You are reading I Blame The Patriarchy, the patriarchy-blaming blog that advances the radical feminist views of Twisty Faster, a gentleman farmer and spinster aunt eating dinner in Austin, Texas.
I Blame The Patriarchy is intended for advanced patriarchy-blamers. It is not a feminist primer. See Patriarchy-Blaming the Twisty Way for details.
"I couldn't get Twisty's point. It was so longwinded." -- The Blogosphere
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“The Stripper: Mimi Foe …FUN FACT: She was recently fired from Scores after punching a friend of the Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl in the face after a lap dance.”
Wow! That sounds like a bundle of laughs! What joy it must be taking your clothes of infront of baying males and how exciting it must be to end up in a situation where you have to punch one of them in the face. Fun, fun, fun!
Mimi is actually a tragic figure. Her FAQ is quite wrenching.
It’s no secret that it’s way easier to get a book deal when you’re hawt than when you’re nawt.
I’ve never heard of any of these people.
But they all fucking suck! How boring. Height/weight proportionate single white women in PJs talking about restaurants and cigarettes. “It’s safe to come out now, guys! They’re just like those Sex In The City girls!” That’s the message I got. This article tries to Desperate-Housewives-up a cultural area which has long since reached critical Jerry Springer mass.
She´s “looking forward to embracing consumerism..”
Seems like consumerism has already embraced her and perhaps spat her out after use (tragic).
Height/weight proportionate single white women in PJs talking about restaurants and cigarettes.
And - to zero in on the point by one more tiny increment - doing so without also writing about godbags, the breast cancer industry, or patriarchy-blaming golden retrievers!
Stating the obvious here, but that’s my job: the content each of the blogs in question can by roughly summarized as “I’m a girl!” And, you know, Not That There’s Anything Wrong With That. But it doesn’t spur repeat readership any more than would a blog whose every post could be summarized as “I like shoes!” or “I’m a second-rate stockbroker who hates Krugman!”
Wow… none of the bloggers I currently read are (is?) doing it to try to get a publisher. At least, not for the same things that they blog on. Have I had my head in the sand about the real purpose of Blogging?
It’s obvious to me that Twisty needs a Fun Fact.
You are nicer than I am about Mimi, Twisty. I imagine she was rather sweet once, but that hard little face in the picture says it’s all over for her. I personally think she’s awful. She does feel sorry for herself, but she had some options besides becoming a stripper. She could have been a teacher, for instance.
You are loathe to blame women for their predicaments, and that is one of the nice things about you, but this woman is scurrilous and nasty, in my opinion. Her racism bothers me more than anything else about her.
I’m with Sunja. Who are these women and why should we care? Oh, right…because they look hot in negligee. That has so much to do with the value of their writing.
Mimi’s story makes me sad too, but again, why are these women important? Because they write about their sex lives and some pose naked in Playboy? Ummmmmmmm….yeah.
Ever since Wonkette had a sex change, I’ve been increasingly concerned where our next high-profile female blogger will come from. Now I see I needn’t have worried. (Yes, Twisty, your efforts are very nice, but let’s face it: the blogosphere needs and demands a full set of breasts from its feminine contributors.)
not to mention the propensity to show said breasts to their readers.
There’s clearly much more going on in Mimi’s head than in the heads of her customers. And in the context of what she’s doing, that’s tragic.
I was so bored that I couldn’t even finish reading the interview.
Judging from this photo, someone has the term “blogger” confused with “pole dancer”.
Twisty -
I am so happy to find someone as irrate as myself. I used to be a major patriarchy blamer - Second Sex, Female Eunich, etc. But have lapsed in my rage due to a congenial work environment.
Now I have a daughter. Playing coed hockey. How do I get the well meaning patriarchy coaches to stop making pink/girls/sister stupid comments in the locker room. Lymette is often the only baby woman there. I have loudly said, “Pink is only a color!” Thing one got all quiet when approached, after first trying to be all, “There there, we were just ragging on Gus about his pink hockey tape.” This guy has a kid with Downs and I would think stupid comments would be common in his life. Now he is ticked at me, etc etc.
Gah!
It is easier to be rageful when it is only about me!
“How Often do you blog?…. Melissa: About 20 or 30 minutes a day, if you count answering comments and e-mails.”
Well. Obvious why La Twisty ne qualify pas. She spends 20-30 minutes per each equisite sentence, bless her hyperliterate heart.
Oh wow, it’s like so shallow. I thought like Valley Speak was like out.
What I want to know is: when is the official “I Blame The Patriarchy Pajama Party” taking place? Bring your laptops, girls, it’s bloggin time!
The Patriarchy is only promoting the belief that all female bloggers are like this. Then they don’t need to worry about uppity feminists, do they?
Mimi’s story seems very sad to me.
