Roxane Gay’s selection of essays is a funny, sharp, sometimes devestating, and always cleverly written book. I disagree with its title and find it to be a very good examination of modern feminist thought.

The title is based on a sort of interesting conceit - that while she is dedicated to the proposition that men and women should enjoy political, social, and economic equality, she sometimes indulges in less-than-politically-correct movies and music. It’s an odd frame, because the entire collection reads like a very straightforward, well-written critique of modern culture and politics that would fit in very well with any number of other critiques by well-known feminist writers. I’m not entirely clear whether Gay actually thinks that she is a bad feminist, or whether the title and the explanations of it are meant in a sort of ironic way. My guess is that she means it to be a joke.

The majority of the collection focuses on books and movies, which is usually quite enjoyable, especially for anyone who’s read or seen the target of her criticism. There’s something for everyone, as far as that goes: Sweet Valley High, The Hunger Games, Tyler Perry, and The Help all go under the microscope. Nor is Gay’s criticism entirely scornful - she has some surprisingly nice things to say about Sweet Valley High, and some interesting insights into Tyler Perry’s work. Her review of Gone Girl I found to be especially interesting, given how much she admired the main female character - it cast the idea of likability in a new light for me. Occasionally she mentions a book or movie admiringly, and I read that as very high praise; I’ve saved several of her recommendations to my Netflix queue.

For all that Gay fits so well within the feminist landscape, though, her perspective is a little different from the sort of thing you might find, ten or twenty times over, online. On any given topic, ranging from reproductive rights to rape culture to portrayals in women in media, she substantially agrees with mainstream feminist thought. But. She always provides a sort of interesting twist, which usually takes the argument one step further, and is that much more rewarding as a result. For example, her essay about the prominence of women in literature is very much in favor of the idea that more women authors should be published, that they should get more and better promotions and awards, and so on. But her main point is not that women need to write more, or that publishers need to publish them more - but rather that she is tired of the whole conversation, and that while she wants to read good literature without having to talk about the literary process. She has a sort of impatience grounded in her belief, which sounds right, that the root of the problem is that men are not very good readers, and that is what she wants to change. Fair point.

The writing here is charming and relatable, and Gay pours a lot of herself into her essays. She is the sort of author who you wish you could have over for dinner, and certainly one whose high opinion you’d like to cultivate. Failing that, though - getting a glimpse at the opinions she does have is quite an experience.