Reality Will Do That
Lifted from the comments, via pst314:
Ms Watson, now not so young herself, tells us,
The specifics of this pressure, allegedly pervasive, overpowering and entirely social in nature, are unclear. No examples are forthcoming. The physical realities of reproduction are, however, less mysterious.
The idea that Ms Watson, or likely anyone she knows, any of her multi-millionaire celebrity peers, is being pressured by others, by a brutal society, to get married and presumably have children – and that such hypothetical pressure constitutes “violence” – is, shall we say, difficult to believe.
It seems rather more likely that Ms Watson, 35, is, like many of her self-involved peers, struggling to process her own age-related anxieties. At 35, that fertility window is closing quite rapidly and options that have perhaps been taken for granted, or deferred as insufficiently fashionable, will soon expire.
As someone quips in reply,
Update, via the comments:
EmC adds,
Well, quite. I don’t follow these things closely, but my impression is that there’s a class dynamic in play. That, for some, getting married and having children during the window of optimal viability is now considered low-status, proletarian, somewhat déclassé, especially among women with progressive leanings.
As if this time were obviously better spent pursuing a statusful career and asserting some womanly empowerment, or, in Ms Watson’s case, indulging in activism of a faintly ludicrous kind, claiming to be “self-partnered” rather than single, and insisting that bewigged men are somehow women.
My impression of any social pressure, any class convention, is that it goes in a different direction to the one being claimed. At least among ladies of Ms Watson’s political persuasion. Readers may wish to speculate as to whether childlessness and middle-aged regret will also, in short order, be deemed “violence” and something to complain about during celebrity interviews.
And for some reason, this came to mind:
Something about the dynamic, perhaps.
Don’t think her ‘activism’ will be much of a consolation.
Well, I don’t wish to seem any meaner than is necessary, but I’m inclined to wonder whether childlessness and middle-aged regret will also, in short order, be deemed “violence” and something to complain about during celebrity interviews.
For some reason, this came to mind:
Something about the dynamic, perhaps.
I can’t take anyone seriously who misuses the word ‘violence’ like that.
Well, quite.
I don’t follow these things closely, but my impression is that there’s a class dynamic in play. That, for some, getting married and having children during the window of optimal viability is now considered low-status, proletarian, somewhat déclassé, especially among women with progressive leanings.
As if this time were obviously better spent pursuing a career or, in Ms Watson’s case, indulging in activism of a faintly ludicrous kind and insisting that bewigged men are somehow women.
My impression of any social pressure is that it goes in a different direction than the one being claimed. At least among ladies of Ms Watson’s political persuasion.
[ Post updated. ]
And from the replies on X, this:
Not entirely inapt, I think.
That activist LARPing is going to get old faster than she does.
“I’m just so happy not to be divorced yet,” Watson told podcast host Shetty. “Like that sounds like a really negative answer, but I think that we’re being pressured and forced into this thing that I believe is a kind of miracle.”
What an odd way of saying, “I am unhappy that I am alone.” Plus, “I’m not motivated to look for reasons why I am not with someone, so I, a non-theist, am still waiting for that miracle of someone to pop into my life.”
BTW, in 2019 Watson described herself not as “single” but as “self-partnered.” I suggest that’s a large enough red flag for any suitor.
Graham Linehan takes on Bill Maher, and does so very well.
And because I have the humor of a 9-year-old boy, I dare you to look at the accompanying photo of Maher and not see the penis that is his nose.
That’s what happens when you live in a bubble…
I should imagine Ms Watson’s complaints might have had more credibility if she’d been raised by the Amish or Muhammadans or something. But for a woman granted great wealth in childhood, with every conceivable advantage, every degree of freedom that a woman might dream of, it’s just a tad unconvincing.
As Darleen quipped in the previous thread, if Ms Watson’s grandma once mentioned that when she was Emma’s age, she was married with three children, this scarcely qualifies as “violence.” And I’m still not seeing what other social pressures to that effect would be crushing the very breath from her, or from anyone remotely like her. And she does say we – “we’re being pressured” – though again, no specifics are offered.
Biology, however, is another matter.
Unfortunately, the area around the Smokies attracts car shows and it reached a boling point this weekend with an event called Slammedenuff. This was a gathering of what I learned are called “stance cars,” usually cheap, barely road legal cars that have been modified and usually with nitro injection engines to make that backfiring noise as an add-in to the already loud revving.
Sevierville PD shut down the last day of the convention, Sunday, after a Saturday night “takeover” of a local gas station saw SWAT teams deployed to break it up.
However, there were some delightful moments of karma.
I shouldn’t imagine it would be enticing, no. It’s the rhetorical analogue of a green fuzzy wig and big clown shoes.
Has she seen fertility rates in the last thirty five years?
And, after all, we must not be homophonic.
The current freefall of birthrates among people much like Ms Watson suggests that maybe – maybe – there should be some social pressure of the kind she denounces, some sense of familial and reproductive urgency. But if so, I’m not seeing it.
I have to go back to work after lunch. THIS IS VIOLENCE.
…may not be entirely a bad thing. Imagine those poor children with that kind of mother!
.
