She remembers looking for ways to mitigate the trauma so she could deal with it on her own. The anthology begins with an introduction from Gay in which she discusses her own gang rape and sexual trauma. Readers should be aware that some essays in the collection might be triggering for those who have experienced sexual abuse or harassment. The works share in the condemnation of rape culture and gender inequality.

Women authored twenty-seven of the essays. Not That Bad is an anthology of twenty-nine essays, each authored by a different person. She is a qualified creative writing teacher and a published novelist. A popular writer and editor, Gay’s work has appeared in publications such as The Los Angeles Times and the Virginia Quarterly Review. It won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for an LGBTQ Anthology. First published in 2018, these essays consider what it is like being a woman in the twenty-first century, and why we must do more to counter our society’s desensitized view of rape culture and sexual assault. Searing and heartbreakingly candid, this provocative collection both reflects the world we live in and offers a call to arms insisting that 'not that bad' must no longer be good enough.Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture is a collection of feminist essays compiled by Roxane Gay. Like Clementine Ford's Fight Like a Girl and Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me, Not That Bad will resonate with every reader, saying something in totality that we cannot say alone.

Covering a wide range of topics and experiences, from an exploration of the rape epidemic embedded in the refugee crisis to first-person accounts of child molestation, this collection is often deeply personal and is always unflinchingly honest. In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied for speaking out.Ĭontributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and writers Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, Claire Schwartz, and Bob Shacochis.

Not That Bad by Roxane Gay