The idea of life in France is a utopia where the women are beautiful and they eat cheese all day and wear designer clothes and are magically thin and more evolved. And that's wonderful. Over here, we're still fighting for birth control.
Roxane GayDonโt flirt, have sex, or engage in emotional affairs with your friendsโ significant others. This shouldnโt need to be said, but it needs to be said. That significant other is an asshole, and you donโt want to be involved with an asshole whoโs used goods. If you want to be with an asshole, get a fresh asshole of your very own. They are abundant.
Roxane GayI don't read the comments anymore, unless they are moderated. Which is not to say censored, but I don't need to read someone saying, "You're ugly."
Roxane GayI like what the internet offers: the ability to get people interested in your mind, and have a chance if you're not conventionally attractive.
Roxane GayTo have privilege in one or more areas does not mean you are wholly privileged. Surrendering to the acceptance of privilege is difficult, but it is really all that is expected. What I remind myself, regularly, is this: the acknowledgment of my privilege is not a denial of the ways I have been and am marginalized, the ways I have suffered.
Roxane GayWe don't all have to believe in the same feminism. Feminism can be pluralistic so long as we respect the different feminisms we carry with us, so long as we give enough of a damn to try to minimize the fractures among us. Feminism will better succeed with collective effort, but feminist success can also rise out of personal conduct.
Roxane Gay