Amanda Marcotte

Amanda Marie Marcotte (born September 2, 1977) is an American blogger and journalist who writes on feminism and politics from a liberal perspective.^[2] Marcotte has written for several online publications, including Slate, The Guardian, and Salon, where she is currently senior politics writer.^[3]

Amanda Marcotte
Marcotte in 2013
Born	Amanda Marie Marcotte (1977-09-02) September 2, 1977 (age 46) El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Occupation	Author, blogger
Education	St. Edward's University (BA)
Subject	Feminism, politics
Spouse	Marc Faletti^[1]
Website
www.salon.com/writer/amanda_marcotte

Early life

Born in El Paso, Texas, Marcotte (rhymes with far-caught, according to her^[4]) was raised in the small town of Alpine, Texas in the Trans-Pecos region. She graduated summa cum laude from St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas with a degree in English literature.^[5] Around 2004, she began writing for the liberal blog Pandagon.net, then later for Slate and The Guardian.^[6]

In 2004 Marcotte won a Koufax Award for her "Mouse Words" blog.^[7]

Career

Time magazine has called Marcotte "an outspoken voice of the left", writing, "there is a welcome wonkishness to Marcotte, who, unlike some star bloggers, is not afraid to parse policy with her readers." Time also called her blogging "provocative and profanity-laced."^[8]

In early 2007 Marcotte made several controversial statements on her blog, including criticism of the men falsely accused in the Duke lacrosse case, using vulgar language to refer to Catholic doctrine on the Virgin birth of Jesus, and describing the Catholic Church's opposition to birth control as motivated by a desire to force women to "bear more tithing Catholics."^{[9][10][11][12]}

Marcotte has given presentations at Skepticon, SXSW, Women In Secularism 2, and SkepchickCON. She was formerly on the speakers' bureau of the Secular Student Alliance.^[13][14][15]

Marcotte is the author of It's a Jungle Out There: The Feminist Survival Guide to Politically Inhospitable Environments (2008), Get Opinionated (2010) and Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself (2018).

As of 2021, Marcotte writes full-time for Salon;^[16] her stories are often republished and syndicated through partner sites including Raw Story^[17] and Alternet.^[18]

John Edwards Campaign

On January 30, 2007, John Edwards's 2008 presidential campaign hired Marcotte as its blogmaster, saying that while Edwards was "personally offended" by some of Marcotte's remarks about the Catholic Church, her job as their blogmaster was secure.^[19][20][21]

Following criticism, Marcotte announced her resignation from the Edwards campaign. In an article for Salon a few days later, she said her resignation was a result of being targeted by the "right-wing smear machine."^[22][23]

Personal life

Marcotte lives in Brooklyn, New York.^[24]

References

1. Marcotte, Amanda (2010). Get Opinionated – A Progressive's Guide to Finding Your Voice (and Taking a Little Action). Seal Press. ISBN 978-1580053495. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
2. "Why I declined to be Tucker Carlson's liberal feminist punching bag". Salon. July 12, 2017.
3. "Amanda Marcotte". Retrieved 3 Apr 2021.
4. Marcotte, Amanda (March 8, 2016). "Sorry, Fox Business Network, but feminists shouldn't see Nancy Reagan as a "role model"". Salon.
5. . sealpress.com. Seal Press. Archived from the original on 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2012-05-31.
6. . Archived from the original on 2009-09-23. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
   • Marcotte, Amanda (2009-07-01). "Amanda Marcotte". The Guardian. London.
7. Drum, Kevin (23 February 2005). . The Washington Monthly. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
8. Calabresi, Massimo (2007-02-07). . Time. Archived from the original on February 9, 2007.
   • For her middle name, see Marcotte, Amanda. "Ruminations on a week and a half in Europe" Archived 2009-05-22 at archive.today, pandagon.net. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
9. Broder, John M. (7 February 2007). "Edwards's Bloggers Cross the Line, Critic Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
10. John M. Broder (February 7, 2007). "Edwards's Bloggers Cross the Line, Critic Says". The New York Times.
11. "Catholic group calls on Edwards to fire blogging 'bigots' - CNN.com". CNN.
12. Kurtz, Howard (2007-02-09). "John Edwards Sticks With Controversial Bloggers". The Washington Post.
13. . Secular Student Alliance. Archived from the original on 2013-10-03. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
14. "Amanda Marcotte Profile". Retrieved 9 June 2013.
15. . Skepchick.org. Archived from the original on 23 July 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
16. "Amanda Marcotte". Retrieved 3 Apr 2020.
17. "Amanda Marcotte". Retrieved 3 Apr 2020.
18. "Amanda Marcotte". Retrieved 3 Apr 2020.
19. Edwards, John (2007-02-08). . John Edwards Campaign Blog. Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-01.
    • Pickler, Nedra (2007-02-08). "Edwards to Retain Embattled Bloggers". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
    • Broder, John (2007-02-09). "Edwards Learns Blogs Can Cut 2 Ways". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-05-04.
20. Alex Koppelman; Rebecca Traister (February 7, 2007). "Edwards campaign fires bloggers". Salon.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011. The right-wing blogosphere has gotten its scalps ... [Marcotte and McEwan] had come under fire from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs.
    • Beyerstein, Lindsay (February 26, 2007). "Why I refused to blog for Edwards". Salon.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011. Bill Donohue of the Catholic League and the right-wing blogosphere aligned for an all-out assault on Amanda. If it had just been the right-wing bloggers gunning for Amanda, the problem would have been short-lived. ... What Bob didn't seem to realize is that the right-wing blogosphere was going to try to get Edwards' bloggers fired no matter what.
    • Parker, Jennifer (February 8, 2007). "Edwards Reprimands Campaign Bloggers". ABC News. Retrieved 31 August 2011. Salon reported that the women had come under intense scrutiny from right-wing bloggers for statements they had previously made on their respective blogs.
    • Tapper, Jake (February 13, 2007). "Edwards' Campaign Blogger Quits Amid Controversy". ABC News. Retrieved 31 August 2011. On the Internet, outrage erupted. ... But that did not quell the Internet storm as Marcotte continued to write in her no-holds-barred style.
21. "Unholy Hire" 2007-08-07 at the Wayback Machine, Kathryn Jean Lopez, National Review, February 6, 2007.
    • "Does John Edwards Condone Hate Speech?" 2007-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, Terry Moran, Pushback, February 6, 2007
22. "Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign". Salon. February 16, 2007.
23. Marcotte, Amanda (February 16, 2007). "Why I had to quit the John Edwards campaign". Salon.com. Retrieved 31 August 2011. Terry, Moran (February 6, 2007). "Does John Edwards Condone Hate Speech?". ABC News. Retrieved 31 August 2011. A bit of a tempest is brewing over the strident and profanity-laced writings of John Edwards' official campaign "blogmaster," Amanda Marcotte.
24. "Amanda Marcotte – Ms. Magazine". msmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-01-01.

External links

• Pandagon blog (defunct)
• Amanda Marcotte's author page at Slate