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Amanda Marie Marcotte (born September 2, 1977) is an American
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in Reverse ...
ger and journalist who writes on
feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
and politics from a liberal perspective. Marcotte has written for several online publications, including ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'', and ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...
'', where she is currently senior politics writer.


Early life

Born in
El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...
, Marcotte (rhymes with far-caught, according to her) was raised in the small town of
Alpine, Texas Alpine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Brewster County, Texas, United States. The population was 5,905 at the 2010 census. The town has an elevation of , and the surrounding mountain peaks are over above sea level. The university, hosp ...
in the Trans-Pecos region. She graduated summa cum laude from St. Edward's University in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...
with a degree in
English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines E ...
. Around 2004, she began writing for the liberal blog Pandagon.net, then later for ''
Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'' and ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
''. In 2004 Marcotte won a Koufax Award for her "Mouse Words" blog.


Career

''Time'' magazine has called Marcotte "an outspoken voice of the
left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album '' Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right * ...
", 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." In early 2007 Marcotte made several controversial statements on her blog, including criticism of the men falsely accused in the
Duke lacrosse case The Duke lacrosse case was a widely reported 2006 criminal case in Durham, North Carolina, United States in which three members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team were falsely accused of rape. The three students were David Evans, Colli ...
, using vulgar language to refer to Catholic doctrine on the
Virgin birth of Jesus The virgin birth of Jesus is the Christian doctrine that Jesus was conceived by his mother, Mary, through the power of the Holy Spirit and without sexual intercourse. It is mentioned only in and , and the modern scholarly consensus is that t ...
, and describing the Catholic Church's opposition to birth control as motivated by a desire to force women to "bear more tithing Catholics." Marcotte has given presentations at
Skepticon Skepticon is a skeptic and secular convention held in the United States. Guest speakers are invited to discuss skepticism, science, education, activism, and other related topics. This free event is sponsored by American Atheists and the America ...
,
SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...
, Women In Secularism 2, and SkepchickCON. She was formerly on the speakers' bureau of the Secular Student Alliance. 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 Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...
''; her stories are often republished and syndicated through partner sites including ''
Raw Story ''Raw Story'' (also stylized as ''RawStory'') is an American progressive news website. It was founded in 2004 by John K. Byrne and is owned by Byrne and Michael Rogers. History Byrne, the former editor-in-chief of ''The Oberlin Review'', f ...
'' and '' Alternet''.


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. Following criticism, Marcotte announced her resignation from the Edwards campaign. In an article for ''
Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon ( ...
'' a few days later, she said her resignation was a result of being targeted by the "right-wing smear machine."


Personal life

Marcotte lives in
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York. Her boyfriend, Marc Faletti, is vice president of Multimedia for Rewire.News and owns a record store called Latchkey in
South Philadelphia South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south and the Schuylkill River to the west.Pandagon blog (defunct)


at Slate {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcotte, Amanda 1977 births Living people American bloggers American feminists Feminist bloggers Writers from Austin, Texas People from Alpine, Texas People from El Paso, Texas St. Edward's University alumni The Guardian people University of Texas at Austin faculty Critics of the Catholic Church American secularists American women bloggers