What do women want? According to one of our favorite female feminism-haters, Laura Grace Robins, it’s sort of a a tossup between the vote and designer purses. But that’s not what women really need — which is a husband. Oh, and milk. Can you remember to get milk?
At least that’s what I think she’s saying. See if you can figure it out from this quote from her post “Remove the Needs.” I have taken the liberty of bolding my favorite bits. Anyway, here’s Ms. Robins’ vision of the modern postfeminist woman:
She may have everything she wants, but not everything she needs. She wants independence, the vote, her own income, etc., but she wants all these things like she wants a designer purse. Underneath it all, it is just for show and what she really needs are the basics; like food, shelter, and a husband. She may have fancy clothes and independence, but it is the needs that nourish. She can deny the needs and focus on wants, but a life purely filled of wants is typically shallow and empty. Feminists have been the advertisers that make us buy into wants instead of our needs. If we know what our needs are then we can walk down the aisle of feminism and not be allured by the glossy packaging of independence and income. I’m not here for the “Starbuck Frappuccino”, but for a gallon of milk.
But what if the woman in question is lactose intolerant? IN YOUR FACE, LAURA GRACE!
Also, I’m wondering what exactly a “Starbuck Frappuccino” is. I would love to have a Frappuccino with Starbuck. Either one, actually.
Ms. Robins concludes:
Now most women live hollow lives filled with closets full of shoes and purses, while homes are empty of husbands and children.
I think that, like a lot of the people I write about on this blog, Laura Grace Robins has confused reality with Sex and the City.
The show ended nearly a decade ago! At least get a current TV show to confuse reality with!
Bummer!
I thought I’d seen your name before – have you had your welcome package?
Those bags look really nice, I like the bicoloured ones especially. I can imagine how strong they’d be. Recycling seat belts is a great idea.
Delurk moar!
Also, historophilia, HI, good to see you again. 🙂
Wow, this is a gorgeous pack, though I bet it weighs a ton … but at $435, I’m not going to be finding out!
http://www.uptherestore.com/blog/uptherestore/2013/08/epperson-mountaineering-all-leather-day-packs
Kitteh — give timbuk2 a look. The bike messengers in Pittsburgh all use their stuff, and I carry one of their smaller messenger bags. Yes, it’s a bit on the expensive side, but they’re solid — add $30 to the price of whatever you look at,
it’ sphericalit’s their international shipping fee. (Seriously autocorrect?)In other things, I’m not allowed to watch the Doctor Who special. Don’t grumble, it’s okay, see, I’m not allowed to watch it because my mother won’t be home from work until it’s almost over and we’re DVR’ing it. So I just have to be patient and wait (now, if she decides she isn’t staying up until 11 to watch it tonight, THEN I’ll grumble!)
That looks super strong!
Another idea is to check out a military surplus store. I don’t know if you have them in Australia, but in the US, most big cities, and even some smaller ones have stores that sell used or old military gear, including backpacks. I got my hiking/traveling backpack from one. A comparable backpack would have cost $200-300 and I got it for $60!
I haven’t personally got a welcome package, but I have definitely peeked in on other people’s!
Kitteh — http://www.timbuk2.com/tb2/customizer#!/product/13-custom-swig-laptop-backpack/size/3/customize
That one should be big enough, and comfy. Expensive side, for sure, but their shit really does take a beating. (And, idk if it’s just mine, but doesn’t seem to collect cat fur!)
OT: more economic nonsense from his truly: http://www.the-spearhead.com/2013/11/21/a-reminder-on-commenting/#comment-201415
…I didn’t realize the kitty purse was photoshopped. I thought it was a real purse on offer somewhere, and that my cat-behaviourist friend would love it, even though she’s not a tween.
Anecdote time: A lady I used to babysit for when I was in high school told me about a friend of hers whose husband ran the household: he controlled the money, paid the bills, made all the decisions. She kept house, took care of the kids, and cooked and grocery shopped. When she needed clothes, they went shopping together so he could have the final say on the clothes she bought. And then he got very, very sick (I’m thinking a stroke, but I don’t remember for sure) and he was pretty much helpless for a couple of years. She had to learn to do everything. As he recovered, he wanted the control back, but she was liking her sense of accomplishment and independence.
