I do and don't agree with you about The Beauty Myth.
That's a better reaction than I'd dared hope for :-)
Patriarchy as conspiracy: I wouldn't have minded it as an occasional rhetorical flourish, but she talks that way the whole damn time - to my mind, obscuring the (more interesting, and more useful) truth. Interrogating the constructs of power should involve being honest with oneself about what those constructs actually are and how they arise.
Lived experience and anecdata: excellent point! (And oddly reminiscent of Goldacre's recent column on subjective experiences of pain and libido... as you may have guessed, Bad Science is IMHO a great example of well-referenced popular writing). That kind of thing doesn't account for all the citations I'd have liked to see, but probably at least some of them (I can't remember much detail - this review's been spinning around in my head for at least a month, now).
Prospiracies: yes, I think it's a very useful concept. Glad to have been of service :-)
[I once tried to create Patriarchy Membership Cards as a joke/awareness-raising device: "This card entitles the bearer to improved odds in job applications, especially for more prestigious jobs..." I gave up after fighting with OpenOffice started destroying my will to live.]
That's a better reaction than I'd dared hope for :-)
Patriarchy as conspiracy: I wouldn't have minded it as an occasional rhetorical flourish, but she talks that way the whole damn time - to my mind, obscuring the (more interesting, and more useful) truth. Interrogating the constructs of power should involve being honest with oneself about what those constructs actually are and how they arise.
Lived experience and anecdata: excellent point! (And oddly reminiscent of Goldacre's recent column on subjective experiences of pain and libido... as you may have guessed, Bad Science is IMHO a great example of well-referenced popular writing). That kind of thing doesn't account for all the citations I'd have liked to see, but probably at least some of them (I can't remember much detail - this review's been spinning around in my head for at least a month, now).
Prospiracies: yes, I think it's a very useful concept. Glad to have been of service :-)
[I once tried to create Patriarchy Membership Cards as a joke/awareness-raising device: "This card entitles the bearer to improved odds in job applications, especially for more prestigious jobs..." I gave up after fighting with OpenOffice started destroying my will to live.]
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