That funny screech/moan you've been hearing for the past week or so is the sound of the wannabe "third wave" feminist blogosphere straining to bend over far enough over its beer-gut to gaze at its collective navel. (Yeah, I didn't notice either.)
Basically, two writers on Jezebel.com, Moe and Tracie (who publishes under the pen name "Slut Machine") appeared on the program "Thinking and Drinking," where host Lizz Winstead peppered them with questions about what responsibility they feel - as young women who blog extensively about their freewheeling sex lives - toward their readers. Moe n' Tracie's response: not much, actually. Pass the booze.
Watch the full interview and select (edited) clips here. (Yep, there's nothing wrong with casual sex, as long as you're doing it in a place full of wimpy men, like NYC. I don't know what rape/STD-free Shangri-La this Tracie idiot inhabits, but it sounds like it might be fun to visit.)
I rarely read Jezebel at all - it strikes me as the kind of Web site that my most hedonistic gay friends would create at their most self-parodying. Cocktail-infused celeb-bashing and supposedly ironic social commentary with a mean-girl lining aren't really my thing. And I've been deeply turned off by previous posts where Moe excuses her rapist and where the twosome victim-blame Roman Polanski's underaged victim.
My reaction upon watching the interview was simple disgust. These women are obviously dipshits - apparently with serious drinking problems, to boot (And I type this while sipping a Sam Adams, FWIW). They're not representative of anything resembling the feminism that is my guiding philosophy. If they have a point, they fail to make it remotely articulately.
But it seems I'm alone in my certitude. Apparently Jezebel's brand of women's lib has a rabid following. (So do YouTube videos of guys getting hit by cars, but whatev...) And the women who have previously held Moe, Tracie, et al as feminist idols worthy of emulation are now faced with the ugly reckoning - Does Tracie think that being date-raped makes me not "smart"? Is Moe's failure to report her rapist empowering? Am I a Debbie Downer for thinking about liver damage? Maybe I don't have a properly evolved sense of humor???
Ok...I've done edgy, even down-right stupid things in my life, and I take responsibility for my part in the consequences of those actions. But nothing pisses me off more than alleged feminists who act as though all the battles are won and all that remains is for us to look fabulous at Happy Hour, that women have some inalienable right to party and f*ck random strangers without repercussion. It's a slap in the face to the women who still fight for equitable medical care, fair pay and for the basic right to exist as autonomous beings. Every time one of these two ignoramuses opens her mouth or clicks the "publish" button on Jezebel's blog, the true work of feminism is set back years.
Feminism is not about being a total frakking whore. My goodness, can I possibly make that clearer?
I'm not doing any existential soul-searching over Moe and Tracie's lame-ass performance, because I never really identified with them in the first place. And if I can judge by the *crickets* I'm not the only one. Sheesh. Ladies, go get a job...Maybe volunteer in a soup kitchen if you feel your life is lacking.
UPDATE: Read Tracie's take on the situation, along with some really sad comments from her deluded fans. (I especially like the one syncophantic sea-donkey who thinks all rapists wear identifying T-shirts or something, and that you shouldn't be alone with a guy unless you get a "good vibe." Right.) The New Republic's bloggers also get in on the action.
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