Overall, though, this article just makes me more delighted that there are folks like Twisty, and RedneckMother, and Bitch PhD, and others out there fighting the good fight.
Mimi is no less or more a woman than I am, trying to get by in this hard ol’ world. I blame the patriarchy for valuing coochie dancers more than teachers.
As for the rest of the blogosphere, it’s a rare occasion for me to have the time or the inclination to read anyone’s. and they make me feel like a keyhole-peeping bungwipe. This is not a bad thing because most blogs are ego-fluffing, naval-gazing crap of the purest ray serene. I read Twisty because she’s funny, smart and worth my time.
Those women are just tools of the patriarchy! Taking that article seriously is just impossible. The blogs may be sincere, but they might as well be saying things like “take me!” “use me!” “make me write bad blogs!” my head feels funny again. I blame the patriarchy.
A woman can be anything, you know! …As long as she’s white (or can pass), skinny, conventionally pretty, middle-class or higher, spends a lot of time on her appearance, and shows a lot of skin when she sleeps (or gets photographed as if she were going to). Like Barbie. Doctor Barbie, Vet Barbie, Blogger Barbie, whatever. As long as you’re =Barbie=. Clearly.
It would make my heart rise if all women being pictured for crap like this would rebel and wear what most women really wear to bed — not what the Victoria’s Secret catalogue says we should (I do like the black velvety top and pants ensemble, though… that actually even looks comfortable!). Let alone if female bloggers would be chosen for being intelligent, literate and interesting, regardless of whether they’re size 6 and white.
“spending my future husband’s vast disposable income on first class flights and villas in Portofino.”
Oh poor misunderstood Mimi, shaking her skinny little booty for a buck, trying to make it as a novlist/writer or something like that so that she can find some rich guy to marry.
Oh my heart just pines PINES I tell you! Here I am trying to make a buck on with my fucking brains and eschewing the whole marriage thing because for me it was a lie.
I know, I work at a career because I’m not tall, long legged and I’m all hung up about going around half naked in front of people I don’t know. What kind of woman am I?
I am lesser, lesser. These enlightened women with the blogger pages about stuff that men like. I am lesser, lesser.
Its not the patriarchy, its me. I don’t fit in. Damn brain. Who gave it to me anyway? Why can’t I just get rid of it like those nice girls did?
I just fell in love with Kate.
All I really want to know right now is this: who decided lucite platforms are the shoe of choice for the sex worker? And what kind of tragic figure wears them with her “pajamas”? Honestly. If you’re going to make a crapload of money debasing yourself, you obviously can afford good-looking shoes. Somebody needs to send in Manolo’s fashion police to sort these blog-sex-bots out sartorially.
What I found most disturbing was that one of their blogs was called “this fish…needs a bicycle.” Honey! You are missing the point! Yes I know you’re trying to be ironic and clever, but…sigh. It’s no use.
Though I will jump to Opinionistas’s defense and note that she’s had a few thoughtful posts on the different and conflicting pressures on men and women regarding work/family conflicts. Despite this vapid interview, she’s done a wee bit of patriarchy blaming herself.
It would make my heart rise if all women being pictured for crap like this would rebel and wear what most women really wear to bed
I am not being photographed naked! Hehehe (I do own pajama bottoms for whenever. They’re comfy. Glad I’m a student, I wear them to class)
The lucite platforms are obvious as a choice for sex workers - they give the illusion that the feet are naked while still straining the arch of the foot, tensing the calf muscles (for a more attractive leg) and preventing the wearer from running anywhere, especially from running away from the patriarchal godbags who might need to summon them for a lap dance. They are also plastic, which is a reflection, in many ways, on the societal perception of a stripper - i.e. cheap, intent on the spending of vast, disposable incomes, easily disposable. The patriarchy really needs to be blamed here, big-time.
It is articles like this that convince me that I am clearly not of this world, nor long for it.
Agreed on the tragic nature of young Mimi. Half of her FAQ is about one day finding friends. Holy feck, that is awful.
And Eva Lynn, I couldn’t help but think (once my brain started again after the mind-numbing banality of that article) what I would have done were I — wait, I need to guffaw — okay — chosen to be in that article. THERE IS NO WAY ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH THAT ANY ASSHOLE IS GOING TO GET ME TO POSE IN SOME BUNNY OUTFIT, FOR THE LOVE OF GLORIA. And since I can’t imagine a non-sexist compromise, I’m guessing I would’ve been promptly disinvited from the photo shoot and ignominously dropped into the “Not pictured” caption, which, considering the company, would’ve been fine by me. If, on the other hand, they wanted me in a fencing tournament t-shirt (tonight’s attire) with my eyemask on my head like sunglasses, they could have me.
And what kind of word is “editrix”? Should our pajama-clad bloggers then have been referred to as “blogtrixes” rather than bloggers?