Ariel Levy

Author profile

born

in Larchmont, NY , The United States

October 17, 1974

gender

female

website

http://www.ariellevy.net/

genre

Women & Gender Studies

About this author

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Ariel Levy (born October 17, 1974) is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and author of the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vogue, Slate, Men's Journal and Blender. Levy was named one of the "Forty Under 40" most influential out individuals in the June/July 2009 issue of The Advocate.

Levy was raised in Larchmont, New York, and attended Wesleyan University in the 1990s. She says that her experiences at Wesleyan, which had "co-ed showers, on principle", strongly influenced her views regarding modern sexuality. After graduating from Wesleyan, she was briefly employed by Planned Parenthood, but claims that she was fired because she is "an extr...more Ariel Levy (born October 17, 1974) is a staff writer at The New Yorker magazine and author of the book Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vogue, Slate, Men's Journal and Blender. Levy was named one of the "Forty Under 40" most influential out individuals in the June/July 2009 issue of The Advocate.

Levy was raised in Larchmont, New York, and attended Wesleyan University in the 1990s. She says that her experiences at Wesleyan, which had "co-ed showers, on principle", strongly influenced her views regarding modern sexuality. After graduating from Wesleyan, she was briefly employed by Planned Parenthood, but claims that she was fired because she is "an extremely poor typist". She was hired by New York magazine shortly thereafter.

At The New Yorker magazine, where Levy has been a staff writer since 2008, she has written profiles of Cindy McCain and Marc Jacobs. At New York magazine, where Levy was a contributing editor for 12 years, she wrote about John Waters, Donatella Versace, the writer George Trow, the feminist Andrea Dworkin, the artists Ryan McGinley and Dash Snow, Al Franken, Clay Aiken, Maureen Dowd, and Jude Law. Levy has explored issues regarding American drug use, gender roles, lesbian culture, and the popularity of U.S. pop culture staples such as Sex and the City and Gwen Stefani. Some of these articles allude to Levy's personal thoughts on the status of modern feminism.

Levy criticized the pornographic video series Girls Gone Wild after she followed its camera crew for three days, interviewed both the makers of the series and the women who appeared on the videos, and commented on the series' concept and the debauchery she was witnessing. Many of the young women Levy spoke with believed that bawdy and liberated were synonymous.

Levy's experiences amid Girls Gone Wild appear again in Female Chauvinist Pigs, in which she attempts to explain "why young women today are embracing raunchy aspects of our culture that would likely have caused their feminist foremothers to vomit." In today's culture, Levy writes, the idea of a woman participating in a wet T-shirt contest or being comfortable watching explicit pornography has become a symbol of strength; she says that she was surprised at how many people, both men and women, working for programs such as Girls Gone Wild told her that this new "raunch" culture marked not the downfall of feminism but its triumph, but Levy was unconvinced.

Levy's work is anthologized in The Best American Essays of 2008, New York Stories, and 30 Ways of Looking at Hillary.(less)

8 posts
Ariel Levy's Blog

Ariel Levy isn't a Goodreads Author (yet), but she does have a blog, so here are some recent posts imported from her feed.

The New Yorker, January 11, 2010

The New Yorker, January 11, 2010
Hitched
In her new memoir, Elizabeth Gilbert gets married�whether she likes it or not.

The New Yorker, November 30, 2009
Either/Or
Sports, Sex, and the Case of Caster Semenya

The New Yorker, January 25, 2009
Doing It
"The Joy of Sex" for Today's Reader

The New Yorker, September 15, 2008
The Lonesome Trail
Cindy McCain's nontraditional campaign

New York Magazine, January... Read more of this blog post »

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Ariel Levy's Books

Average rating: 3.70 · 5,521 ratings · 649 reviews · 4 distinct works · Similar authors

	Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture 3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 avg rating — 4,979 ratings — published 2005 — 12 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Essays on credit default swaps. 5.0 of 5 stars 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Intercourse by Andrea Dworkin, Ariel Levy (Foreword by) 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 542 ratings — published 1988 — 7 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Best Sex Writing 2008 by Rachel Kramer Bussel (Goodreads Author) (Editor), Rachel Shuket (Contributor), Kevin Keck (Goodreads Author) (Contributor) 4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 avg rating — 24 ratings — published 2007 — 5 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Ariel Levy

“You think you're being brave, you think you're being sexy, you think you're transcending feminism. But that's bullshit. - Susan Brownmiller”
― Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture

tags: feminism

36 people liked it

“Sex is one of the most interesting things we as humans have to play with, and we've reduced it to polyester underpants and implants. We are selling ourselves unbelievably short.”
― Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture

22 people liked it

“Women's liberation and empowerment are terms feminists started using to talk about casting off the limitations imposed upon women and demanding equality. We have perverted these words. The freedom to be sexually provocative or promiscuous is not enough freedom; it is not the only 'women's issue' worth paying attention to. And we are not even free in the sexual arena. We have simply adopted a new norm, a new role to play: lusty, busty exhibitionist. There are other choices. If we are really going to be sexually liberated, we need to make room for a range of options as wide as the variety of human desire. We need to allow ourselves the freedom to figure out what we internally want from sex instead of mimicking whatever popular culture holds up to us as sexy. That would be liberation.”
― Ariel Levy

22 people liked it

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Ariel Levy

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8 posts
Ariel Levy's Blog

combine editions
Ariel Levy's Books

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Ariel Levy

Topics Mentioning This Author

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Ariel's Fans (46)

Ariel Levy

Author profile

8 postsAriel Levy's Blog

combine editionsAriel Levy's Books

Upcoming Events

Quotes by Ariel Levy

Topics Mentioning This Author

Add New
Videos

8 posts
Ariel Levy's Blog

combine editions
Ariel Levy's Books