Don't let the title fool you. Roxane Gay--cultural critic, blogger and author--isn't a bad feminist. She's outspoken, persuasive and incisive, and in this essay collection, she proves that feminism can exist among a variety of apparent contradictions, be they loving the color pink or dancing to a filthy rap song.
Her compilation is a perfect entrée into the world of feminism for those whose politics or predilections might make them wary of the term. Gay writes fearlessly, calling foul on anyone whose superficial concept of a feminist entails stereotypes. She empowers her readers to be any kind of feminist they choose, even a "bad" one, confessing her own uneasy ardor for the ultra-girly Sweet Valley High books and melodramatic reality TV. Unlike many cultural critics, Gay doesn't pretend to have all the answers; her greatest strength here is her insistence on raising questions, even those she can't resolve in the course of an essay. She tackles disparate, sometimes controversial subjects like Trayvon Martin's killing or the racial implications of the film Django Unchained with empathy and openness, interweaving her own experiences with larger cultural observations.
The book is powerful, and its winsomeness is due entirely to Gay's fearless, inclusive and accessible prose. --Linnie Greene, freelance writer