Days of Broken Arrows said:
But coming from a media background, I can tell you there are enough Web sites (Gawker), cable channels (MTV, Lifetime), and newspapers (all of 'em) that will welcome such a basket case for her "bravery" and "boldness." And her ability to attract lowest common denominator audiences.
In fact, your comment made me start to wonder if her entire presentation isn't her idea of a prelude to some sort of media career -- maybe as a producer or "youth correspondent." She sure knows how to get attention, and that's what matters in medialand.
Coming from an arts / academic background, I'd also suggest peer approval works this way:
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You need to be seen to have suffered at the hand of a man to be taken seriously as a feminist. Combine Victim Olympics with a privileged upbringing and the need to dominate any conversation and you get this kind of woman, whose every tell screams that she's lying.
If you want attention, and to be told you're brave for just existing whilst stuffing potato chips into your mouth, pick something big like rape or sexual abuse. It's oh so serious that no girl will call her on it. It's the same female instinct as jumping on Tumbler and pretending you have 'headmates', or slow-poisoning your toddler for Facebook likes and to revel in statements about 'how brave' you are to remain so calm whilst your child is dying.
Unfortunately, this obscures the real victims of sexual abuse.
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To be seen as A Serious Artist, you have to need everyone to think you have suffered. As I've yet to meet a true working class artist, but have met hundreds of intellectually-lightweight, ultra-pretentious children of the middle and upper classes playing at being poor and affecting emotional and physical suffering, which usually meant taking drugs, which starts as affectation then ends up as addiction.
This fell away during the later part of the 90's, as the harder drugs became working class and the pretentious became too addicted to comfort to affect bohemia any more, which is why the current crop of Indie Bands look like Baristas rather than starving artists. The trend from then on became having A Deep Dark Trauma, than you've 'overcome', and 'survived'.
Check out all the press about Bon Iver's thoroughly-average 'For Emma, Forever Ago' and see if you can find one review that doesn't mention locking himself in a cabin in the woods to record because of breaking up with his girlfriend, the whiny pussy.
