Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

19 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

d0505's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Fatphobia, Sexual assault, and Misogyny

Moderate: Bullying

someonelikeblue's review

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

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

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

fullybooked22's review against another edition

emotional funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.25

I enjoyed this book. It gave me a lot to think about and I definitely appreciated Gay's diverse outlook on many topics which definitely made me question some socially accepted texts/ ideas. Although I didn't agree with some of her points (e.g. her viewpoint on trigger warnings + her idea of what made a 'real' feminist such as not being allowed to shave your legs and needing to hate men???) I believe the parts about race + feminism are incredibly important especially in changing the movement from one of 'white feminism' and eurocentricity to a more inclusive movement against oppression for all (and allowing women themselves to dictate what does and doesn't oppress them). I would absolutely recommend this but maybe as to someone who would already call themselves a feminist as if this is the first piece of feminist literature you read I think it could possibly skew your idea of what it actually means to be a feminist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexism

Moderate: Abortion, Miscarriage, and Police brutality

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

nanabee23's review

emotional funny hopeful informative reflective slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexism, Racism, Physical abuse, and Police brutality

yenallum's review

dark emotional funny informative reflective

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, and Fatphobia

Minor: Eating disorder