Ariel Levy (writer)
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Ariel Levy (born 1974) is an American staff writer at ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' magazine and the author of the books ''The Rules Do Not Apply'' and '' Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture''. Her work has appeared in ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'', ''
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'', ''
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'', and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Levy was named one of the "Forty Under 40" most influential
out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...
individuals in the June/July 2009 issue of ''
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''.


Early life and education

Levy was raised in a
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
family in
Larchmont, New York Larchmont is a Village (New York), village located within the Town (New York), Town of Mamaroneck (town), New York, Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York. Larchmont is a suburb of New York City, located approximately northeast of Midt ...
, and attended
Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...
in the 1990s, graduating in 1996. She says that her experiences at Wesleyan, which had "coed showers, on principle," strongly influenced her views regarding modern sexuality. After graduating from Wesleyan, she was briefly employed by
Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization
but claims that she was fired because she is "an extremely poor typist." She was hired by ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' magazine shortly thereafter.


Writings

At ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' magazine, where Levy has been a staff writer since 2008, she has written profiles of
Cindy McCain Cindy Lou McCain (; born May 20, 1954) is an American diplomat, businesswoman, and humanitarian who is the executive director of the World Food Programme. McCain previously served as List of ambassadors of the United States to the United Nation ...
,
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
,
Edith Windsor Edith Windsor (née Schlain; June 20, 1929 – September 12, 2017) was an American LGBT rights in the United States, LGBT rights activist and a technology manager at IBM. She was the lead plaintiff in the 2013 Supreme Court of the United State ...
,
Caster Semenya Caster Semenya Order of Ikhamanga, OIB (born 7 January 1991) is a South African middle-distance runner and winner of two Olympic medal, Olympic gold medals and three World Athletics Championships, World Championships in the women's 800 metres ...
, Lamar Van Dyke,
Mike Huckabee Michael Dale Huckabee (, born August 24, 1955) is an American diplomat, political commentator, Baptist minister, and politician serving as the 29th United States Ambassador to Israel, United States ambassador to Israel since 2025. A member of ...
and
Callista Gingrich Callista Louise Gingrich (Birth name, née Bisek; born March 4, 1966) is an American diplomat, businesswoman, author, and documentary film producer who served as List of ambassadors of the United States to the Holy See, United States ambassador t ...
. At ''
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
'' magazine, where Levy was a contributing editor for 12 years, she wrote about
John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...
,
Stanley Bosworth Stanley Anselm Bosworth (August 20, 1927 – August 7, 2011) was the founding headmaster of Saint Ann's School in Brooklyn, which he headed from 1965 to 2004. Stanley Bosworth was born in New York City and raised in Washington Heights, the child ...
,
Donatella Versace Donatella Francesca Versace (; born 2 May 1955), sometimes simply referred to mononymously as Donatella, is an Italian fashion designer, businesswoman, socialite, and model. She is the sister of Gianni Versace, founder of the luxury fashion com ...
, the writer George W. S. Trow, the feminist
Andrea Dworkin Andrea Rita Dworkin (September 26, 1946 – April 9, 2005) was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen sol ...
, and the artists Ryan McGinley and
Dash Snow Dashiell A. Snow (July 27, 1981 – July 13, 2009) was an American artist based in New York City.Roberta Smith"Dash Snow, New York Artist, Dies at 27" ''The New York Times'', July 14, 2009. Snow's photographs included scenes of sex, drugs, viole ...
. Levy has explored issues regarding American drug use,
gender role A gender role, or sex role, is a social norm deemed appropriate or desirable for individuals based on their gender or sex. Gender roles are usually centered on conceptions of masculinity and femininity. The specifics regarding these gendered ...
s, lesbian history and culture, and the popularity of US pop culture staples such as ''
Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...
.'' Some of these articles allude to Levy's personal thoughts on the status of modern feminism. Levy criticized the
pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...
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 Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Like any humour, ribaldry may be read as conventional or subversive. Ribald ...
'' 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 ''The Best American Essays'' is a yearly anthology of magazine articles published in the United States.Robert Atwan (ed.), Adam Gopnick (guest ed.). ''The Best American Essays 2008'', Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008. It was started in 1986 and is ...
of 2008'', ''
New York Stories ''New York Stories'' is a 1989 American anthology film consisting of three segments with the central theme being New York City. The first is ''Life Lessons'', directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Richard Price and starring Nick Nolte. The ...
'', and '' 30 Ways of Looking at Hillary''. In 2013 ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' published her essay, "Thanksgiving in Mongolia" about the loss of her newly-born son at 19 weeks while traveling alone in Mongolia. In March 2017, Random House published Levy's book, '' The Rules Do Not Apply: A Memoir'', about her miscarriage, an affair, her spouse's alcoholism, and their eventual divorce. Levy was the co-writer for
Demi Moore Demi Gene Moore ( ; née Guynes; born November 11, 1962) is an American actress. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world's highest-paid actress by 1995. List of awards and nominations received by Demi Moore, Her acc ...
's 2019 autobiography, '' Inside Out''. 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. Levy took a sympathetic view towards Bach. The group
No White Saviors ''No White Saviors'' is an anti- white saviorism social media campaign, predominately present on Instagram. It was launched by two social workers in 2018. History The ''No White Saviors'' social media campaign was launched in 2018 by social work ...
, 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. Levy, along with actor
John Turturro John Michael Turturro ( ; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award a ...
, adapted
Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (; March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophical ...
's novel ''
Sabbath's Theater ''Sabbath's Theater'' is a novel by Philip Roth about the exploits of 64-year-old Mickey Sabbath. It won the 1995 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. The cover is a detail of ''Sailor and Girl'' (1925) by German painter Otto Dix. Summary an ...
'' for the stage. In 2023, the
Signature Theatre Company Signature Theatre Company is a nonprofit Off Broadway theatre company located on West 42nd Street in New York City. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Emily Shooltz. Signature is known for their season-l ...
produced it at the Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre of the
Pershing Square Signature Center The Pershing Square Signature Center is a complex of three Off-Broadway theatres in the Theatre Row section of West 42nd Street in New York City. It is on the first floors of the 43-floor MiMa Building apartment complex. Pershing Square Signat ...
, an
off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
theater, with Turturro starring as Mickey Sabbath.


