Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

29 reviews

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with no concern for how relevant it will be 10 years from now, but I want to warn other readers that much of it is outdated.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.

---

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

smkoontz's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Bullying

book_bunny03's review against another edition

1.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexual assault

evangelinew's review against another edition

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. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Rape, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism

florizona's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

2.25

This wasn’t really what I expected- rather than a collection of serious essays, it’s more like a series of hastily written, personal POV-driven op-ed columns. Nothing particularly well-considered, heavy-hitting or profound. Just not into it at all, despite enjoying some other writing by the author.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Rape, and Racial slurs

Minor: Fatphobia, Hate crime, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Slavery, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Body shaming, Mental illness, Abortion, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Outing, Racism, Sexual content, and Sexism

jordansmoot's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Reading this in 2023 is a wild experience. So many events from the early 10s I was happy to have forgotten, but it’s also important to remember that this was not that long ago. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Racism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Rape

bessjoyce's review against another edition

challenging funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, and Sexism

qteabeans's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

While this collection is almost a decade old, the topics are still fiercely relevant. Thoughtful and challenging. Definitely still worth a read. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

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.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Murder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Abortion

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Eating disorder

schnanko's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Sexism, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Racism, Abortion, Death, Slavery, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment