Roxane Gay Quotes

Until that moment, Michael had not understood the vastness of the world and how small a place he held in it,

We want to see more complex, nuanced depictions of what it really means to be whoever we are or were or hope to be. We just want so much. We just need so much.

What is truly terrifying is the exact knowledge of what will come and being unable to save yourself from it. Grabbing

When I read, I could forget.

When I was completely worn-out, I sank to the floor. The heat overwhelmed me. Already, my clothes clung to my body. I could smell myself. The edges of my face were damp with sweat. Heat

When people wield the word privilege, it tends to fall on deaf ears because we hear that word so damn much it has become white noise.

When we were together, he’d tell me what he wanted to do to me. He wasn’t asking permission. I was not an unwilling participant. I was not a willing participant. I felt nothing one way or the other. I...

You people are all the same. You live in your grand homes looking down on us in the gutter. You think you control everything and can have anything. There

You’d be amazed what people are willing to do when they are given permission, either implicitly or explicitly. Given

Am being open about who I am and who I was and where I have faltered and who I would like to become.

More ambitious and focused because we’ve never had a choice. We’ve had to fight to vote, to work outside the home, to work in environments free of sexual harassment, to attend the universities of our...

Stories and daydreaming. Sports were merely a distraction keeping me from what I really wanted to do.

Was interested in the discourse around rape culture because the phrase is used often, but rarely do people engage with what it actually means. What is it like to live in a culture where it often seems...

Abandon the cultural myth that all female friendships must be bitchy, toxic, or competitive. This myth is like heels and purses—pretty but designed to SLOW women down.

Are you from Detroit? I have been asked this question twenty-three times since moving to the area. In a month, I will stop counting, having reached a four-digit number. Shortly after that, I will begi...

At times, I thought, This is too much, but I know something of the world now, and there are rarely limits to suffering.

Buying into the notion of not that bad made me incredibly hard on myself for not getting over it fast enough as the years passed and I was still carrying so much hurt, so many memories. Buying into th...

Change requires intent and effort. It really is that simple. The

Essential feminism suggests anger, humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and a prescribed set of rules for how to be a proper feminist woman, or at least a proper white, heterosexual femini...

Feminists are celebrating our victories and acknowledging our privilege when we have it. We’re simply refusing to settle. We’re refusing to forget how much work there is yet to be done. We’re refusing...