Marie Kondo wants you to buy more stuff!
De-cluttering queen Marie Kondo has launched an online shop as part of her website - just in time for the holidays! Take a look at some of the items that might spark joy for you:
Tuning Fork & Rose Quartz Crystal Set
Shiatsu Stick
Motivation Mist
Bottle Opener
Computer Brush
Wooden Plate
Leather Slippers
Gem Water Bottle
Mini Soap
Candle Holder
Predictably, there have been a flurry of articles published expressing shock that the guru of tidying and organization appears to be encouraging consumerism. An article in The Atlantic titled "Marie Kondo Goes Full Goop" compares Kondo to Gwyneth Paltrow, saying "Like Gwyneth Paltrow’s luxury-wellness emporium, Goop, KonMari also occasionally veers bizarrely pseudoscientific. Air fresheners promise to inspire motivation or romance. A rose quartz comes with a tuning fork to bonk against it, “to amplify the healing properties of crystals.” Look closely, and you’ll see evidence that the student might one day become the teacher. Goop sells $80 gem-containing water bottles, claiming that the crystals imbue the bottles’ contents with good vibes. Kondo also sells a gem-containing bottle, and it costs $98."
Twitter joked about Kondo's new venture:
Marie Kondo opening an online shop that sells dumb crap you don’t need is my favorite heel turn of 2019. pic.twitter.com/4lFa28NadS
- PJ Vogt (@PJVogt) November 19, 2019
the year is 2019, the only way i can spark joy anymore is paying Marie Kondo $220 for three dollars of sanded resin pic.twitter.com/eKzEZtHGpT
- Dave Gershgorn (@davegershgorn) November 18, 2019
New Marie Kondo store to include bin at checkout to fast track decluttering https://t.co/kdiXdYTFui pic.twitter.com/XoRFqj10nB
- 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚛 (@chaser) November 20, 2019
marie kondo playing the long game. get rid of your dumb shit, so you can buy *my* dumb shit. incredible. the next jeff bezos
- Kevin Nguyen (@knguyen) November 19, 2019
However, Kondo anticipated these reactions and placed a prominent quote on the web shop "The goal of tidying is to make room for meaningful objects, people and experiences. I can think of no greater happiness in life than being surrounded only by the things I love.” She has previously clarified that her methods do not strive for minimalism or getting rid of all of one's possessions: "That's a complete misconception... What's important is not necessarily quantity, but understanding what quantity works for you." She also stated that "Tidying is not about looking for things to discard. But rather about things you want to keep in your life. Things that you want to cherish. Things that you love. Those are the things that I should be selecting."
Criticism of Kondo's shop elicited defense from her fans, many of whom felt that Kondo was being treated unfairly due to racism:
”But Marie Kondo is SELLING things and MAKING MONEY.”
Look, it’s not my fault or her fault that you think that her book said “don’t own things” when instead it said “keep the things you love.”
- Courtney!!! Milan 🦖 🔜 🇯🇵 ⛸ NHK (@courtneymilan) November 19, 2019
... so people in the west can sell eastern spirituality items but marie kondo, a japanese who worked in a shrine and has practiced such faith... cannot sell high quality living decor and spirituality items that aren't a chip off AliExpress...
- Luna A. (@astrosaurus_) November 20, 2019
Ugghhhh, can we not? There is nothing contradictory in Marie Kondo telling people to only keep things that make them happy and then deciding to sell shit. MAYBE IT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY IDK
I wouldn't buy it, but I doubt most of you want my $5000 worth of crafting shit. pic.twitter.com/yHIhqTaJq5
- Bree (& 🐕🐩) (@mostlybree) November 20, 2019
White women mad at Marie Kondo for getting paid to do the domestic work that they do for free with no recognition pic.twitter.com/s89bHK7Q0J
- 👻👅 Ahoechimaru 👅👻 (@eckuluh) November 21, 2019
If your article about Marie Kondo isn’t written by Japanese/Japanese-American I’m not interested in reading and am not going to give any of my attention.
