Marthettes, who cares?

9.15.2010

This morning, this Jezebel article rubbed me the wrong way. The writer, Sadie Stein, claims that there are these intimidatingly perfect female bloggers, who blog about their seemingly perfect lives, making everyone else feel inadequate. She labels these bloggers "Marthettes," referring to how Martha Stewart made women of yesteryear feel inadequate.

"They are all so lovely, with perfect vintage wardrobes. They can all make anything, and seem to have unlimited time to do so. Sometimes they go to music festivals, and look awesome. Some have penchants for putting flowers in Mason jars and photographing them lovingly. And together, this blogosphere makes you feel awful."


Well, this really upsets me. I can't stand the fact that this writer, who probably has a blog of her own, wishes that bloggers would be more negative in order to be attainable and make the reader feel better.

Why does she find it necessary for bloggers to express negativity in order to appear "real" and "normal"? There's enough negativity in the world, in our lives and in the lives directly encompassing us. Although honesty is a refreshing factor in these blogs, by no means do they need to talk about their insecurities and pet peeves in order to appear normal. Our society has managed to encourage people to complain and wallow in their pity rather than remain positive and spread good vibes among others. This article is one example of that.

I've made a conscious effort to refrain from complaining, venting or bashing anything/anyone too much on this blog. Yes, I can be an emotional wreck a lot of the time and I have definitely complained about the stress of school or the fear of new changes in my life. But this blog isn't my journal. It's a collection of my experiences. Therefore, I have a responsibility to abstain from including every personal detail in here, including my self-pity and insecurities.

My hope is that everyone can encourage a little positivity in another person's life. We all forget to look at the brighter side every once in awhile and we need daily reminders. I've definitely had days of crumminess and all it took to change that was reading someone else's blog about how beautiful the day is.

My hope is that there are less Sadie's in the world and more positive reinforcement and the spreading of love.

Have a beautiful Wednesday. Look out your window, the sun is smiling at you!

3 comments :

Susan said...

Why waste any energy reacting to someone else's negativity?

People who are unhappy with their lives, sometimes subconsciously or sometimes consciously, want to tear down the good in order to feel good about themselves. They may not realize it. They may not acknowledge it. Why else would anyone look at something subjectively beautiful to another and want to criticize it? I don't like Martha Stewart. Much of what she does is unrealistic and just plain unreal. But would I take the time and energy to write about her and her power over on people? I have better things to do with my time.

And who cares what these people think? Why react to such empty thoughts or feelings?

Simply Tanya said...

I agree!! I love reading blogs. They are the highlight of my mornings usually. Yours included. Seeing other "perfect" girls live gives me inspriration for fashion or travel. I don't see it as oh, that's what I don't have. Some people are just pessimistic in general and that's what this girl sounded like. She is unhappy in other aspects of her life... and brought it into her article.

Bahumbug.
Love you :)

Anonymous said...

You're right Liz--ever the optimist! :)

Though I only read half of this woman's post because I felt she just droned on and on about the same thing for an unnecessary amount of time, I did enjoy reading the comments below. Obviously these women feel inadequate, and thus need to cry out against those who make them feel inferior. But ultimately I think it's just the classic complaint of the "have nots" versus the bourgeois who often have unlimited time, energy and money to surround themselves with beautiful things, and in modern times: photograph and then put them on display to the world via their blogs. Which in this case is kind of ironic, because didn't the creative home made crafts movement + everything vintage/second hand originally come from the humble, "make-do" types?