The voice of Gen Z feminism: bright, eloquent and very funny
SCARLETT Curtis goes in hard in the first episode of her podcast, Feminists Don’t Wear Pink. “Bitch, ho, Feminazi — all the good words,” she counts over the theme tune, rattling off a list of insults levelled at her.
But you can’t keep a Gen Z feminist down. Curtis is, after all, the (precocious young) woman who’s just declared open war on Philip Green — reportedly, he demanded her feminist pop-up on the flagship’s shop floor be removed hours before it was due to open. Curtis coined the hashtag #PinkNotGreen — watch this space. She’s also — for biography’s sake — the daughter of director Richard, and the wunderkind who came up with the idea for Mamma Mia 2.
Anyway, the podcast — like the popup — is pegged to a collection of essays, Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (And Other Lies), which was curated by Curtis, in which women including Helen Fielding, Keira Knightley and Dolly Alderton explain what feminism means to them. Very zeitgeist, and very revealing — Knightley writing about the goriness of childbirth is potent.
On the podcast, Curtis is joined by various contributors to the book for a further discussion of their feminist awakenings. In the first episode, she’s joined by the Oscarnominated actress Saoirse Ronan — her accent is like a lullaby — and in the second by Jamila Jamil, the firebrand actress and activist. Jamil admits she used to associate feminism with “something very ugly” before a Damascene conversion in her mid-20s. There is a revealing conversation about women (read: Kardashians?) who operate as “double agents for the patriarchy” — those reality TV stars flogging weight loss lollies and detox teas. Women do not qualify automatically for “refuge under the feminist umbrella”, reasons Jamil, you must earn it. The pair agree that women are raw, funny and rude — “I’ve heard way more appalling things in a group of women than I have a group of men, because we’re so oppressed,” says Jamil — and about sexual assault, and eating disorders.
Meanwhile, Gemma Arterton giggles about borrowing her mum’s PVC catsuits, loving Björk and weaponising humour. “I will stand on the soapbox and stand and scream about feminism, but to get the message across to the masses, humour and comedy is the best way”. The pair also chew over masturbation, and the outmoded virgin or the whore paradox.
If it sounds a bit heavy, it isn’t — Curtis is a bright, curious host, as eloquent on hard stuff as on the merits of manicurea. If this is the next generation of women, Green, the patriarchy and those double agents should watch over their shoulders.