Also, we Americans need to own our anxiety around how much shit we acquire. Instead of feeding into xenophobia and racism. pic.twitter.com/ynFz7ggkIY
- Fangirl Jeanne (@fangirlJeanne) November 20, 2019
There have been some stunningly willful misinterpretations of Marie Kondo’s work and message this year, but to try and make a comparison between KonMari and Goop is fucking absurd. We all know why.
- Andrien Gbinigie (@EscoBlades) November 21, 2019
Except she never said throw out all your stuff, she said assess if something still is meaningful or useful to you. White people are no longer allowed to have opinions on Marie Kondo by virtue of them almost always being ignorant and wrong, honestly. https://t.co/FVTKl32nFz
- maligayang pask-HOE 🎄 (@yourtitakate) November 20, 2019
your reminder not to trust white peoples' takes on Marie Kondo, which are rooted in willful misinterpretations of her work and outsized in comparison with what she's actually done while we let white celebrities skate on this shit all the time https://t.co/h1lERHoGgF
- Paul Krueger (@NotLikeFreddy) November 20, 2019
This, of course, led to a bit of backlash-against-the-backlash:
You do know we can be critical of people's racist reactions to Marie Kondo and be critical of her overpriced Goop-lite website at the same time, right?
- Colin Black is NaNoWriMo-ing (@blackcrowcolin) November 21, 2019
People shocked that Marie Kondo is a capitalist is its own kind of weird racism, as if this woman's entire career was some kind of sweet gentle charity work this whole time
The merch is hilarious, but what did you think was going on here?
- The Daddy Appropriator™ (@magencubed) November 19, 2019
It's a lot harder to be mad online if you're forced to deal with the actual content of the article
- Amanda Mull (@amandamull) November 20, 2019
Also lots of people get my vitriol for cynical marketing ploys, it's literally my beat! I devoted 4k words to Gwyneth Paltrow that were way more harsh than this only a couple months ago
- Amanda Mull (@amandamull) November 20, 2019
Amanda Mull is the author of the Atlantic article, which also discussed other celebrity entrepreneurs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, Chrissy Teigen, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence & Jeremy Renner.
Sources: 1, 2, 3
So, ONTD: Are the Goop comparisons unfair? Is it OK to embrace consumerism if the objects you buy bring you joy?
Tuning Fork & Rose Quartz Crystal Set
Shiatsu Stick
Motivation Mist
Bottle Opener
Computer Brush
Wooden Plate
Leather Slippers
Gem Water Bottle
Mini Soap
Candle Holder
Predictably, there have been a flurry of articles published expressing shock that the guru of tidying and organization appears to be encouraging consumerism. An article in The Atlantic titled "Marie Kondo Goes Full Goop" compares Kondo to Gwyneth Paltrow, saying "Like Gwyneth Paltrow’s luxury-wellness emporium, Goop, KonMari also occasionally veers bizarrely pseudoscientific. Air fresheners promise to inspire motivation or romance. A rose quartz comes with a tuning fork to bonk against it, “to amplify the healing properties of crystals.” Look closely, and you’ll see evidence that the student might one day become the teacher. Goop sells $80 gem-containing water bottles, claiming that the crystals imbue the bottles’ contents with good vibes. Kondo also sells a gem-containing bottle, and it costs $98."
Twitter joked about Kondo's new venture:
Marie Kondo opening an online shop that sells dumb crap you don’t need is my favorite heel turn of 2019. pic.twitter.com/4lFa28NadS
- PJ Vogt (@PJVogt) November 19, 2019
the year is 2019, the only way i can spark joy anymore is paying Marie Kondo $220 for three dollars of sanded resin pic.twitter.com/eKzEZtHGpT
- Dave Gershgorn (@davegershgorn) November 18, 2019
New Marie Kondo store to include bin at checkout to fast track decluttering https://t.co/kdiXdYTFui pic.twitter.com/XoRFqj10nB
- 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚛 (@chaser) November 20, 2019
marie kondo playing the long game. get rid of your dumb shit, so you can buy *my* dumb shit. incredible. the next jeff bezos
- Kevin Nguyen (@knguyen) November 19, 2019
However, Kondo anticipated these reactions and placed a prominent quote on the web shop "The goal of tidying is to make room for meaningful objects, people and experiences. I can think of no greater happiness in life than being surrounded only by the things I love.” She has previously clarified that her methods do not strive for minimalism or getting rid of all of one's possessions: "That's a complete misconception... What's important is not necessarily quantity, but understanding what quantity works for you." She also stated that "Tidying is not about looking for things to discard. But rather about things you want to keep in your life. Things that you want to cherish. Things that you love. Those are the things that I should be selecting."
