Yesterday was International Women’s Day.
Honestly? I felt reeeeeeally weird and conflicted.
On the one hand, yes! Everyone is really excited about female anger right now, and it’s a righteously beautiful thing. #TimesUp is bringing women’s issues in Hollywood to the forefront, which is followed closely by women’s issues in other industries. Not all fads are negative, right? Season two of Jessica Jones, entirely directed by women and centering complicated womens’ stories of PTSD, fittingly premiered on Netflix yesterday. Support and love for women was everywhere on social media.
On the other hand… capitalism reared its ugly head in a big way.
Corporations profiting off of the feminist bandwagon and using activism to advertise goes against everything our feminist heroes believed. They released a Frida Kahlo Barbie, which sounds great until you think about how disgusted she would be that her likeness is (already) so commodified. McDonald’s turning their M’s into W’s on their signs? Are you kidding me? Try treating your employees better and stop exploiting/poisoning poor people and maybe we’ll talk.
Corporations and brands don’t have women’s interests at heart. They see a way to capitalize on 2018 conversations and profit off the idea of equality, all the while deepening class divides. It’s exploitation, not support.
I should probably confess that I am also a sucker for feminist swag. I’m literally wearing a “Wild Feminist” sweatshirt as I type this. My advice is just to remember to focus on small businesses who ethically source their products, otherwise you might end up with a bad taste in your mouth at the end of the day.
Anyway, I hope International Women’s Day left everyone feeling inspired and motivated to find ways, big and small, to act on their beliefs. ❤
-Ryn
The Fourth Leaf 