Finally, a fresh and critical look on topics and author so beloved on this platform by many. “It is more important than ever to read critically.” Indeed. Thank you for your work!
I was confused at first by the number of left leaning people who follow her considering she writes for far right rags — and honestly I almost fell for it too. But you article put of a lot of clarity on the way she (and others like her) operates.
Thank you so much. I really shared that exact confusion – before I really dug into her references and publication history, I kept moving back and forth between rolling my eyes at how obvious everything was and wondering if I was just being too sensitive. It is both frustrating and validating to hear how many people were also stuck in this loop.
i’ll admit to have agreed with some points in some of India’s essays i saw come across my feed but as soon as i clocked the transphobia i was reading in that essay, i immediately became suspicious of all her writing. i thought i was reading too much into it (i had no idea she wrote for conservative outlets outside of substack until ur essay!) glad to know i wasn’t just being “sensitive”.
Such a well written article! Thank you for writing this.
Some thoughts I had while reading this:
I think when I first started recognising this tendency in socially conservative media, it caused me to reevaluate my own politics (which are firmly on the left). I think being rasied in a world which is so completely polarised does blunt our ability to be able to see nuance. It is important to be vigilant and present when engaging with content - any content. The tendency which scares me in the left these days is well represented by the question posed to Klein. The fear of engaging with alt-right politics, not because of our belief in its irrelevance, but precisely because it is asking questions relevant to the masses. This fear of being 'seduced' by it, for me, points to a political morality that stands on shaky feet. Alt-right arguments are very often a house of cards, filled with logical fallacies and what aboutery, and are not that hard to dismantle - but this does require effort that most of us can't be bothered to put in. Instead, we let the problem fester. (I can definitely hear in my own tone, the frustration the author talks about, with the laziness of my own generation.)
Funnily enough, it seems to me that the logical conclusion of the argument she is (expressly) making is that transition and healthcare for trans folx is financially inaccessible and thus we should fight to make it more accessible. Somehow, she makes the argument but reaches the (wild) conclusion that because it is expensive - it must be wrong.
This is actually hilarious to me because a) transition is nowhere near easy enough as online shopping, and to lump them together really unmasks her agenda and b) guess what else is expensive - it's heart surgery! Should people just roll over and die? Because by that logic, if your 'authentic self' was not supposed to be someone who suffered heart failure, why is it so hard to have a working heart?
I’m so excited you wrote this one, DJ! Really salient points about reading comprehension and asking the question of “who this article is for” before blindly agreeing with it.
This essay is so well done! I think your comparison to ecofasicsm disguising as environmentalism is an especially poignant example of this phenomenon more broadly.
great piece & very insightful that ‘easy’ cultural criticism can mimic the right by blaming the symptoms rather than interrogating the cause. I have to confess I uncritcally used to enjoy India’s essays but they started to throw red flags for me, esp after Millie’s essay on her. its very easy to assume someone using certain signalling terms like ‘girlhood’ ‘anti consumerist’ falls on the left, without further interrogation, so good to see more people writing on this.
thank you for articulating this!! when i read freya's piece, it felt strikingly similar to a 2023 atlantic article by david brooks lamenting the "loss of moral education" in america and how a great step to bringing it back is expanding the educational model of the US military lol. this hyperfocus on morals (and manners, which i recently wrote about) feels like a slippery slope into christian girl autumn
I loved this. You managed to tie together every icky feeling that’s come up for me interacting w/ the GIRLS newsletter in a way that was so satisfying and concrete.
I have always felt weird when reading her pieces but have never been able to pinpoint what exactly is weird. Thank you for articulating my latent feelings.
I’m so glad I found this again thanks to a lovely person called Eve/Evie who sent me this, you articulated everything I had been thinking about the way right wing ideas have been implicitly laced in “general” concerns
Thank you!! It frustrates me so much that more people don’t read between the lines w this writer, the dog whistles always jump out when I read her work.
amazingly written piece! I'll admit I subscribed to Girls for a bit- I fell for it. Then I started seeing the discourse and actually reading more into it and I clocked it. Thanks for writing! <3
Finally, a fresh and critical look on topics and author so beloved on this platform by many. “It is more important than ever to read critically.” Indeed. Thank you for your work!
Thank you so much for reading, Agnes!
Thank you for calling out Freya India!!
