
The Boston Review wrote that " Bad Feminist surveys culture and politics from the perspective of one of the most astute critics writing today." In the United Kingdom's The Guardian, critic Kira Cochrane wrote, "While online discourse is often characterised by extreme, polarised opinions, her writing is distinct for being subtle and discursive, with an ability to see around corners, to recognise other points of view while carefully advancing her own. Gay drew praise for her "wry and delightful voice." The Boston Globe wrote that "there is much to admire," such as her "insightful" essay "What We Hunger For" Bad Feminist "signals an important contribution to the complicated terrain of gender politics." The Huffington Post was more effusive in its praise, writing, "Gay's essays expertly weld her personal experiences with broader gender trends occurring politically and in popular culture," and gave it an 8/10 rating. It’s not even about feminism per se, it’s about humanity and empathy." Reception īad Feminist was widely reviewed. It just shows what it’s like to move through the world as a woman. In a 2014 interview with Time, Gay explained her role as a feminist and how it has influenced her writing: "In each of these essays, I’m very much trying to show how feminism influences my life for better or worse. The collection of essays is broken into five sections: Me Gender & Sexuality Race & Entertainment Politics, Gender & Race and Back to Me. The essays in Bad Feminist address a wide variety of topics, both cultural and personal. Publication history īad Feminist was one of two books published by Gay in 2014, the other being her novel An Untamed State.


Gay's essays engage pop culture and her personal experiences, covering topics such as the Sweet Valley High series, Django Unchained, and Gay's own upbringing as a Haitian-American. Bad Feminist explores being a feminist while loving things that could seem at odds with feminist ideology. Bad Feminist: Essays is a 2014 collection of essays by cultural critic, novelist and professor Roxane Gay.
