This is the season of crunchy leaves, chunky knits - and pumpkin spice latte misogyny
The drink is derided as basic', in terms that often veer into sexism. But are those who ridicule it just missing out on all the fun?
It is PSL season - that's pumpkin spice latte, keep up - which also means it is pumpkin spice misogyny season. If you are not familiar, the idea is that there is a (predominantly male) tendency to mock the (predominantly female) enthusiasm for the arrival of spiced orange beverages at this time of year. It's derided as basic", along with rhapsodising about crunchy leaves, chunky knits, big scarves, new boots and other seasonal Pinterest board signifiers. Women are dismissed as vapid sheeplike materialists, while men who make pour-over coffee that tastes like stomach acid in vessels that wouldn't be out of place in a 17th-century alchemist's workshop are discerning, rugged individualists.
The fightback challenges the way girl" stuff gets derided and takes issue with the received wisdom that it is somehow admirable not to like what other women like. It also wonders whether a gritted-teeth commitment to cool causes men to deny themselves the simple joys offered by the stuff that gets sneered at.
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