Monday, 25 June 2007

Has Feministing heard about this?

Yesterday, rather than making the trek out to Southall to get my eyebrows threaded, I wandered around my neighbourhood looking for something similar. I found a salon owned and operated by a bunch of Arab men, but I realised too late that I was the only female in sight. They were well-behaved, and my initial apprehension subsided. But I didn’t really want the threading done by a dude. Is that sexist? Anyway, I had already walked in and asked how much they charged, so I decided to give it a try since I already felt invested. It turned out well enough- not as good as the girls in Southall, but everything’s a trade-off.

Speaking of sexism, though, I’m reminded of a book I came across while browsing in Soho over the weekend. I don’t often find myself getting up on the feminist soapbox, but the title of this book, along with the credentials of the authors versus its content, distressed me. It’s called “Skinny Bitch,” and it’s something of a guide to healthy eating written by a former model and a modelling agent (insert hysterical laughter here). I didn’t think too much of it at first glance, but after picking it up and reading something to the effect of “The authors might be bitches, but at least they’re skinny bitches” on the back cover, I got a little ticked off.

Why does being skinny mitigate bitchiness? Why is it necessary to use a title like that to draw people to your cause? If anything, I’m repulsed. That title validates anyone who believes that women have a tendency to be more petty and shallow (not to mention anyone that judges LA on its ostensible superficiality).

As far as the actual content of the book is concerned, I’ve come across some contradictory reviews after some cursory research. It’s worth noting that the authors are vegan, and therefore dish out some of the typical “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian” rhetoric. I think that quotation is from Linda McCartney, if anyone cares. The negative review focused on some of the things that caught my attention – the stupid title and the authors’ complacency, or even pride, after dubbing themselves “skinny bitches” – in addition to the gratuitously graphic accounts of slaughterhouses and the folly of veganism in principle. The positive review, sourced from the objective site
www.vegparadise.com, praised the book for constructing a “thoughtful argument for adopting a vegan diet and lifestyle” and goes on to say “Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin are to be commended for their unique approach in bringing the vegan message to young women.” The review brushes off the stigma inherent in the title as plain and simple “attitude” – convenient, since they’re primarily concerned with the vegetarian/vegan agenda.

The most pathetic thing is that the authors confess in the end that they “conceived the title ‘to get attention and sell books,’" that they don’t advocate bitchiness, that they realise that kindness is important, blah blah blah. Hilarious. Seems quite typical of the bitchy persona – a two-faced approach that’s really just a publicity ploy to get ahead. It’s pretty obvious that these model types aren’t interested in helping young women with their self-esteem if 1) they’re equating skinny with healthy, and 2) they’re playing off stereotypical female insecurities so they can make a buck.

No comments: