Artisanal Snark for the Overwhelming Moment

[jesse_the_k]

I just found Reductress.com a feminist+ site that parodies "women's magazines." Improves on happy memories of 1999-level The Onion.

Pride Gear You Can Take the Cost of, Multiply by Two, and Donate That to a Bail Fund

Pride Edition Waist Pack (REI, $25)

1 Jun 2020 by Dima Kronfeld

[Fanny pack image eliminated - ed.]

If you’ve been thinking you just need a fanny pack specifically designed for pride, then we’re here to tell you, you don’t! Turn that 25 into 50, then send it to a bail fund doing work to help protestors in any of the main 12 and counting cities where demonstrations are being met with police violence and arrests. Because there could be no truer celebration of pride than remembering the Stonewall rebellion was a riot against police brutality, and the work of which it was a part is far from over! So put down the fanny pack, champ. You can put your phone in your pocket.

Comments

[muccamukk]

Obviously not as true of that site as it's a women's mag, after a fashion, but I've been interested how a lot of parody sites are going after women for empty gestures of solidarity (or refusing to even do that) a lot more than going after white men.

Which is not under any circumstances to say that I think the sites should not ridicule and scorn this behaviour from white women, but I'm curious why it seems to have more inherent comedy value.

Is it because women as a marginalised class should be onboard, and it's the hypocrisy, when there's no expectation of anything better from white guys, or...?

[bibliofile]

Not that you don't make excellent points! Perhaps they'll start an offshoot program?

Possibly because they're white women and comedians? Likely grew up encountering copies of the obnoxious mags in the wild. Started in 2013, so perhaps less political and more opportunistic.

From the About Us: "The first and only satirical women’s magazine, Reductress was founded in 2013 by Beth Newell and Sarah Pappalardo. The mission of Reductress is to take on the outdated perspectives and condescending tone of popular women’s media, through the eyes of the funniest women in comedy today. Also, we want people to think we’re pretty."

I personally have preferred to avoid things that cater to white men these days, but that's likely just me being jaded.

[muccamukk]

Specifically said "Obviously not as true of that site as it's a women's mag."

I'm seeing a lot more of this content on other parody sites in general.

[oulfis]

Huh, I almost feel like you read a different article than me. I didn't see this as parodying women at all, but rather, parodying corporate attempts to make money off of pride by selling bullshit rainbow products. Like the pride version of breast cancer pinkification. It feels like the joke is that a pride fanny pack exists at all, not that frivolous women are buying pride fanny packs instead of donating to bail funds. (I'd also assume that these products are more targeted at gay man, but that might be irrelevant.)

Their next article about cute summer purses to open up and donate to a mutual aid fun has more of that 'poking at women' vibe, though. If comedy outlets are making fun of white women, I think there can be a lot of reasons. I do think there's a stronger sense that women, as also-marginalized, are supposed to be more "woke". Or at least that feminist women are. I think progressive women get identified with feminism in a way that progressive men are....... barely even a mental category for me? (Oh! Bernie bros! Bernie bros should be RIPE for comedy.) There's also a history dating back to the 1800s of racial equality being a "white women's cause" (it was a political cause that was nonetheless considered ladylike for women to get directly and personally involved in) with roots in, generally, expecting women to be "better" and more caring than men. I wonder if any of that is still lurking around our baseline cultural expectations.

[muccamukk]

It's almost like I prefaced the statement that I was commenting on a general trend on parody sites, but not talking about this one specifically because it was specifically a women's mag.

Which clearly I shouldn't have done.

[oulfis]

I'm sorry, it seems like my comment had the opposite effect of what I'd intended -- I was curious about that broader trend in parody sites and wanted to think out loud about what phenomena or historical context it might relate to, to follow the lines of your discussion. I didn't mean to nitpick your observations. I can see how starting with this specific article muddied that intent. I started there because I felt like I didn't understand how it related to what you were saying and wanted to hear more (especially since I haven't seen as many parody sites so this was my most concrete starting point). As I look back I think you meant that this article was an example of something that other sites *weren't* doing, because it targeted corporations rather than women, and so the contrast between this and other parody sites prompted the observation. Kind of obvious in retrospect, but I guess I was up too late past my bedtime and had poor reading comprehension. I do find their next article about cute purses interesting as something that does sort of have trivial women's fashion more as a target -- especially since I think you could actually go buy those specific purses?? Anyway, this was a general topic that I found interesting but haven't thought too much about. I'm sorry that my attempt to continue the conversation backfired so strongly.

[muccamukk]

Since neither person who replied understood what I was trying to say, I think I can conclude I didn't say it very well.

[jesse_the_k]

Perhaps dunking on women is perceived as less threatening? Dunking on men there's always the chance he might pull out a gun?