Jessica Valenti Quotes

My informal writing style is a political choice, because I want feminism to be more accessible.

I think women do write politically all the time. Margaret Atwood does; Doris Lessing does.

Yes, I, well, when I write, as often as I can, I try to write as if I'm talking to people. It doesn't always work, and one shouldn't always try it, but I try and write as if I am talking, and trying to engage the reader in conversation.

Do not write me studied letters but ramble as you please.

There was no real strategic decision about editorial tone. It was kind of a write whatever you want to write, and we'll see how it goes. I think that we lucked out in that all of the women who started writing at Feministing.com were really funny, and I don't think that's something people are used to seeing or hearing when they read feminism. You know, you think feminism and you kind of think academic, women's studies, dry, humorless; there are all of these stereotypes that go along with what feminist thought is and what feminist writing is.

Language does not always have to wear a tie and lace-up shoes. The object of fiction isn't grammatical correctness but to make the reader welcome and then tell a story... To make him/her forget, whenever possible, that he/she is reading a story at all.

For an author to write as he speaks is just as reprehensible as the opposite fault, to speak as he writes; for this gives a pedantic effect to what he says, and at the same time makes him hardly intelligible.

'The Truth About Lorin Jones' will undoubtedly shock and offend as many readers as it will amuse, since it dares to make fun of feminism - of its manners, if not its politics.

You don't run a feminist agenda and achieve political power.

I think it's about time we voted for senators with breasts. After all, we've been voting for boobs long enough.

The women’s movement … does not need a political party, it is itself a driving force in political life and perhaps destined not only to transform party politics but to fill politics altogether with a different content.

Our demand for … equal rights does not originate in feminine tendencies. In the 30 years I have spent in politics, I have never been and never will be a feminist.

My politics are private, but many of my feminist politics cross over into my professional life.

When you write as a woman, there's this feeling there's going to be a softness.

I wanted to be able to write in the voice that I talk to my friends and assume that everybody would know what I was talking about.

For me, coming from the women's movement, politics is not just about parties and parliament. There is politics in our private space and in gender relations as well. Wherever there's power, there's politics.

I've always loved Jane Austen's writing.

I am proud to represent the first explicitly feminist government in the world, and one that has been at the forefront of advocating for greater attention to women, peace, and security.

I'm one of those people who writes out words. All of my text messages? You can read them. Everyone would know what I'm trying to say. My sister will say 'BTW.' Do you mean 'by the way'? Is that what you're trying to say?

If you are an autodidact, you probably do write more in the rhythm of speech rather than having learnt prose.

I don't see why a book shouldn't be intellectually sound, entertaining, and fun to read. Historians who write academic history, which is unreadable, are basically wasting their time.

I've written about women's lives, and I just want to write about them from being a woman. I don't need feminism on top of that when I'm writing.

I think Lena Dunham, the public figure, is - I hate the word 'brand,' but I'm going to use it - it's such a brand that is so tethered to her public persona and to 'Girls', but also this progressive politics that she's been more vocal about.

I really admire Ana Mendieta. She was a Cuban American artist who died the year I was born and whose work examines violence, feminism, and belonging. Her art is always brave and visually arresting and vibrates with meaning.

...a political struggle that does not have women at the heart of it, above it, below it, and within it is no struggle at all.