regret not visiting Kizilay enough, probably the hardest goodbye of all. I regret not getting lost in its very many sokaks (streets) more often. I still had to locate that street with the books and the cafes and read under the open sky (could not locate a single english bookstore or that perfectly located cafe). Instead I found myself at the Burger King near Peynirci all too often.

I am grateful I was made to walk everywhere so the seemingly insignificant corner shops selling Kunefe at Ulus and the never ending campuses of Ankara Univeristy wherever I went are what I remember when I think of the city.

But it would be reductionist for a foreigner to think of Ankara (or any city) in terms of buildings and place and not opportunity. Opportunity to reinvent one’s self and to celebrate one’s self is the best of what any city (that is not home) has to offer. Ankara looked by far the best shot to be myself, at least for the time being. Foreigner being the keyword here. There was only so long I could drown out the noise, but dwelling on that is pointless now.

Ankara was a 2 month stint of being me, purely me. It was a moral and emotional vacation, it picked me up when life told me being me was unworthy of reciprocity. Karachi reminded me of my choices, the best of which haunted me, while Ankara simplified the equation, there was no way to gauge good or bad anymore. Ankara allowed me to heal and I was grateful. I still am and will forever be.

But the worst is over. And when I think of Ankara I fear that the best is too. But that's impossible is what Ankara taught me.So I will grab onto the best of it and look ahead and be grateful.

I sometimes sit and wonder when and with what excuse would I drop by to revisit the most unattractive of all of tourist Turkey. But Ankara served it’s purpose I know. I met new people, made new and fleeting and special friendships, reaffirmed the idea that people can be enough when they wish to be, I learnt a language and the ground breaking idea that I am enough.

Time to say good bye.

#Goodbye #Ankara #Turkey #places #cities #of goodbyes #healing

To JOB or not to job? That is the question!

thereluctantliberalist

2014

The year that took children from us.

The year that blurred the boundaries of war. So vengeance and murder entered classrooms and took children from us. 132 to be precise.

Blurred the very definition of humanness. So racism made it okay to kill our babies. 189 to be precise.

And precision is important. To hang on to the thread of civility it is crucial. Numbers are definitive of the scale of tragedy.

Tragic.

Leelah. 1. The names going to stick, unlike the 132. I’m already forgetting them.

2014 took Leelah from us. It became the year we still did not reach out to our young and say hey, you matter. You are valued, you are loved and you are beautiful.

2014, you will not be missed.

thereluctantliberalist

As 2015 comes to a close.

#notforgotton

farther-reaches

from rupi kaur’s instagram

#Rupi Kaur #New obsession #someone get me this book

postcolonialfeministing

Harnoi. Neat abbottabad, Pakistan. Aug 2015.

#Pakistan #abottabad

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

The Reluctant Liberalist