Bad Feminist

Not a straight memoir. Bad Feminist is a collection of standalone essays of cultural criticism mixed with personal narrative, organized into five thematic sections (Me; Gender & Sexuality; Race & Entertainment; Politics, Gender & Race; Back to Me). Roxane Gay's more chronological memoir about her own life is a separate, later book, Hunger (2017).

The essays range widely: pop culture (reality TV like The Bachelor, Sweet Valley High, The Hunger Games, Django Unchained), competitive Scrabble, race and being a Haitian-American woman in the U.S., and more serious subjects including rape culture and media coverage of sexual violence. The title refers to Gay's argument that a feminist can hold contradictions -- enjoying things that seem at odds with feminist ideals -- without that making her any less a feminist.

Yes. The essay "The Careless Language of Sexual Violence" critiques how media coverage (using the 2012 Cleveland gang rape case as an example) minimizes and victim-blames in reporting on rape, and "Some Jokes Are Funnier Than Others" addresses rape jokes in stand-up comedy. Readers sensitive to discussion of sexual violence should be aware going in.