--- title: Roxane Gay Explores Bad Men in New Book 'Difficult Women' description: Find out why 'Bad Feminist' author Roxane Gay loves exploring bad men in her new book 'Difficult Women,' out this week. canonical: https://time.com/4625900/roxane-gay-difficult-women/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-06T15:37:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:19.036Z og:title: Why Roxane Gay Loves Exploring 'Bad Men' og:description: The celebrated author debuted a new book this week og:url: https://time.com/4625900/roxane-gay-difficult-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e1e7521d86bc2d/6988addb5f570f202bb233a4/roxane-gay-black-panther-marvel-world-of-wakanda.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: PEN Center USA's 25th Annual Literary Awards Festival - Inside og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Why Roxane Gay Loves Exploring 'Bad Men' twitter:description: The celebrated author debuted a new book this week twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e1e7521d86bc2d/6988addb5f570f202bb233a4/roxane-gay-black-panther-marvel-world-of-wakanda.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Why Roxane Gay Loves Exploring 'Bad Men'  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 6, 2017 3:37 PM UTC  Roxane Gay is honored with the Freedom to Write Award during the PEN Center USA's 25th Annual Literary Awards Festival at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on November 16, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images) Roxane Gay is honored with the Freedom to Write Award during the PEN Center USA's 25th Annual Literary Awards Festival at the Beverly Wilshire Four Seasons Hotel on November 16, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)Frederick M. Brown—Getty Images  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Jan 6, 2017 3:37 PM UTC _Bad Feminist_ author [Roxane Gay](http://motto.time.com/4567355/female-writers-election-2016/?iid=sr-link2) believes in the power of female friendships. In [an interview with NPR](http://www.npr.org/2017/01/04/508200086/roxane-gay-on-good-men-bad-men-and-difficult-women) about [_Difficult Women_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/roxane-gays-powerful-new-story-collection-difficult-women/2017/01/03/ad937ee4-d1e7-11e6-945a-76f69a399dd5%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.5cdf17880f4f) _—_ Gay’s new collection of short stories that explore issues of gender, race and class — Gay says that she loves writing about how women lift each other up. “I really love my friendships with other women, and I have found so much solace and joy and debauchery with other women,” Gay told NPR. “And so I definitely wanted to put that into the book, that — for me at least, the way I see the world — that women are very good to other women most of the time.” **_Read More_**: [_10 Female Writers to Help You Understand the World After the Election_](http://motto.time.com/4567355/female-writers-election-2016/?iid=sr-link2) Gay said that there’s a popular narrative about how women are often petty and competitive with one another. “I also think that women, when it’s necessary, can come together and will come together and support each other. Because I think we know things about what it’s like to be a woman in the world and that common bond really is a strength,” she said. By contrast, some of the men in _Difficult Women_ are portrayed as abusive or absent. Why did Gay make that decision? “I do try to put good men into my stories, but there are more bad men than good,” Gay said. \[[NPR](http://www.npr.org/2017/01/04/508200086/roxane-gay-on-good-men-bad-men-and-difficult-women)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4625900/roxane-gay-difficult-women/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4625900/roxane-gay-difficult-women/"},"headline":"Why Roxane Gay Loves Exploring 'Bad Men'","datePublished":"2017-01-06T15:37:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:19.036Z","description":"The celebrated author debuted a new book this week","url":"https://time.com/4625900/roxane-gay-difficult-women/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e1e7521d86bc2d/6988addb5f570f202bb233a4/roxane-gay-black-panther-marvel-world-of-wakanda.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt05e1e7521d86bc2d/6988addb5f570f202bb233a4/roxane-gay-black-panther-marvel-world-of-wakanda.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"PEN Center USA's 25th Annual Literary Awards Festival - Inside","caption":"PEN Center USA's 25th Annual Literary Awards Festival - Inside","creditText":"Frederick M. 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