Sunday Edition: Influencers, Afghanistan, & Pandemic Politics

“I don’t want Gloria Steinem lip balm. Quit using feminism to get me to buy things.” Influencers Rush In Is contemporary social-justice activism really a new religion? Leigh Stein on the secular trappings of spiritual longing in a connected world. (Originally published 2021 | 03.12) There’s a running theme in American life today that the cultural left has taken on a censor’s role previously held by the religious right. Whether you can see it in organized campaigns to remove problematic books from circulation or in more spontaneous drives to shame people who say the wrong things online, the idea certainly has something to it. What’s up for debate is whether the new censoriousness should be as troubling as the old was—or whether any comparison with right-wing religious inquisition is apt at all. Some point out the rigidity of today’s progressive norms and the often ritualistic requirements doing penance for violating them—social-media apologies, privilege confessions, and so on—concluding that the tenets of contemporary social-justice advocacy are essentially elements of a new religion. Are they? For the novelist Leigh Stein—the author of [Self Care]( a novel satirizing wellness influencers, and the forthcoming [What to Miss When]( a collection of poetry written during the pandemic—“wokeness” isn’t a new religion; it’s a secular tendency that’s taken on elements of religion, unsustainably. For Stein, contemporary progressive activism is pointed in the right direction, but it’s also chronically compromised by the incentives of influencer marketing and, in the absence of a culture of forgiveness, often toxic. Of her fellow progressive Millennials, Stein says, “Our new belief system is a blend of left-wing political orthodoxy, intersectional feminism, self-optimization, therapy, wellness, astrology, and Dolly Parton.” ——— Phoebe Maltz Bovy: You think something is filling a [religion-like role]( these days, which isn’t just politics, or even so-called “wokeness,” but something more specific and hybrid. What is it? Leigh Stein: I can start to answer that by talking about how I came to see politics as religion myself, which is from my feminist-organizing experience—running a Facebook community and organizing conferences for feminist writers, and burning out on that; and then maybe a year later, joking that I had escaped a cult. Or it started as a joke, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was true. There’s an orthodoxy that I see this among my peers, who are largely secular, left-wing, Millennials—a groupthink that I really had a fear of questioning. Last summer, there was a collision between wellness, self-help, and activism on social media. So suddenly, all the women you were following on Instagram for tips on how to take care of yourself became the same women telling you how to be a good anti-racist. It was a little confusing that someone could offer all of that at once. Bovy: It seems that there’s been a blurring of categories. Influencers on Instagram, who we might go to for fairly apolitical things, became activists, whether or not they were suited to it. Influencers whose personal brands were very much about rich, thin, white women, for example, rebranded themselves as anti-racist influencers. How should we understand this change? Stein: It’s politics and lifestyle brands intersecting in a curious way—and it’s almost like there’s no choice: Now your fans are holding you accountable. There’s a blurring of categories, where we’re now holding corporations to account for their values—as if corporations are people that have values—and we’re asking people for their brand statements, and their PR apology notes, as if they’re corporations. We’re all mixed up about what makes a company—or what makes a brand, now that people are brands. While Brené Brown and Gwyneth Paltrow and Glennon Doyle have millions of followers, and they’re the most visible icons of this tendency, it’s trickling down. It’s branding and product differentiation. Women are trying to differentiate themselves in this crowd: I’m authentic, I’m real. I’m not a phony, like this other woman. And yet, you’re still using the same tools, which are social media, to communicate your identity to your fans in a way that they go, Oh, she’s like me, I’ll follow her. There’s an obsession with identity labels, which is part of this sorting effect that ascribes us to these different groups we’re in and these different people we follow. More from Leigh Stein at The Signal: “We’re now holding corporations to account for their values—as if corporations are people that have values—and we’re asking people for their brand statements, and their PR apology notes, as if they’re corporations. We’re all mixed up about what makes a company—or what makes a brand, now that people are brands.” “What we realized during the pandemic is that even people in their 30s were thinking, Oh my God, we’re all going to die. Do I want to spend my life on Instagram? That’s a deeper, more profound question that I would never turn to Glennon Doyle for the answer to. My time on earth is limited. What is the purpose? But social media incentivizes self-centeredness and narcissism. The only people we can follow online are those who are willing to build brands.” “There’s a new Puritanism and a sorting of people into good and bad—but without any redeeming idea of grace and mercy. There is no forgiveness. There’s confession, and there’s a public apology made under extreme circumstances, but you’re never absolved. That’s a really punishing mindset and worldview.” ——— Free Access This Week [Waiting on the Edge]( How will life change for Afghans under Taliban rule? Anatol Lieven on the uncertain future of a war-torn country. [Beyond Afghanistan]( What does the failure of the U.S.-backed state-building project there mean globally? Larry Diamond on insecurity, corruption, bad neighbors, and democratic resilience. [A Flat Circle]( Why did the United States keep active-duty troops there for 20 years, despite the inevitable? Anatol Lieven on the long dynamics of a deep delusion. (Originally published 2021 | 04.21.) [Denial Twist]( Are U.S. Republicans ready to endorse masks and vaccines? Norm Ornstein on the trade-off between protecting American lives and maneuvering for power in the cult of Trump. For Subscribers [Tuned In]( Why have media personalities come to dominate the American right? Charlie Sykes on how the Fox News host Tucker Carlson is channeling and changing conservative politics after Trump. ——— For exclusive access to The Signal’s full articles, artwork, and archive: ——— We recently resolved a broken-link issue with our opt-out function. If you’ve received this in error, our apologies—you can immediately unsubscribe below. Thank you. © 2021 The Signal The Signal | 717 N St. NW, Ste. One, Washington, DC 20011 [Unsubscribe {EMAIL}]( [Constant Contact Data Notice]( Sent by newsletters@thesgnl.email