Roxane Gay is a multifaceted columnist for Salon, essays editor for Rumpus and co-editor of PANK, and her work has been featured in Glamour, Best American Short Stories and the New York Times Book Review. In her 2014 essay collection Bad Feminist, Gay delivers upbeat cultural observations about her generation and community at-large, including references to Sweet Valley High, The Help and Girls. It's no wonder then that Gay's upcoming Chicago appearance with Gloria Steinem at Women & Children First on Oct. 29 is being dubbed the "Feminist Event of the Year."
Steinem will discuss her new book My Life on the Road at the fall gathering.
"I would ask [Steinem] how the road has shaped how she understands her place in the world," Gay replied when asked what one question she might offer the feminist activist if given the opportunity.
The reading, conversation and book signing will also feature Bad Feminist.
Modern day feminism is a term Gay isn't fond of, naturally, but she had a few ideas of what such a concept might look like. "There is no convenient definition or description of a modern day feminist, but I would hope that such a person is simply someone who cares about gender equality, the intersections of the identities we all inhabit, and the fallibility of human nature."
For all intents and purposes, Harry Potter's Emma Watson appears to be at the forefront of the current generational feminist movement.
"There's nothing wrong with celebrities as feminists so long as we understand that these celebrities are not the entirety of the feminist movement," Gay said. "They serve as great ambassadors and they do so much important work in introducing feminism to a wide audience. I am particularly impressed when celebrities bring feminism to younger audiences and make it clear that it is absolutely great to be a feminist. The only challenge is that some people assume these celebrities are all they need to know about feminism. They don't take introduction and convert it into inquiry."
Gay has been outspoken in the past about Watson. She wrote a title piece in The Guardian on October 10, 2014 called, "Emma Watson? Jennifer Lawrence? These aren't the feminists you're looking for" in which she emphasized, "Watson announced her 'He For She' campaign meant to unite men and women in the feminist movement and help women achieve equality throughout the world. Clearly, the speech and the campaign were both well intentioned: video of her speech went viral and hers was the face that launched a thousand essays and articles about 'Emma Watson's feminism.' The feminist movement found a new brand, even though Emma Watson wasn't saying anything feminists haven't already said for more than 40 years."
Gay also said in the Guardian story that women such as Katy Perry, Shailene Woodley and Kelly Clarkson "denounce feminism because they believe in humanism or they love men or other such reasons that make little sense."
Girls star Lena Dunham spiked a controversial tone with Gay as well.
"Lena Dunham is a talented writer, director and creator," Gay offered. "We don't agree on some issues, but I admire her talent, her creativity, her willingness to learn from her missteps, and her willingness to stand her ground on the things she believes in."
Despite any bad blood ( cue Taylor Swift here ), Bad Feminist mentions Dunham and her hit show in its pages.
"Popular culture isn't something we can treat as unimportant," Gay said. "It is very much a part of our lives. As I wrote the essays in Bad Feminist, these were simply some of the pop culture texts I was consuming, and that resonated with me in one way or another. Take Girls, for example. Here was a show that was so groundbreaking, but as a woman of color, I didn't see myself or women who look like me, reflected in the show. That felt like something worth talking about."
When provided with a series of questions and choices to gain better perspective on Gay's pop culture loyalties, the results were intriguing. For instance, given the choice between Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, Gay sided in Clinton's favor. When asked the first thing that came to mind when hearing sexuality fluid Kristen Stewart's name, Gay chimed: "Bella drinking blood from a Styrofoam cup." Miley Cyrus prompted a "whatever" remark and Taylor Swift was dubbed as "enthusiastic." Then there were the Kardashian/Jenners. Gay referred to Kim Kardashian as "brilliant" and Caitlyn Jenner as "interesting."
"I have always enjoyed pop culture," Gay said. "The older I get, the more I care about how women are represented in pop culture, because all too often, those representations are severely lacking. I worry about how young people internalize these troubling messages and because I want to be able to enjoy the culture I consume, I'm willing to fight for it to be better."
Fighting for a more fulfilling outcome is something Gay promotes regularly throughout her work regardless of her audience.
"My voice is fairly consistent regardless of where it might be heard," she said. "I'm not going to change who I am or how I think for a given audience."
Gay has a new opportunity to reach more of the masses in her upcoming book Hunger, forthcoming from Harper in 2016. Hunger is described as an "essay-style memoir concerning unruly bodies, weight, trauma, body image, and self-care."
Tickets for "Gloria Steinem in Conversation with Roxane Gay"—to be held Thursday, Oct. 29—are available now via Women & Children First: www.womenandchildrenfirst.com/event/gloria-steinem-conversation-roxane-gay. The venue is Doors of the People's Church, 941 W. Lawrence Ave., with doors opening at 6:15 p.m. The program will begin at 7 p.m. and the signing will follow the event from approximately 8 to 10 p.m.
More about Roxane Gay is at www.roxanegay.com .
