Bad Feminist Lesson Plan

What does the title of the book, “Bad Feminist,” mean?

Discuss what it means to both Roxane Gay and to you, the reader - what is her definition of “bad feminist”? Do you think she’s a bad feminist? Can someone even be a good or bad feminist? The phrase “bad feminist,” as Gay uses it, can be read as sincere or tongue-in-cheek - the latter especially in the case of aesthetic stereotypes like “feminists don’t shave their legs.” More seriously, Gay asserts it as a counterpoint to essentialist feminism: in Gay's view, "bad feminism" can acknowledge flaws as inevitable and fine, rejects policing individual feminists, and accepts (even celebrates) contradictions. You may wish...