Quotes by Andi Zeisler

When it comes to current attitudes about surgery, the practice of dismissing the cultural context and rationalizing it as individual betterment flattens the terrain of power relations. In other words, we can talk about doing it for us until our high-end lipstick flakes off, but we should also keep in mind that we probably wouldnt even be thinking about what life would be like with a new nose or perkier breasts or shapelier inner thighs if it werent for a long-standing cultural ideal that rewards those who adhere to it with power that often doesnt speak its name, but is instantly recognizable to those who dont have it.

Equality makes way for an increased number of free, considered choices, and an increased number of people with access to them. But choice itself isnt the same as equality...

Advertising and marketing philosophies that thrive on emphasizing natural differences dont stay in the realm of advertising and marketing--they spill into how we justify sexism and racism at every life stage.

Treating feminism like its a personal accessory that just isnt appropriate anymore obscures the places where feminism hasnt made strides for people who still need it.

The rise of feminist underpants is a weird twist on Karl Marxs theory of commodity fetishism, wherein consumer products once divorced from inherent use value are imbued with all sorts of meaning. To brand something as feminist doesnt involve ideology, or labor, or policy, or specific actions or processes. Its just a matter of saying, This is feminist because we say it is.

Empowertising not only builds on the idea that any choice is a feminist choice if a self-labeled feminist deems it so, but takes it a little bit further to suggest that being female is in itself something that deserves celebration.

Empowerment wasnt defined as a static concept or standalone occurrence, but as an evolving way to rethink entire power structures and value systems, draw on shared skills and knowledge, and endow marginalized communities with tools for economic sustainability.

In a time of feminism taken into account, theres a sense that if ones choices--even in something as minor as a favorite chill-out show--cant be rationalized, they should probably be kept quiet. As with most-feminist movies and most-feminist underpants, this suggests that feminism is a unvarying foundation of a larger system. It suggests feminism is something that either is or is not okay to consume, rather than a sense through which creators and audiences see stories, characters, and communication.

American culture, perhaps more than any other, prizes individualism. Our narratives of art, politics, and business idolize the person who triumphs against the odds, with only himself or herself to answer to. The lone wolf. The stranger in town. The maverick. The plucky kid. The Final Girl. Youve only got yourself, in the end. Its all up to you.