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vaekay's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
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with no concern for how relevant it will be 10 years from now, but I want to warn other readers that much of it is outdated.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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Outing, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Fatphobia, Police brutality, Slavery, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Bullying, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Body shaming, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abortion and Homophobia
Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Genocide, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, and Islamophobia
autumnxrose's review against another edition
The praise of "The Biggest Loser" was deeply upsetting and triggering to me
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia and Eating disorder
dreareads_'s review against another edition
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)
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)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Abortion, Racism, Death, Child abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Sexism, Rape, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
leweylibrary's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
I feel like a jerk rating this so low because it's Roxane Gay and she's amazing, but I felt like the essays were a little all over the place for me? They were all well written of course and many were powerful, but there was just hat something special, that oomph missing for me I guess.
It is fascinating thinking about how these essays were written almost ten years ago and so many of the issues they deal with are still just as prevalent now. And not in a fun way, in a depressing way.
It is fascinating thinking about how these essays were written almost ten years ago and so many of the issues they deal with are still just as prevalent now. And not in a fun way, in a depressing way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Abortion
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Eating disorder
ginimeh's review against another edition
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
I read Bad Feminist in 2023 after years and years of having it on my reading list. I think this is why I was so disappointed by the book. I only ever knew the title and after coming to terms with the fact that Gay is not writing about being a bad feminist but mainly popculture and the time the book was written I was ready and set to read it in historical context.
There were a lot of points where I thought "if I read this as a teen back when it was published I'd be able to take so much from it" and some thoughts and sentences are a welcomed gift for the next arguments I'll have with sexists or racists but further than that it didn't give me much. The only thing I really take away from it is that 2014 was still a year when "being feminist" meant to be a woman, to only talk about two genders, to mix up liking a specific color and shaving your legs is the same as supporting being a bad feminist. Honestly the last chapter accomplished to ruin the book for me. 2014 is almost a decade ago but if you write a book about feminism (no matter if it's about your perspective or the lense of media and society) I think one should look at the big scope of privilege and not only brush them while talking about two main points or axes of intersectionality. But maybe I'm putting to much responsibility on the author and thereby proof her point that we expect a lot from feminism.
Also I read it in German and the translation were horribly stiff sometimes.
There were a lot of points where I thought "if I read this as a teen back when it was published I'd be able to take so much from it" and some thoughts and sentences are a welcomed gift for the next arguments I'll have with sexists or racists but further than that it didn't give me much. The only thing I really take away from it is that 2014 was still a year when "being feminist" meant to be a woman, to only talk about two genders, to mix up liking a specific color and shaving your legs is the same as supporting being a bad feminist. Honestly the last chapter accomplished to ruin the book for me. 2014 is almost a decade ago but if you write a book about feminism (no matter if it's about your perspective or the lense of media and society) I think one should look at the big scope of privilege and not only brush them while talking about two main points or axes of intersectionality. But maybe I'm putting to much responsibility on the author and thereby proof her point that we expect a lot from feminism.
Also I read it in German and the translation were horribly stiff sometimes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, Slavery, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Rape, and Sexual assault
lady_moon's review against another edition
1.5
Some version of the dream of this book still lives in the back of my head and maybe one day I'll find the excellent collection of essays that this book absolutely was not.
Bad Feminist had a good start. I had fun listening in the beginning, I enjoyed her talking about her time as an advisor, about privilege and her time as professor. There was an essay about scrabble...? That was boring and pretty pointless. Then there was an essay about how to have women friends, which was... a list with just common sense and stupid points. But I tell myself, okay I can ignore that.
But there were also essays that talked about random pieces of media? Some shows and books, some critique, like... I don't know any of this media, except The Hunger Games, so I wasn't really invested in all this. I wasn't fan of the The Hunger Games essay though. I just didn't care to be honest? It didn't add anything to the conversation. If this was a memoir or something, fine, but it isn't - this is book with essays named Bad Feminist. Such essays were just a little out of place. And I personally was annoyed at the unnecessary amatonormativity that was present.
Now, I could have ignored all of this. I really could have. But then the trigger warning discussion came. And it pissed me off. For the most part there was nuance and dissection, about censorship and what can be a trigger. But then she basically said she can't understand how some people live in the illusion of safety and that trigger warning won't protect them from what already is inside them. I'm sorry but what the fuck?? Does she know think "warning" means? It's not there to protect you or to prevent you from consuming this media (as she also thinks) but to warn you what you're going to consume so you can take care of yourself if needed. What was this bullshit, honestly? This is the first time I really felt there's something not quite right with this book.
(Not to mention before that there's a heavy discussion of rape and her own rape and right after that to have is an essay about trigger warning... I mean, that's petty.)
