Jessica Valenti

Jessica Valenti
Jessica Valenti
Valenti in 2007
Born (1978-11-01) November 1, 1978
New York City, New York, U.S.
Residence Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater SUNY-Purchase
Rutgers University
Occupation Journalist
Writer
Known for Founder of Feministing
Spouse(s) Andrew Golis (m. 2009)
Children 1
Website www.jessicavalenti.com

Jessica Valenti (born November 1, 1978)[1] is an American feminist writer and journalist.[2] She was one of the founders of the Feministing blog, which she wrote for from 2004 to 2011. Valenti is the author of five books: Full Frontal Feminism (2007), He's a Stud, She's a Slut (2008), The Purity Myth (2009), Why Have Kids? (2012), and Sex Object: A Memoir (2016). She co-edited the book Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape (2008). Since 2014 Valenti has been a columnist at The Guardian.[3]

Early life and education

Valenti was raised in Long Island City, Queens in an Italian American family.[1][4]

Valenti graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1996.[5][6]

Valenti attended Tulane University in New Orleans for a year, and then transferred to State University of New York at Purchase, where in 2000 she graduated with a bachelor's degree in journalism.[7] In 2002, Valenti received a master's degree in Women's and Gender Studies with a concentration in politics from Rutgers University.[8]

Career

After graduating from college, Valenti worked for the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and for the Women's Environment & Development Organization. She wrote a blog for NARAL Pro-Choice America and also taught at Rutgers University from 2008 to 2010.[5]

Feministing

In April 2004, Valenti co-founded Feministing with her sister and a friend while she was working at the National Organization for Women's legal defense fund (now Legal Momentum).[9][10][11] Homa Khaleeli writes in The Guardian's top 100 women that the site shifted the feminist movement online, triggering the creation of blogs and discussion groups, creating a heyday for feminism just as its death was being announced, as Khaleeli puts it. She writes that Valenti "felt the full force of being a pioneer," her involvement with the site attracting online abuse, even threats of rape and death.[12]

Kymberly Blackstock included Feministing in her review of feminist blogs, praising them for being "successful in giving a new generation the chance to engage with as well as begin to direct which topics will rise to the top of the feminist agenda". While she criticized Valenti for the blog's lack of involvement in global issues. She also writes that blogs like Feministing are helpful in encouraging activism in young people, and allow them to see current events with a feminist lens.[13]

University of Wisconsin–Madison law professor Ann Althouse criticized Feministing in 2006 for its sometimes sexualized content. Erin Matson of the National Organization for Women's Young Feminist Task Force told The Huffington Post the controversy was "a rehashing of a very old debate within the feminist community: is public sexuality empowering or harmful to women?"[14]

Valenti left the site in February 2011, saying she wanted it to remain a place for younger feminists.[15]

Writing

In 2007, Valenti wrote Full Frontal Feminism, where she discusses the ways in which readers can benefit from being feminists.[16]

In 2008, Valenti published He's a Stud, She's a Slut and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know.[17]

In 2008, Valenti was the co-editor of a Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape with Jaclyn Friedman. The anthology featured a foreword by comedian Margaret Cho.

In 2009, Valenti published (via Seal Press) The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women, about the way ideals about women's sexuality are being used to weaken women's rights.[1] A documentary film based on the book, called The Purity Myth, was released in 2011 by the Media Education Foundation.[18]

In 2012, Valenti published Why Have Kids? A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness.[19][20][21]

In 2016, Valenti published Sex Object: A Memoir with the Dey Street imprint of Morrow.[22][23][24] The book was a memoir, a departure from Valenti's prior books.[25][26]

Also in 2016, one of the Podesta emails mentions, alongside Valenti's name, a column she was writing for The Guardian.[27][28][29][30][31][32]

Valenti's writing has appeared in Diane Mapes' Single State of the Union: Single Women Speak Out on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness (2007), Melody Berger's We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists (2008), and Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan's book, Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists (2010).

Her work has appeared in Ms., The Washington Post, AlterNet, as well as other publications. Valenti wrote for The Nation from 2008 to 2014.[33] Since 2014, Valenti has written regularly for The Guardian, where she is a columnist.[3]

Harassment

Valenti has been the target of online threats throughout her career.[26] In a 2006 blog article by Liz Funks at The Huffington Post, Funks wrote about online attacks made about Valenti after a group photo that included Valenti at a luncheon with former President Bill Clinton went viral, focusing on her outfit.[14]

In July 2016, Valenti announced she was taking a break from social media after receiving rape and death threats aimed at her then five-year-old daughter. On Twitter, Valenti denounced the harassment unacceptable. Immediately after that, Valenti made her Instagram account private.[34]

