I am messy… I am just trying-trying to support what I believe in…. “I embrace the label of bad feminist because I am human. Gay’s take is funny and self-deprecating – but it is also wise. Equally, a lot of us have a fear of the other side of the barricade – can you really be a feminist and read the Vogue? How can you be a feminist and listen to rap music which objectifies women? Many of us have had the experience of being called a feminist and it being meant as insult. “I was called a feminist, and what I heard was “You are an angry, sex-hating, man-hating lady person” The collection begins and ends with a reflection of what feminism means in the US in the 21 st century (in 2014, so before the Weinstein scandal broke out).

The term “bad feminist” serves as a frame for this collection of Roxane Gay’s essays.