Recommendations #6
An article on whether women are trying to look like kids, a truly enjoyable philosophy audiobook, the best jeans I've ever bought (no waist gap!) and more
I write about culture, philosophy and psychology here, but I’m also a person with a lot of interests and hobbies, so sometimes I share recommendations. These are based on what I’m reading, listening to, enjoying or wearing and the like. I reject high and low culture divides. You can enjoy both Pop Tarts and Mendelssohn without becoming an unserious person. It’s fine.
If this kind of post is not your thing, there will be a regular Peak Notions column later in the week!
Something to read:
Image Credit: Cartoons Hate Her
THE BEAUTY STANDARD IS IMPOSSIBLY SKINNY-CURVY, NOT CHILDLIKE
CHH is a Substack institution, and worth a subscription for her prolific output, snort-inducing humour and general capacity to find a nuanced position on contentious issues and defend it without getting too weird or angry. These are underrated qualities on this unholy internet. When Jameela Jamil recently wrote an article titled ‘Ah shit! We let pedophiles decide our beauty standards’, I guessed that an interesting take from Cartoons Hate Her would be incoming. It was:
“Ultimately, the reason I disagree with this “beauty standards are pedophilia” discourse is that it frames women without “curves” as overgrown children, whom only pedophiles would find attractive. Not to get all “let men be masculine” on you, but this is really just another form of body-shaming, even if it’s not intended that way. Non-curvy women exist in multitudes (as I said before, most women aren’t actually that curvy) and yet a movement designed to shed light on “what women really look like” completely leaves them in the dust because they don’t look like they could have been painted on a cave wall.”
The beauty standards conversation is pitched about and refracted through so many lenses — gender, race, status, socioeconomics, age, technology, politics, history. Generally, it’s flattened and squashed to fit through one or two of these but the conversation isn’t a simple one. Straightforward or monocausal narratives about what we consider beautiful — what we value — and why will never be satisfactory. We’re all in the weeds. Reading broadly different perspectives helps.
Something to listen to:
EPICTETUS DISCOURSES AND OTHER WRITINGS AUDIOBOOK, narrated by Robert Dobbin
This one is cheating a bit since we’re reading it for Peak Notions Book Club but I’ve had an Audible membership for years now. I listened to well over a hundred books last year. When I’m reading non-fiction, I always go for a print version, but when a book merits a second pass I’ll often immediately follow reading it with a listen to the audio edition. I do this (where possible) with titles we read for the book club.
In preparation for the March 12th book club session, I’m currently listening to Epictetus’ Discourses. Audio philosophy titles can be hit and miss, often because philosophy writing is more careful than it is compelling and many were recorded before audiobooks were considered respectable or lucrative. The narrator of this one makes it really enjoyable. Dobbin’s Epictetus is funny, quite contemptuous, and wry. The fact that the translation prioritises comprehensibility for a modern reader makes it an easy, pleasant listen.
Something to subscribe to:
LONDON CENTRIC on Substack
You don’t need to be based in London to value what Jim Waterson has done with London Centric. His project to revive and reinvigorate local news in London is proving incredibly successful, consistently focusing on the sorts of stories that make a material difference.
London Centric does a lot of investigative work, and this week broke the story of an impending mass eviction of tenants in advance of renters gaining new rights in May. The resulting political pressure has halted the evictions for now. Before London Centric’s investigation, affected tenants across different properties had no idea of the scale of what was happening.
This is the power of great local journalism.
Something to not listen to:
CHEAP FOAM EAR PLUGS
Ear plugs are not just for those with chronic snorer spouses, and they won’t be ideal if you’re caring for small children or someone vulnerable who may need you in the night. But if you want to sleep through with only your bladder to disturb you, total silence is surprisingly helpful. My husband uses Loop Ear Plugs and finds them effective but I don’t believe everything has to be chic or ergonomic to work, and even Loops warp, fall out and lose effectiveness with prolonged use. I prefer crappy old fashioned, bell-shaped, foam earplugs. They don’t last forever, sure, and they’re less environmentally considerate than reusing one pair for a year, but here is a list of things that are bad for the environment: having children, industrial farming, all beauty products, driving a car, taking a flight, using glass containers and not using glass containers. So bugger off. A box of these will last a very long time. Birds in Australia shriek like pterodactyls at five am. When I use these, I hear nothing!
Below the paywall you’ll find a pair of jeans that fits perfectly, feels comfortable and doesn’t leave any waist gap. A lot of women will know what a big deal that is, especially when so many of us would opt to walk face-first into a wall before we’d go shopping for jeans. I’ve shared a couple of pictures to give you a realistic sense of what they actually look like on a human person with my body shape, and those will live below the paywall for my dignity and sanity.