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This book tells us about the evolution of Roxane Gay as a woman and as a feminist.

She shares with us the wisdom she acquired through the reading of hundreds of books in a unique way. The eclectic collection of books she reads is praiseworthy. She touches almost all the subjects under the sun in this book. We might be surprised to see the amount of knowledge she possesses on each topic and the unique way she talks about everything. I particularly liked the way the author discusses race, culture, and feminism. Seeing the world through her eyes will give the readers an effervescent experience.

What I learned from this book
1) Why is it said that pseudo-feminists are the biggest threat to feminism?
We have reached an age where some people pretend to be feminists to get public attention. The negative things done by these pseudo-feminists are actually repelling many people away from feminism. The author tells us why it is important for us to understand that it is a problem with the people, not the movement.

"When feminism falls short of our expectations, we decide the problem is with feminism rather than with the flawed people who act in the name of the movement."

2) First Amendment and freedom of speech
The author explains why the first amendment's misinterpretation is causing many problems.

"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."

3) Qui tacet consentire videtur

When we see injustice, we should protest. If we remain silent, the opposing person will take it as consent. The author is describing something compelling that can change many lives here.

"All too often, when we see injustices, both great and small, we think, That's terrible, but we do nothing. We say nothing. We let other people fight their own battles. We remain silent because silence is easier. Qui tacet consentire videtur is Latin for 'Silence gives consent.' When we say nothing, when we do nothing, we are consenting to these trespasses against us."

My favourite three lines from this book

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

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

"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."

What could have been better?
I think the author devoted a lot of time to some popular topics in society when she wrote this book. Reading this book around a decade after it was first published will definitely make you think about the unwanted attention given by the author to popular topics at that time, like the lengthy criticism of 50 shades of Grey, Hunger Games, and reality TV. The author should have concentrated on more serious topics instead of chasing pop culture.

The title of this book can be considered a misnomer as we expect a lot of ideas about feminism in this book. Feminism is discussed for just around 100 pages in this book which has 320 pages.

Rating
4/5 Despite the few negatives I discussed above, I think this is a great book to read if you want to know more about feminism.

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