This Week on Thinking Is Cool 🙅‍♀️

Welcome back to Thinking Is Cool, the podcast and newsletter here to make your next conversation better than your last. I’m your host Kinsey Grant. If this email was forwarded to you, sign up here.

Subscribe now

Stop what you’re doing right now and turn on one of these three songs: “The Man” by Taylor Swift, “mad woman” by Taylor Swift, or “I Did Something Bad” by Taylor Swift. Today, we’re talking about girlbosses, feminism, and equality. The mood has to be right.

Welcome back to another edition of the Thinking Is Cool newsletter. I’m Kinsey Grant and I’m going to say the word vagina in this episode. You’re gonna love it. Trust me. Now…

I have an ask: Seeing as today marks the halfway point of season 1 of Thinking Is Cool and I’m really working on my procrastination sh*t, I’m beginning to plan season 2 content. I have about a million ideas for episodes, but I’m mostly psyched to make episodes that you want to hear.

Now to the actual ask: If you have an idea for an episode of Thinking Is Cool? Hit reply and lay it on me. As long as it’s not about birds, I’ll consider it. Birds suck.

Now, to this week’s episode...which, I have to admit, is one of my favorites this season. As always, you have options.

• Option 1: Read this newsletter for background first and then go listen to the episode on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you get podcasts. Recommended for Solar Power Lorde fans.

• Option 2: Go listen to this episode on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere else you get podcasts and then come back to this newsletter for more context. Recommended for Melodrama Lorde fans.

Let’s do it to it.

This Week on Thinking Is Cool

If you’re not someone who identifies as a woman, I’m going to ask you to spend some time imagining what it’s like to be one within the first few minutes of this episode. I’ve often thought about what it might be like to occupy the space a man does in this world—and honestly, I’m glad I don’t. Being a woman is really great like 74% of the time.

But that hasn’t stopped me from thinking deeply about what aspects of my life would be tremendously easier if I were a dude. It would mean, by and large and of course making generalizations here, less unpaid emotional labor, fewer heart-stopping instances of fear walking down the street, better pay for equal work, and the freedom to go out without makeup on without risking my reputation. All good things.

Most of all, it might exempt me from being in the crosshairs of girlboss feminism and the hustle culture it has for years propagated.

I’ll explain in more detail in this episode what, exactly, girlboss feminism is, but here’s a small excerpt:

“To me, the girlboss represents everything we love and hate about late-stage capitalism, branding, social media, and political discourse. It’s a concept so enormously interesting, and yet so hard to fully describe.

It’s Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook. Audrey Gelman from The Wing. Steph Korey from Away. It’s most certainly Sophia Amoruso, the one-time Nasty Gal leader who effectively brought the hashtag girlboss to the mainstream in her 2014 memoir of the same name.”

Those names carry quite a bit less cache today than they did in 2015. That’s in part because, these days, which have been more populated with critiques of late-stage capitalism than most, the girlboss is facing a reckoning for one major reason:

Instead of reinventing a system that put her down, she learned to play by the rules of her oppressors.

This week on Thinking Is Cool, I’m exploring what the fallout of this reckoning might look like, how it came to fruition, and what girlboss feminism really means in the broader context of our social and economic frameworks here in the US.

What you can expect:

• An exploration of the archetypical girlboss character and how she ascended to such power

• Context and insight from women who’ve certainly avoided the trappings of girlbossery at a masterful level

• Some digs at men I’ve worked with before (yolo)

• The inspiration (I think! And hope!) to reconsider the ways we tend to put each other in boxes, regardless of gender identity

Now that you’ve gotten the big picture idea of what this episode is about, I’m going to try something a little different. While I was writing this one, I came to understand that there are a lot of very famous feminists and feminist concepts that are only very famous to other feminists.

In an effort to change that, I’m going to offer some suggested reading that’s helped me to better comprehend the relationship between men and women in this shared world. Some of it is overtly feminist, some of it is just written by really perceptive women.

You don’t have to read all of this at once (or at all, really) but I’ve found the following works to be incredibly influential in my own life and in making this episode of Thinking Is Cool. Hope you enjoy 🤠

Long-form journalism and commentary:

“The Girlboss Has Left the Building” by Amanda Mull for The Atlantic

“The End of the Girlboss Is Here” by Leigh Stein for Gen

“The internet is full of men who hate feminism. Here's what they're like in person.” by Emmett Rensin for Vox

“The Code of Hammurabi” by Jenny Slate published here for The Paris Review as an excerpt from her book, Little Weirds

Books, mostly nonfiction:

You Play The Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Princesses, Trainwrecks and Other Man-Made Women by Carina Chocano

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion but also really everything that Joan Didon has ever published

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

People:

I reference Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan in the episode, and both were feminist icons back when that label really meant something. I don’t agree with everything that they (or typically anyone) espouse, but they’re people worth knowing if you’re looking for context in contemporary feminism and gender-based equality. Here’s a great piece about Steinem and one about Friedan’s most famous work, The Feminine Mystique.

If you read any of this, I’d love to hear from you with thoughts and ideas. And if you have anything to add, share that sh*t and I’ll make a more complete guide to good content on Twitter or something.

I texted four friends this question: How does your bank account reward you for saving money? Here’s what they said:

• Madison: “Is this a real question?”

• Josh: “I earn little bits of interest. That’s why I move all my money to crypto.”

• Landon: “Lol it doesn’t.”

• Hayley: “Next question please”

Friends don’t let friends use bad bank accounts. That’s why I’m sending all of my friends (which means all of you, too) to my new BFF and exclusive launch partner, HMBradley.

With HMBradley, you get rewarded for saving money in your deposit account thanks to super smart Savings Tiers that are tailored to you. And if you use a friend’s referral link like this one to open an account, you will automatically receive HMBradley’s highest Tier as soon as your first direct deposit arrives. That's 3.00% annual percentage yield on deposits up to $100,000 for up to three months.

All you have to do is sign up here...then start sharing with your friends like the good pal you are.

Deposit accounts are provided by Hatch Bank, Member FDIC. Interest rates are variable and may change after account opening. The minimum opening deposit required to open an HMBradley Deposit Account is $100. Go to www.hmbradley.com/apys to see current rates and the full Savings Tiers terms and conditions. This is a paid endorsement.

Now, the details of this week’s episode of Thinking Is Cool…

Who: We’ve got some really great insight in this episode thanks to two women who are all boss, no girlboss.

• Molly Maloney is a Senior Associate at PwC consulting on tech and program management. She’s incredibly bright and motivated, and I’m glad we’re now friends.

• Carolyn Childers is the cofounder and CEO of Chief, a private network designed specifically for women leaders. Despite what you might think of private networks, Carolyn and her business are worth keeping an eye on. I loved speaking with and learning from her.

Where: Anywhere you listen to podcasts, especially on Spotify and Apple

When: Listen any time the moment feels right, but I think this episode will pair nicely with a cold glass of pinot grigio after a long day. Unwind with some insightful thoughts and ideas and all.

Why: Because you’re smart and you’re cool and so is thinking

Let me know what you think about the episode. I’m eager for feedback! See you Friday for another edition of the Thinking Is Cool blog. Have the best week ever.

Love,

Kinsey