Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

36 reviews

readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

 I've been on a big nonfiction kick recently, so I decided to read the audiobook of Bad Feminist, which I've owned for a while. In this collection of essays, Roxane Gay discusses feminism through the critical lenses of race, gender, and wealth, analysing TV shows and media for their portrayal of women and feminist ideas.

The essays about various TV shows were interesting, as Gay goes into a lot of detail about the depiction of women and frames the shows in new contexts. My issue is that even though this book was only published in 2014, the pop culture references feel dated? It just goes to show how quickly life moves on, as some the shows Gay mentions finished years ago and feel far less relevant now.

Some of the references to high profile figures (Bill Crosby, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie) also haven't aged well (though Gay couldn't really have predicted that) and I found that, while she does critique others for their focus on gender binaries, Gay's writing isn't particularly trans or non-binary inclusive.

I found the essays where Gay discusses racism and draws on some of her own life experiences particularly engaging. The blend of memoir and essay collection words well, but it left me wanting more on the memoir side (just personal preference). On the whole, Gay's reframing of the word 'feminist' and the way she embraces being a 'bad feminist' is refreshing.

Content warnings for discussions of racism, fatphobia, EDs, rape and gang rape. (less) 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Rape, and Racism

melodramaticbotanist's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

Well thought out and angry. Enjoyed Gay's take on intersectional feminism and how it pertains to different facets of everyday life - especially as a black female professor as she details her own experiences. Definitely thought provoking, just perhaps wanted a little bit more. Maybe it's because it was published a couple years ago, but I'd be interested to hear her speak upon feminism in today's social climate. Yes, there are (unfortunately) timeless themes of oppression but I think it'd be interesting to hear her take on the prevalence on social media and delve more into why there are divisions between the greater collective of "feminist".

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

someonelikeblue's review against another edition

challenging reflective medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Gun violence, and Hate crime

Moderate: Abortion, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

brookey8888's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

I did really enjoy a lot of these essays and what they were about. That being said I do feel like a few had nothing to do with feminism so that was whatever. Also there was a few things I didn’t agree with. One of them being if you go out with friends you should split the bill evenly even if one of your friends doesn’t have the same amount of income. I don’t agree with that if I know my friend doesn’t have the same amount of money as me I’ll either pay for her or we can pay for what we ordered. Also she was like oh I’m not as much as a feminist because I like want kids like that’s not what feminism is and she kind of went into that but it gave me the wrong vibes. But I do think a lot of this was very good and very intellectual and if you want to know about some of these ideas. This is good for starting out. It was mostly just her opinion about things and just certain things at that, very broad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

verakirby's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.0

Found it kinda boring, I agree with a lot she was saying but the essays weren't controversial or unique enough for me to actually reflect on it. I guess I was expecting the wrong things from this book too, I hoped it would try to show some solutions to the problems we as a society are facing because of misogynism and the patriachy. Instead I got essays about playing scrabble, and reviews of series and books from a feminist perspective. Might be interesting if you're invested in pop culture, I personally didn't like it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence and Sexual assault

ainebeam's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

emmagreenwood's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Ableism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Gun violence, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, and Xenophobia

puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Transphobia, and Violence

ladydisdain's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

Its difficult to truly assess a book thats been touted as a cornerstone of whatever wave of feminism we're currently in nearly a decade after its publication. There's a certain amount of truths that are now held to be self evident being espoused as seemingly radical. Maybe it's like reading a horror classic in the modern age- time turns the sourcebook all but trite. But I do believe this book gets a bit of a bad rap for ushering in a wave of so called Bad Feminists, all twitter bark with no bite or intersectionality. There is certainly room for valid criticism of Gay's essays as reactions to the classic straw feminist rather even as she acknowledges the fallacy, but this collection only begins and ends by addressing feminism. There are as many essays dealing with race, general media criticism, and Gay's personal experience that seem to have been disregarded in the cultural memory of this work. Overall its a perfectly satisfying, lightly thought provoking read. Just maybe dont base your entire theory of gender off the collected blog posts of someone who specifically warns you against it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

beccaruthe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Minor: Abortion, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Misogyny, and Racism