(Because we knew this logic: we were always supposed to be thankful when anyone thought we were pretty.)
I’ve found myself thinking about this line far more than I thought I would after writing it. As I spoke to book clubs, many women brought up what’s on a lot of our minds: what kind of social messaging do our young girls receive? It’s true that women are taught from a young age that much (even most?) of their value stems from how they look. I’ll admit that lately I’ve been wondering about the flipside, like, what kind of social messaging young boys receive. Are they learning that their value is measured by financial success? Something else? What impact does that have? I don’t think we should spend too much effort on the interiority of badly behaved men. But, I’ll admit, I’m growing more and more curious about these questions as an origin story for men like the one in Whisper Network. It’s become a sticky idea for me, one that I may wind up writing about in the future. We’ll see.
Tasha and 7 other people liked this