I don’t remember how the story ended (or if I ever heard that part), but it horrified me. When a girl in my school let it be known that she was getting married right after graduation, it just didn’t compute for me. What about university? What about starting your career? I understand it better now, but it still makes me uneasy. Independence. Life skills. They’re important, for everybody.
Most expensive thing I bought with my own money: my iPod.
Me buying four bras is pretty high up there as a group, but individually they were $40-$60 each, so that doesn’t count.
Most expensive thing I own (thanks to the Bank of Mom and Dad): my laptop.
One Welcome Package!
Hahah, oh boy. Second most expensive thing I bought myself? My fluval. A fish tank filter. ENTIRELY WORTH IT.
My printer and boots, and then everything else over $100 was textbooks I think.
(Who’s surprised and my most expensive purchases are electronics and fish related? XD )
cloudiah: It’s OK. I’m a little put out by the vibe that spending that kind of money on a purse is a frivolous girl thing, and then everyone listing all the SUPER USEFUL things they’ve spent money on. Because it seems that as a woman, you must only spend money on useful shit.
Again, it’s OK, I’m not loving the vibe, but that’s my thing.
Lurkerina – yup, we have Aussie Disposals, our army surplus store. I was checking their website yesterday. There are a lot of outdoor shops in the CBD. Most of the packs I’ve seen are too huge (I have a 40L one for going on holiday, I don’t need anything that big) or, if they’re in the women’s range, just fugly. Come to that a lot of ’em are fugly. 😛
That’s OK, I’ve always wanted a Stephen Sprouse LV bag, and LV bags are generally not my bag.
http://www.luxuryexchange.com/shop/louis-vuitton/authentic-louis-vuitton-stephen-sprouse-roses-speedy-30-bag/prod_4425.html
Good point. A friend of mine once spent a couple of hundred dollars on Gucci sunglasses, just because they were fun. And she could, and it wasn’t anybody else’s business what she spent her money on, and she didn’t have to justify it.
But we all heard about her spendthrift ways anyway, for weeks afterward.
Thinking about it more, it’s really bugging me that people feel so free to audit other people’s purchases. I do it myself, and I can’t seem to stop it. And it’s the kind of attitude that leads to things like thinking it’s perfectly reasonable to demand that people submit to drug testing before letting them access social support services. Guh.
Oh my boots are the opposite of practical! And would’ve topped everything but the mac had I not gotten them on clearance. I just know how to shop 🙂 (or my toys were gifts — my violin and iPad come to nearly a grand combined, but they were gifts, a $400 electric violin is certainly not a super useful thing!)
hellkell – that’s interesting, I didn’t get the useful/frivolous vibe so much as the “that purse cost how much?” thing – it wasn’t the frivolity, it was the price, to me. My overseas trips are pretty darn frivolous but they cost less, at least the plane tickets did.
“I’m not here for the ‘Starbuck Frappuccino’, but for a gallon of milk.”
Yeah, but you can drink a Starbucks Frappuccino in one sitting. Try that with a gallon of milk.
Oh, fellow iDevice owners, there’s a dumb ways to die game!
Unimaginative: Be a person of color and it’s a whole other gross layer of auditing. I don’t know if you’ve heard about Barney’s recent racial profiling problem in NYC, but don’t read the comments on any news story about it.
There was an article, maybe on Raw Story, can’t recall, about how the great fear among many USian women is that they’ll end up homeless, “bag ladies”. I wonder if that plays into it when women criticise other women buying pricey not-serious stuff?
OK, so we already know I have no taste because I like knuckleduster purses, but guess what I found today while we getting Christmas lights? LEOPARD PRINT ornaments for mah pink tree. Barbie’s goin’ to Vegas for Christmas this year, y’all.
Argenti – Dumb Ways to Die comes from our railways, it’s trying to remind people that crossing rail tracks and so on are also dumb ways to die. The posters are all over the place here. 🙂
I hope there’s going to be a photo of Biscuit playing with leopard-print ornaments!
He is not allowed near the tree, but I’ll post pics when we put it up.