"It's not my responsibility to be beautiful. I'm not alive for that purpose. My existence is not about how desirable you find me."
About Me
Feminist. Christian. Bad bowler.
As a kid there were two things I promised myself I would never be, because they looked incredibly boring: a writer, and a pastor. I am both, and they are not. I believe in the power of speaking the truth in love, and if that doesn't work, speaking the truth a lot louder. I like to yell at people really, really nicely.
Work
The blog, the book, the... binterviews?
Extreme Modesty
As a first-year seminary student, I was inspired by covered Muslim women. They said the hijab made them free. I designed an experiment: for nine months, I covered my hair, arms and legs and stopped wearing makeup. The result changed the way I viewed beauty, power, and faith.
Media
If You Don't Have Haters, Are You Even a Feminist?
I summarized the Experiment in an article and, much to my delight, it was accepted to Salon. I was not prepared for the blowback, like the articles on Jezebel and XOJane. However others, like Yahoo, dug the whole thing. Other appearances:
- Voices, a podcast about progressive faith. Check out my interview on Episode 18!
- Creative Corner: a podcast about the creative process (in my case, writing a book)
- Fanboy Planet: A guest post on misogyny in Jurassic World. Why? Because I felt like it.
Upcoming Book
Beacon Press, The Beauty Suit, May 2018
The Beauty Suit is about my nine month modesty experiment, but it's also about the limits of Kardashian-esque hotness as "empowerment" (hint: it's just capitalism, coopting feminism). I look at the three Abrahamic traditions, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, for a counter-narrative.
Pre-order it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and IndieBound.
Sometimes I Have to Say a Thing
I'm an introvert, and when I feel strongly about something, writing helps me sort it out. Black Panther, #MeToo, and more.
