Feminine Chaos

Kat and Phoebe discuss the latest in raccoon penis politics, miniskirts after 40, and the underbelly of the femosphere.

LINKS:

Anti-Trans Health Secretary RFK Jr. Once Cut Off Dead Raccoon’s Genitals in Front of His Kids | Them

Goldilocks can’t find a skirt

The angry young women who don’t want to date men

No hook-ups and men must pay: inside the femosphere

Kat and Phoebe discuss heteronormativity, Playboy magazine, and Torontonian raccoons making a sexual spectacle of themselves.

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Buy our books!

The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men

How to Survive in the Woods: A Novel

Coon Dick Toothpick Raccoon Baculum Penis Bone Toothpick for 1 From USA # STP - Etsy

Against ‘heteronormative’

What Playboy got right ab…

Kat and Phoebe discuss the alleged homicide of millennial feminism and, for the absolute last time, the fallout from that memoir.

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She Wrote a Book About Her Throuple. The Internet Lost Its Mind — featuring Leigh “Current” Stein, Phoebe “Day” Maltz Bovy, and Kat “The Internet” Rosenfield:

“Now much of the current-day internet has decided she either isn’t who they thought she was or is lying to herself in saying she’s happy in a throuple.”

The Death of Millennial Feminism - The Atlantic

The Lindy West “Adult Braces” saga continues with an unhinged email from her husband

Is the polyamory dream over — and did Lindy West kill it? | The Independent

Deep cut Feminine Chaos— our 2019 newsletter on l’affaire Lindy:

In the New York Times, author Morgan Jerkins reviewed (and in doing so, cancelled? promoted?) Lindy West’s book, The Witches Are Coming. The book is, Jerkins writes, “a manifesto,” but then she qualifies this: “a manifesto for some people.” Which, one might wonder, are the manifestos for all people? Remember when Lena Dunham played a character who, in a haze, made reference to herself as the voice of her generation, and this got treated in media coverage as Dunham personally thinking she represented a generation? Anyway.

West, you see, is a White Feminist of the most troubling kind: the one who believes herself to be aware of her privileges. It is precisely this self-presentation – as One Of The Good Ones – that all but sets up a review critiquing a failure to acknowledge privilege. Yes, Jerkins notes throughout the review, West makes note of the plight of people other than herself. But when she does so, “her concern feels perfunctory.”

Among other sins, West “willfully ignores the ways that prejudice against the L.G.B.T. community intersects with so many other kinds of oppression — or else, just as damning, she simply doesn’t see it.” Also willfully ignored or simply unseen: “that white women can be just as invested in white supremacy as their male counterparts.” And, needless to say, “West never acknowledges the epidemic of violence toward black trans women.” Had she done so, though, would that have been enough, or would that, too, have felt “perfunctory”?

West writes regularly about not just sexism but discrimination against fat women, of whom she is one: “‘As for ‘Friends’? West says, ‘I need a separate therapist just to deal with Fat Monica.’”

Jerkins is unmoved:

“O.K., fine. She’s pointing out that women can be pathologized for their intelligence and that fat women are a constant source for jokes. This may be true. But West never connects the dots to the bigger picture, where white women have been overrepresented in media since time immemorial…”

What conclusions can be drawn from all of this? So many!

1) It’s unacceptable to write about suffering if there’s still-greater suffering out there unless you fully reckon with the hierarchy of suffering. But!

2) It’s better, strategically, to skip privilege disclaimers and brief references to others’ plights entirely, if what you’re trying to do is write about your own (perhaps legitimate) grievances.

3) Don’t tweet. Oh wait, this was a book, not a tweet? Then we can’t help you.

Kat and Phoebe discuss the new Netflix dating show Age of Attraction, what it tells us about the state of the culture, and why we’re rooting for these crazy kids (who are in some cases old enough to be the other’s grandparent.)

LINKS:

Go on, you know you want to:

Watch Age of Attraction | Netflix Official Site

He’s 27. She’s 54. Somehow ‘Age of Attraction’ …

Kat and Phoebe discuss the attempted MeTooing of an Illinois politician, the wide-eyed middle aged lady who outed him, and the disgusting perverts who find themselves sexually attracted to— and please try not to vomit —grown adults in their early twenties.

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The only take you need on l’affaire …

Kat and Phoebe are joined by special guest Leigh Stein for a discussion of disappointing sandwiches, internet feminism, philandering men, and a trendy new memoir that covers all these topics and then some.

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Everyone on this podcast has written a book you can buy! Click here for Kat’s sexy wilderness thriller, here for Phoebe’s straight lady manifesto, and here for Leigh’s gothic internet satire.

Lindy West Thought She Couldn’t Handle Polyamory. She Was Wrong. - The New York Times

Lindy West Is Still Getting Used to Her Hollywood Paycheck

Phoebe has a dead animal update! Then: discussing the latest installment in the “I wish I didn’t have kids” discourse and the function of regret narratives.

Stories From Real Women Who Regret Having Children

Daycare is not evil - by Darby Saxbe - Natal Gazing

Kat goes viral with demography tweet:

https://x.com/katrosenfield/status/2029176576772874346

Kat and Phoebe discuss an outburst at the BAFTAs, a cryptoracist at the PTA, and being tormented by demonic visions of dog-stabbing.

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Hunter College professor Allyson Friedman placed on leave for racist hot-mic comments

Kat and Phoebe discuss French sex criminals, prenuptial agreements, and the risks and rewards of love.

Links:

Gisèle Pelicot, the Woman at the Center of Rape Trial That Shook France, Shares Her Story - The New York Times

Why heartbreak is good for you - UnHerd

Why Millennials Love Prenups | The New Yorker

Kat and Phoebe discuss an imbroglio in the beauty blogosphere, a very non-binary controversy, and sticking needles where the sun don’t shine.

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Drama!!!! As Ilia Malinin clinches gold for the US skating team…