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Bros Before Homes

newrepublic.com

11 pointsprostoalex7 comments

This article is really, really, bad. It makes a gratuitous generalisation from a single example. Yes, the “Tony” who wrote the “Hey, big spender” essay upon which this article is based sounds like a huge douchebag who asks his mother to do his laundry so he can enjoy “experiences”, but I don’t see how you can infer from this that everyone who lives a minimalist lifestyle is doing the exact same thing.

I do believe that sexism is still very much present in our society, but I don’t see how minimalism has anything to do with it, and the article provides no explanation as to how they might be linked.

A more interesting approach on minimalism would be to ask “are all minimalists rich people who cut back on their possessions”, which is also something that “Tony” could be an illustration of, and which seems more plausible:

- another rich-guy-turned-minimalist is mentioned in the article [0]

- an opinion piece from the NYT on the subject was written by someone with a similar profile [1]

- the New Yorker even published a comic on this [2]

What’s interesting about this other angle is that you can then discuss why this “get rid of all your belongings” advice might not apply to everyone, especially poor people, despite what some minimalists might think.

[0] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/09/fashion/whit-stillman-dire...

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/opinion/sunday/living-with...

[2] http://i.imgur.com/gJVaMXb.png

EDIT: typos and formatting

Not buying clutter is great, and will generally improve life and the environment. (And I'm a gen X, so no millennial connection there :-)

Not having to buy things because your relations are rich is something else.

Taking a feminist angle on that particular issue seems too miss the main point, though. Yes, you /can/ view everything in a feminist (or Christian, or Marxist, or whatever) light, but people who /do/ end up seeming lacking in nuance.

The point that buying less is liberating, once basic needs are met, should neither be missed nor ridiculed IMO.

I clicked on this thinking it was going to be something interesting on the evolution of generic epithets used by black people to verbally show relationship. What a disappointment the article turned out to be.

Read both the source article and the meta.. I don't see the sexism. Isn't this the male equivalent of "Eat, pray, love"?

I didn't see it either. And I have no complaint if you want to live with minimal posessions and spend your money on "experiences."

But if you're 30 years old and your mom is doing your laundry, that is pathetic. Full stop.

At least take it down to the wash-dry-fold. At $1-$1.50/pound, it might be cheaper in time and exasperation.

>Whether women are being encouraged to rid our homes of useless belongings, or urged to shop for new ones, the result is the same: Society continues to associate women with the home and the material, men with the outside and experiences.

I'm sure if this writer was writing about a shift towards more materialism, they'd just be saying something like "women are being blasted at all angles with messages that they need to buy yet another dress or kitchen appliance".

It's clickbait drivel.

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