Matty Speers

New Zealand’s anti-intellectualism is a result of both the imported English class system and the settler-colony’s relationship to the metropole. The first manifestation, the English class system, is easier to see. When someone scoffs “She’s trying to be Picasso, is she?” upon learning their friend has started painting, you can hear the prim, curtai... See more

When the audit known as feminist revision became a feature of feminist theory, it was never intended to eclipse in importance the activity known as praxis: organizing, taking over institutions, seizing power to make lasting changes in policy and law. Betty Friedan wrote The Feminine Mystique , but she also co-founded the National Organization for W... See more

But when the media over-indexes on uninformed outrage and lumps feminists and the idea of feminism in with the crowd, it’s ultimately unhelpful, and adds to the narrative of feminists as chiding killjoys, confused about their own politics, too enamored with pop culture to look at the real issues, angry at everything, informed about nothing that mat... See more

Pop feminism doesn’t really engage with theory and mostly looks to pop culture to dictate what is and isn’t feminism. But the feminist movement started by doing the reverse: looking at culture and questioning the normalized misogyny and patriarchy around us, including possible internalization of those norms.

Every person I make an effort to get to know doesn’t have to tick every friendship box of my twenties: cool job, nice style, listens to the same podcasts, shares the same politics etc. I already have those friends. It’s okay if the only thing I have in common with a new person is the proximity of where we live, and the age of our child, and the fac... See more

There’s comfort in absolutism because it gives that person’s ignorance a pass. No work or reading ever required.

People are so helplessly chronically online they see a perfectly normal activity being done in public like reading or journalling and think nah that can’t be real... that it’s so unusual it must be “performative”... lol