Roxane Gay's book of essays, titled "Bad Feminist," addresses the contradictions many women may find within themselves, particularly with what they choose to enjoy in pop culture: books, movies, television shows, music.
Gay examines gender and sexuality in these essays, as well as race and politics. While I expected her to challenge me and to make me think, what I loved most is how she made me laugh out loud in so many places. I wasn't expecting the humor Gay easily inserted into these usually weighty topics.
In her introduction, titled "Feminism," she talks about disavowing feminism when she was younger. She thought embracing the label meant she was "an angry, sex-hating, man-hating victim lady person." Gay labels herself a bad feminist because she is human: "I am messy ... a woman who likes pink and likes to get freaky and sometimes dances her ass off to music she knows, she knows, is terrible for women and who sometimes plays dumb with repairmen because it's just easier to let them feel macho than it is to stand on the moral high ground."
One of my favorite essays in "Bad Feminist" is "The Trouble with Prince Charming, or He Who Trespassed Against Us," in which Gay deconstructs the "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogy with humor: "This trilogy would be ideal for a drinking game where the aim is to destroy someone's liver. ... Drink every time Ana thinks "Jeez.' ... Drink every time Christian's hand twitches because he wants to spank Ana. Drink every time Ana gets possessive of Christian because every single human woman in the world eyes him lustily and becomes instantly tongue-tied ..."
However, Gay does have a problem with "Fifty Shades," and it's not in the kinky details: "The books are, essentially, a detailed primer for how to successfully engage in a controlling, abusive relationship. ... We cannot simply dismiss the flaws because the books are fun and the sex is hot. The damaging tone has too broad a reach. That tone reinforces pervasive cultural messages women are already swallowing about what they should tolerate in romantic relationships, about what they should tolerate to be loved by their Prince Charming."
Bad Feminist will open your eyes to what it truly means to be a feminist. As Gay puts it, "I am deeply committed to the issues important to the feminist movement ... misogyny, institutional sexism that consistently places women at a disadvantage, the inequity in pay, the cult of beauty and thinness." She advocates for the radical notion that women are people.
This is a smart, funny, engaging book that is well worth your time.
Lisa Sanning is adult services librarian for Missouri River Regional Library.