Lindy West on Feminism, Fat and Fighting Trolls

Lindy West — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Lindy West joins Anne Summers for a lively conversation that traverses bodily autonomy, popular and intersectional feminism, and finding both validation and hate online.

In her first book, Shrill, Lindy West offers this memorable take on the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland: ‘She is the perfect feminazi caricature: fat, loud, irrational, violent, overbearing, constantly hitting a hedgehog with a flamingo. Oh, shit. She taught me everything I know.’

A raucous, unflinching and hilarious feminist voice, Lindy West is best known for her writing in Jezebel and the Guardian – especially on body image and sexual violence. Seattle-based, West is also known for an unforgettable episode of the This American Life podcast in which she confronted, and received a sincere apology, from a man who had cruelly trolled her online in the guise of her deceased father.

Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman is a collection of first-person essays traversing the themes of fat-shaming, Twitter-trolling, racism, sexism and more. 'Women are told, from birth, that it's our job to be small: physically small, small in our presence, and small in our impact on the world,’ she writes. ‘... I want to obliterate that expectation.'

This event was Auslan interpreted; a video will be available soon.

Anne Summers and Lindy West at the Athenaeum Theatre — Photo: Jon Tjhia