Jessica Valenti facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jessica Valenti
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Valenti in 2014
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| Born | November 1, 1978 New York City, U.S.
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
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| Known for | Founder of Feministing |
| Spouse(s) |
Andrew Golis
(m. 2009) |
| Children | 1 |
Jessica Valenti (/vəˈlɛnti/; born November 1, 1978) is an American feminist writer. She was the co-founder of the blog Feministing, which she wrote for from 2004 to 2011. Valenti is the author of five books, including Full Frontal Feminism (2007), The Purity Myth (2009), and Why Have Kids? (2012). She also co-edited two books. Between 2014 and 2018, Valenti was a columnist for The Guardian. The Washington Post described her as "one of the most successful and visible feminists of her generation".
Early life and education
Valenti was raised in Long Island City, Queens, in an Italian-American family. She graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City in 1996 and attended Tulane University in New Orleans for a year, and then transferred to the State University of New York at Albany, graduating in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. In 2002, Valenti received a master's degree in Women's and Gender Studies with a concentration in politics from Rutgers University.
Career
After graduating from college, Valenti worked for the NOW Legal Defense and Education Fund and for the Women's Environment & Development Organization. She also taught at Rutgers University from 2008 to 2010.
Feministing
In April 2004, Valenti co-founded Feministing with her sister and a friend while she was working at the National Organization for Women's legal defense fund (now Legal Momentum). 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."
Kymberly Blackstock included Feministing in her review of feminist blogs, praising them for being "successful in giving a new generation the chance to engage with as well as begin to direct which topics will rise to the top of the feminist agenda". She also writes that blogs like Feministing are helpful in encouraging activism in young people, and allow them to see current events with a feminist lens.
Valenti left the site in February 2011, saying she wanted it to remain a place for younger feminists.
Writing
In 2007, Valenti wrote Full Frontal Feminism, where she discusses the ways in which readers can benefit from being feminists.
In 2008, Valenti was the co-editor of Yes Means Yes with Jaclyn Friedman. The anthology featured a foreword by comedian Margaret Cho.
In 2009, Valenti published (via Seal Press) The Purity Myth. A documentary film based on the book, called The Purity Myth, was released in 2011 by the Media Education Foundation.
In 2012, Valenti published Why Have Kids? A New Mom Explores the Truth About Parenting and Happiness.
In 2020, Valenti was the co-editor of the anthology Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World with Jaclyn Friedman.
Valenti's writing has appeared in Diane Mapes' Single State of the Union: Single Women Speak Out on Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Happiness (2007), Melody Berger's We Don't Need Another Wave: Dispatches from the Next Generation of Feminists (2008), and Courtney E. Martin and J. Courtney Sullivan's book, Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists (2010).
Her work has appeared in Ms., The Washington Post, AlterNet, as well as other publications. Valenti wrote for The Nation from 2008 to 2014. Since 2014, Valenti has written regularly for The Guardian, where she is a columnist.
Personal life
In 2009, Valenti married Andrew Golis, former deputy publisher of Talking Points Memo, former general manager of Vox Media, and currently the Chief Content Officer for WNYC.
The couple has one daughter, born in 2010.
Honors
- 2010: Independent Publisher Book Awards for Gold: The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity Is Hurting Young Women
- 2011: The Hillman Prize, Blog for Feministing
- 2011: The Guardian, Top 100 Inspiring Women
- 2014: Media Award for Commentary at The Guardian for "The Body Politic" column
- Ibis Reproductive Health, Evidence in Activism Award
- Choice USA Generation Award
