Feminist literature is fiction or nonfiction which supports the feminist goals of defining, establishing and defending equal civil, political, economic and social rights for women. It often identifies women's roles as unequal to those of menparticularly as regards status, privilege and powerand generally portrays the consequences to women, men, families, communities and societies as undesirable.
The following is a list of American feminist literature listed by year of first publication, then within the year alphabetically by title. Books and magazines are in italics, all other types of literature are not and are in quotation marks. References lead when possible to a link to the full text of the literature.
18th century Letters on Women's Rights, Abigail and John Adams (1776)Letters Of Abigail Adams Desultory Thoughts upon the Utility of Encouraging a Degree of Self-Complacency, Especially in Female Bosoms, Judith Sargent Murray (1784) "On the Equality of the Sexes", Judith Sargent Murray, from The Massachusetts Magazine, or, Monthly Museum Concerning the Literature, History, Politics, Arts, Manners, Amusements of the Age, Vol. II (1790)On the Equality of the Sexes
19th century
1810s–1820s "An Address to the Public; Particularly to the Members of the Legislature of New-York, Proposing a Plan for Improving Female Education", Emma Willard (1819) "Men and Women; Brief Hypothesis concerning the Difference in their Genius", John Neal (1824)
1830s "Marriage Law Protest", Robert Dale Owen (1832) The History of the Condition of Women in Various Ages and Nations, Lydia Maria Child (1835) Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, Sarah Grimke (1837) "Remarks Comprising in Substance Judge Hertell's Argument in the House of Assembly in the State of New York in the Session of 1837 in Support of the Bill to Restore to Married Women the 'Right of Property' as Guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States", Judge Thomas Hertell (1837) The Times that Try Men's Souls, Maria Weston Chapman (1837)
1840s "Rights of Women: The Substance of a Lecture Delivered by John Neal at the Tabernacle", John Neal (1843) The Great Lawsuit, Margaret Fuller (1843)Margaret Fuller Brief History of the Condition of Women: in Various Ages and Nations, Volume 2, Lydia Maria Child (1845) "The Rights and Condition of Women", Samuel May (1845)The rights and condition of women: a sermon, preached in Syracuse, Nov., 1845, by Samuel J. May Woman in the Nineteenth Century, Margaret Fuller (1845)Margaret Fuller "Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions", Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1848) "Voting Rights Speech", Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1848) "Discourse on Woman", Lucretia Mott (1849)Gifts of Speech – Lucretia Mott
1850s The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1850).Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1850). The Scarlet Letter: A Romance (2 ed.). Boston: Ticknor, Reed and Fields. Retrieved July 22, 2017 – via Internet Archive Woman and Her Needs, Elizabeth Oakes Smith (1850-1851) Ain't I a Woman? speech, Sojourner Truth (1851)Sojourner Truth (1797–1883): Ain't I A Woman? "Speech at the National Woman's Rights Convention", Ernestine Rose (1851)Ernestine Potowski Rose: Speech at the National Woman's Rights Convention "The Responsibilities of Woman", Clarina Howard Nichols (1851)Clarina Howard Nichols: The Responsibilities of Woman "Speech at the National Woman's Rights Convention", Matilda Joslyn Gage (1852) Die Deutsche Frauen-Zeitung, German-language women's rights journal published by Mathilde Franziska Anneke (1852). What Time of Night It Is, Sojourner Truth (1853)Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Women's History Women's Rights, William Lloyd Garrison (1853)Women's Rights (1853). By William Lloyd Garrison in The Liberator (1853-10-28) // Fair Use Repository The Una, feminist periodical published by Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis (1853). "Address to the Legislature of New York", Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1854)Elizabeth Cady Stanton: Address to the Legislature of New York Marriage of Lucy Stone Under Protest, Lucy Stone, Rev. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, and Henry Blackwell (1855) Ruth Hall, Fanny Fern (1855)Ruth Hall, by "Fanny Fern" (1854) "Consistent democracy. The elective franchise for women. Twenty-five testimonies of prominent men, viz: ex-Gov. Anthony of R.I., Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, Rev. Wm.H. Channing [etc.]" (1858) "Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet?", Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1859)Ought Women to Learn the Alphabet? – The Atlantic
1860s A Slave's Appeal, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1860)Elizabeth Cady Stanton: A Slave's Appeal Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs (1861) A Long Fatal Love Chase, Louisa May Alcott (1866) "Address To The First Anniversary Of The American Equal Rights Association", Frances D. Gage (1867)Frances D. Gage: Address To The First Anniversary Of The American Equal Rights Association "Keeping the Thing Going While Things Are Stirring", Sojourner Truth (1867)Sojourner Truth Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (1868) "The Destructive Male", Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1868)Elizabeth Cady Stanton: "The Destructive Male"
1870s "About Marrying Too Young" from The Revolution, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1870) "Are Women A Class?", Lillie Blake (1870) Endorsing Women's Enfranchisement, Adelle Hazlett (1871)Adelle Hazlett: Endorsing Women's Enfranchisement Hit: Essays on Women's Rights, Mary Edwards Walker (1871) On the Progress of Education and Industrial Avocations for Women, Matilda Joslyn Gage (1871) "Put Us In Your Place" from The Revolution, Lillie Blake (1871) On Woman's Right to Suffrage, Susan B. Anthony (1872)Women of Achievement Library (Author Index) "Sentencing of Susan B. Anthony for the Crime of Voting" (1873)Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Women's History "Uncivil Liberty: An Essay to Show the Injustice and Impolicy of Ruling Woman Without Her Consent", Ezra Heywood (1873) Woman: Man's Equal, Thomas Webster (1873)The Project Gutenberg eBook of Woman, by Rev. Thos. Webster, D.D "Women's Temperance Movement", Mark Twain (1873)Mark Twain: Women's Temperance Movement Papa's Own Girl, Marie Howland (1874) Internet Archive: Details: The sexes throughout nature "Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States", National Woman Suffrage Association, July 4, 1876Declaration of Rights of the Women of the United States by the National Woman Suffrage Association
1880s Mizora, Mary Lane (1880–81) Common Sense About Women, Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1881) Women and the Alphabet: A Series of Essays, Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1881) The Constitutional Rights of the Women of the United States, Isabella Beecher Hooker (1883)Isabella Beecher Hooker: The Constitutional Rights Of The Women Of The United States What Shall We Do With our Daughters? Superfluous Women and Other Lectures, Mary A. Livermore (1883) "Woman as an Inventor", Matilda Joslyn Gage (1883) "The Need of Liberal Divorce Laws" from the North American Review, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1884) "Has Christianity Benefited Woman?", Elizabeth Cady Stanton, from the North American Review (1885) Men, Women, And Gods, And Other Lectures, Helen H. Gardener (1885)Men, Women, And Gods Women and Men, Thomas Wentworth Higginson (1888) Women Who Go To College, Arthur Gilman (1888)About The Etext Center | University of Virginia Library Digital Curation Services
1890s "Sex Slavery", Voltairine de Cleyre (1890)Voltairine de Cleyre – "Sex Slavery" The Woman's Movement in the South, A.P. Mayo (1891) "Transactions of the National Council of Women of the United States" (1891) A Voice from the South, Anna Julia Cooper (1892) "Hearing of the Woman Suffrage Association" (1892)Hearing of the Woman Suffrage Association (1892) Solitude of Self, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1892)PBS: Not For Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony – Resources "The Yellow Wallpaper", Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" "The Progress of Fifty Years", Lucy Stone (1893)Lucy Stone: "The Progress of Fifty Years" Unveiling a Parallel, Alice Ilgenfritz Jones & Ella Merchant (1893)Unveiling a Parallel, A Romance Index Woman, Church, and State, Matilda Joslyn Gage (1893)Women, Church and State Index Women's Cause is One and Universal, Anna Julia Cooper (1893)(1893) Anna Julia Cooper, Women's Cause is One and Universal | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed "Common Sense" Applied to Women's Suffrage, Mary Corinna Putnam Jacobi (1894) "Speech on Women's Suffrage", Carrie Chapman Catt (1894)Class Versus Gender: Catt Taps Middle-Class and Nativist Fears to Boost Women's Causes "The Story of an Hour", Kate Chopin (1894)"The Story of an Hour" The New Woman, Winona Branch Sawyer (1895)s:Oread/August 1895/The New Woman "What Becomes of the Girl Graduates", Winona Branch Sawyer (1895)s:Oread/August 1895/What Becomes of the Girl Graduates "Anarchy and the Sex Question" from the New York World, Emma Goldman (1896)"Anarchy and the Sex Question" The Women of To-Morrow, William Hard (1896)About The Etext Center | University of Virginia Library Digital Curation Services "Why Go To College?" An Address by Alice Freeman Palmer, Formerly President of Wellesley College, Alice Freeman Palmer (1897)The Project Gutenberg E-text of "Why go to College?" by Alice Freeman Palmer Eighty Years and More, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1898)Eighty Years And More "The Storm", Kate Chopin (1898) The Woman's Bible, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1898)The Woman's Bible Index Women and Economics, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1898)Women and Economics Arqtiq, Anna Adolph (1899) The Awakening, Kate Chopin (1899)
20th century
1900s "Are Homogenous Divorce Laws in All the States Desirable?" from the North American Review, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1900) "Inspired" Marriage, Robert Ingersoll (1900)Some Mistakes of Moses: XXVI: 'Inspired' Marriage "Progress of the American Woman" from the North American Review, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1900) "Votes for Women", Mark Twain (1901)Mark Twain: "Votes for Women" Woman, Kate Austin (1901)s:Woman (Kate Austin) "Declaration of Principles", by the National American Woman Suffrage Association (1904)Women of Achievement Library (Author Index) The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton (1905) Herland, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1909)Herland Index What Diantha Did, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1909–10)What Diantha Did "Woman – Comrade and Equal", Eugene V. Debs (1909)Justice Articles
1910s Marriage and Love, Emma Goldman (1911) Moving the Mountain, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1911) Our Androcentric Culture, or The Man Made World, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1911)Our Androcentric Culture, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman "The Hypocrisy of Puritanism", Emma Goldman (1911)"The Hypocrisy of Puritanism" The Sex and Woman Questions, Lena Morrow Lewis (1911)Lena Morrow Lewis – The Sex and Woman Questions "The Traffic in Women", Emma Goldman (1911)"The Traffic In Women" "The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation", Emma Goldman (1911)"The Tragedy of Woman's Emancipation" Two Suffrage Movements, Martha Gruening (1912) The Woman With Empty Hands: The Evolution of a Suffragette, Marion Hamilton Carter (1913)The Woman with Empty Hands: The Evolution of a Suffragette. New York: Dodd Mead and Company, 1913. "If Men Were Seeking the Franchise", Jane Addams (1913)Addams, Jane (June 1913). "If Men Were Seeking the Franchise." Ladies' Home Journal. Samantha on the Woman Question, Marietta Holley "Why I Wrote the Yellow Wallpaper" from The Forerunner, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1913)Gilman, Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper A Short History of Women's Rights, From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. With Special Reference to England and the United States, Eugene A. Hecker (1914)A Short History of Women's Rights Are Women People? A Book of Rhymes for Suffrage Times, Alice Duer Miller (1915)