Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Lady and the Snark

I regularly follow a DC-based fashion blog that I find incredibly interesting but whose author I cannot stand. I have never met this young woman. But I know. I just know.

Her favorite word is snark.

She wears bows in her hair.

If you are not sure why I have listed these facts let me clarify. To snark is a cop-out for not admitting you are just being rude. No one over the age of 10 should wear a bow in their hair - that includes cheerleaders, bless their hearts.

So why do I read this woman's blog? She does the grunt work of finding trends in different price points and tries out new beauty products so I do not have to shell out the greenbacks for every new fangled tube of youth.

What can I say? I am lazy.

Occasionally, she writes something rather scathing -- or just plain snippy -- and wraps it up with a bow she describes as snarky. When did writers decide it was acceptable to label their condemnations with this decade's "it" word for rude?

But I digress.

What sets off my inner tirade with this blogger is the absence of nuance in her posts. There are writers who share their scorn with such a soft, felt-tipped squib that the reader feels like they have just read the most heartfelt compliment.

And then there are the writers who deliver their acerbic verbiage with an axe that was left out in the woodpile all winter.

My fashionista blogger...well, let us just say she resembles the blogger without the "b".

So today she really opened a can.

Large breasts.

Small breasts.

Large breasts v. small breasts.

Does size matter?

Sweet jesus it sure does. And woe is the blogger who doesn't see that speeding train of angry reader comments racing down the track after the blog post stating that small breasts are better than big.

By this point darling reader you are wondering what the gosh forsaken point of MY blog post is and you are actually becoming uncomfortable about where I am going with this.

Here we go.

When will women stop putting other women down as part of making themselves feel good?

Is fashionista blogger entitled to write a lengthy blog post highlighting her realization that she is hunky-dory with her subdued chest? We salute her for her self-acceptance! Was it necessary to celebrate aforementioned sweet petite by stating that at least she is not burdened with those horrendous larger portions that will embarrassingly sag with age? No.

A thousand times no.

21 and counting reader comments said Non! Nein! Ni Hea!

So that whole nuance thing I keep looking for in fashionista's blog? It is that ability to pen an opinion and let it stand alone.

It is a demonstration of the author's commitment to her self-worth above and beyond any comparison.

Is this asking too much of any writer, any woman? I certainly hope not because that is what I am trying to instill in my daughter.

By the way, I have great cheekbones.

Just saying.