Jessica Valenti

Jessica Valenti

Jessica Valenti

Jessica Valenti in 2014
Born November 1, 1978
New York City, United States
Residence Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts[1]
Education Master's in Women's and Gender Studies
Alma mater Rutgers University
Occupation Writer
Known for Founder of Feministing
Spouse(s) Andrew Golis (m. 2009)[2]
Website
jessicavalenti.com

Jessica Valenti (born November 1, 1978) is an American blogger and feminist writer, founder of the Feministing blog in 2004. She is the author or co-author of four books on women's issues, including Full Frontal Feminism (2007),[lower-alpha 1] He's a Stud, She's a Slut (2008),[lower-alpha 2] and The Purity Myth (2009).[lower-alpha 3]

Her work has appeared in Ms.,[3] The Nation,[lower-roman 1] The Washington Post,[lower-roman 2][lower-roman 3] TPMCafe,[lower-roman 4] Alternet[lower-roman 5] and The Guardian.[lower-roman 6] In 2011, The Guardian, where she works as a daily columnist, named Valenti as one of their "top 100 women" for her work to bring the feminist movement online.[4]

Background

Jessica Valenti in 2007

Valenti was raised in Long Island City, Queens in an Italian-American family. Her father was a Buddhist. Valenti graduated from Stuyvesant High School.[lower-greek 1] She received her master's degree in Women's and Gender Studies from Rutgers University.[lower-greek 2] On October 3, 2009, she married Andrew Golis, the deputy publisher of Talking Points Memo.[2]

Writing and blogging

Valenti founded Feministing as a source for feminist news and ideas by and for young feminists.[lower-greek 3] It was created while she was working at the National Organization for Women's legal defense fund (now Legal Momentum), in response to what she described as "dismissal from older feminists."[lower-greek 4][5] 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.[4]

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?"[6][7]

Valenti decided to leave the site in February 2011, saying she wanted it to remain a place for younger feminists.[8] In addition to her work appearing in newspapers and magazines, she is a contributing author to Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan's books Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists (2010),[lower-alpha 4] Melody Berger's We Don't Need Another Wave (2008),[lower-alpha 5] and Diane Mapes's Single State of the Union (2007).[lower-alpha 6]

In 2008 she co-authored a book with Jaclyn Friedman[lower-alpha 7] and in 2012 she published Why Have Kids.[lower-alpha 8]

Books

  1. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2007). Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Seal Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-5048-1.
  2. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2009). He's a Stud, She's a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know. Seal Press. ISBN 0-7867-5049-9.
  3. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2009). The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women. Seal Press. ISBN 0-7867-4466-9.
  4. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2010). "I Was an Obnoxious Teenage Feminist". In Martin, Courtney E.; Sullivan, J. Courtney. Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1-58005-285-6.
  5. ↑ 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. ISBN 1-58005-182-0.
  6. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2007). "The Taming of the Threw". In Mapes, Diane. Single State of the Union. Seal Press. ISBN 1-58005-202-9.
  7. ↑ Valenti, Jessica; Friedman, Jaclyn (December 2, 2008). Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape. Seal Press. ISBN 978-0-7867-2705-6.
  8. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (2012). Why Have Kids?: A New Mom Explores the Truth about Parenting and Happiness. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-547-89261-6.

Interviews

  1. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (May 15, 2006). Jessica Valenti, Executive Editor and Founder, Feministing.com. Interview with Rachel Kramer Bussel. Gothamist.
  2. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (May 10, 2009). The interview: Jessica Valenti. Interview with Gaby Wood. The Observer.
  3. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (April 27, 2007). Full Frontal Feminism. Interview with Laura Barcella. Alternet.
  4. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (April 24, 2007). Tough titties. Interview with Rebecca Traister. Salon.com.

Contributions to websites

  1. ↑ Valenti, Jessica. "Jessica Valenti". The Nation.
  2. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (February 21, 2010). "For women in America, equality is still an illusion". The Washington Post.
  3. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (May 30, 2010). "The fake feminism of Sarah Palin". The Washington Post.
  4. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (November 19, 2008). "Anti-Choicers Switching Up Strategy?". TPM Cafe.
  5. ↑ Valenti, Jessica. "Stories by Jessica Valenti". Alternet.
  6. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (August 21, 2008). "Jessica Valenti". The Guardian (London).

References

  1. ↑ Oliveira, Rebeca (September 23, 2011). "Feminist icon moves to JP". Jamaica Plain Gazette.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lane, Dakota (October 18, 2009). "Jessica Valenti and Andrew Golis". The New York Times.
  3. ↑ "Jessica Valenti". Women's Media Center. Archived from the original on January 1, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Khaleeli, Homa (March 8, 2011). "Jessica Valenti". Top 100 women: writing and academia. The Guardian.
  5. ↑ Dominus, Susan (February 1, 2008). "Feminists Find Unity Is Elusive". The New York Times.
  6. ↑ Funk, Liz (October 12, 2006). "Feministing: Feminist? Or Just -Ing?". The Huffington Post.
  7. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (April 6, 2007). "How the web became a sexists' paradise". The Guardian (London).
  8. ↑ Valenti, Jessica (February 2, 2011). "Farewell, Feministing". feministing.com.

External links

More interviews