Tragic Trends Girlboss Bonus Episode: The Merch Table - Micro Trends, Schadenfreude, Swear Words, Ironic Tees

Amanda and Kim chit chat about Amanda’s husband Dustin getting back into making hats. You can find his work here @industryandagriculture
 
As a special request, Kim explores the collapse of the Manrepeller empire and the ramifications to the fashion community.

A listener reached out to ask why “we” as in “us women” derive pleasure in seeing the collapse of girl bosses.

Amanda unpacks the concept of Schadenfreude and why we find so much pleasure at the downfall of these girlbosses and how envy as well as justice impacts our thought patterns. 

Envy:

Envy is the most common basic personality trait shaping human behavior -- and is found among almost one-third of the human population The study on human behavior found that 90 per cent of the human population can be divided into four main basic personality traits -- optimistic, pessimistic, trusting and envious….and envious was the biggest group among the studied participants...at 30% 

Justice:

2017 article from Buzzfeed called Feminist Hypocrisy Is The New Trend In Startup Narratives
As one employee told Jezebel in June 2015: "I want the young women who are applying to Nasty Gal thinking it will be their dream job to know the truth behind the company’s external image of glitz and glamour. I saw too many incredibly hard working, ambitious, and eager people lose so much self confidence, self worth and motivation, including myself. And I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”

Bitterness

Expectations toward women can be higher when in reality these female founders were just out for themselves.

“In the end, it's worth asking why we're so ready to lionize anyone — man, woman, or otherwise — just because they say all the right things. Certainly the stories about the hypocrisies of women like Amoruso, Agrawal, and Huffington feel even more deliciously ironic because of their founders' messaging. But the basic reason they treat employees badly, and the excuse they use when they're called out, is that they, like most business owners, want to be successful — that is, make money.”

Let 2020 Be The Year We Get Rid Of Girlboss Culture For Good - Refinery 29 article from Vicky Spratt Jan 2020  “'Girlboss' is a sexist Trojan horse” - and arguably a Trojan horse of toxic hustle culture & commodified feminism.

Kim explores the trend of the Future is Female slogan and how that evolved as a feminist mantra - bringing in a wave of feminist fashion statement tees. While Fourth-wave Feminism was really the first of its kind to leverage social media - it can be argued that the accessibility to easy supply chain developments made this type of feminism easily commodifiable and became a superficial fashion trend with the fashion industry grabbing on and using the trend to boost sales.

n an attempt to reclaim Babe and Bitch and give the air an edge - “Badass” women's stuff gained popularity in 2014 coinciding to the 2013 release of You are a badass self-help books.

You Are a Badass: How to Stop Doubting Your Greatness and Start Living an Awesome Life

This also opened the doors for