Feminist manuals and manifestos in the twenty-first century

Guides on being a feminist by writers such as Caitlin Moran are increasingly popular. This chapter contrasts these new feminist manuals with the recent resurgence of feminist manifestos. It examines common features in manuals by Moran, Laurie Penny, Roxanne Gay, Chamananda Ngozi Adichie, and Emer O’Toole, including their narrative tone and their reluctance to engage with the rich legacy feminist work that precedes them. Feminism, in these works, is an individual realisation rather than an encounter with history or a political change induced by reading or activism. In contrast, Sara Ahmed’s ‘Killjoy Manifesto’, the document ‘Xenofeminism: A Politics for Alienation’ by the collective Laboria Cuboniks, and the Trans Heath Manifesto by activists from Edinburgh Action for Trans Health, provide exciting points from which to think about collective action, showing solidarity, and the importance of feminist knowledge-sharing. The chapter concludes that feminist manuals fail to move feminist thinking forward, whereas the manifestos speak directly to the problems, challenges, and political opportunities of collective feminist action in the twenty-first century.