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Jessica Valenti
photograph
BornNovember 1, 1978
EducationMaster's in Women's and Gender Studies
Alma materRutgers University
OccupationWriter
Known forFounder of Feministing
SpouseAndrew Golis
ChildrenOne daughter (born 2010)
Websitejessicavalenti.com

Jessica Valenti (born November 1, 1978) is an American blogger and feminist writer, known for having founded the feminist blog Feministing in 2004. She is the author or co-author of four books on women's issues, including Full Frontal Feminism (2007) and He's a Stud, She's a Slut (2008). Her work has appeared in Ms. magazine, The Guardian, The Nation, The Washington Post, TPMCafe, and Alternet.

Valenti was named in March 2011 as one of The Guardian's top 100 women, for what the newspaper described as her pioneering work in bringing the feminist movement online and into the 21st century.

Background

Valenti was raised in Long Island City, Queens in an Italian-American family, her father a Buddhist, and her mother introducing her to her first pro-choice march when she was 13. She received her master's degree in Women's and Gender Studies from Rutgers University. On October 3, 2009, she married Andrew Golis, the deputy publisher of Talking Points Memo.

Writing and blogging

Valenti founded Feministing as a source for feminist news and ideas by and for young feminists. 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." Homa Khaleeli writes in The Guardian 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.

As a result of her work, Valenti was invited in 2006 to meet former President Bill Clinton, one of several bloggers invited to have lunch with him. Valenti was criticized afterwards by law professor Ann Althouse, who wrote in her blog that Valenti had stood in front of Clinton in a group photograph after the lunch, in a "three-quarter pose" that Althouse saw as posturing. She wrote that the pose irked her, as a feminist. Althouse was in turn criticized in Salon by Tracy Clark-Flory for having reduced Valenti to her appearance and sexuality.

The context of the criticism was the sometimes sexualized content of Feministing—Althouse called it a "breastblog." Erin Matson of the National Organization for Women's Young Feminist Task Force told Liz Funk of The Huffington Post: "This controversy is a rehashing of a very old debate within the feminist community: is public sexuality empowering or harmful to women? ... ome feminists may disagree with the stance taken by many of Feministing's writers, but let's reserve the word 'anti-feminist' for our real enemies." Valenti decided to leave the site in February 2011, saying she wanted it to remain a place for younger feminists.

In addition to her work appearing in newspapers and magazines, Valenti is a contributing author to Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan's Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists (2010), Melody Berger's We Don't Need Another Wave (2008), and Diane Mapes's Single State of the Union (2007).

Books

  • (2007). Full Frontal Feminism: A Young Woman's Guide to Why Feminism Matters. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1580052016.
  • (2008). He's a Stud, She's a Slut ... And 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1580052450.
  • with Friedman, Jaclyn (2008). Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power and A World Without Rape. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1580052573.
  • (2009). The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women. Seal Press. ISBN 978-1580052535.

References

  1. Foster, Julie. "WND Exclusive Feminists flag WND columnist". WorldNetDaily.com.
  2. "Top 100 women: writing and academia", The Guardian, accessed May 12, 2011.
  3. Wood, Gaby (May 10, 2009). "The interview: Jessica Valenti", The Observer.
  4. Lane, Dakota (October 18, 2009). "Jessica Valenti and Andrew Golis". The New York Times.
  5. Barcella, Laura (April 27, 2007). "Full Frontal Feminism". Alternet.
  6. Traister, Rebecca (April 24, 2007). "Tough titties". Salon.com.
  7. Khaleeli, Homa (March 2, 2011). "Jessica Valenti", The Guardian.
  8. Clark-Flory, Tracy (September 15, 2006). "The blogosphere's breast debate", Salon.
  9. Funk, Liz (October 12, 2006). "Feministing: Feminist? Or Just -Ing?", The Huffington Post.
  10. Valenti, Jessica (February 2, 2011). "Farewell, Feministing!", feministing.com.
  11. Martin, Courtney and Sullivan, J. Courtney (eds.) (2010). Click: When we knew we were feminists. Seal Press. ISBN 1580052851. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. Berger, Melody (ed.) (2008). We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists. Seal Press. ISBN 1580051820. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  13. Diane Mapes (ed.) (2007). "The Taming of the Threw". Single State of the Union. Seal Press. ISBN 1580052029. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Further reading

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