Wait... Really? Another Newsletter?

Hi and welcome to Wait, Really? — a weekly-ish newsletter on cultural obsessions and absurdities, feminism and gender politics, historical tidbits, internet rabbit holes, and whatever else crosses my desk and brain that I think you should know about, typically because I find it either delightful or rage-inducing or some combination of the two.

I’m Jessica Bennett, journalist and home renovation obsessive, mother to Charles the dog, recovering New York Times gender editor (#AMA) and current contributor to the Times Opinion section, where I’ve recently written about the pathologizing of everyday “trauma”, the meaninglessness of the public apology, and a very long profile of Governor Kathy Hochul, New York’s first woman governor — who got there by way of (yet another) male sex scandal (more on that in a future newsletter).

I’m also an adjunct professor at New York University, where I teach a journalism course called “Reporting the Zeitgeist” — where, in addition to instructing students on the tools of reporting and writing, they’ve taught me about subcultures like “fictionkin” (that’s people who identify as fictional characters?!), the joys and perils of #traumatok and a very specific subculture of people who gather to squish bugs.

I’m the author of two bestselling books: Feminist Fight Club: A Survival Manual for a Sexist Workplace, and This Is 18, a photography book (and exhibit) showcasing the lives of 18-year-old girls around the world. The first of those books has an entire section on self-promotion, and yet listing out my credentials for you here still feels totally cringy. We’ll come back to that in a future newsletter.

WAIT, REALLY? is the sentiment I feel most often these days.

Wait, really? Abortion rights are about to be decimated?

Wait... really? Are we actually surprised?

Wait really? This had to happen at the same time the world (or at least I) was blissfully eating up the gilded glamor of the Met Gala, including Kim Kardashian's crystal-studded dress, in a rare moment of superficial reprieve?

Wait really? Now we’re mad that Kim admitted to losing weight to fit into that dress — it wasn't just any dress; it had previously been worn by Marilyn Monroe — in the midst of the most significant rollback of women’s rights of our lifetime?

Each week in this newsletter, and maybe sometimes twice a week, I’m going to dissect these things and more — the stuff I can’t stop thinking about, from pop culture to linguistics, politics to the workplace. I’m going to try not to regurgitate what’s already out there — if you want more on the abortion ruling, for instance, I’ve curated the best reading on it below — and I’m going to try to keep it somewhat light. The world is heavy right now. I know I could use a bit of levity.

If you choose to stay, here’s what you can expect in the coming weeks:

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Until next week,

Jessica