Kat and Phoebe discuss the surprise comeback of home cooking discourse, the anatomy of the PR war between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni, and how a dying political movement spawned the world's weirdest list of thought criminals.
Okay but like, as a tran (so this is a #ownvoices comment or something), I’ve always found the notorious Blake Lively quote that has “tranny” in it funny and charming. She was clearly expressing no ill will in it, pretty much the opposite, and it was just very silly and in-character at the time. The retroactive outrage seems so artificial, and nobody gets mad over past misogynist slurs anyway, rarely even homophobic ones.
ETA since I have more time: it’s interesting to hear that the online trans activist outrage has intensified, because at my uni, it’s been quite the opposite lately. Granted it’s one of FIRE’s top 10 for free speech (its one distinction) so it’s never been particularly censorious, but the sceptics of gender identity ideology in my department were always somewhat silent about their views outside of private interactions, even though there were very few “true believers” relatively. But since November, the dams have broken and almost nobody seems to care much anymore about self-censoring on gender, whether in the offices or even in responding to things I’ve presented on. The same goes for fairly public conversations I have with people I know from much more censorious unis, but I can’t speak to their campus climates.
Sadly I lost my invite to the trans community somewhere along the way (same with my space laser key,) so I don’t really know what’s going on in those backchannels aside from the giant trans academics Facebook group that’s the same as ever.
I assume that the last decade or so of change in who’s dominating the trans world prevents it from adapting much, even as it becomes blindingly clear that the world will no longer adapt to most of their new demands.
I think another is that Bouie came up as an home cook in the 2010’s food movement that was very male friendly in a way that basically ceased to exist in June 2020. After that food media became so obsessed with identitarianism and still is so.
I paused at food-desert reference because a friend was involved in “food access for poor neighborhood” activism around 2010. I live in SF; where crime has driven stores (including Safeway near housing projects) to extinction, resulting in a food desert. New mayor Lourie is prioritizing public safety and wants SF to have the best police department in the nation.
I liked this episode and much appreciated when the ladies reached the point I always reach in these tiresome home cooking/ordering debates...the problem here is neither home cooking nor ordering out but the need of people to feel validated/virtuous online! Just because you like to (cook/order) doesn't make you a good or bad person and there's no need to justify it in those terms. Harumph!
The problem with Kat’s hypothesis that the TRA’s derangement is escalating in response to their impending irrelevance is that they have been like for at least half a dozen years, when they were at the height of their powers.
No profound reflections this week, but when Kat was nagging Phoebe about the timeline for publication of her new book, I found myself recalling the recurring gag in the 1965 biopic "The Agony and the Ecstasy," with Charlton Heston as Michaelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. In the movie, the Pope would periodically invade Michaelangelo's creative reverie and, looking up at the Sistine ceiling with paint splattering on his face, ask impatiently, "When will you make an end?" Michaelangelo would respond, "When I am finished." So, there is your answer, Phoebe, whenever any cultural Pope like Kat demands the publication date. OK, OK, I know I am stretching the metaphor, but the Sistine ceiling was an Old Testament story, right?
You should use “bleated” because it combines the first two letters of blue with the sheeplike nature of the commentariat.
I like that Phoebe referenced that often missed line from Genesis, verse one "and then suddenly there was kale." 😉
Okay but like, as a tran (so this is a #ownvoices comment or something), I’ve always found the notorious Blake Lively quote that has “tranny” in it funny and charming. She was clearly expressing no ill will in it, pretty much the opposite, and it was just very silly and in-character at the time. The retroactive outrage seems so artificial, and nobody gets mad over past misogynist slurs anyway, rarely even homophobic ones.
ETA since I have more time: it’s interesting to hear that the online trans activist outrage has intensified, because at my uni, it’s been quite the opposite lately. Granted it’s one of FIRE’s top 10 for free speech (its one distinction) so it’s never been particularly censorious, but the sceptics of gender identity ideology in my department were always somewhat silent about their views outside of private interactions, even though there were very few “true believers” relatively. But since November, the dams have broken and almost nobody seems to care much anymore about self-censoring on gender, whether in the offices or even in responding to things I’ve presented on. The same goes for fairly public conversations I have with people I know from much more censorious unis, but I can’t speak to their campus climates.
Sadly I lost my invite to the trans community somewhere along the way (same with my space laser key,) so I don’t really know what’s going on in those backchannels aside from the giant trans academics Facebook group that’s the same as ever.
I assume that the last decade or so of change in who’s dominating the trans world prevents it from adapting much, even as it becomes blindingly clear that the world will no longer adapt to most of their new demands.
I think another is that Bouie came up as an home cook in the 2010’s food movement that was very male friendly in a way that basically ceased to exist in June 2020. After that food media became so obsessed with identitarianism and still is so.
I just came here to say I love the way Kat pronounces “actor.”
oh God, I remember the lentil discourse on Jezebel.
This week Victoria Smith wrote a defense of Blake Lively and since she calls it "privilege girlboss", cites Phoebe's book.
https://thecritic.co.uk/in-defence-of-the-privileged-girlboss/
Thank you Kat for the great analyses on Lively vs Baldoni and Transgender Map.
Just Googled Blake Lively, holy shit she's 11/10.
I for one, now believe her allegations.
I paused at food-desert reference because a friend was involved in “food access for poor neighborhood” activism around 2010. I live in SF; where crime has driven stores (including Safeway near housing projects) to extinction, resulting in a food desert. New mayor Lourie is prioritizing public safety and wants SF to have the best police department in the nation.
I liked this episode and much appreciated when the ladies reached the point I always reach in these tiresome home cooking/ordering debates...the problem here is neither home cooking nor ordering out but the need of people to feel validated/virtuous online! Just because you like to (cook/order) doesn't make you a good or bad person and there's no need to justify it in those terms. Harumph!
The problem with Kat’s hypothesis that the TRA’s derangement is escalating in response to their impending irrelevance is that they have been like for at least half a dozen years, when they were at the height of their powers.
No profound reflections this week, but when Kat was nagging Phoebe about the timeline for publication of her new book, I found myself recalling the recurring gag in the 1965 biopic "The Agony and the Ecstasy," with Charlton Heston as Michaelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. In the movie, the Pope would periodically invade Michaelangelo's creative reverie and, looking up at the Sistine ceiling with paint splattering on his face, ask impatiently, "When will you make an end?" Michaelangelo would respond, "When I am finished." So, there is your answer, Phoebe, whenever any cultural Pope like Kat demands the publication date. OK, OK, I know I am stretching the metaphor, but the Sistine ceiling was an Old Testament story, right?
Does the Lively/Calzone thing work as a publicity stunt?