(Bad Feminism) with Roxane Gay

‘I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all’, has been the adage Roxane Gay has upheld for more then ten years. In conversation with Roxane Gay about feminism not as a dogma, but as a practice, rooted in asking the right questions rather than finding perfect answers.

Ten years ago, Roxane Gay’s essay collection Bad Feminist became a landmark for a generation that chafed against the idea of being the right kind of feminist. Her following book Hunger was an emphatic exploration of what it means to be fat in modern day society. As a cultural critic Gay covers a wide range of topics: from abortion rights to Chris Brown.

In a time where the feminist movement is at times divided over what to fight for, who to fight for, Roxane Gay remains an influential freethinker. Stepping away from dogma’s, rigid ideological packages and pretensions of moral purity, Gay encourages her audience to ask a more urgent question: what kind of change are you willing to fight for?

In her recent anthology, The Portable Feminist Reader (2024), Gay brings together a chorus of voices – from Henricus Cornelius Agrippa to Sara Ahmed – that reflect the complexities and contradictions of feminism. Tonight we’ll explore those questions further with, alongside Gay, Dutch writer Tatjana Almuli and Cameroonian journalist Eliza Anyangwe.

About Vrijdenkersfestival

During the sixth edition of Vrijdenkersfestival, we will honor, question, and continue the Amsterdam tradition of liberal-mindedness. With online echo chambers growing louder and public debate is increasingly about choosing sides, we offer the stage to contemporary free thinkers who prefer doubt over certainty. Who would rather ask good questions than give the right answers. Who dare to assume they might be wrong. And in doing so, chart their own course—free from dogma, labels, and authority. Or, as Annie M.G. Schmidt perhaps captured the spirit of free thinking best: ‘Never do as your mother said, and all will turn out fine instead.’

More about the speakers

Roxane Gay is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, The New York Times-bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and The New York Times-bestselling Hunger. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel. She has several books forthcoming and is also at work on television and film projects. She also has a newsletter, The Audacity, and once had a podcast, The Roxane Gay Agenda.

Tatjana Almuli is a writer, photographer, and presenter. She has published in de Volkskrant, Het Parool, Vogue, ELLE, and JAN. Her books Knap voor een dik meisje (2019) and Ik zal je nooit meer (2022) were nominated for the Opzij Literature Prize. Together with writer Malou Holshuijsen, she creates the podcasts Tussen dertig en doodgaan (Between Thirty and Dying) and De boekenkamer (The Book Room). She is also the host of the online VPRO series Dikke vette leugens (Big Fat Lies).

Eliza Anyangwe: is editor-in-chief of The Fuller Project, a nonprofit global newsroom focused on accountability journalism through a gender lens. Previously, she was managing editor of CNN’s multi-award-winning gender inequality reporting team As Equals, and co-founder of The Gender Beat, a collaborative project to promote nuanced, impactful gender journalism and build a supportive community for those who produce it, particularly in the Majority World.

Nederlands

‘Ik ben liever een slechte feminist, dan geen feminist’, is al meer dan tien jaar het motto van Roxane Gay. In gesprek met Roxane Gay over feminisme, niet als dogma maar als praktijk – geworteld in het stellen van de juiste vragen, in plaats van het geven van perfecte antwoorden.

Tien jaar geleden schreef Roxane Gay met haar essaybundel Bad Feminist een mijlpaal voor een generatie die zich verzette tegen het idee dat je alleen telt als je het ‘goede soort’ feminist bent. Gay’s daaropvolgende boek Hunger was een indringende verkenning van wat het betekent om dik te zijn in de hedendaagse maatschappij. Als cultuurcriticus behandelt Gay een breed scala aan onderwerpen: van abortusrechten tot Chris Brown.

In een tijd waarin de feministische beweging soms verdeeld is, blijft Roxane Gay een invloedrijke vrijdenker. Ze neemt afstand van dogma’s, rigide ideologische hokjes en pretenties van morele zuiverheid, en moedigt haar publiek aan om een dringendere vraag te stellen: voor welk soort verandering ben je bereid te vechten?In haar recente bloemlezing The Portable Feminist Reader (2024) brengt Gay een koor van stemmen samen – van Henricus Cornelius Agrippa tot Sara Ahmed – die de complexiteit en tegenstrijdigheden van het feminisme weerspiegelen. Vanavond gaan we die vragen verder verkennen met, naast Gay, de Nederlandse schrijver Tatjana Almuli en de Kameroense journalist Eliza Anyangwe.

This programme will be held in English