Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

3 reviews

vaykay's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

3.5

I struggle sometimes to review older material such as Bad Feminist (10 years later) because oftentimes it loses relevancy. Many essays in this book have lost all relevancy or are on popular cultural artifacts that have been discussed to shit by now (i.e. The Help and Orange is the New Black). It isn't a crime to be dated or to discuss the then-and-now with no concern for how relevant it will be 10 years from now, but I want to warn other readers that much of it is outdated. Many essays were good and interesting; some essays were extremely hypocritical and irritating due to what felt like an elementary level of self-reflection and understanding as well as comfortability with her voice as an essay writer. Gay's implications that reveling in more traditionally feminine things like pink, materialism, weddings, and — I guess — sucking dick means you're not a feminist (or at least not a good one) was weird. That implication was probably the least feminist thing about Bad Feminist because in her moment of self-doubt and projection, she tore down other women. It felt weird and uncomfortable... and not the sort of discomfort that is well-meaning in its ability to challenge you. Unfortunately, the first and last essays are the worst ones in the text, which seems like an interesting choice to hook readers and leave them fulfilled by the ending.

That said, I want to read more of Gay's more recent work to see how her voice and ideas have grown and changed in the last 10 years.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia and Abortion

Minor: Ableism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

beca_reads's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

I feel that younger me would of appreciated this. I wish I had read this a few years ago when I was first starting to explore feminist writing, It lays down the foundations and some nuance to the each topic that is explored. I would definitely recommend this book to people just starting out in reading feminist nonfiction as the writing is accessible, and explores a variety of topics from education to the music industry. 
 I went into this thinking it was going to be more statistical based but was more so Gay's personal journey with being a feminist while drawing on feminist research and global events To begin with I was not so sure on the writing style but  I think maybe some of the earlier essay's were just weaker than some of the later essay's in the book. I did really enjoy how Gay talked about literature and other forms of the media throughout the book, It's left me with lots of good recommendations to read or watch and added a critical lens to media I've already consumed.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Islamophobia, Murder, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Classism

ainebeam's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Police brutality, Islamophobia, and Sexual harassment