Gay expresses real life situations to enlighten her audience that they don’t have to be characterized as a labeled feminist, such as what other people think. She also gives personal facts on her perspectives from how women are treated by men to confessions of failing as a woman. Roxane Gay begins by using real life examples when she establishes a quotes from an American writer and journalist, Elizabeth Wurtzel’s article, stating “Real feminist earn a living, have money and means of their own and women who don’t are fake feminist and don’t deserve the label” (163) and later on, Wurtzel also states in another article, “good feminists works hard to be beautiful.” Gay is using real life examples from different authors to convey a reason why she is a “bad feminist” because she isn’t an example.Īdditionally, Gay indicates Wurtzel’s suggestion, “that a woman’s worth is determined by beauty which is what feminism works against” because she recalls the challenges of how feminism is labeled in the modern world. The overall idea is how Gay rejects the “essentialist feminist” myth and any of those expectations that come along with the label of feminism. Accepting that she is a “bad feminist”, Gay allows her to be herself to love the color pink and derogatory rap music, for instance and to still be a feminist, which is to say, someone who believes women should be treated equally and treated well.