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Roxane Gay TED Talk

By Matiara Huff

Back in May, Roxane Gay did a great TED Talk. My favorite part, and the part that I see as the truest, is when she talked about Beyoncé. Roxane talked about how although Beyoncé performed in front of a 10 foot sign that said “feminist” at the VMA’s, people still graded Beyoncé’s feminism and debated if it were real or not. She continued to say that because we need so much, we tend to go far beyond constructive criticism; we dissect any given women’s feminism until there is nothing left. I can relate to this as I have seen women “call out” other women’s feminism and declare their feminism is not real. These women negated other women’s feminism because their feminism wasn’t the same.

Telling other women that there not real feminist is just as bad as fighting against feminism. We have to remember that all of us became feminist for different reasons, and our diversity is what makes feminism. Roxane Gay is a great feminist because she considers herself a bad feminist, and she understands that feminist can’t be perfect, and that’s what make a good feminist.

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