. From WIkipediaa' s entry on "Feminism": "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) by Mary Wollstonecraft, is one of the earliest works of feminist philosophy. A Room of One's Own (1929) by Virginia Woolf, is noted in its argument for both a literal and figural space for women writers within a literary tradition dominated by patriarchy."

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan;The First Sex, by Elizabeth Gould Davis; Fear of Flying- Eica Jong; Le Deuxieme Sexe-- Simone de Beauvoir. Gloria Steinem recommends these books as seminal: "For fueling this diverse and global movement, I think first of anthologies: Robin Morgan’s Sisterhood Is Powerful, then Sisterhood Is Global, and later, Sisterhood Is Forever; All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, but Some of Us Are Brave, by Barbara Smith and others; and Gloria Anzaldua and Cherríe Moraga’s This Bridge Called My Back. The many versions of Our Bodies, Ourselves helped us gain power over our lives from the skin in. Since patriarchy is about controlling female bodies in order to control reproduction, this was and will always be basic." For literary critics try Helene Cixoux.

Thank you for asking !

Classics - with a range of perspectives (chronological order):

--Simone de Beauvoir.  The Second Sex (1953).

--Kate Millett.  Sexual Politics (1970).

--Nancy Chowdorow.  The Reproduction of Mothering (1978).

--Evelyn Fox Keller.  Reflections on Gender and Science (1985).

--Sandra Harding.  The Science Question in Feminism (1986).

--R. Connell.  Gender and Power (1987).

--Sandra Bem.  The Lenses of Gender (1993).

--Judith Lorber.  Paradoxes of Gender (1994).

In addition to Mary F. Fox's reply, 

- Acker, J. (1990). "Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations"

- Schiebinger, Londa (2001). Has Feminism Changed Science? (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. 

Good reading! 

 I would add something coming from Afroamerican feminist movement (see Angela DAvis; Women, Race, & Class)

In addition to classic theory, you may find interesting to include the work of some major British novelist. Female writers during the industrial Revolution had certainly a critical point of view: Elizabeth Gaskell, Mary Barton (1848) and North and South (1854-1855), Charlotte Brontë, Shirley (1849), George Eliot, The mill on the Floss (1860). Those books as some of the 19th century's best sellers were influential. 

One of the issues to be considered before you even start is "what does classical feminism" mean? First, second and third wave are the usual descriptors and each has highlights which could be regarded as 'classics' of the time and place

I would like to add in feminist theory related classic literature are as under:

-Simone de Beauvoir.  The Second Sex.

--Kate Millett.  Sexual Politics .

-Taslima Nasreen.Aurat Ke Hak Mein.

-Prabha Khaitan.upnivesh Mein Stree

"Classic feminist theory" can mean a lot of things. To me, the widely-anthologized second wave feminists spring to mind. I'd recommend these names, titles, and concepts:

Judith Fetterley, The Resisting Reader, 1978 ("immasculation")

Elaine Showalter, "Toward a Feminist Poetics," 1979  ("gynocritics")

Annette Kolodny, "Dancing through the Minefield," 1980 ("canon")

Many of the above, plus Sherry Ortner's "Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?"

Elaine Showalter, and separately Sandra Gilbert & Susan Gubar, have written on poet Christina Rossetti in some of their treatises. E.g.: citing Gilbert and Gubar: https://web.csulb.edu/~csnider/c.rossetti.html

Christina Rossetti's long poem Goblin Market is arguably not only a feminist commentary but also a wry critique of her brother's Pre-Raphaelite School, which depicted their beloved models (including Christina) as etheric, distracted and distracting. My working paper on Rossetti's Goblin Market --  in my posted publications-  could perhaps shed some further light on the feminist momentum in the 19th century.

The above references are really good. I'd add Gerda Lerner to the list.

First of all, I agree with Caroline Ladewig. If you were to give only one lecture on 'classic' feminism, you would have to at least point out that there are varieties of feminism delineated by time, place, and genre. To my knowledge, in the last 10-20 years, there has been a turn of feminist theory toward post-modernist and psycho-analytic works, such as those of Donna Haraway and Judith Butler. But you can find powerful and interesting authors in analytic philosophy too, like Martha Nussbaum (very interdisciplinary), Rae Langton (UK) and Lori Gruen. Feminists in analytic philosophy have to struggle to have their names included in so-called "classic feminist" literature since much of the field is dominated by the other mentioned currents. 

Of Marriage and the Market, K Young, C. Wolkowitz and R McCullagh 1981

Development, Crises and Alternative Visions G Sen and C Grown 1987

Both should be there from a 'development' perspective

Some names that are missing are: Hélène Cixous and Julia Kristeva, vital for talking about French Feminism; Adrienne Rich (Of Woman Born), crucial to continue Chowdorow's ideas; for Feminism in politics Hannah Arendt, fundamental; and to contrast with white feminism I would mention Gloria Anzaldúa. Of course if you want to go to the very origins of "politics of space" you have to mention Mary Wollstonecraft and Virginia Wolf. 

