Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

78 reviews

smkoontz's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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dreareads_'s review against another edition

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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)
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music_teacher's review against another edition

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informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.0

I enjoyed it and learned a lot from her perspective despite its being 10 years old. I’m glad I read it and will look for more of her work. 
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book_bunny03's review against another edition

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1.0

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sponberry's review against another edition

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challenging hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.5

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snowiceblackfruit77's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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__niii__'s review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring fast-paced

4.75

It was a funny and heavy read at the same time. The essays were lighthearted at first and then got heavier and heavier. I felt rage and helplessness and still kept reading. They were about books, movies, games, journalism, social media and they were about race, gender, crime, birth control. It felt like a conversation I have with friends about my helplessness and frustrations about being a woman. I think that’s the greatest testimony to the writing that even after being such a smart academic her writings felt like that of a friend. It’s not an in-depth exploration that goes into solution finding but a reassurance that even if flawed you’re feminism is still needed.
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evangelinew's review against another edition

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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. 
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florizona's review against another edition

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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.
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rachthecreator's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

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