And she integrates her love of make-up into activism: by helping herself (and other women) feel beautiful, she develops the confidence to step into spaces previously barred to women. We recommend this book a lot, but that’s because Daisy Swann is so awesome. Enjoy a thoughtful approach to the “compromised but feminist” histrom heroine in a non-obnoxious Shakespeare retelling. Ten Things I Hate About the Duke by Loretta ChaseĬassandra is a proto-feminist who really doesn’t have time for Ashmont-the-himbo, but also social constructs are what they are and as much as we might wish it otherwise, they can’t be smashed overnight. Enjoyed the angst and the power dynamics between Annabelle and the Duke. On the other hand, she’s an awesome activist because she’s breaking down academic walls by attending university, proving that women are just as academic-minded as men. Bringing Down the Duke by Evie DunmoreĪnnabelle is sort of a reluctant activist, because she’s a suffragette primarily because she has to be in order to afford going to Oxford.

Her home is a station on the Underground Railroad, she is an activist and leader in her community, she only buys products made by people who are anti-slavery (even though she’s on a budget and it would be cheaper not to), and she’s doing just fine. This week: Activists Indigo by Beverly Jenkins This list is organized in roughly chronological order. To celebrate Women’s History Month, every Saturday in March we’ve prepared a Saturday Smutty Six list of some of our favorite heroines.

What a Wallflower Wants by Maya Rodale