I was confused at first by the number of left leaning people who follow her considering she writes for far right rags — and honestly I almost fell for it too. But you article put of a lot of clarity on the way she (and others like her) operates.
Thank you so much. I really shared that exact confusion – before I really dug into her references and publication history, I kept moving back and forth between rolling my eyes at how obvious everything was and wondering if I was just being too sensitive. It is both frustrating and validating to hear how many people were also stuck in this loop.
i've been WAITING for this one... knocked it out of the park!!!
thank you so much, Millie - I don’t know if I would have had the courage to post it without you!
i’ll admit to have agreed with some points in some of India’s essays i saw come across my feed but as soon as i clocked the transphobia i was reading in that essay, i immediately became suspicious of all her writing. i thought i was reading too much into it (i had no idea she wrote for conservative outlets outside of substack until ur essay!) glad to know i wasn’t just being “sensitive”.
Such a well written article! Thank you for writing this.
Some thoughts I had while reading this:
I think when I first started recognising this tendency in socially conservative media, it caused me to reevaluate my own politics (which are firmly on the left). I think being rasied in a world which is so completely polarised does blunt our ability to be able to see nuance. It is important to be vigilant and present when engaging with content - any content. The tendency which scares me in the left these days is well represented by the question posed to Klein. The fear of engaging with alt-right politics, not because of our belief in its irrelevance, but precisely because it is asking questions relevant to the masses. This fear of being 'seduced' by it, for me, points to a political morality that stands on shaky feet. Alt-right arguments are very often a house of cards, filled with logical fallacies and what aboutery, and are not that hard to dismantle - but this does require effort that most of us can't be bothered to put in. Instead, we let the problem fester. (I can definitely hear in my own tone, the frustration the author talks about, with the laziness of my own generation.)
Funnily enough, it seems to me that the logical conclusion of the argument she is (expressly) making is that transition and healthcare for trans folx is financially inaccessible and thus we should fight to make it more accessible. Somehow, she makes the argument but reaches the (wild) conclusion that because it is expensive - it must be wrong.
This is actually hilarious to me because a) transition is nowhere near easy enough as online shopping, and to lump them together really unmasks her agenda and b) guess what else is expensive - it's heart surgery! Should people just roll over and die? Because by that logic, if your 'authentic self' was not supposed to be someone who suffered heart failure, why is it so hard to have a working heart?
I’m so excited you wrote this one, DJ! Really salient points about reading comprehension and asking the question of “who this article is for” before blindly agreeing with it.
thank you so much!
This essay is so well done! I think your comparison to ecofasicsm disguising as environmentalism is an especially poignant example of this phenomenon more broadly.
Incredible writeup. The threads came between Bannon, India, and RIght-wing populism came together for me in a real way while reading this.
great piece & very insightful that ‘easy’ cultural criticism can mimic the right by blaming the symptoms rather than interrogating the cause. I have to confess I uncritcally used to enjoy India’s essays but they started to throw red flags for me, esp after Millie’s essay on her. its very easy to assume someone using certain signalling terms like ‘girlhood’ ‘anti consumerist’ falls on the left, without further interrogation, so good to see more people writing on this.
thank you so much for reading, Helena! I think many people here can relate to that.
thank you for articulating this!! when i read freya's piece, it felt strikingly similar to a 2023 atlantic article by david brooks lamenting the "loss of moral education" in america and how a great step to bringing it back is expanding the educational model of the US military lol. this hyperfocus on morals (and manners, which i recently wrote about) feels like a slippery slope into christian girl autumn
I loved this. You managed to tie together every icky feeling that’s come up for me interacting w/ the GIRLS newsletter in a way that was so satisfying and concrete.
hard agree
I have always felt weird when reading her pieces but have never been able to pinpoint what exactly is weird. Thank you for articulating my latent feelings.
this is so good! very well written
I’m so glad I found this again thanks to a lovely person called Eve/Evie who sent me this, you articulated everything I had been thinking about the way right wing ideas have been implicitly laced in “general” concerns
Thank you!! It frustrates me so much that more people don’t read between the lines w this writer, the dog whistles always jump out when I read her work.
amazingly written piece! I'll admit I subscribed to Girls for a bit- I fell for it. Then I started seeing the discourse and actually reading more into it and I clocked it. Thanks for writing! <3