Sorry for the mess

Do you worry about sexism? Do you wish the patriarchy was sometimes a little *less* oppressive? However, do you also worry that your radical political beliefs are affecting your fashion sense, or that Kevin (what a babe!) from accounts might prefer kitten heels and giggling to trainers and opinions?

Well, fret no longer, for the Times has decreed, in its almighty wisdom, that there is a new breed of feminist (link found at Twisty’s blog). They have thrown off the shackles of duffle coats and dowdy sandals, they have cleansed, exfoliated and blow-dried, and now they emerge, shining and fragrant, to bless us all with their new way of looking at the world. Take the protests against the beauty contests at LSE. According to the Times, getting fucked off about the normality of pitting girls against each other based solely on their physical attributes is “a bit, well, retro”.

Right. Silly me! I would have thought that it was the fact that these contests still exist that counted as old-fashioned, but no, it’s the protesting part that wrinkles the pretty brow of the columnist. Luckily for us, American feminist Katie Roiphe is on hand to clarify:

I think the proper reaction to a beauty pageant these days is to be bored by it. I would have thought that old version of feminism, which was violently opposed to lipstick and high heels, had died out by now. It’s an extinct image of feminism — that you can’t be both frivolous and serious or care about clothes and read books at the same time. And, in a way, it’s sort of depressing that these same old-fashioned battles keep on being recycled.

Yes Katie, it is depressing. It is extremely depressing that people persist on painting feminists as “angry young women in duffel coats”. It is depressing that women who dare to stick up for their rights to be seen as a person get told that they’re just bitter because they aren’t as ‘pretty’ as some shining example of femininity. And don’t even get me started on the Daily Mail article I linked to above. Guh.

Tags:   beauty myth · feminism · mediaNo Comments