http://nymag.com/thecut/2017/02/self-empowerment-is-just-another-word-for-narcissism.html

I find this writing by Jessa Crispin really…infuriating. She makes all these statements about the publishing world with nothing cited, no concrete examples.

If anything, I see a huge attempt by people in the feminist movement  to look at the White Middle Class Female slant of the 2nd wave and correct that. What is she referring to when she talks about self care as a feminist rallying cry? That’s not the movement I’ve been involved in. The most telling bit to me is in the footnote re her PRIVILEGE

 

Notice, while she’s on and on about not being compassionate toward the lives of others — she denies the fact that BY BEING WHITE she has inherent privilege. She’s exceptional. She’s different.

Oh — and, shocker, nobody can make art that is commercial but also embraces true feminist ideas. And if you’re rich you can “buy your way out of the patriarchy”. Really? Cause I’ve worked hard and made a lot of money and — wait! Dealing with men in positions of power is my fucking life. Did I get the wrong Amex card??

I’ve been reading opinions like this for as long as we’ve been debating the word “feminist.” I’m sure she’s not wrong about a lot of white women in publishing, but where is she getting her opinions about what they ALL think and what they ALL are doing to hold on to their patriarchal model?  She promotes her idea of “one true feminism” and her own mythology — rather than look at what can be done to make women in publishing move it along toward more inclusiveness.

And some women like fucking facials. Women have been adorning themselves since cavepeople days. As have men. Women don’t just want to be gazed at, they want to gaze. Biology, lady, is a real thing. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make our own minds up about what we want to look and feel like — I believe that to my core. But this whole idea that we should abandon beauty as a value is pointless. It’s about expanding the definition.

And what’s worse? — to complain about men or blithely say they’re becoming more and more irrelevant (another footnote). She seems to be arguing that most men are not worth our trouble or thought — and that we shouldn’t demonize them. Well, most of us have to think about them. All the time.  We love them. We make children with them. They, in many cases, are our bosses. And they can piss us the fuck off while we love them and work with them.

I get the point about ascribing “specialness” to women — I am guilty of making the same kind of blanket statements. That’s something to ponder. But just notice the “specialness” of woman as she argues that women can do “whatever the fuck you want to” if you opt out of making money.

Tell that to poor women. And fucking poor women OF COLOR, many of whom have kids.