Soraya Chemaly
Bio:
Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning author and activist. As a cultural critic, she writes and speaks frequently about gender norms, social justice, free speech, sexualized violence, politics, and technology. The former Executive Director of The Representation Project and Director and co-founder of the Women’s Media Center Speech Project, she has long been committed to expanding women’s civic and political participation.
Soraya’s most recently released book, All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy , has been called “a potent rallying cry for a beleaguered feminist movement.” In it, she challenges dearly held beliefs about gender and equality today,
drawing clear lines between the dynamics of intimate inequality and global antifeminist, antidemocratic backlash and macho-fascism.
Her first book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, was recognized as a Best Book of 2018 by The Washington Post, Fast Company, Psychology Today, and NPR and has been translated into multiple languages. She is a contributor to several anthologies, most recently Free Speech in the Digital Age and Believe Me: How Trusting Women Can Change the World. Soraya is also a co-producer of a WMC #NameItChangeIt PSA highlighting the effects of online harassment on women in politics in America. Her work is featured widely in media, documentaries, books, and academic research.
As an activist, Soraya also spearheaded several successful global campaigns challenging corporations to address online hate and harassment, restrictive content moderation and censorship, and institutional biases that undermine equity and negatively affect free speech.
Prior to 2010, Soraya spent more than 15 years as an executive and consultant in the media and data technology industries.
In this compelling WMC Talks conversation between Soraya Chemaly and author Tia Levings, Tia reflects on her journey escaping a high-control religious patriarchal system and connects her personal story to broader political and cultural dynamics shaping the U.S. today . Through discussion of her memoir The Well-Trained Wife and her upcoming book I Belong To Me, she explores themes of autonomy, trauma, and identity, while unpacking how systems of control, gender roles, and “trad wife” culture intersect with rising authoritarianism. The conversation offers a powerful lens on how intimate experiences of power and abuse can scale into societal structures—and how self-awareness and reclaiming agency are key to resisting them.
In this urgent and nuanced WMC Talks conversation hosted by Soraya Chemaly, award-winning journalist Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani unpacks the rapidly evolving war on Iran by the United States and Israel, shedding light on how media narratives shift away from human impact toward geopolitics and economics. Drawing on firsthand reporting and deep historical context, she explores the realities facing Iranians on the ground—from communication blackouts to the complexities of public sentiment—while challenging simplified “liberation” narratives. The discussion offers a powerful, human-centered look at war, media, and the global forces shaping both.
Soraya Chemaly discusses the status of women in Trump’s America, one year into his second term, with @nationalwomenslawcenter’s President and CEO Fatima Goss Graves.
Robin discusses the omnipresence of male supremacy with special guest Soraya Chemaly, the author of All We Want Is Everything: How We Dismantle Male Supremacy, and finds expectable war crimes.
Soraya Chemaly, the author of the new feminist manifesto All We Want is Everything, offers a thought-provoking perspective on feminist revolution.
The discussion around Rep. Katie Hill's resignation has mostly missed the truths about the crime that was committed against her.
Robin on GOP suicide, MeToo's span from China to Antarctica, Cosby in handcuffs, and the rising of a global political force. Guest: Soraya Chemaly, on reclaiming social media and on her timely new book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger.
Women are taught that expressions of anger are unwelcome and unacceptable. Gadsby and Turner, each in her own way, are defying expectations.
Earlier this year, in a little remarked upon episode, the nation was exposed to how differently men and women politicians are treated in media. In September, Senator John McCain was showered with accolades after he voted against his party’s attempt to repeal Obamacare and urged his peers to espouse cross-party conciliation. McCain’s Johnny-Come-Lately stake in the ground came, however, in the wake of the consistent, longer-standing, and defiant intra-party opposition of two other Republican Senators, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, who were motivated, in part by their pro-choice stance.
Wendy Davis, Angela Angel, Marilyn Mosby, Kim Weaver, Rina Shah Bharara, Stephanie Roman, Katherine Clark, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen discuss online harassment #NameItChangeIt
Last Wednesday, the New York Times published an article in which 74-year old Jessica Leeds described Donald Trump, with whom she was sharing a flight 30 years ago, grabbing her breasts and attempting to put his hand up her skirt. One day later, one of Fox Business’ most popular hosts, Lou Dobbs, retweeted a tweet […]
A teen religious dissenter, forced to flee her country, now speaks out against religious fundamentalism.
After the appointment of another male managing editor last week at The Washington Post, Soraya Chemaly calls out the continuing lack of women decision makers in media.
The Court reversed a conviction, but avoided First Amendment questions. Two feminist legal experts weigh in on what yesterday’s Elonis decision means.
"One of the ideas we’ve had is that feminism is whatever people say it is or what it is for themselves, which is a nice idea but not a political idea. My feminism challenges institutions to change." Soraya Chemaly
