Almost 20 years ago, two graduate students in literature were frustrated because they couldn’t find anything but the most famous book by any given woman author.
Ann Christophersen and Linda Bubon envisioned a store where readers could find all works by Virginia Woolf, George Eliot, Grace Paley and Margaret Atwood. They wanted to create an environment appealing to all interests and lifestyles of women, whether heterosexual or lesbian, involved or single, family-centered or career-oriented.
Their dreams materialized when Christophersen and Bubon founded the Women & Children First Bookstore, 5233 N. Clark Street in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago’s North Side.
“We specialize in books made by and about women,” said Christophersen, still a co-owner and the president of the American Booksellers Association. “Our mission is to make books available that otherwise aren’t and to provide an environment in which all kinds of women feel comfortable coming together.”
Women & Children First, arguably the only feminist bookstore in the city, has more than 30,000 titles in stock. It features extensive sections on gays and lesbians, pregnancy and parenting, women’s studies, violence against women, politics and Oprah’s book club selections.
“The fact that we’re feminist and more progressive differentiates us from other bookstores,” said Pam Harcourt, a bookseller and the bookstore’s Web site coordinator. “It’s a space for all kinds of women and any oppressed people — gays, trans people, minorities — to come and feel safe and supported.
“There aren’t that many spaces like that, and it’s sad that in a city like Chicago, we’re the only feminist bookstore,” she said.
According to Christophersen, although the bookstore is targeted at women, many male customers come in regularly. The emphasis at Women & Children First is on works by women, but not exclusively. Christophersen said approximately 95 percent of the store’s fiction selection is by women authors, but other sections include male writers as long as the literature focuses on women’s issues.
Women & Children First participates in Book Sense, a national coalition of independent bookstores that puts out a list of recommended books every two months and displays works by both male and female authors.
“A lot of supposedly feminist books the bookstore displays appeal to men as well,” said Steven O’Brien, a 50-year-old Chicago resident who frequently shops at the bookstore.
“There’s a variety here that you don’t find in other bookstores,” he said. “It seems to have an amazing amount of books on all sorts of things.”
Christophersen said the bookstore has the largest pregnancy and parenting section in the city as well as more unique concentrations ranging from women filmmakers to domestic violence, rape and incest.
The biography and children’s book sections are also hot spots in the store, Harcourt said. Both focus on multicultural material and social, emotional, family and health issues.
Theresa Campbell, a 50-year-old Andersonville resident, was shopping with her 12-year-old daughter for potential book report material.
“I don’t have to worry about any of the books she gets here,” Campbell said. “Not only are they age-appropriate, but they also deal with important issues young women face.”
Women & Children First’s politics section emphasizes a broad stock of social issues, such as racism, that Christophersen said she considers related to feminist struggles or issues.
“We define equivalent social injustice movements as feminist movements — really under the same umbrella,” Christophersen said.
One such movement is the struggle for gay rights.
“We love this bookstore first of all because we are a gay couple, so we feel at home here,” said Gigi Sturgis, a 56-year-old Chicago resident who was shopping with her partner.
“Also, the material, selection and activities they have are much richer than a chain store.”
The store has much more to offer than books. Women & Children First’s bulletin board is an informational exchange resource enabling women to communicate about support groups, housing, political activism and entertainment. The bookstore also holds feminist discussion groups and a story hour for toddlers on Wednesdays.
Additionally, Women & Children First sponsors weekly lectures by famous as well as up and coming authors and poets. Feminists such as Amy Tan, Maya Angelou, Sandra Cisneros and Margaret Atwood have given lectures to crowds that extended out the door of the bookstore, Christophersen said.
For Gloria Steinem’s lecture, more than 1,000 people attended. Cisneros, who spoke at Women & Children First several weeks ago, drew an audience of more than 250 people. According to Harcourt, Al and Tipper Gore’s upcoming lecture is also expected to draw a huge crowd.
The presentation will be Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. with a book signing afterward, but tickets are only sold with the purchase of one of their two new books (“Joined at the Heart” and “The Spirit of Family”).
“We feature speakers on women’s issues, ranging from local poets to nationally prominent authors,” said Harcourt, reading from the bookstore’s mission statement. “We seek a diversity of writers whose strong, independent voices bring new dimensions to the chorus of voices asserting and redefining the reality of women’s literature.”
In addition to well-known feminists, Women & Children First bring in other speakers to address more practical and day-to-day aspects of women’s lives.
Alison Jenkins, who specializes in home repair and wrote “100 Things You Don’t Need a Man For!” recently spoke at the store. She gave women instructions for manual work that many never had explained to them growing up.
“Women & Children First caters to all aspects of women’s lives and doesn’t deal merely with lofty ideals of equality,” Campbell said.
“It really is a support network for customers of all types.” nyou