I would also include "Under Western Eyes" and "Under Western Eyes Revisited" by Chandra Mohanty. 

i'd add to the first list: Shulamith Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex (1970)

Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought

I would also include Germaine Greer and Agnes Heller.

XVII...

Marie de Gournay

"Égalité des Hommes et des Femmes"

Poullain de la Barre

"De l´egalité des sexes"

XVIII

Feijoo

Discurso XVI del "Teatro Crítico Universal"

Josefa Amar y Borbón

"Discurso sobre la educación física y moral de las mujeres"

Diderot

"La Religieuse"

Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel

"Über die bürgerliche Verbesserung der Weiber"

Condorcet

"Lettre a un citoyen de New Haven"

Olympe des Gouges

" Declaration des droits de la Femme et la Citoyenne"

Mary Wollstonecraft

"Vindication"

XIX

William Thompson, Ann Wheeller

"Appeal of one half of Human Race"

J. S. Mill

"The subjection of woman"

Seneca Falls Manifiesto, 1848.

E. Cady Stanton

"The Bible of woman"

Clara Zetkin

Die Gleichheit,  from 1891 to 1917 articles.

XX

Beauvoir

"Le deuxieme sexe", 1949.

B. Friedan

"The feminine Mystique"

K. Millet

"Sexual Politics"

S. Firestone

"The dialectic of Sex"

S. Faloudi

"Reaction"

P. Bourdieu

"La domination masculine"

E. Badinter

"l´amour en Plus"

And so on...

Old-School. Anything from Lucretia Mott!

Helen. Congrats you started a great conversation. 

I would add

Gayle Rubin's "The Traffic in Women: Notes on the 'Political Economy' of Sex"

Katie Cannon, "Inheriting Our Mothers' Gardens: Feminist Theology in Third World Perspective."

This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color is a feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa.

For a lecture about classic feminist theory, I'd begin by introducing students to some of the feminists who have questioned the ideology of canons and classics and the forms of institutional power and authority that accompany the creation of canons and classics. Those feminists could include many different voices, such as Bell Hooks, Audre Lorde, Tillie Olsen, or art historian, Linda Nochlin. For instance, Nochlin's  critique of the category of "greatness" in her 1970s essay, "Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists" can be tweaked to apply to "greatness" in feminist theory: "The question 'Why have there been no great women artists?' has led us to the conclusion, so far, that art is not a free, autonomous activity of a super-endowed individual, 'influenced' by previous artists, and, more vaguely and superficially, by 'social forces,' but rather, that the total situation of art making, both in terms of the development of the art maker and in the nature and quality of the work of art itself, occur in a social situation, are integral elements of this social structure, and are mediated and determined by specific and definable social institutions, be they art academies, systems of patronage, mythologies of the divine creator, artist as he-man or social outcast." Once the patriarchal baggage of the idea of the "timeless classic" has been challenged, the concept of the classic can be re-opened for new definitions. Canons and lists of classics are usually organized around an unspoken goal or purpose. Perhaps they are most useful when that goal or purpose is made explicit. When the goal is made explicit, the canon becomes provisional, shifting, imperfect, but no less meaningful. Anyway, thanks for the interesting question and discussion!

Writers like Tasleema Nasreen , Arundhati Roy, Shobha De ,Urvashi Bhutalia, Anita Desai’s novels and genres emerged which reflected, explicitly and implicitly such thoughts. Thus Amrita Pritam’s “The revenue stamp”, Nayantara Sahgal’s “Storm in Chandigarh” etc are examples. Most of their woman protagonists are educated woman groaning under self conflict under circumstances of marriage, to their traditionally assigned roles. Even Arundhati Roy’s “God of small things” shows three generations of women projecting silent suffering, revolting and finally making way to herself. Taslima Nasreen’s works are another spectrum of expressive feminism.

This is a wonderful discussion!

Germaine Greer - Female Eunich

Anne Summers - Dammed Whores and God's Police (Australian) 

HELENE CIXOUS' THE LAUGH OF MEDUSA

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR'S THE SECOND SEX

Great question and great discussion.

It would be rather ambitious to try to cover the topic in the one lecture - from the excellent and thoughtful responses above, a whole course may be more appropriate. In terms of  'classics', I would also add Mary Daly, Gyn/Ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism; Carol Pateman, The Sexual Contract; Ann Oakley, Housework; and Zillah Eisenstein, Capitalist Patriarchy. 

However, I would also suggest that any study of classic feminism needs to unpack what is meant be classic, and so I would strongly echo the suggestions above to include bell hooks. And I would add: Linda Nicholson, Feminism/Postmodernism; Judith Butler, Gender Trouble; Donna Haraway, A Cyborg Manifesto. I also love to suggestion in include novels, and I would add Christina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children

I agree, great question. For British feminism, THE classic text is Mary Wollstonecraft's (1792) 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' - one of the earliest feminist texts written.

I agree for Lucy Piggot, that is British Feminism Studies in Gender. Thank You.

Hi Helen. You might include Angela Davis' Women, Race and Class (it's more recent but classic in terms of critiquing white western feminism in terms of racism and classism).

Oroonoko by Aphra Behn

Albeit the focus is upon classic feminist theory it may be worth considering including the following text:

Walby, S., 2011. The future of feminism. Polity.

