Empowered? March 18, 2013

 

 

She feels empowered.

She even wears the bracelet that says she is, suddenly inspired, marking up her success in the fact that she could bring people together under that feminist banner, a remarkable achievement, coming at an important time when she needs to rebuilt confidence in herself and get back on the treadmill to success.

Only…

Where does she go from here?

In the past, she was always successful in moving up the ranks in small groups, where there is a specific line of power she could trickle up, starting out in the trenches to make her way up each prong of the ladder until she has a position of power.

But in this move to empower herself, she has gone outside the usual lines, developing a base of power that is not following any chain of command.

It is an impressive achievement, yet how does she broker it into the next step?

For all of her talent, she strikes me as somewhat naïve, leaping onto bandwagons, a true believer in this cause or that, adopting the philosophy of a new job or new career, even when it may not be as legitimate as she envisioned – such as RR and his bullshit, or even the Brooklyn Chef, who seemed to be on a upward trajectory only to crash and burn.

She is constantly seeking a place in the world, somehow getting a place in the upper echelon of things, somehow distinguishing herself when in the past each of these adventures has failed to pan out, and she’s been forced to start over.

Now, she sees herself as some kind of feminist organizer – the spark of hope that allows her to continue her pursuit of greatness, something she has lacked since the Virgin Mayor hired her.

But this is a kind of side step rather than a step up, allowing her to stand out, but not in a way that means anything to the power elite who she seems to be trying to impress.

There is no up from this, no matter how good it feels or how huge an accomplishment.

In the end, when the celebratory smoke has cleared, she still works a petty job for a boss who may soon crash and burn, and she needs a parachute to another power grid, and feminism isn’t it.

I suspect she knows this but needs to bask in what glory she can find until she finds another opportunity she can grasp, with or without her empowerment bracelet.

 

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