For readers of Cheryl Strayed and Roxane Gay- a controversial, intimate and often funny collection of essays by “one of the most visible and successful feminists of her generation” – The Washington Post

Feminism – once maligned as a movement of man-hating Birkenstock wearers – is now beyond popular, it’s the zeitgeist. Beyoncé is on board; Patricia Arquette calls for wage equality while accepting an Oscar; Hillary Clinton is gearing up for 2016; and the sexism that women have faced for decades is on display and under attack. A vibrant conversation is happening in real time on hashtags and Facebook shares.
Guardian US columnist Jessica Valenti has been leading that national conversation for over a decade and is widely credited with sparking the new wave of the women’s movement. When Jessica launched Feministing.com in 2004, it quickly became the most popular feminist site online not just because of Valenti’s news acumen and analysis, but because of her humor, frankness, and willingness to open up about her own life and struggles. At the Guardian US, Valenti’s wildly popular column currently garners over 1M monthly views and she is frequently their most “shared” author. She is frequent commentator on national television and a heavily requested speaker.
With Sex Object, Valenti moves away from politics and policy focusing instead on funny, painful, embarrassing, and sometimes illegal moments from her life that tell a broader story about modern womanhood. Structured in three acts to follow the arc of a woman’s life, BODIES, BOYS, BABIES, the stories that highlight the book are about drugs, sex, harassment, assault, bad boyfriends, too-nice boyfriends, abortions, birth, class anxiety, impostor syndrome, death threats, resistance, and family. Valenti has authored a few books with smaller presses including Full Frontal Feminist (46k LTD) but this is the first time she is being published by a major publisher. With its controversial subject matter (there is a highly detailed chapter about getting an abortion), Sex Object is bound to make waves the same way Fear of Flying did in the ‘70s; We keep hearing the feminism is “having a moment”- luckily, we are publishing the leader of the pack.

JESSICA VALENTI is a columnist for The Guardian US where she writes about gender and politics. In 2004 she founded the award-winning Feministing.com, which Columbia Journalism Review called “head and shoulders above almost any writing on women’s issues in mainstream media.”? Her work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Pos
t, the Nation, and Ms. She is the author of several books, including the national bestseller Full Frontal Feminism. Jessica lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.