A review by jencunn2024
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

3.0

I’d give Roxane Gay 3.5 stars for this endeavor but I am intrigued by her obvious intellect and thoughts on pop culture and what it reflects of our society and culture, particularly for feminism, sexism, and racism. Gay’s essays are hit and Miss on the issues, evidence of her feelings as a “bad feminist.” I love her truths and perspectives. What I didn’t get from this book was depth or a punch in the gut like I was expecting. What I did get was a collection that was mostly relatable even when I disagree. If nothing else, there are nuggets throughout that provoke thought or rethought in the reader ECB if there is nothing new and earth shattering. I think this is a great book for women who think of feminism as a bad word or who don’t relate to the movement, either historically or now. I’ve read plenty of reviews on this and I think the haters are mostly responding to lack of depth or solutions and that their beliefs don’t match. I think those that have raved about this book found something they needed from it. This is middle-of-the-road feminism which is still needed in this world, despite not being fast ore concrete enough by many of Gay’s critics. The righting is very stream-of-consciousness style, which I lived in some pieces of the collection and others less so. This type of writing certainly isn’t for everyone but I enjoyed it overall. I would expect Gay to contributes ready to read deeper intellectuality and research in some future books maybe, given her education and experience. But, I appreciate the foundation she’s created to communicate and reside professionally within the mainstream so she can help crack the egg of society on how pop culture perpetuates old issues we are still not always ready to read about, hear about, talk about, listen to, or acknowledge. That’s an important concurrent step for progress and growth. Relatability crosses community barriers and she does that.