Hi Barbie! 👋🏻💗 I feel so much of this, especially the last bit -- the community, the warmth, the incredible voices on here! I had no idea and so humbled to virtually meet so many incredible humans! Happy year two!!!
Just under 20 years ago, I purchased "Unbearable Weight" on recommendation from a Women's Studies professor. It sat on my bookshelf until last summer. Funnily enough, I started it immediately after seeing Barbie (and amidst a particularly potent and extended episode of body dysmorphia/ shame). It was medicine. Thank you. It took almost two decades, but, thankfully, it was there when I needed to read it. Shortly thereafter, I found BordoLines. I'm so grateful that you continue to write and share your wisdom and insight. Congratulations on your second year. Thank you.
And thank you!! Responses to UW like yours—from people who found it personally meaningful—are everything I wanted from that book. So glad it still has that to offer! And also that you’re here on BordoLines.
Whenever I go back to reread that Orwell essay, and other related ones of his, I’m always reminded that it’s a challenge every day to live up to the standard he talks about.
While it feels glib to say “we need Orwell’s wisdom more than ever today,” it does seem that we have a world where people across the spectrum accuse their enemies of “Orwellian” behavior, but few people show evidence of actually having read his work.
As rare as it is to see a writer trying to achieve the power over words and ideas that Orwell talked about, it’s still more rare for a writer to combine this sort of intellectual rigor with a warm and even chatty voice.
You consistently balance those two priorities. If the question is what would I like to see more of, my answer is: more of whatever it is you want to write.
It would be nice if media/institutions/the public were all more inclined to reward you for doing what you do; instead they reward orthodoxy, laziness, and groupthink.
But all of us reading your work are richly rewarded. Reading your work feels clean and healthy, but it’s also fun. We want our food to be delicious but also nutritious; we want our media to be seductive but also honest. Usually we have to choose between those things, and pretend we got everything we wanted and needed.
Thank you very much for this ongoing gift. I’m doing my best to deserve it.
I’m kind of overcome here by your words. ❤️ Orwell would love them too (without the emotional reaction I’m having) because they are so direct and precise. Especially: “Reading your work feels clean and healthy, but it’s also fun. We want our food to be delicious but also nutritious; we want our media to be seductive but also honest. Usually we have to choose between those things, and pretend we got everything we wanted and needed.” I savor these sentences, as I bask in our friendship.
Oh, I loved reading this---so much like my own life. As a writer, I'm recovering from academen-tia, the disease that causes loss of writing voice for women who work in academia. A product of the 60s, I was also a journalist and got into lots of trouble. There is nothing as delicious as exposing a crooked legislator. Now, in my 70s, I'm more fearless than ever (or I write as though I'm unafraid). You are someone I follow as a mentor! Brava!! Congratulations on being here for a second year.
Congratulations on your second year! I'm so glad you're here--and gladder still that I found you! ❤️
Susan! Thank you for lighting the way despite a plague of troubles. You were my first Substack mentor. We never know what our mentors carry.
Hi Barbie! 👋🏻💗 I feel so much of this, especially the last bit -- the community, the warmth, the incredible voices on here! I had no idea and so humbled to virtually meet so many incredible humans! Happy year two!!!
And I’m so glad to have you here! Much needed historical feminist perspective.
Wonderful! Life does tend to throw a few curve balls, doesn't it? I think writing through grief is one of the most difficult things you can do.
😍
Just under 20 years ago, I purchased "Unbearable Weight" on recommendation from a Women's Studies professor. It sat on my bookshelf until last summer. Funnily enough, I started it immediately after seeing Barbie (and amidst a particularly potent and extended episode of body dysmorphia/ shame). It was medicine. Thank you. It took almost two decades, but, thankfully, it was there when I needed to read it. Shortly thereafter, I found BordoLines. I'm so grateful that you continue to write and share your wisdom and insight. Congratulations on your second year. Thank you.
And thank you!! Responses to UW like yours—from people who found it personally meaningful—are everything I wanted from that book. So glad it still has that to offer! And also that you’re here on BordoLines.
Whenever I go back to reread that Orwell essay, and other related ones of his, I’m always reminded that it’s a challenge every day to live up to the standard he talks about.
While it feels glib to say “we need Orwell’s wisdom more than ever today,” it does seem that we have a world where people across the spectrum accuse their enemies of “Orwellian” behavior, but few people show evidence of actually having read his work.
As rare as it is to see a writer trying to achieve the power over words and ideas that Orwell talked about, it’s still more rare for a writer to combine this sort of intellectual rigor with a warm and even chatty voice.
You consistently balance those two priorities. If the question is what would I like to see more of, my answer is: more of whatever it is you want to write.
It would be nice if media/institutions/the public were all more inclined to reward you for doing what you do; instead they reward orthodoxy, laziness, and groupthink.
But all of us reading your work are richly rewarded. Reading your work feels clean and healthy, but it’s also fun. We want our food to be delicious but also nutritious; we want our media to be seductive but also honest. Usually we have to choose between those things, and pretend we got everything we wanted and needed.
Thank you very much for this ongoing gift. I’m doing my best to deserve it.
I’m kind of overcome here by your words. ❤️ Orwell would love them too (without the emotional reaction I’m having) because they are so direct and precise. Especially: “Reading your work feels clean and healthy, but it’s also fun. We want our food to be delicious but also nutritious; we want our media to be seductive but also honest. Usually we have to choose between those things, and pretend we got everything we wanted and needed.” I savor these sentences, as I bask in our friendship.
Oh, I loved reading this---so much like my own life. As a writer, I'm recovering from academen-tia, the disease that causes loss of writing voice for women who work in academia. A product of the 60s, I was also a journalist and got into lots of trouble. There is nothing as delicious as exposing a crooked legislator. Now, in my 70s, I'm more fearless than ever (or I write as though I'm unafraid). You are someone I follow as a mentor! Brava!! Congratulations on being here for a second year.