Of course, these are people I got to know online. I’m also really excited that Lindy West has a book out right now. In terms of conversations happening right now, Roxane Gay is incredible and has been really transformative in regard to the tone of the conversation around the feminist movement. I could name a million people who are incredible and who informed my work. Being informed by the energy of this existing conversation has been really fascinating and really valuable for me. But what’s been great about doing this work online is that I’ve been able to tap into these newer, younger feminist writers on sites like Facebook and Tumblr and everything that came before. I went to graduate school for women’s studies and read all of the classic texts you’re supposed to, and of course they all impacted me hugely.

Jessica Valenti: One of the wonderful things about coming up on the internet was that there was so much to read. Is there a body of work that you feel informed your own feminism, and what do you feel are the essential guides today? And I feel that I’m now seeing a slew of new books, including your own, that are redefining feminism for me yet again. Steph Auteri: I’ve always been an autodidact and, when I became interested in feminism, of course I was reading Feministing, Bust, Bitch, Manifesta, Full Frontal Feminism… all of these magazines and books helped me shape my identity as a feminist. I’m thrilled to have had the chance to chat with Valenti about books, bad feminists, and embracing one’s vulnerability. Obviously, I’ve been waiting for Valenti’s latest- Sex Object - with bated breath. Just a few years later, she wrote and published Full Frontal Feminism, and a number of other books covering a wide variety of women’s issues soon followed. In 2004, at a time when I was learning that feminism was something I could claim for myself, Jessica Valenti was in the midst of launching Feministing, an online community run by and for young feminists.

Sex Object by Jessica Valenti