Amanda and Kim chit chat about Amanda’s husband Dustin getting back into making hats. You can find his work here @industryandagriculture
 
As a special request, Kim explores the collapse of the Manrepeller empire and the ramifications to the fashion community.

A listener reached out to ask why “we” as in “us women” derive pleasure in seeing the collapse of girl bosses.

Amanda unpacks the concept of Schadenfreude and why we find so much pleasure at the downfall of these girlbosses and how envy as well as justice impacts our thought patterns. 

Envy is the most common basic personality trait shaping human behavior -- and is found among almost one-third of the human population The study on human behavior found that 90 per cent of the human population can be divided into four main basic personality traits -- optimistic, pessimistic, trusting and envious….and envious was the biggest group among the studied participants...at 30% 

2017 article from Buzzfeed called Feminist Hypocrisy Is The New Trend In Startup Narratives
As one employee told Jezebel in June 2015: "I want the young women who are applying to Nasty Gal thinking it will be their dream job to know the truth behind the company’s external image of glitz and glamour. I saw too many incredibly hard working, ambitious, and eager people lose so much self confidence, self worth and motivation, including myself. And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

Expectations toward women can be higher when in reality these female founders were just out for themselves.

“In the end, it's worth asking why we're so ready to lionize anyone — man, woman, or otherwise — just because they say all the right things. Certainly the stories about the hypocrisies of women like Amoruso, Agrawal, and Huffington feel even more deliciously ironic because of their founders' messaging. But the basic reason they treat employees badly, and the excuse they use when they're called out, is that they, like most business owners, want to be successful — that is, make money.”

Let 2020 Be The Year We Get Rid Of Girlboss Culture For Good - Refinery 29 article from Vicky Spratt Jan 2020  “'Girlboss' is a sexist Trojan horse” - and arguably a Trojan horse of toxic hustle culture & commodified feminism.

Kim explores the trend of the Future is Female slogan and how that evolved as a feminist mantra - bringing in a wave of feminist fashion statement tees. While Fourth-wave Feminism was really the first of its kind to leverage social media - it can be argued that the accessibility to easy supply chain developments made this type of feminism easily commodifiable and became a superficial fashion trend with the fashion industry grabbing on and using the trend to boost sales.

n an attempt to reclaim Babe and Bitch and give the air an edge - “Badass” women's stuff gained popularity in 2014 coinciding to the 2013 release of You are a badass self-help books.

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

This also opened the doors for other extreme left products like mugs with “men’s tears” printed on them.

Have any pressing queries for feminists? May we recommend asking the group over at the subreddit: r/AskFeminists?

The micro trend of mental health and self care was sort of a subgenera of girlboss - with companies and founders like Ban.do being founded or finding ground with their customer base around these issues - sometimes to a tone deaf degree.


The irony is not lost on any of the employees of these established retailers whose mental health suffered at the hands of the founders as well.

Amanda recommends everyone read this book Self Care: A Novel.

A b-side of this Girlboss merch comes in the form of Hustle crap. TGIM (thank goodness it’s Monday), Hustle Harder, Rise and Grind, Tired and Proud….mantras to keep pushing the millennial to work them to the bone.

Another microtrend was the trend of commercializing Icons like RGB, Golden Girls, Dolly, Hillary and Bey. With the offshoot of commodifying the female body itself - uteruses, boobs, vaginas, butts in every product imaginable.

The irony of feminist tees being made by underpaid women in sweatshops or disposable plastic tchotchkes that are ultimately terrible for the environment is not lost on us.

Feminists tees powered a lot of engines - some small brands to fuel growth and some fast fashion and fashion houses to follow the trend of the feminist slogan tees. “it’s a good reminder that a progressive slogan doesn’t necessarily make something progressive by osmosis."