Personal life

In 2009, Valenti married Andrew Golis, former deputy publisher of Talking Points Memo, and as of 2016, general manager of Vox Media.[4][35] The couple have one daughter, born in 2011.[36]

Honors

Works and publications

Books

  • Valenti, Jessica (2007). Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-5048-1. OCLC 885208868.
  • Valenti, Jessica (2008). He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-5049-8. OCLC 693762010.
  • Cho, Margaret (foreword by) (2008). Friedman, Jaclyn; Valenti, Jessica, eds. Yes Means Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power & a World Without Rape. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-2705-6. OCLC 537193942.
  • Valenti, Jessica (2009). The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-4466-4. OCLC 435970405.
  • Valenti, Jessica (2012). Why Have Kids?: A New Mom Explores the Truth about Parenting and Happiness. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-5478-9261-0. OCLC 785865777.
    • Valenti, Jessica (19 September 2012). "Not Wanting Kids Is Entirely Normal". The Atlantic. – excerpt
  • Valenti, Jessica (2016). Sex Object: A Memoir. New York, NY: Dey Street Books. ISBN 978-0-0624-3508-8. OCLC 991056136.
    • Valenti, Jessica (28 May 2016). "Jessica Valenti: my life as a 'sex object'". The Guardian. – extract

Anthologies

  • Valenti, Jessica (2007). "The Taming of the Threw". In Mapes, Diane. Single State of the Union: Single Women Speak Out on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1-5800-5202-3. OCLC 76897638.
  • Valenti, Jessica (2008). "You're a Feminist. Deal". In Melody, Berger. We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists. Seal Press. pp. 23–27. ISBN 978-0-7867-5088-7. OCLC 834136882.
  • Valenti, Jessica; Cho, Margaret (foreward by) (2008). "Purely Rape: The Myth of Sexual Purity and How It Reinforces Rape Culture". In Friedman, Jaclyn; Valenti, Jessica. Yes Means Yes!: Visions of Female Sexual Power & a World Without Rape. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. pp. 299–304. ISBN 978-0-7867-2705-6. OCLC 537193942.
  • Valenti, Jessica (2010). "I Was an Obnoxious Teenage Feminist". In Martin, Courtney E.; Sullivan, J. Courtney. Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press. pp. 215–218. ISBN 978-1-5800-5285-6. OCLC 748361770.

Selected publications

  • Valenti, Jessica (7 February 2006). "Losing Our Feminist Leaders". AlterNet.
  • Valenti, Jessica (5 April 2007). "How the web became a sexists' paradise". The Guardian.
  • Valenti, Jessica (6 March 2008). "The Sisterhood Split". The Nation.
  • Valenti, Jessica (21 February 2010). "For women in America, equality is still an illusion". The Washington Post.
  • Valenti, Jessica (30 May 2010). "Opinion: The fake feminism of Sarah Palin". The Washington Post.
  • Valenti, Jessica (3 June 2011). "Opinion: SlutWalks and the future of feminism". The Washington Post.
  • Valenti, Jessica (29 November 2012). "She Who Dies With the Most 'Likes' Wins?". The Nation.
  • Valenti, Jessica (3 October 2014). "'Our daughter is dead. We're the surviving victims': rape, bullying and suicide, after a viral flood". The Guardian.
  • Valenti, Jessica (4 June 2016). "Opinion: What Does a Lifetime of Leers Do to Us?". The New York Times.
  • Valenti, Jessica (28 March 2018). "On The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg, and hiring men who want women dead". Medium.

