Shoot the Gap: Bridging the Imaginary Divide Between Grit and Femininity
Do you ever see those lists? You know the ones. They’re on your social media feed every other day with “How High Maintenance Are YOU?” scrawled across the top, giving instructions to award yourself one point for every “high maintenance” activity you participate in, i.e., wearing makeup, showering daily or dyeing your hair, then encourage you to compare your totals with other women in the comments. The items vary slightly, but the comment section is, without fail, divericated - one half making fun of themselves with princess emojis and shrugs for their high digit totals, the other quietly (or loudly, depending on the composition of your friend’s list) expecting applause for being “low maintenance” or “one of the boys”, taught in quiet Pavlovian fashion to seek recognition from those who praise a woman who is, in black and white, “no fuss”. These things are so funny to me because, through these lists itemizing our femininity and categorizing our levels of expectation, maintenance and “fu