Read “Bad Feminist” by Roxane Gay 162-169 in Emerging.  For Friday, annotate by relating Chabon to Gay (text to text connection) and write a blog post applying the questions for Chabon to Gay. (see guidelines and use the questions under Q) Categories for Annotation and annotation guidelines)

In “Bad Feminist,” Roxanne Gay argues against many extreme views of feminism and composes a clear argument of what a feminist shouldn’t be. However, she seems to struggle to create a clear definition of what a feminist should be and it is perhaps for this reason that she considers herself a bad one. Without set standards to meet up to, anyone can consider themselves a good feminist or a bad feminist and argue they are correct in their assessment. Gay appears to site the things she claims are insignificant to the cause of feminism as reasons why she is a bad feminist. For example, on page 166 Gay debunks the myth that women have to work to support feminism stating plainly that “many women who work do so because they have to. Working has little to do with it at all and much more with having food on the table.” Later on in the reading, however, she cites wanting to decrease her work load and raise a family as one of the reasons why she is a bad feminist. Perhaps the only definition of feminism, and the only part of feminism Gay claims to be good at, found in the reading is that a feminist supports the causes of the feminist movement such as eliminating “misogyny, institutionalized sexism… inequality in pay, the cult of beauty and thinness…” (168). I believe that because Gay openly supports these causes that this alone should be enough to consider her a good feminist. One can support the certain rights of a group without personally wanting to exercise these rights. For example, Gay can support equal pay and increased sexual assault awareness and prevention for women in the workplace without being in the workplace and still be a good feminist. Gay does an excellent job of tearing apart the flaws in certain assessments of feminism yet is unable to see her own value as an avid supporter of feminism and women’s rights.