cross-posted from WIMN’s Voices:
Why is it that even the most left-leaning of publications seem to feel a need to write in the style section genre when they are describing empowered women? In a Mother Jones piece about Ava Lowery, a 16 year old activist who has gained much-deserved national attention for her fabulous anti-war videos, Samantha M. Shapiro devotes a significant percentage of her word count to making sure that we know just what all the players in her piece about Ava’s 16th birthday protest party are wearing. Well actually she mostly describes what the women are wearing, with the exception of a brief once over of Ava’s stepdad, you mostly have to use your imagination about the other guys in attendance.
Even though it doesn’t seem germaine to Ava’s work, we learn for instance that Rachel, another young woman who performed at the shindig was wearing a “pink-striped baja hoodie and a peace sign painted on her cheek.” Ava who by the way has pink rubber bands on her braces, has “Frodo-blue eyes, camo capri pants, and laceless Converse.” In her bedroom you will find a “meticulously made, shimmery periwinkle bed, her fuchsia flip-flops lined up by its side.” Also attending the party was “Amanda Braddock, 28, wearing red pointy shoes, a preppy yellow sweater, and huge round hipster sunglasses.” Ava’s friend Katherine (who isn’t allowed to wear nail polish) is decked out in “a shirt with a picture of a horse and a quote from the Book of Job about thundering hooves.” There is, unfortunately plenty more, but you get the idea.
This young woman knows more abut making videos than I’ll ever know and has a website that gets 30,000 hits a day. What she is wearing is utterly irrelevant and the constant ‘I’m pretending that I’m writing for Glamour’ pater by the author of this piece only serves to belittle the subject of her profile. What anyone is wearing has nothing to do with why Ava Lowery is so awesome. But don’t take my word for it, check out her website, Peace Takes Courage.
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