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
actual avoiding celebrate celebrity equality feminism feminist gender message run stigma work
I support anything that broadens the message of gender equality and tempers the stigma of the feminist label. We run into trouble, though, when we celebrate celebrity feminism while avoiding the actual work of feminism.
absolutely feminists people radical simply
People don't want to think... I mean, they don't! They just want to say, 'Oh, okay, feminists are humorless man-haters,' and that's simply not the case. There are radical people and radical ideas in absolutely every movement, but that doesn't mean they define the ideals.
bad declaring feminists figures themselves trying
I keep trying to imagine a universe in which too many public figures declaring themselves feminists would be a bad thing.
claim entirely feminist love respect
I would love for everyone to be a feminist, but I have to respect people's choices. If you don't want to be a feminist and don't want to claim feminism, that's entirely your right.
affection demands deserve entirely flawed known love perhaps seen sure utterly
I love, but I am not entirely sure how to be loved: how to be seen and known for the utterly flawed woman I am. It demands surrender. It demands acknowledging that I am not perfect, but perhaps I deserve affection anyway.
becomes dreams grail holy romantic supposed utopia walks
Long walks on the beach are the supposed holy grail of a romantic evening. The beach becomes a kind of utopia - the place where all our dreams come true.
bodies reads simply
In Haiti, beach bodies are simply bodies, and beach reads are simply books, because the beach is all around you.
feminism freely future hope marketing moving needs seductive sell women
Feminism is, I hope, a way to a better future for everyone who inhabits this world. Feminism should not be something that needs a seductive marketing campaign. The idea of women moving through the world as freely as men should sell itself.
ashamed change constantly physically sort themselves trying
I think that everyone in one way or another has some sort of body issue. There's something about themselves physically that they're not happy with, that they're ashamed of, that they keep constantly trying to change.
public treated
Public intellectuals are often put in the position of having their words, no matter how off-the-cuff, treated as doctrine.
encourages female fragile given ink intensely relationships
A lot of ink is given over to mythologizing female friendships as curious, fragile relationships that are always intensely fraught. Stop reading writing that encourages this mythology.
marriage married
My parents have been married for 42 years. Their marriage has been - from what I can see - a happy one.
began call entering
I think it was really entering my 30s that I began to embrace feminism and call myself a feminist.
depending four hours late oftentimes pop tend three twitter
I tend to write three to four hours a day, depending - oftentimes very late at night. When I write on Twitter, I do other things: I'm working, grading, or reading, and I'm procrastinating, and I'll pop on Twitter and be like, 'Hey, what's up? Yogurt's delicious.'