Then there's one waaayyy too long essay that criticize Fifty Shades of Grey. Woman, what the hell 😭 We all know this book is shit, there really wasn't need of such deep critique of it (half of which is a rant, honestly). I was really tempted to DNF at that point.
Other thing that baffled me: The hunting of witches is, apperantly, because rulers wanted to prevent abortions?? 😭 What is this woman talking about, I- Tell me you don't know anything outside of USA history without telling you don't know anything outside of USA.
The hunting of witches isn't some trick the government to take down people who know the medicine for abortion (maybe that was someone's idea, I don't know). Hunting witches was rooted in superstition, xenophobia, bigotry and most of all - misogyny. Don't make it related to something irrelevant just so it can appeal to American issue.
After that it was a series of discussion of different movies with Black representations. I knew exactly two of this movies/Tv series, one of which I haven't watched. This was curious for me, as a white person who doesn't watch a lot of these genres, let alone critique of it.
Overall, there just... wasn't anything new? Anything even remotely deeper to add to the discussion regarding feminism. Not even to the conversation about race to be honest? There wasn't anything new, anything interesting, not even in the way it was presented to us. I do enjoyed some things in the beginning but then it quickly became painfully average. Kudos for the advertisement lol, I was really convinced I'm picking up an amazing book.
Bad Feminist had a good start. I had fun listening in the beginning, I enjoyed her talking about her time as an advisor, about privilege and her time as professor. There was an essay about scrabble...? That was boring and pretty pointless. Then there was an essay about how to have women friends, which was... a list with just common sense and stupid points. But I tell myself, okay I can ignore that.
But there were also essays that talked about random pieces of media? Some shows and books, some critique, like... I don't know any of this media, except The Hunger Games, so I wasn't really invested in all this. I wasn't fan of the The Hunger Games essay though. I just didn't care to be honest? It didn't add anything to the conversation. If this was a memoir or something, fine, but it isn't - this is book with essays named Bad Feminist. Such essays were just a little out of place. And I personally was annoyed at the unnecessary amatonormativity that was present.
Now, I could have ignored all of this. I really could have. But then the trigger warning discussion came. And it pissed me off. For the most part there was nuance and dissection, about censorship and what can be a trigger. But then she basically said she can't understand how some people live in the illusion of safety and that trigger warning won't protect them from what already is inside them. I'm sorry but what the fuck?? Does she know think "warning" means? It's not there to protect you or to prevent you from consuming this media (as she also thinks) but to warn you what you're going to consume so you can take care of yourself if needed. What was this bullshit, honestly? This is the first time I really felt there's something not quite right with this book.
(Not to mention before that there's a heavy discussion of rape and her own rape and right after that to have is an essay about trigger warning... I mean, that's petty.)
Then there's one waaayyy too long essay that criticize Fifty Shades of Grey. Woman, what the hell 😭 We all know this book is shit, there really wasn't need of such deep critique of it (half of which is a rant, honestly). I was really tempted to DNF at that point.
Other thing that baffled me: The hunting of witches is, apperantly, because rulers wanted to prevent abortions?? 😭 What is this woman talking about, I- Tell me you don't know anything outside of USA history without telling you don't know anything outside of USA.
The hunting of witches isn't some trick the government to take down people who know the medicine for abortion (maybe that was someone's idea, I don't know). Hunting witches was rooted in superstition, xenophobia, bigotry and most of all - misogyny. Don't make it related to something irrelevant just so it can appeal to American issue.
After that it was a series of discussion of different movies with Black representations. I knew exactly two of this movies/Tv series, one of which I haven't watched. This was curious for me, as a white person who doesn't watch a lot of these genres, let alone critique of it.
Overall, there just... wasn't anything new? Anything even remotely deeper to add to the discussion regarding feminism. Not even to the conversation about race to be honest? There wasn't anything new, anything interesting, not even in the way it was presented to us. I do enjoyed some things in the beginning but then it quickly became painfully average. Kudos for the advertisement lol, I was really convinced I'm picking up an amazing book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Ableism, Alcohol, Classism, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Miscarriage, and Misogyny
Moderate: Homophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Hate crime, Bullying, Pedophilia, Slavery, and Vomit
Minor: Eating disorder, Medical content, and Outing
emwgrace's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Racism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Misogyny, Slavery, Homophobia, Police brutality, and Violence
Minor: Racial slurs
jessthanthree's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder
Moderate: Rape
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Police brutality, Ableism, Body shaming, Racism, Hate crime, Homophobia, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Lesbophobia, Murder, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Classism, Islamophobia, and Misogyny
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)
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)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Rape, and Racism