Other

  • The Purity Myth (Short documentary)|format= requires |url= (help). Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation. 2011. ISBN 978-1-9328-6956-9. OCLC 978241817. – Based on Valenti's book and features Valenti
  • Valenti, Jessica (foreward by) (2012). Barcella, Laura, ed. Madonna & Me: Women Writers on the Queen of Pop. Berkeley, CA: Soft Skull Press. ISBN 978-1-5937-6429-6. OCLC 746834433.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Wood, Gaby; Valenti, Jessica (10 May 2009). "The interview: Jessica Valenti". The Guardian.
  2. ↑ Solomon, Deborah (13 November 2009). "The Blogger and Author on the Life of Women Online". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 Kolker, Gennady (12 March 2014). "Feminist writer and author Jessica Valenti joins Guardian US" (Press release). The Guardian.
  4. 1 2 Lane, Dakota (15 October 2009). "Jessica Valenti and Andrew Golis - Weddings and Celebrations". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 Bussel, Rachel Kramer; Valenti, Jessica (May 15, 2006). "Jessica Valenti, Executive Editor and Founder, Feministing.com". Gothamist. Archived from the original on October 16, 2008.
  6. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (6 October 2017). "I graduated Stuy in 1996 and remember all of this and how badly they handled accusations. It was gross. I'm so sorry. Thanks for sharing". @JessicaValenti. Twitter.
  7. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (27 May 2014). "How to end the college class war". The Guardian.
  8. ↑ "Alumni Profiles - M.A.: Jessica Valenti". Rutgers University. May 2002.
  9. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (21 December 2009). "A Big Think Interview With Jessica Valenti - Video" (Video interview, including transcript). Big Think.
  10. ↑ Traister, Rebecca; Valenti, Jessica (24 April 2007). "Tough titties". Salon.
  11. ↑ Oliveira, Rebeca (23 September 2011). "Feminist icon moves to JP". Jamaica Plain Gazette.
  12. 1 2 Khaleeli, Homa (8 March 2011). "Top 100 Women: Jessica Valenti". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ Blackstock, Kymberly (1 March 2010). "Media Reviews: A Selection of Feminist Blogs". Women & Language. 33 (1).
  14. 1 2 Funk, Liz (12 October 2006). "Feministing: Feminist? Or Just -Ing?". The Huffington Post.
  15. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2 February 2011). "Farewell, Feministing". Feministing.
  16. ↑ Colbert, Stephen; Valenti, Jessica (5 June 2007). "Jessica Valenti" (Video interview). The Colbert Report. Comedy Central.
  17. ↑ Schillinger, Liesl (13 July 2008). "Reviewing 'Save the Males' and 'He's a Stud, She's a Slut'". The New York Times.
  18. ↑ "The Purity Myth". Media Education Foundation. 2011.
  19. ↑ Goudreau, Jenna (5 September 2012). "Why Have Kids? Exposing The Motherhood Paradox". Forbes.
  20. ↑ Sandler, Lauren (25 August 2012). "Review of "Why Have Kids?" By Jessica Valenti". The Boston Globe.
  21. ↑ Marcotte, Amanda (21 September 2012). "Why Parents Need Childless People Like Me". Slate.
  22. ↑ Bates, Laura (14 March 2016). "Nonfiction Book Review: Sex Object: A Memoir by Jessica Valenti". Publishers Weekly.
  23. ↑ Zeisler, Andi (6 June 2016). "Sex Object review – Jessica Valenti shares a story women know all too well". The Guardian.
  24. ↑ Quinn, Annalisa (12 June 2016). "Yes, All Men (And Everyone Else) Need To Read 'Sex Object'". NPR.
  25. ↑ Schwiegershausen, Erica (3 April 2015). "The Memoirs of a Sex Object: A Feminist Project". New York.
  26. 1 2 Tortorici, Dayna (13 June 2016). "'Sex Object: A Memoir' and 'Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman'". The New York Times.
  27. ↑ Vladimirov, Nikita (21 October 2016). "Emails show Clinton camp's plans to work with writers to hit Sanders". The Hill.
  28. ↑ Halper, Daniel (21 October 2016). "Clinton camp coordinated with liberal bloggers on Sanders attacks". The New York Post.
  29. ↑ Peterson, Lauren (20 January 2016). "RE: "establishment"". Wikileaks.
  30. ↑ Sources agree the column was: Valenti, Jessica (22 January 2016). "Bernie Sanders must deliver more than platitudes about abortion". The Guardian.
  31. ↑ Vladimirov cites Valenti's response: "@JessicaValenti 10:17 AM - 21 Oct 2016". Twitter (verified). October 21, 2016.
  32. ↑ For background see: Benen, Steve (20 January 2016). "Bernie Sanders takes a risky shot at the 'establishment'". MSNBC.
  33. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (7 April 2014). "An Appreciative Goodbye". The Nation.
  34. ↑ Boggioni, Tom (27 July 2016). "Prominent feminist writer drops off social media after rape threat against her 5-year-old daughter". RawStory.
  35. ↑ Lichterman, Joseph (26 September 2016). "This: Vox.com hires Andrew Golis as its first general manager". Nieman Lab.
  36. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (18 August 2011). "Learning to love my baby". The Guardian.
  37. ↑ "Announcing the Results of the 2010 Independent Publisher Book Awards" (Press release). Independent Publisher. Independent Publisher. 2010.
  38. ↑ Strauss, Elissa (20 April 2011). "Sidney Hillman Foundation Announces 2011 Prizes Exemplary Reporting Fosters Social and Economic Issues: Awards Ceremony May 19th in New York City" (Press release). Hillman Foundation.
  39. ↑ "PPFA Media Award Recipients 2014: Commentary". Planned Parenthood Federation of America. 2014.
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