Essentialist and Proud

You know what really gives me the shits these days: the blanket dismissal by calling someone or something 'essentialist'. You know the scene. You are at a conference and someone is giving a really interesting paper, but then some bourgie idiot stands up and says, 'I enjoyed your paper, but it's soooo essentialist'. Or someone lets slip in the conversation over coffee, 'I feel like a pizza', or 'Shit, I feel like a smoke', and someone will mutter, 'essentialist'.

All mouths in the room drop...