Ariel Levy (writer) explained

Ariel Levy
Nationality:American
Alma Mater:Wesleyan University
Occupation:Writer

Ariel Levy (born 1974)[1] is an American staff writer at The New Yorker magazine[2] and the author of the books The Rules Do Not Apply and Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture.[3] Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, The New Yorker, Vogue, Slate, and The New York Times. Levy was named one of the "Forty Under 40" most influential out individuals in the June/July 2009 issue of The Advocate.[4]

Early life and education

Levy was raised in a Jewish family[5] in Larchmont, New York, and attended Wesleyan University in the 1990s, graduating in 1996. She says that her experiences at Wesleyan, which had "coed showers, on principle,"[6] strongly influenced her views regarding modern sexuality.[7] After graduating from Wesleyan, she was briefly employed by Planned Parenthood but claims that she was fired because she is "an extremely poor typist."[8] She was hired by New York magazine shortly thereafter.

Writings

At The New Yorker magazine, where Levy has been a staff writer since 2008, she has written profiles of Cindy McCain, Silvio Berlusconi, Edith Windsor, Caster Semenya, Lamar Van Dyke, Mike Huckabee and Callista Gingrich. At New York magazine, where Levy was a contributing editor for 12 years, she wrote about John Waters, Stanley Bosworth, Donatella Versace, the writer George W. S. Trow, the feminist Andrea Dworkin, and the artists Ryan McGinley and Dash Snow.Levy has explored issues regarding American drug use, gender roles, lesbian history and culture, and the popularity of US pop culture staples such as Sex and the City. 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.

In 2013 The New Yorker published her essay, "Thanksgiving in Mongolia" about the loss of her newly-born son at 19 weeks while traveling alone in Mongolia.[9] In March 2017, Random House published Levy's book, , about her miscarriage, an affair, her spouse's alcoholism, and their eventual divorce.[10] [11]

Levy was the co-writer for Demi Moore's 2019 autobiography, Inside Out.[12]

In April 2020, Levy wrote a controversial article for The New Yorker about Renee Bach, a white American missionary accused of pretending to be a medical professional and performing procedures on Ugandan children.[13] Levy took a sympathetic view towards Bach. The group No White Saviors, whose co-founder, Kelsey Nielsen, was interviewed for the article, demanded a full retraction and apology, claiming Nielsen was misquoted and discredited, and that Levy "underrepresented and manipulated" the experiences of alleged victims and purposely left out evidence against Bach in the article.[14]

Levy, along with actor John Turturro, adapted Philip Roth's novel Sabbath's Theater for the stage. In 2023, the Signature Theatre Company produced it at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre of the Pershing Square Signature Center, an off-Broadway theater, with Turturro starring as Mickey Sabbath.[15]

Personal life

Levy is openly bisexual.[16] She married Amy Norquist in 2007.[17] They divorced in 2012.[18] Levy chronicled the divorce in her memoir.[19] In 2017, she married John Gasson, a doctor from South Africa who tended to her during her miscarriage in Mongolia.[20]

Bibliography

Books

Essays, reporting and other contributions

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Levy . Ariel . The Rules Do Not Apply . 2017 . . 978-0-349-00531-7 . 152 . November 30, 2018 . en.
  2. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/bios/ariel_levy/search?contributorName=ariel%20levy Levy bio
  3. News: Safire. William. Language: 'Raunch' and the mysteries of back-formation. January 25, 2011. The New York Times. October 2, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20130929135446/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/opinion/02iht-edsafire.html. September 29, 2013. live.
  4. News: Forty Under 40: Media. January 10, 2013. The Advocate. May 5, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20130928133838/http://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2009/05/06/forty-under-40-media. September 28, 2013. live.
  5. http://forward.com/culture/jewishness/368122/beyond-grief-ariel-levy-faces-the-future/ The Jewish Daily Forward: "Beyond Grief, Ariel Levy Faces The Future" by Talya Zax
  6. Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs, p. 76.
  7. News: Ariel Levy Has Written a Thoroughly Modern Memoir. Green. Penelope. March 25, 2017. The New York Times. October 8, 2019. en-US. 0362-4331.
  8. Web site: Levy . Ariel . About . ariellevy.net . Ariel Levy . September 25, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170201144740/http://www.ariellevy.net/about.php . February 1, 2017 . live .
  9. News: Levy . Ariel . Thanksgiving in Mongolia . The New Yorker . November 18, 2013 . December 4, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131113201038/http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/11/18/131118fa_fact_levy . November 13, 2013 . live .
  10. News: Cusumano . Katherine . Ariel Levy's 'The Rules Do Not Apply' Is This Year's Must-Read Memoir . November 30, 2018 . W Magazine . March 13, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181130155125/https://www.wmagazine.com/story/ariel-levy-book-the-rules-do-not-apply-memoir . November 30, 2018 . live .
  11. News: Witt . Emily . The Rules Do Not Apply by Ariel Levy review – a memoir of wanting too much . November 30, 2018 . The Guardian . March 16, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170801222542/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/16/the-rules-do-not-apply-by-ariel-levy-review . August 1, 2017 . live .
  12. News: Handy. Bruce. September 24, 2019. Demi Moore on Writing Her Highly Personal New Book. en-US. Wall Street Journal. October 9, 2020. 0099-9660.
  13. A Missionary on Trial. The New Yorker. April 3, 2020.
  14. Web site: Protecting Whiteness by Any Means: An Open Letter to Ariel Levy and the New Yorker. April 9, 2020.
  15. Web site: Sabbath's Theater.
  16. Web site: Nuthals. Hailey. Ariel Levy Navigates Life, Love in 'The Rules Do Not Apply' Washington Square News. April 3, 2017. October 9, 2020. en-US.
  17. Web site: Levy. Ariel. The Lesbian Bride's Handbook New York. April 3, 2007. February 7, 2022. en-US.
  18. Levy. Ariel. Thanksgiving in Mongolia The New Yorker. . November 10, 2013. February 7, 2022. en-US.
  19. Web site: Freeman. Hadley. 'All my friends had some nightmare trying to get pregnant. My story took the cake' The Guardian. . March 11, 2017. February 7, 2022. en-US.
  20. Web site: Bjǿrnstad. Malini. Ariel Levy: It is a terrible experience that you have to give life, but then it ends up with death kk. April 15, 2018. February 7, 2022. en-US.
  21. [Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw]
  22. Online version is titled "Diana Nyad breaks the waves".
  23. Online version is titled "Catherine Opie, all-American subversive".
  24. Online version is titled "Elizabeth Strout's long homecoming".
  25. Online version is titled "Lionel Shriver is looking for trouble".
  26. Online version is titled "Glennon Doyle's honesty gospel".
  27. Online version is titled "Amy Schumer’s mom com".

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