Roxane Gay’s “Bad Feminist” tackles identity with regards to women and their roles as the “traditional, essential, good woman” and the “angry, good feminist”. In the essay, she thoroughly explores how identity is imposed through labels and actions.
If you are a woman who likes pink, or reads fashion magazines, or wants to be a stay-at-home mom, you are a “good woman” who fills in her traditional role. On the other hand, if you speak out against misogyny, or are unhappy with the wage gap, or aren’t submissive, you are a “good feminist”. However, these two worlds are kept separate with a strict border that too many find themselves precariously balancing from. Furthermore, if you do manage to subscribe to one of these ideals, you are also accepting various other traits associated with each side that you may or may not accept.
In this way, all women are constantly having these two specific identities imposed on them. It is only through time and acceptance of the term “feminist”, which at the present has a skewed and negative reputation in the public eye behind it, that these worlds could learn to coexist.
