Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Bad Feminist, by Roxane Gay

5 reviews

maggieparedesauthor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Child death, Racism, Addiction, Injury/injury detail, Police brutality, Gun violence, Sexual content, Abortion, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

laurenleigh's review

dark emotional funny informative fast-paced

4.5

I enjoyed the breadth and complexity of this essay collection. Gay discusses such a wide variety of topics, touching on reality television, pop culture, literary criticism, modern journalism, body autonomy, Black artistry, slave narratives, personal memoir, and what it means to be a woman in today’s world. One common theme throughout these topics was Gay’s ability to uphold opposing views simultaneously. She is able to make a strong, cohesive argument, but she never does so without acknowleding or considering the other side. For example, she can explain how Django Unchained is in many ways a racist movie, but still commend the acting and editing. She can celebrate a feminist text while pointing out its flaws. She can enjoy a catchy song and also condemn its sexism. It’s easy to pick a side and decide that’s the only way. Dualistic thinking comes naturally to us. But to make a strong argument while also exploring the nuances of the issue is much more interesting to me. The book overall made me want to write more! It reminded me of what I used to strive for in my own essay writing back in college. My only struggle with this text was that it started to feel very heavy. These are topics that require discussion for sure, but I should have taken breaks in between the essays. I wonder what it would read like if the lighter essays were more interspersed to break up the heavier ones.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racial slurs, Slavery, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Abortion

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

jessmbark's review

challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Sexual content

amywong's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

There are many amazing quotes in here but because I listened as an audiobook I didn't write it down. I may go through an ebook or physical one to get those quotes later. But this is still great as a casual listen. Gay doesn't go too deep into each topic. She basically gets to the point of the nuanced opinions she has on each topic. You may or may not agree with her but the point is not for people to agree with her, the point is more so that there are points and perspectives that are missing in these areas. As with many conversations on media and social media nuance and details are missing that are required for progress. For a quick read that isn't too deep that it's boring, this is perfect to get those details in for a better conversation. I personally don't agree with her thoughts on trigger warnings but I agree with most of the other topics. I agreed with her essay on how Girls was massively criticized and had too many expectations out of when other shows were not critiqued enough or shows that did more right were overshadowed. I also agreed with the way r*pe is always mishandled in media and how if you're ok with Tosh's humor and that it's subjective you're just wrong. And I loved the final statement. A bad feminist is better than not a feminist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Rape