Who teaches us how to be feminists? How do we become feminists? When do we go from believing women are equal to understanding the structures in place to keep us oppressed? It is not always from the classroom and understanding ‘waves’ of feminism but from lived experiences. Especially stories of lived experiences from other women globally. And The Portable Feminist Reader by Roxane Gay is a fantastic accumulation of these intersectional, global theories and reflections. A good starting point for new feminists and a refresher for seasoned feminists.
Roxane Gay has written great amounts of feminist literature, and The Portable Feminist Reader sets out to gather a perfectly curated array of feminist essays and manifestos from different periods, cultural contexts, and intellectual schools. There is a reason why Gay is one of the most important feminist voices of our time, and this new collection further solidifies that. The Portable Feminist Reader is a fantastic attempt at pulling the best feminist essays and presenting them to readers. Gay’s own words situate this book within the broader trajectory of feminist thought, acknowledging both the need for activism and the varied evolutions of discourse since “first-wave” movements.
The Portable Feminist Reader comes at a crucial time with violence against women globally on the rise, online harassment running rampant, and the eradication of women’s rights seeping into politics. Intersectionality remains the most important framework to practice our feminism, and this book emphasises that and provides a path into understanding true intersectionality. It reshapes the usual western feminist books by including voices historically hidden by mainstream discourse. It serves as a fantastic introduction to the many different schools of feminist thought that it covers.
The Portable Feminist Reader is accessible in terms of language and writing style. It orders the pieces in chronological and thematic order, reflecting multiple “waves” or eras—e.g., “early feminist texts” alongside contemporary intersectional and Black feminist work. This makes it a fantastic book to simply pick up and flick through. If you need a classic piece of feminism, you can quickly flick to pieces by Kimberlé Crenshaw or turn the pages to more modern voices such as Mona Eltahawy.
The inclusion of these older pieces of feminist theory alongside more recent voices, which many modern readers may find more accessible in terms of language, underscores Gay’s intention to demonstrate that feminism has always existed and is longstanding and ever-evolving.
Gay’s previous work, Bad Feminist, is referenced in this text. In Bad Feminist, Gay challenged the idea of a ‘perfect’ or ‘good’ feminist. In the introduction of The Portable Feminist Reader, she reaffirms that feminism needs nuance, ongoing learning, and self-correction. A major theme is the post-2022 shift. The Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade created a shift in feminist theory and culture. The societal shift underscores Gay’s premise that advances made by earlier feminists can be undone, reinforcing the necessity of broad-based and intersectional feminism, which is long-lasting, inclusive, and protects all women.
Reflecting on Crenshaw’s intersectionality, Gay reinforces that feminist theory must move beyond “singular” notions of identity. If feminism is not inclusive of race, sexuality, class, and other identities, it is incomplete. Gay also challenges any form of feminism that uncritically embraces “choice” in an absent context.
Gay’s anthology’s strongest contribution is its commitment to intersectionality. The selection is deliberate with its inclusion of multiple identity markers, from race, socioeconomic background, gender, through to sexuality. Gays approach really does feel like a true feminist reader that will introduce new readers to an array of feminist theory.
The book also brings a much welcome challenge to traditional academic gatekeeping. Academic gatekeeping is a problem in feminist theory, mainly western feminism. Most feminist learning takes place in universities, and the feminism that is taught is often split into ‘waves’ with a few names being the stars of the show. These big names tend to be white women—Mary Wollstonecraft and Betty Friedan, for example. Gays curation incorporates feminist voices that tend to be excluded from Western feminism and creates a bridge between traditional works by Audre Lorde and contemporary works by Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez and Mona Eltahawy. This inclusion of international, indigenous, trans, and queer scholars broadens Gays scope and allows readers to have an understanding of feminism outside of the western-centric lens.
Gays anthology is a great example of successfully balancing academia with accessibility and making theory approachable for everyone. The range of authors really solidifies this anthology as one that will withstand cultural changes and will constantly be referred back too. It includes digital activism and feminism in the context of religion and politics and discusses legal frameworks. With such a broad range, Gay has successfully created a fantastic feminist reader.
There are some inevitable constraints in representation. I would have liked to see some more global feminist movements represented. More historical and modern Asian feminist writings would have been welcomed, as would the inclusion of more postcolonial African feminism. Further, the categorisation by themes runs the risk of compartmentalising interconnected ideas rather than highlighting how they work together.
Overall, The Portable Feminist Reader is a fantastic attempt by Gay to bridge historical and contemporary feminist theory and make it accessible. I truly wish a feminist reader like this was around when I was a teenager, as it is a great introduction to feminism without being western-centric. The emphasis on global perspectives, intersectionality, and evolving theory makes it a book that is and will be a valuable resource for understanding feminism.
As feminist thought and theory continues to evolve, Gay’s anthology provides a crucial framework for understanding it; this piece of literature could not have come at a more crucial time. Roxane Gays The Portable Feminist Reader will be available from March 25th 2025.
