PEOPLE. A world in which a 15-year-old girl can attract capital funding and the attention of the entire fashion media for a cute little moodboard website aimed at teenage chicks is not a world in which women and girls are oppressed or even inconvenienced IN ANY WAY. Nonetheless Tavi Gevinson is a feminist. Okay, the girl is very young, and you get a pass for believing foolish nonsense at that age, except of course many women now in their sixties believe the exact same nonsense. She resurrects that old feminist lie that the problem with women is we're too nice!
You know, women and girls are taught to ask for things in a way that's kind of especially shy or especially careful. But when we're working on deadlines, it's become easier for me to just, like, straight-up ask for things and say that there's something I would like to be fixed in some article. And everyone's a feminist and understands our crazy schedule so…
I am not here to pick on Miss Gevinson. It just depresses me that Tavi appears to believe that after "being in all these meetings with publishing companies and advertisers and stuff" there's still a need for feminist action to remedy the sexist injustice of not being taken seriously. Young girls will read crap like this and decide they need to be bitchier, since nice is obviously some lameass doormat thing to do. I remember when I thought this very thing, 20 years ago. Feminists are still peddling the same line. Tavi is practically a unicorn, her combination of talent, intelligence, wealth, privilege, indulgent parents, and receptive audience are so rare. Where would she even get the idea that some kind of sweeping, general wrong is being done in a country where Rookie is greeted with so much enthusiasm? Can we recalibrate the injustice meter yet?
