I am human. I am messy. I'm not trying to be an example. I am not trying to be perfect. I am not trying to say I have all the answers. I am not trying to say I'm right. I am just trying - trying to support what I believe in, trying to do some good in this world, trying to make some noise with my writing while also being myself.

Roxane Gay

Categorized in : Believe Inspiring Writing

I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all. by Roxane Gay

I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all.

We need to stop playing Privilege or Oppression Olympics because we'll never get anywhere until we find more effective ways of talking through difference. We should be able to say, “This is my truth,” and have that truth stand without a hundred clamoring voices shouting, giving the impression that multiple truths cannot coexist.

differences voice talking

I wrote myself back together. I wrote myself toward a stronger version of myself . . . Through writing and feminism, I also found that if I was a little bit brave, another woman might hear me and see me and recognize that none of us are the nothing the world tries to tell us we are.

feminism brave writing

We have this cultural obsession with work and productivity as if we're better people if we don't stop and take some time for ourselves.

obsession ifs people

Some women being empowered does not prove the patriarchy is dead. It proves that some of us are lucky.

empowered lucky doe

Feminism is a choice, and if a woman does not want to be a feminist, that is her right, but it is still my responsibility to fight for her rights. I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women even if we wouldn't make certain choices for ourselves. I believe women not just in the United States but throughout the world deserve equality and freedom but know I am in no position to tell women of other cultures what that equality and freedom should look like.

fighting responsibility believe

So many of us are reaching out, hoping someone out there will grab our hands and remind us we are not as alone as we fear.

reach-out reaching hands

You have to be consistent. You have to be yourself. You have to be committed to what you're doing. You have to not be afraid to be ambitious.

ambitious being-yourself doing-you

You don't necessarily have to do anything once you acknowledge your privilege. You don't have to apologize for it. You need to understand the extent of your privilege, the consequences of your privilege, and remain aware that people who are different from you move through and experience the world in ways you might never know anything about.

different people moving

Just write and love what you're writing. And if you're not loving what you're writing, take a look at why and fix that.

and-love writing looks

People do terrible things all the time, but we don’t regularly disown our humanity. We disavow the terrible things.

terrible humanity people

Maybe I'm a bad feminist, but I am deeply committed to the issues important to the feminist movement. I have strong opinions about misogyny, institutional sexism that consistently places women at a disadvantage, the inequity in pay, the cult of beauty and thinness, the repeated attacks on reproductive freedom, violence against women, and on and on. I am as committed to fighting fiercely for equality as I am committed to disrupting the notion that there is an essential feminism.

fighting strong inspiring

Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation f... by Roxane Gay

Writing, at its best and truest, can offer solace and salvation for both readers and writers.

solace salvation writing

I am a bad feminist and a good woman. I am trying to become better in how I think and say and do - without abandoning what makes me human.

good-woman feminist thinking

Somewhere along the line we started misinterpreting the First Amendment and this idea of the freedom of speech the amendment grants us. We are free to speak as we choose without fear of prosecution or persecution, but we are not free to speak as we choose without consequence.

freedom-of-speech lines ideas

I believe feminism is grounded in supporting the choices of women even if we wouldn’t make certain choices for ourselves.

feminism choices believe

I love Twitter. It doesn't keep me from writing and I think it's a really convenient scapegoat when the truth is that the real issue is self-control. I am totally fine admitting i have none. I'm not going to blame Twitter for affecting my writing. And also, Twitter doesn't affect my writing.

real writing thinking

If people cannot be flawed in fiction there's no place left for u... by Roxane Gay

If people cannot be flawed in fiction there's no place left for us to be human.

flawed people fiction

With my writing, I generally just pretend that no one's reading it. I allow myself that delusion so that I can write the things that I write.

delusion reading writing

When I'm editing my work, I'm looking for everything to fit, to feel seamless, for every detail or line of dialogue or scene to feel necessary and organic. I approach the writing of others in much the same way while always working to preserve the writer's voice. To allow myself to be vulnerable on the page, I tell myself no one is going to read my work. There's no way I could put myself out there otherwise.

fit vulnerable writing