girl down

Men get praised when they do things that women are expected to do thanklessly.

Travis explains why “recovery” gets blamed for ruining future feminist empowerment this way: In part because it still bears the traces of feminist consciousness- raising, but seems not to push its devotees toward collective action for social change, recovery has become a favorite scapegoat, seen as a narcissistic consumer lifestyle that lured women away from the movement and/or a corrupting virus that undermined it from within. (189)

Producing a reflection of your image in Instagram always involves an awareness of the presence of others, the knowledge that your selfie is flaking and refracting in their phones. Labeling this reflection #selfie tacitly recognizes the horizontal proliferation of reflections, the dissolution of personhood in the network. The real narcissists are the ones who never take selfies. They imagine their self as autonomous, hermetic—too precious to be shared.

later that night i held an atlas in my lap ran my fingers across the whole world and whispered where does it hurt? it answered everywhere everywhere everywhere.