Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay
Roxane Gay is an American feminist writer, professor, editor and commentator. She is an associate professor of English at Purdue University, contributing op-ed writer at The New York Times, founder of Tiny Hardcore Press, essays editor for The Rumpus, and co-editor of PANK, a nonprofit literary arts collective...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
CountryUnited States of America
benefit climate fondness heat known particular sand
I have known beaches, but I have no particular fondness for them. I don't like sand in my crevices. I don't like sand at all. I don't enjoy all that sunshine and heat without the benefit of climate control.
What worries me is that 'post-racial' America is not that different from the Americas that have preceded us, and it might not ever be.
cut equate imposing line maybe people stepping writer
I cut an imposing figure. I am large, and I'm tall, and I have tattoos. I am actually really quiet and shy, but maybe people see me, and they don't want to step out of line, or equate disagreement with stepping out of line with a writer they like.
cannot extremists sway
We cannot sway extremists with rational thought or with our ideas of right and wrong.
cannot people
You cannot reason with people who don't recognize the humanity in all of us.
apologize born fact factors helped life man move people saying white
You can't control the fact that you are born a white man or born into wealth. When people say, 'Check your privilege,' they're saying, 'Acknowledge how these factors helped you move through life.' They're not saying apologize for it.
apply filters magazines pictures version
We all have our vanities. The retouching magazines like 'Vogue' do is the professional version of the retouching we do when we, for example, apply Instagram filters to the pictures we take and share on our social networks.
delivering group individual letter message open pointed reaching rhetorical specific strategy wide
The open letter has always been an interesting rhetorical strategy - a way of delivering a pointed message to a specific individual or group while also reaching a wide audience.
ignore imperative lives
When advertisers ignore diversity, it is because they don't think the lives of others matter. There is not enough of a financial imperative for those lives to matter.
addressing change continue current race vigorous
There has been, and there will continue to be, vigorous discussions about race in America. I worry that little will come of these discussions because we aren't addressing what must be done to change the current racial climate.
people social
Most of the serious disagreement I get comes through email or social media, where people are more comfortable.
concern genuine good impart letters open outrage rising whom writers
Most open letters undoubtedly come from a good place, rising out of genuine outrage or concern or care. There is, admittedly, also a smugness to most open letters: a sense that we, as the writers of such letters, know better than those to whom the letters are addressed. We will impart our opinions to you, with or without your consent.
love
Love your friends' kids, even if you don't want or like children. Just do it.
helped
No one is helped when cultural critics use their voices irresponsibly.