Bad Feminist: Essays

Roxanne Gay is a good writer. The book is well written and, for the first half and the final couple of chapters, highly entertaining. The middle and later chapters drag somewhat as she deviates from discussing feminism to dealing with her issues around race, in particular, black racism. However, my dissatisfaction with these chapters may be more my fault than hers. I bought the book thinking it dealt exclusively with feminism. I guess that just because the word feminist is in the title doesn’t necessary guarantee that only feminism is discussed. Strictly speaking the title of the book describes the writer, not the subject matter. Throughout the book the writer refers to a feminist as being someone who advocates for the equality of men and women. Since the writer refers to herself as a bad feminist one is left wondering what she herself wants. Inequality? It isn’t until the final chapter that the writer explains why she thinks of herself as a bad feminist and, perhaps inadvertently, provides us with a fuller, more comprehensive definition of the feminist ideal. According to the writer, a bad feminist is a woman who (a) likes men, (b) wants to be taken care of and have someone to come home to, (c) believes in gender specific domestic chores, (d) loves babies, (e) makes career sacrifices to raise children, (f) shaves her legs, (g) enjoys pretty shoes and purses and matching outfits, and (h) likes pink and reads Vogue. I gather from this that a good feminist would hate all these things. It’s a peek behind the curtain; probably the most honest definition of feminism I’ve seen in print. The writer devotes one chapter of her book to “Women’s Fiction” and how it is not valued as much as fiction written by men. She points out, correctly, that women read books written by men, but men seldom read books written by women. Her proposed solution requires “men (readers, critics, and editors)... to start to bear the responsibility for becoming better, broader readers.” Incredibly, she states that it is the fault of men that women’s fiction is not more popular and proposes an affirmative action program for women writers. I’m a moderately heavy reader. I read perhaps 40 or 50 books a year. I can honestly say that I’ve never read a book, or even considered reading or not reading a book, based on the sex of the author. That being said, all the books I have read, except for books dealing with feminism and feminist issues, have been written by men. I’ve read a couple of dozen books on feminism and all of those were written by women. In general though, I read books based on interest and nothing else. If some books don’t appeal to me I can’t help that. The fact that they are written by women is irrelevant. To paraphrase the writer, maybe women need to become better, broader writers if they seek success equal to men. Finally, there’s the inevitable chapter on women’s reproductive rights and abortion. There are many mentions of “men trying to control women’s bodies.” The writer frames the abortion debate as men against women. I know this to be a distortion and blatantly incorrect so I looked up the facts. The Pew Research Center study into public opinion on abortion found that 60 percent of women and 61 percent of men believe that abortion should be legal. 38 percent of women and 38 percent of men believe it should be illegal. A Gallup poll on abortion trends (1975 - 2019) found similar results and essentially no change in opinion over the 44 year period that the poll has been conducted. Gallup found that 50 percent of women and 56 percent of men believe that abortion should be legal under all circumstances. 24 percent of women and 25 percent of men believe that abortion should be legal under certain circumstances, and 24 percent of women and just 18 percent of men believe abortion should be illegal. Abortion is a religious issue, not a gendered issue. The writer mentions none of this, presumably because it doesn’t fit her world view of women as victims of male oppression. Male politicians represent their voters and this writer uses their actions as an example of men trying to control women’s bodies. Her argument is dishonest and contrived. My overall impression of the book is positive, with reservations. The author admits to often feeling angry, even wanting to slap and punch people for their views on more than one occasion, and this anger comes across in the writing. However, amusing anecdotes provide some relief and, for me, were enough to hold my interest to the end.

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay is a New York Times bestseller for a reason. It came out in 2014, so some of the media topics are outdated but the points made about these topics are timeless. Gay’s essays have a down to earth quality to them. She often wonders if she is a bad feminist, which is very relatable for me. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn what feminism is about or even people who want to better critique and analyze media. The second to last essay in this book, “Bad Feminist: Take One”, is very emblematic of Roxane Gay as a writer. In it, she discusses essentialist feminism. People in the feminist community heavily criticize each other citing that “this is what a real feminist is” when in reality there is immense discourse within the community and no one could represent everyone perfectly. Despite this, we hold feminists to high standards. Women are expected to speak to and for all women of a different class, race, ability, and sexuality. This isn’t impossible but it's very unrealistic. The essay “Peculiar Benefits” is one that I wish everyone could read in this current political climate. In it, she explains privilege and how to react when it's pointed out. “We tend to believe that accusations of privilege imply we have it easy, which we resent because life is hard for nearly everyone.”(17). She also discusses the game of privilege aka the privilege Olympics. Where people seemingly battle to see who is the most privileged and the winners' opinions are invalidated because of it. This behavior is childish and unhelpful to the community as a whole. The essay "The Trouble with Prince Charming, or He Who Trespassed Against Us" is my favorite chapter regarding media critique and analysis. I have my biases though; Gay is criticizing Fifty Shades of Grey, which has been my punching bag since its publication. Her main point is that, in romance, women have to make immense sacrifices to get there prince charming. “The thing about fairy tales is that the princess finds her prince, but there's usually a price to pay. A compromise is required for happily ever after. The woman in the fairy tale is generally the one who pays the price.”(193). For example, if Anastasia Steele wants her prince charming she has to go completely go out of her sexual comfort zone. It’s a fascinating point that I never would have noticed reading fairy tales myself as a kid.

This collection of essays is mindblowingly good! I never write reviews, but I had to find the review section on Amazon for this one. Roxane Gay’s writing is brilliant, she is not only a cultural critic, she’s also a teacher. Her work teaches you how to be a better human, how to accept fault, how to stay accountable all while accepting your own flaws. Her tone and her vulnerability open you up to learning more about the theme of the essays, and also about your role in society. I couldn’t put this book down, even with my distracted mind that loves to skip from one activity to the other. I just kept coming back for more! Please, buy this book. You will not regret it. It will be relevant in your lifetime, and trust me, your children will one day find gems in these essays; this book is timeless.

Uma análise super interessante sobre o que é ser feminista. Na verdade sobre o que é ser ativista. O texto excelente mostra como muitas vezes estamos errados em nosso ativismo, nos preocupando ou comemorando avanços que não mudam nada enquanto deixamos de focar no que realmente interessa.

Muy bueno el producto, la comunicación y la entrega. ¡Muchas gracias!

Llego en muy buenas condiciones y es de buena calidad

The wtiter is excels equally at fiction and non-fiction.