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Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

31 reviews

katie0528's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

A collection of essays on feminism and politics. Gay writes about how mainstream feminism often leaves behind women of color, queer and trans women, fat women, disables women, any women who do not fit the conventionally attractive, thin white women mold. But how at the same time feminism is necessary in a culture that still constantly pushes women down.

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nreyno's review against another edition

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challenging funny reflective medium-paced

3.5

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196books's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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maresuju's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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vaykay's review against another edition

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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with no concern for how relevant it will be 10 years from now, but I want to warn other readers that much of it is outdated.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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dreareads_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

Reading this book made me feel like a Bad Feminist because I did not love it...

I will begin by saying that there are plenty of essays to love, and Roxane Gay is at times a very engaging author. Her writing is at its best when she is clearly passionate about the topic and unrestrained in her opinions.

That being said, I feel like this book is a clear product of its time. The discussions on feminisn, gender, and representation in media were examples of the liberal feminism that was rampant in the early 2010's. This is not necessarily a bad thing (the essays were written at that time) but it does make it more difficult to fully engage with it in 2024. I also had my own frustration with her takes on academia, because while I agree with majority of her criticisms, as a woman of color in Academia myself I found that some of her stances perpetuated a kind of toxic expectation on students of colors that is prevalent amongst academic of colors from older generations. I was also left wishing for a more in depth exploration on the significant role of class and wealth and discussions of representation.

I still believe this is a book worth while reading. Especially because despite of it being a product of the 2012's a lot of the discussions on misogyny are still unfortunately too relevant today. I look forward to reading more of her contemporary work and seeing how (and if) her perspective has evolved in the years since the release of Bad Feminist.

(Idk how relevant this is, but I listened to the audio book and I was disappointed that it was not narrated by her. It created a sense of disconnection between the written essays and the audience that I hadn't experienced before)

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maryhungerford's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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sponberry's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

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evangelinew's review against another edition

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funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed it. Tore through. I don’t agree on everything, and some parts haven’t aged perfectly, but I think that’s alright. She is witty, smart, and admirable. Most of all I found her prose and perspective fascinating. In the best possible way, I see myself in Gay so much in terms of passions and experiences, but rarely in how she sees the world.

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catgibbons's review against another edition

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dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Insightful, measured and thorough in her observations, with humour running through the whole book. I just wish I had read it when it had come out 10 years ago as everything she discusses feels so up to date with what was happening when it was written.

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