The Reading List: November 15, 2019

Moira

Mysterious, Tiny Horror Found Lurking in the Forest also happens to be my origin story.

I urge you all to listen to Jenny Slate being totally human in The Cut podcast. I know manufactured vulnerability is all the rage right now, but I just believe so wholly in Jenny Slate’s human honesty.

Is this something skinny people let their relatives do? This just sounds like a recipe for a brawl in my family.

What I really want to focus on today is the Sarah Dessen Common Read drama. I’m of so many minds on this one. We here at SFOL often feel that women’s (and girl’s) taste is marginalized (see us not using the term guilty pleasure, etc.). However, and I felt this way very strongly about Jennifer Weiner’s beef with Jonathan Franzen, we’re often speaking about an issue of quality, and introducing sexism to it muddies what we’re really talking about. It makes me angry to read her (since-deleted, but I’m sure capped somewhere) thread where she piles on the young woman who expressed the opinion that Dessen’s work wasn’t of high enough quality for the Common Read. Is it feminism that Sarah Dessen replied “I love you” to a comment saying “f* that Fing b*tch” regarding the undergrad who expressed her opinion?

Jodi Picoult responded saying that Dessen was “one of the loveliest women you’ll ever meet” which is, frankly, irrelevant. I’m sure she is. But she’s not Jonathan Franzen (or Claire Messud or Jenny Offill, I could go on ad nauseum), and it’s OKAY that she is not.

I discussed this with a friend yesterday who said that Dessen was using the language of the oppressed to describe the undergrad’s comment. It’s gross that she did this, particularly considering she initiated an internet pile-on against a young woman. To be an artist is to put yourself out in the world for criticism. I would not have chosen to single out an author the way the undergrad in question did, but critical feedback has a place and isn’t “being a mean girl.”

Elizabeth

I just need to start with this: I love how petty my city is. Sidenote: this profile of SFOL fave Chanel Miller by one of our heroes Dr. Ford is a must read.

Rebecca Traister is another favorite around here (just ask Shannon), and I loved this article she wrote on the female candidates running for President. The basic thesis: “If there were six different women running for the country’s highest office, it would be far harder to caricature them in all the ways that ambitious women get caricatured: as mean, angry, crazy, elitist, lightweight, and dissembling…It is now almost 2020, and here are our female candidates: the Meanie, the Lightweight, the Crazies, and the Angry, Dissembling Elitists.”

There have been a preponderance of American Girl memes in my life this week — have you listened to the podcast yet? It’s great — and I loved this round up of The Most Horrifying Photos Ever to Come Out of the American Girl Doll Hospital. My younger brother ripped off one of my doll’s heads once, so she went to the Hospital. Came home with a hospital gown, bracelet, and get well soon balloon. Just adorable. (Because I know you’ll ask: I had Samantha, Molly, Felicity, and Kirsten. I’ve always been a bit extra).

I admit, when I saw the headline of “I Ate Solely From Gwyneth Paltrow's New Cookbook for a Week—Here's What Happened”, I hoped it was going to be a piece like Rebecca Harrington tried different celebrity diets. It wasn’t, but it was still interesting. Also, you should definitely check out Rebecca’s archives at “The Cut” — they are great. Madonna may be my favorite.

If you need something to make you feel brilliant, start following @NYTimesCookingComments on Instagram. Best thing I’ve added to my feed in a while.

Finally, you know I’ve never met a hoop earring I didn’t like, and I think I need to add these to my fall wardrobe?

Shannon

I have always loved a good pair of jeans (skinny, boyfriend, or otherwise), and found this article from The Atlantic about how the denim market is once again on the upswing fascinating. I didn’t realize the market had taken a hit during the 2010s-athletisure movement, but it does make sense. Personally, I’ve always used a denim jacket as summer fixture over sundresses, and I will continue to do so even if the market swings back.

As I’ve mentioned a few times, I attended the University of Georgia in the mid-to-late 2000s, and I had never heard the story of ESPN reporter Mark Schlabach’s dog running onto the field during a football game in the late 1990s. This story, told from the POV of multiple people, including Mark’s roommates at the time, is hilarious. You’ll appreciate it even if you aren’t a UGA alumnus.

I have never been a big reader of Lainey Gossip (I prefer the more fashion-focused Go Fug Yourself), but this profile of Elaine Lui, who runs Lainey, is definitely worth a read. It’s insane how a Toronto-dwelling “civilian” (so to speak) came to run one of the most powerful celebrity gossip sites.

On a somewhat related note, this profile of Jennifer Aniston-slash-review of “Morning Show” is also worth a read. I’ve watched the first four episodes of “Morning Show,” and while I don’t love it, I do find Aniston’s role compelling. Writer Anne Helen Peterson makes the case that Jennifer Aniston is finally able to show her anger in this show—her anger at the status of both of her marriages and her womb being continually picked apart by the tabloids. Jen’s in her 50s now, so maybe she’s finally reaching the age where she no longer has any fucks to give.

For today’s political link, do not miss this look at Trump aide Stephen Miller’s emails to former Breitbart report Katie McHugh. They not only show how racist he is (which hopefully we all knew by now), but also how he pitched story ideas to Breitbart and informed their “reporting” (I use that word very loosely) even while he was working on the Trump campaign. I don’t even have the words for how despicable I find these people.

To end on a lighter note, please enjoy this profile of Tom Hanks from She’s Full of Lit fave Taffy Brodesser-Akner. (Read Moira’s review of her novel, “Fleishman is in Trouble.”) Unlike most celebrity profiles, there is no drama, no big revelations—except that Tom Hanks is just as nice as you think he is. Often described as “America’s Everyman,” he’s really more the platonic ideal of our Everyman—because he’s much nicer and more genuine than most every man.