Criticism of Kondo's shop elicited defense from her fans, many of whom felt that Kondo was being treated unfairly due to racism:
”But Marie Kondo is SELLING things and MAKING MONEY.”
Look, it’s not my fault or her fault that you think that her book said “don’t own things” when instead it said “keep the things you love.”
- Courtney!!! Milan 🦖 🔜 🇯🇵 ⛸ NHK (@courtneymilan) November 19, 2019
... so people in the west can sell eastern spirituality items but marie kondo, a japanese who worked in a shrine and has practiced such faith... cannot sell high quality living decor and spirituality items that aren't a chip off AliExpress...
- Luna A. (@astrosaurus_) November 20, 2019
Ugghhhh, can we not? There is nothing contradictory in Marie Kondo telling people to only keep things that make them happy and then deciding to sell shit. MAYBE IT MAKES PEOPLE HAPPY IDK
I wouldn't buy it, but I doubt most of you want my $5000 worth of crafting shit. pic.twitter.com/yHIhqTaJq5
- Bree (& 🐕🐩) (@mostlybree) November 20, 2019
White women mad at Marie Kondo for getting paid to do the domestic work that they do for free with no recognition pic.twitter.com/s89bHK7Q0J
- 👻👅 Ahoechimaru 👅👻 (@eckuluh) November 21, 2019
If your article about Marie Kondo isn’t written by Japanese/Japanese-American I’m not interested in reading and am not going to give any of my attention.
Also, we Americans need to own our anxiety around how much shit we acquire. Instead of feeding into xenophobia and racism. pic.twitter.com/ynFz7ggkIY
- Fangirl Jeanne (@fangirlJeanne) November 20, 2019
There have been some stunningly willful misinterpretations of Marie Kondo’s work and message this year, but to try and make a comparison between KonMari and Goop is fucking absurd. We all know why.
- Andrien Gbinigie (@EscoBlades) November 21, 2019
Except she never said throw out all your stuff, she said assess if something still is meaningful or useful to you. White people are no longer allowed to have opinions on Marie Kondo by virtue of them almost always being ignorant and wrong, honestly. https://t.co/FVTKl32nFz
- maligayang pask-HOE 🎄 (@yourtitakate) November 20, 2019
your reminder not to trust white peoples' takes on Marie Kondo, which are rooted in willful misinterpretations of her work and outsized in comparison with what she's actually done while we let white celebrities skate on this shit all the time https://t.co/h1lERHoGgF
- Paul Krueger (@NotLikeFreddy) November 20, 2019
This, of course, led to a bit of backlash-against-the-backlash:
You do know we can be critical of people's racist reactions to Marie Kondo and be critical of her overpriced Goop-lite website at the same time, right?
- Colin Black is NaNoWriMo-ing (@blackcrowcolin) November 21, 2019
People shocked that Marie Kondo is a capitalist is its own kind of weird racism, as if this woman's entire career was some kind of sweet gentle charity work this whole time
The merch is hilarious, but what did you think was going on here?
- The Daddy Appropriator™ (@magencubed) November 19, 2019
It's a lot harder to be mad online if you're forced to deal with the actual content of the article
- Amanda Mull (@amandamull) November 20, 2019
Also lots of people get my vitriol for cynical marketing ploys, it's literally my beat! I devoted 4k words to Gwyneth Paltrow that were way more harsh than this only a couple months ago
- Amanda Mull (@amandamull) November 20, 2019
Amanda Mull is the author of the Atlantic article, which also discussed other celebrity entrepreneurs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Alba, Kim Kardashian, Jessica Simpson, Kanye West, Chrissy Teigen, Rihanna, Jennifer Lawrence & Jeremy Renner.
Sources: 1, 2, 3
So, ONTD: Are the Goop comparisons unfair? Is it OK to embrace consumerism if the objects you buy bring you joy?