First, please know that I NEVER use “wokeness” that way in serious conversations. That’s why it’s in scare quotes. Here, I’m talking about the caricature of progressive values right-wingers love to promulgate.
Moving on…
I’ve been thinking about how much socializing revolves around alcohol and the ethics of hosting events that include it. I barely drink because alcohol is gross and dangerous, but I know the girls love a cocktail. Should spaces for connection and fun always come with a drink in hand? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
Speaking of connection, let’s talk about the never-ending gender wars and the absurd competition patriarchy tries to create between women of different ages. (Hint: I’m not competing with 20-somethings twerking in their kitchens. Auntie Kim is rooting for you.)
I also just read Doreen St. Felix’s latest piece in The New Yorker about Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni, and the Me Too era’s complexities. It’s a sharp look at power, internet narratives, and how spectacle undermines justice.
This part of the piece really hit:
And so Lively’s allegations against Baldoni were never going to be seen as brave, but, rather, as the kindling for a culture war. The late twenty-tens genre of #MeToo reportage cannot thrive on today’s volatile Internet. Information is misinformation and vice versa. Victims are offenders and offenders are victims. The word that comes up again and again in all the Internet litigation of Lively v. Baldoni is “narrative.” Abuse seems to be far from anyone’s mind. What matters is which side’s story is better suited to the politics of our time.
Finally, a wild story of college students staging a “To Catch a Predator”-style sting operation revived the debate about the fine line between weird and immoral behavior and how vigilantism rarely delivers anything that likes remotely like justice.
Questions to Ponder:
What happens when pursuing justice becomes a moral crusade tangled with personal resentments?
Where does personal distaste end and immorality begin?
Three days into my habit-tracking streak, y’all. Progress!
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