No, no, it’s okay now because she’s resolved these pesky issues: “I just didn’t know myself well enough yet. I didn’t have a clear enough idea of… my purpose, my vision…”
Now she does have a clear idea of her purpose and vision. I bet it’s breathtaking. Hope she starts her own podcast to keep us all updated.
Never say never, she just has to meet
Mr. Partner Right.You can smell her narcissism from 4000 miles away.
…but not from 6000 miles away, because the stink of California’s emotional smog is overpowering.
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.
[ Puts on cufflinks, fancy tie. ]
Just checking in on the Green Party.
Okay then.
As if purpose and vision is something couples don’t.develop.together.
Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret
At our house we say, “Nature always bats last,” but ole Horace said it better.
Or, as another teacher said, There is nothing new under the sun.
In fact, as I have gotten older, I’ve come to realize there’s a lot more wisdom in the Good Book. Demons do exist, and Pride is a sin (along with its cousin, Despair), and when cities fall into degeneracy, collapse follows.
Lately, the Democrat candidate for attorney general of Virginia was revealed to be a murder fantasist, sending texts (and later, a discussion over the phone) wishing a GOP rival’s children were murdered so he would change his mind on certain issues. Result: Silence from the candidate for governor, silence from the rest of the Demoncrats in Virginia, and the loss of no endorsements.
And the Washington Post’s editorial board still stands by this guy.
Oh, and link.
Oh, and LINK.
Not quite.
Besides, isn’t killing children part of the Democrat platform?
[ Watches YouTuber refer to Thing From Nineties as “ancient.” ]
[ Applies moisturiser. ]
I must father children before the day is out.
On choirboys . . .
A reminder, were one needed, that we live in strange times.
Just why we listen to celebrities’ views on political or social issues is a deep mystery.
Some have legitimately interesting things to say, but most are about as insightful as your Uncle Bob after he’s had a few.
Women such as this are rationalizing their postponement of marriage with claims that they needed to “find themselves” or “were not ready”. No one is “ready” for marriage–you make it up as you go. In fact, the older you are the more you are set in your ways and will have difficulty adapting to sharing a life. Also, it is via commitment to a spouse and children that you “find yourself”. So they have it backwards.
However, delayed marriage and no children is an epidemic world-wide from Japan and S Korea to Russia and the USA. I blame crowding which is the only thing these very different places have in common. Crowding causes stress and also makes it hard to find a partner because you do not repeatedly run into them casually like in a small town.
Again this propensity by the safe and comfortable to overdramatize.
Violence, speaking truth to power, disrupting the narrative, transgressing social norms, blah, blah, blah. You’d think they’re storming the beaches of Normandy.
Recommended: vested suit, snappy hat, and lapel pin announcing your net worth and sperm count.
A reminder, were one needed, that we live in strange times.
I suppose just getting up and walking out was out of the question. On to the article at the link:
I think the nurse’s suggestion was inspired by Borat.
There was a missed clue right there.
All of whom should be struck off, as you say over there.
RTWT,
Strongly agree. Marriage is a process of growing together,
Indeed. Couples grow together, as they negotiate their needs and wants, and come to understand each other ever more deeply.
True.
And this is how “find yourself” becomes a pro-social act of the highest order, as opposed to the narcissism of those who “self-partner”.
It really isn’t. Humans are hierarchical social primates; we’re wired to follow the alpha because that means survival. Women even more so.
I’m trying to imagine what might make the experience worthwhile. Morbid curiosity, perhaps? I suppose it might depend on whether realistic questions were permitted, or whether one were expected to be some subordinate affirmer.
I disagree. We don’t typically go to car mechanics for medical advice, nor to military officers for legal advice, nor to store clerks for who’s likely to be picked first in the NHL entry draft. We prefer doctors, lawyers, and hockey scouts.
If famous thespians wish to advise on how to behave on a movie set, I’m all ears.
As if there is any doubt as to the questions allowed in that milieu.
I’ve had the faintly pleasing experience of seeing someone being transformed by marriage and fatherhood, from someone fairly withdrawn and grumpy, someone difficult to connect with, to a much more affable and visibly happy individual. He very much blossomed.
I’m not sure he’d be entirely comfortable with that description, but he would, I think, find it funny.
You’d think they’re storming the beaches of Normandy.
And that’s the nub of it – they have none to storm. They have nothing remotely like it – so they’re creating it out of their empty heads. Having dumped religion, they don’t even have the Pilgrim’s Progress, the spiritual battles with the self against various temptations to stray from the [figurative] straight and narrow. Everything is ok, everything is to be celebrated, everything is a right, an entitlement. And so life is empty, devoid of meaning – they are constantly searching for it. They really thought they had their WWII with covid. “We’re all in this together!” sang the soft, comfortable people, while the actual footsoldiers delivered their food and their goods, and kept the lights, water, and internet on.
…nor to military officers for legal advice…
The JAG school was unavailable for comment…
I assume it’s the performative nature of entertainment that makes the difference. We don’t normally watch mechanics and officers playing roles crafted to make their audience identify with them.
With modern leftism, their battles are all with those evil non-leftists. Much more fun than religions which tell them that the battle which matters most is the battle against their own weaknesses.