March is Women’s History Month, and what better way to recognize it than by picking up some relevant books? In some ways, this is such a broad category that it can be overwhelming. Do any books by or about women count as Women’s History Month reads? I’m not here to be the arbiter on that, but I am here to recommend some books.
Specifically, I decided to focus in on conversation-starting books. These titles discuss topics relevant to the political reality of being a woman — particularly in North America — today. By learning more of the facts around things like data bias against women, the history of racism in the U.S., the role of queer women in the country’s history, and more, you can be better equipped to have conversations about the current political climate.
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
In an increasingly digital world, data in every aspect of modern life, from healthcare systems to product design to public policy. As Perez demonstrates by referencing hundreds of studies, these data sets often rely only on men as examples. As AI is trained on data sets like this, this bias against women and nonbinary people builds on itself. Invisible Women is the landmark book on this subject, published in 2019, but if you want a more recent take, you can also pick up Data Feminism by Catherine D’Ignazio and Lauren F. Klein.
A Black Women’s History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross
To understand the United States today, you first have to understand its history. Black women’s voices have often been suppressed in U.S. history books, but they have been instrumental to the story of this country. Both Gross and Berry are award-winning historians, and they offer an intersectional look at 400+ years of Black women’s experiences in the U.S.A. This book also completes task #4 of the 2024 Read Harder Challenge: Read a history book by a BIPOC author.