I missed this piece when it was published in August. Author Mary Kay Zuravleff posted a link to it on her Facebook page this morning, and I think it needs to be read as widely as possible, so I’m sharing it here to keep it moving along.

Natalie Howlett’s essay, published on the Feminspire website, is must-reading for those who care about literature and women, especially young women. As a high school English teacher, I realize that we need to choose books for our curriculum with more thought about the messages our choices send and the effects they can have.

We have the opportunity to show young women that writing by women matters, that their lives matter. And we have the chance to send a message to young men that books by women are not just about women and for women, but that women have as much to say as men about important subjects, including men’s lives. Perhaps we will eventually be able to effect a change in men’s reading habits. Considering the huge role women play in the lives of men, we ought to be paying more attention to what women artists of all kinds have to say.

http://feminspire.com/high-school-reading-list-taught-women/