“..the hope I have for women: that we can start to see ourselves-and encourage men to see us-as more than just the sum of our sexual parts: not as virgins or whores, as mothers or girlfriends, or as existing only in relation to men, but as people with independent desires, hopes and abilities. But I know that this can't happen as long as American culture continues to inundate us with gender-role messages that place everyone-men and women-in an unnatural hierarchical order that's impossible to maintain without strife. For women to move forward, and for men to break free, we need to overcome the masculinity status quo-together.”

American feminist writer

Jessica Valenti is an American feminist writer. She co-founded the blog Feministing and wrote for it from 2004 to 2011. She has 91 quotes on the site. Valenti is the author of six books, including Full Frontal Feminism, The Purity Myth, Why Have Kids?, and Sex Object: A Memoir. She has also co-edited Yes Means Yes: Visions of Female Sexual Power, A World Without Rape, and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World. From 2014 to 2018, she was a columnist for The Guardian, and she now runs the Abortion, Every Day newsletter. Michelle Goldberg described her as “one of the most successful and visible feminists of her generation.”