A recent shoe advertisement proclaimed: “How Lovely to Be a Woman.” The campaign from shoe brand Stuart Weitzman features five brand ambassadors: Aly Raisman, Christy Turlington, Issa Rae, Lucy Liu, and Ming Xi. Described as “multi-hyphenate,” the celebrities from entertainment and sports were selected to represent the unique “pleasures and pressures of modern womanhood.” The collaborative video and campaign is, according to the brand, “ultimately a celebration of the triumph of simply being a woman today.”
That’s an unexpected message in 2024 when droves of teen girls are deciding they don’t want to be women. As an increasing number of scholars, including Mary Harrington, Louise Perry, and Carrie Gress, have analyzed, “progress” in the name of feminism and the sexual revolution has had mixed results for women. The collateral damage of decades of socially sanctioned promiscuity is young women confused and even repulsed by their own femininity.
As the shoe advertisement hints at, however, not everyone is so confused. Some women are finding joy in embracing soft life, cottagecore, grandma aesthetics, and traditional roles as a wife and mother, the ultimate expression of the feminine genius.
For further evidence of this, see what young adults have to say about themselves. If you ask a Gen Z conservative how she picked a college, you might get a surprising answer: She’s headed to the campus that will optimize her chances of securing a husband. That’s right, the old-fashioned MRS degree is back in style among certain social circles.
This isn’t cause for celebration
