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Roxane Gay

Bad Feminist: Essays Audio CD – CD, May 15, 2015

by Roxane Gay (Author)

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[Read by Bahni Turpin]

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched young cultural observers of her generation, Roxane Gay.

''Pink is my favorite color. I used to say my favorite color was black to be cool, but it is pink -- all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I'm not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue.''

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking listeners on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better.

Print length

1 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins Publishers and Blackstone Audio
Publication date

May 15, 2015
Dimensions

5.2 x 1.5 x 5.8 inches
ISBN-10

1504647947
ISBN-13

978-1504647946
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Editorial Reviews

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''(Audiobook narrator) Bahni Turpin crisply delivers this expansive collection of essays. Author Gay covers an array of political, feminist, and culturally charged topics. Turpin sounds like she's giving a well-informed speech with the right inflections to emphasize specific points. Her tone is clear and deliberate, forcing one to focus on the content. As she recounts personal stories and numerous critiques of films and books, she draws listeners in with a matter-of-fact tone. Both humorous and raw moments are delivered with sharp clarity. Whether the topic is Gay's nemesis when playing in a Scrabble championship or deconstructing rape jokes, Turpin delivers with an assertiveness that will catch listeners' attention.'' --AudioFile

''Smart readers cannot afford to miss these essays, which range from socially significant art (Girls, Django in Chains) and feminist issues (abortion) to politics (Chris Brown) and why Gay likes pink.'' --Library Journal

''With prodigious bravery and eviscerating humor, Roxane Gay takes on culture and politics in Bad Feminist -- and gets it right, time and time again. We should all be lucky enough to be such a bad feminist.'' --Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Treasure and Bad Mother

''Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there.'' --Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be?

''Gay's essays are consistently smart and provocative…Her essay collection will give you dinner-party conversation through September.'' --USA Today

''A trenchant collection…Whatever her topic, Gay's provocative essays stand out for their bravery, wit, and emotional honesty.'' --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

''A strikingly fresh cultural critic.'' --Washington Post

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins Publishers and Blackstone Audio; Unabridged edition (May 15, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Audio CD ‏ : ‎ 1 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1504647947
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1504647946
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.5 x 5.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #4,505,652 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,664 in Humor Essays (Books)
- #8,273 in Feminist Theory (Books)
- #16,323 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences

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2,785 ratings

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Roxane Gay

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Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, Harper’s Bazaar, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and New York Times bestselling Hunger: A Memoir of My Body. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel.

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4.5 out of 5

2,785 global ratings

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T. L. Cooper

Feminism Means Different Things to Different People

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 25, 2023

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I'd wanted to read Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay for quite a while. I decided with my to-be-read piles finally visibly decreasing, it was time to buy it and read it. I have mixed feelings about Bad Feminist. Gay is an engaging writer and her points are often interesting and thought provoking. I appreciate her insight into and honesty about feminism and the arguments around feminism; however, I found some of the references used to make points in the book haven't aged particularly well. At a few different points, I found myself pausing to doublecheck the copyright date of the book. Bad Feminist pushed me to admit, even if only to myself, some of my own doubts, blind spots, and stubbornness regarding feminism. I think if I'd read this book when it was released, I would've enjoyed it far more. Still, I would recommend this book for anyone who is interested in feminism, intersectionality, and/or misogyny.

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WES

Feminism, Racism and Scrabble.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 12, 2020

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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.

5 people found this helpful

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Tony Ceballos

BEST BOOK ON FEMINISM

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 12, 2019

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In the book “Bad Feminist: Essays”, written by Roxane Gay, we discover many of the ways that women are portrayed in the media as well as most other sources and how this connects back to feminism and the way it is viewed in today’s society views. Throughout the book, I would say that Gay takes a positive stance as a feminist, but in a way keeps it realistic than that we fantasize about. Just as the title states, Gay explains the new type of feminists that exist in today’s society. Feminism carries a negative connotation in which we use to shame each other, therefore we have bad feminists. Bad feminists are simply feminists that will claim themselves as a feminist but will not meet all of the requirements a “feminist” should meet. After reading this book, one can learn that there is not just plain white or black view on feminism, that’s one of the biggest reasons why I would advise others to read this book. One can say that it refreshes our ideas on feminism and allows us to take a step back and look at the whole picture in today’s world.
A chapter that I would recommend to read would be “Bad Feminist: Take Two”, in which Gay states “ I want to be in charge and respected and in control, but I want to surrender, completely, in certain aspects of my life. Who wants to grow up?” (314). After reading this line I could feel her frustration and this big weight on her shoulders that previous feminists have placed on her in order to carry that identity. This connection can be made with many of those that aspire to be feminists, but cannot fully commit because they are scared that they will not be able to fulfill that role.
One of the best eye-opener chapters in this book was “When Less Is More”, Gay states “the women of color don’t have the privilege of inhabiting their own solar systems” (252). From this line, we notice the intersection between feminists and feminists of color. When we take a look at the term intersectionality, one can say that there are many different scenarios for all kinds of different people and therefore we should not place white people as the model for all of us. Some might say that it makes little difference between the two, but in fact, there is a big difference since our nation has been developed around white supremacy.
Lastly, chapter “The Trouble with Prince Charming, or He Who Trespassed Against Us” features some examples from the novel “Fifty Shades of Grey” to demonstrate the motive for feminism. In this chapter, Gay demonstrates how women are viewed as objects of pleasure for men; “... in a very dramatic scene where he grabs her by the wrist and leads her to his bedroom to properly deflower her” (195). This is the biggest desire for feminism, to view both genders with equality, not one above or in control of the other.
This book definitely takes the best approach to give the audience the idea of a new way for feminists. Feminism brings up many stereotypical ideas that are brought up by our cultures, Gay does a great job of bringing all of these examples that we are blind to and how there is a major problem with gender inequality. With that said, she also makes great consideration in bringing in intersections between feminists and comparing them. Many other books will only state their view on feminism and the way one should execute in order to become the ideal feminist with no imperfections. On the other hand, Gay examines her flaws as a feminist but does not draw away from the general idea of what feminism stands for.
Roxane Gay plays a role model for upcoming feminists in our society. I would agree that Gay’s feminist ways work the best in our present time in history than that compared to other activists. We need to take into account all of these harsh conditions that are here and that will never go away whether that is racism, financial discrimination, or others. After hearing from so many other activists, Gay’s approach seems the most authentic and realistic to herself, unlike others that simply wear the mask of a feminist.