Personal life

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


Bibliography


Books

* * *


Essays, reporting and other contributions

* * * *
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (born 23 March 1953) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur. She is the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India and the former chair ...
.
* * * * * * * Online version is titled "
Diana Nyad Diana Nyad (née Sneed; born August 22, 1949) is an American author, journalist, motivational speaker, and long-distance swimming, long-distance swimmer. Nyad gained national attention in 1975 when she swam around Manhattan () in record time. ...
breaks the waves".
* * * Online version is titled "Catherine Opie, all-American subversive". * Online version is titled "Elizabeth Strout's long homecoming". * * Online version is titled "Lionel Shriver is looking for trouble". * Online version is titled "Glennon Doyle's honesty gospel". * Online version is titled "Amy Schumer’s mom com".


See also

*
Feminist sex wars The feminist sex wars, also known as the lesbian sex wars, sex wars or porn wars, are collective debates amongst feminists regarding a number of issues broadly relating to sexuality and sexual activity. Differences of opinion on matters of sexual ...
*
Third-wave feminism Third-wave feminism is a feminist movement that began in the early 1990s, prominent in the decades prior to the fourth-wave feminism, fourth wave. Grounded in the civil-rights advances of the second-wave feminism, second wave, Generation X, Gen X ...
*
Pornographication Pornification is the absorption by mainstream culture of styles or content of the sex industry and the sexualisation of Western culture, sometimes referred to as wikt:raunch, raunch culture. Pornification, particularly the use of sexualised images ...


Notes


References


External links

*
New Yorker Archive

''New York'' magazine – Ariel Levy Archive
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Levy, Ariel 1974 births Living people Jewish American feminists American magazine editors American feminist writers American LGBTQ journalists Place of birth missing (living people) Bisexual Jews People from Larchmont, New York The New Yorker staff writers Wesleyan University alumni Anti-pornography feminists Bisexual feminists Bisexual journalists Jewish American journalists American women magazine editors 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists American bisexual writers Jewish LGBTQ women