Albeit a contemporary text, it provides a useful exploration of both gender inequality broadly as well as the feminist movement's response to same and in particular considers how both have evolved over the last four decades.

Virginia Woolf's A room of one's own

I would suggest the inclusion of these two:

"Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle", by Silvia Federici

and

"Matricentric Feminism: Theory, Activism, Practice", by Andrea O'Reilly.

You will finf

You will likely find this an odd choice: Clarissa, an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, a contemporay of Henry Fielding. I gave written about this nivel in my essay on incedtxand narcissism, posted on ResearchGate.

You may also include "The Feminine Mystique' by Betty Friedan.

Anything by Helene Cixous, see her Wikipedia entry; Her works [she is still flourishing at age 82]:

In 1968, Cixous published her doctoral dissertation L'Exil de James Joyce ou l'Art du remplacement (The Exile of James Joyce, or the Art of Displacement) and the following year she published her first novel, Dedans (Inside), a semi-autobiographical work that won the Prix Médicis.[6]

She has published widely, including twenty-three volumes of poems, six books of essays, five plays, and numerous influential articles. She published Voiles (Veils) with Jacques Derrida and her work is often considered deconstructive. In introducing her Wellek Lecture, subsequently published as Three Steps on the Ladder of Writing, Derrida referred to her as the greatest living writer in his language (French).[10] Cixous wrote a book on Derrida titled Portrait de Jacques Derrida en jeune saint juif (Portrait of Jacques Derrida as a Young Jewish Saint). Her reading of Derrida finds additional layers of meaning at a phonemic rather than strictly lexical level.[11] In addition to Derrida and Joyce, she has written monographs on the work of the Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector, on Maurice Blanchot, Franz Kafka, Heinrich von Kleist, Michel de Montaigne, Ingeborg Bachmann, Thomas Bernhard, and the Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva. Cixous is also the author of essays on artists, including Simon Hantaï, Pierre Alechinsky and Adel Abdessemed to whom she has devoted two books.

Along with Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva, Cixous is considered one of the mothers of poststructuralist feminist theory.[12] In the 1970s, Cixous began writing about the relationship between sexuality and language. Like other poststructuralist feminist theorists, Cixous believes that our sexuality is directly tied to how we communicate in society. In 1975, Cixous published her most influential article "Le rire de la méduse" ("The Laugh of the Medusa"), which was revised by her, translated into English by Paula Cohen and Keith Cohen, and released in English in 1976.[3] She has published over 70 works; her fiction, dramatic writing and poetry, however, are not often read in English.

Here also a, list of other major works of feminism. Needless to say I have not begun to read all this. :)

• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792)
• The Subjection of Women (1869)
• The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884)
• The Second Sex (1949)
• The Feminine Mystique (1963)
• Sexual Politics (1969)
• The Dialectic of Sex (1970)
• Speculum of the Other Woman (1974)
• This Sex Which is Not One (1977)
• Gyn/Ecology (1978)
• Throwing Like a Girl (1980)
• In a Different Voice (1982)
• The Politics of Reality (1983)
• Women, Race, and Class (1983)
• Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984)
• The Creation of Patriarchy (1986)
• Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989)
• Gender Trouble (1990)
• Black Feminist Thought (1990)
• Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (1993)
• The Promise of Happinness (2010)

Another older 'classics' relative to feminist theory can be The Bostonians by Henry James. I analysed it from this point of view and may send you this chapter after a short while, as soon as it is out of press

The cat in the hat.

1. A VINDICATION OF THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN BY MARY WOLLSTONECRAFT

2. THE SECOND SEX BY SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR

3. THE MADWOMAN IN THE ATTIC BY SANDRA GILBERT AND SUSAN GUBAR

I would begin with Mary Wollstonecraft, then I would steer my course towards the feminists of the first and second waves such as, Simone de Beauvoir, Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Betty Friedan, and Helene Cixous. They are prominent figures and their works lead the reader to understand the feminist theory with a deeper insight.

Iren Boyarkina : Also Portrait of a Lady by Henry James. Science fiction writers such as Joanna Russ and Ursula K. LeGuin also should be included, especially for more far-reaching impact, as more people read science fiction than literary criticism or even classical literature.

Since there was an emphasis on the word "classics":

The Book of Thel (1789)by William Blake

The Blazing World (1666) by Lady Margaret Lucas Cavendish

The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster

The Tragedy of Mariam (1613) by Elizabeth Cary

The Forc'd Marriage; or, The Jealous Bridegroom by Aphra Behn

Fantomina; or, Love in a Maze (1725) by Eliza Haywood

Simone de Beauvoir, definitely.

I love this discussion because it shows that even "classic" in feminist theory is very diverse and the notion of "foundations" is contextual. Here is my contribution. I think these two books haven't been mentioned yet:

• "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892) - This short story is a seminal work in feminist literature and addresses issues of women's mental health and the constraints of the patriarchal society.
• "The Dialectic of Sex" by Shulamith Firestone (1970) - Firestone's book is a radical feminist text that explores the connections between patriarchy and biological reproduction.