I mean Joan Didion could not help her size. Like some people are short and scrawny lolđ
Of course, I am very short and scrawny myself! Iâm assuming youâre referring to the unsent letter Eve Babitz wrote to Joan Didion, quoted in Lili Anolikâs biography, that I reblogged a while ago.
Her size should have nothing to do with the credibility of her work and thatâs precisely why the question Eve raises is important. Eve herself was positioned like an inverse to Joan. She was branded âEve Babitz with the great big titsâ, her public image built around her body, with the nude Duchamp chess photo eclipsing her writing for years. Her work has only more recently begun to receive wider recognition.
And so she posits this question: what bearing does a womanâs appearance have on how seriously her art is taken? Joan couldnât help being small, but it was a part of her image, and I can understand why Eve asks âwould the men in her life have perceived her work differently if she didnât look the way she did?â. To be small is to be more in line with what is deemed societally acceptable for a woman. Although we cannot help it, and although it shouldnât say anything about the merit of our work, that is unfortunately not for us to decide.
Sorry if any of this comes off as antagonistic, I know you probably didn't want some big old answer!! I just think itâs an interesting point, especially given the time these two women were writing in.
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