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Rebekah B

A lesson for all of us in feminism and racism

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 20, 2018

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Be prepared to have all of your righteousness torn out, chewed up, and spat out. Roxane Gay's 'Bad Feminist' is possibly the most enlightening book I've ever read. There were two distinct themes throughout the book - the first being feminism, the second, racism.

I've known for a long time that I was a feminist, albeit a bit of a bad one too, which is why I was drawn to this book. What I did not realise is that unbeknownst to myself, I'm actually quite racist. I'm not racist in any way I could previously control, but in the way that was embedded into me by growing up in a white middle class neighbourhood. I was aware of my privilege, but now it's like I can see it. Books and films that I thought served justice and were a great representation to black people, such as 'The Help' and '12 Years A Slave' are really not, and how could I not have noticed this before? Ideas such as the 'magical black person' will stick with me forever, and I realised that however far women still have to go for equality, black people of either sex are still trailing ridiculously behind, sometimes with a white man touting a gun not far behind them.

As for the feminist aspect of the book, you'll find that you agree with everything. I too have often sang along to 'Blurred Lines', I have referred to fellow women in derogatory terms, I have judged a fellow woman by the way she looks. Gay does her bit, where she can, with complete honesty, and this is so refreshing to see. She lays herself bare on the pages of this book, divulging her secrets, her flaws, and her loves and hates. 'Bad Feminist' is in places hilarious, sad, and sometimes brutal. As many of the discussions are around popular culture, films and books, I've now a massive reading list, which may or may not include Sweet Valley High. This book encourages you to do your homework.

I can't wait to read more of Roxane's work, and hope that through her teachings I can actually become the better person than I always thought I was. Everyone should read this book. You will learn things about yourself.

34 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Bad Feminist Indeed.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 10, 2019

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This book is not about feminism. This book is a collection of essays about the author, who just happens to be a woman that enjoys criticising other people's work, and who enjoyes talking about herself (for instance the first chapter is around 20 pages of how she plays Scrabble). It is as though Gay wrote a collection of confused essays and was told that if she put them all together as a book and plastered the word 'feminist' on the front in bold pink letters, that it would trick lots of people into buying it. This worked as I was one of the fools who purchased the book without first checking it was actually about feminism. Unfortunately the book is boring and much more an autobiography about a Haitian female who has struggled with childhood and adulthood but isn't really a feminist. Gays real focus is absolutely race, specifically black men and women in America - but for some reason she has decided to pretend it's about feminism... As a white British woman I am not the target market for this book; I did not understand a lot of her topics, and have not heard of many of the pieces of work she was critiquing. Gay talks about being a bad feminist, and I think that she thinks she is being ironic, whereas I got a few chapters in and thought, gosh you really are the terrible type of feminist. A feminist is a person who believes in the equality of the sexes. Gay is an angry soul who has a negative opinion on just about everything and has labelled herself a 'bad feminist' to try and explain herself. Sorry but this book is not for me... Because I am a good feminist.

21 people found this helpful

Hannah Carrier

A must read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 29, 2018

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This book is filled with important topics of feminism, from everyday life and narratives to stereotyping, racial profiling and politics. I especially liked the way Roxane addresses all women – but also addresses how feminists are being held to a high standard. A lot of people have the attitude that, if a woman has not addressed all types of women within her work or theory or argument then her whole argument is useless. But that’s more damaging to feminism over all because we’re dismissing stories and accounts – we need to hear more not less! Roxane talks about how one-sided contraception is, how prevalent rape and male violence is and continues to be legislated terribly and the ongoing fight for birth control and control over our own bodies.

The self-given title ‘Bad Feminist’ is only necessary because today’s culture makes it so and I find that interesting. We do have to switch off our morals to enjoy popular music these days, for as long as they degrade us. We do feel some shame in being a feminist or in not being a good enough feminist. It’s all relative to privilege but Roxane lets us forget that so we can talk about some real topics and not think they’re fundamentally flawed by privilege. It’s just a really great book and we should all read it.

5 people found this helpful

Harriet Ogunyemi

There are better books, read them.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 11, 2021

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This book spends its 400 pages jumping between Roxanne’s thoughts and opinions - some being truly valid points - and entire synopsises of books, tv shows and films you may have wanted to watch. It is slow paced and could have been summed up in a total of 200 pages if not for the ongoing re-writing of other entertainment sources. A few good points coated in both slow and other people’s writing. Not my cuppa

One person found this helpful

William

The texture is velvet!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 8, 2019

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For every woman who is trying to navigate the social eco system, Roxane Gay shares some of the most profound experiences of her own unique journey. I found myself laughing & crying at the often heartbreaking content, some of which, felt very personal to me. For those wanting to push further into meaning, this book will help you along that journey.

One person found this helpful

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