on women & weed: why the lady stoner is way cooler than heroin chic
Similar to how rock embraced women in the 90s, Youth culture is now embracing fully developed, well-written women characters who love weed, partying, and casual sex. I call this woman the Lady Stoner or the Hot Mess. Comedy in particular is becoming more inclusive of this expression of femininity as weed becomes legal in more states. The representation of goofy lady stoners in pop culture has substantially increased - hilarious, fun, and woke (i.e. political conscious women aware of systemic oppression and intersectionality) women are finally being portrayed as lazy stoners on television (Broad City, for example.) This matters. How many times have I watched films and shows about guys getting high, partying, and trying to lose their virginity? (Way too many.) The hot mess works as a character trope because she’s not a tragedy or a victim, she’s the new girl next door.
The lady stoner’s cultural feminism is quickly going mainstream. [Definition of CF, written by me for all intents and purposes: Feminism that aims to liberate women through tv, film, performance, literature, and all other forms of art through representation.] My Lady Stoner/Hot Mess role models are women I can relate to and who express my brand of femininity and feminism (Anna Kendrick, Amy Schumer and Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer of Broad City fame come to mind.) As weed becomes legal in more states, representation of lady stoners in pop culture has substantially increased – hilarious, successful and woke (i.e. politically conscious) women are finally being portrayed as lazy stoners on film and television. Move over, Slater.
The lady stoner is a dynamic, developed character; a deeply (but not tragically) flawed party girl who suffers from paradoxical immaturity: the comorbidity of egomania and self doubt that characterizes a reluctance to grow up. In extreme cases this phenomenon can escalate to Holden Caulfield levels of angst, although comedies tend to make light of this breed of self-absorption (this is the backbone of Girls’ self-deprecating humor.) This paradox is a comedic trope that has saturated youth culture for years, most commonly demonstrated by male dominated stoner comedies (like Workaholics.) Youth culture often glorifies comedies about guys fucking around but has traditionally forced women comedians into two narrow roles: the virgin or the whore (see: the virgin/whore dichotomy.) Where are the real women who smoke weed every day and fuck up every now and again? Women like me? A good example is the movie Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. This film subverts the idea that the ego/insecurity paradox is unique to men, providing lady stoners with the screen time they deserve. In the film, Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick are portrayed as messy, deeply (but not tragically) flawed, stoners/hot messes. They get fired for showing up to work drunk, drop ecstasy at a wedding, and wake and bake in their pajamas. But they also have good intentions and are capable of reflection and forgiveness (like…*gasp* real people!)
Cultural feminism has begun to permeate youth culture by granting women permission to be publicly out of control. What a time to be alive: the lady stoner phenomenon is, tgod, what has surfaced in the wake of the manic pixie dream girl of the mid to late 2000s (RIP to the careers of Zach Braff and Zooey Deschanel.) Also gone are the days of fashion/music’s controversially-dubbed heroin chic, when troubled and disaffected girls were fetishized in pop culture (Kate Moss, 90s Courtney Love.) In 2016 it’s cool to be a bit of a hot mess i.e. a tad self-absorbed, anxious, and perpetually stoned, so long as you have a big heart and can drop gems of feminist wisdom every now and then. The political message of the lady stoner is what elevates the trope to societally impactful art. Women are in control: of their bodies and what goes into them and of their own failures and mistakes. The message received is that women have a right to be a little out of control without the brand of a scarlet A. This cultural development is as validating as it is entertaining. When Abbi and Ilana spill blue ink all over gallery art and then laugh about it over a joint; when Amy Schumer talks brazenly about her bad sex, I begin to recognize their humanness. [Humanness: Humans making inevitable and disappointingly human mistakes, both as result of individual flaws, the burden of growing up, and being alive.] This cultural development is as validating as it is entertaining. Lady stoners and the new generation of pop culture party girls have taught me to accept and forgive the part of me that’s fun and messy and a little lost. The perfectionist in me begins to quiet down as I unlearn the misogyny that convinced me it was better to be nothing, to be silent, than to be less than perfect. I’m also unlearning the misogyny that made me distance myself from others to maintain an image of untouchable beauty and perfection. Cultural feminism tells me being myself, mess and all, feels better than self-protection. Loving someone for their humanness feels better than waiting to be perfect to be worthy of love.
So yeah, fuck yeah I’m a hot mess. I’m stoned as I write this. And the fact that I had to drunkenly climb through my bedroom window last night because I lost my keys again does not mean I am The Biggest Failure Ever. I’m a 19 year old girl who’s still sorting my shit out. And smoking lots of weed in the meantime.
So my conclusion, reached after a few bong rips and a brief period of reflection over a bowl of cocoa puffs, is this: Women are allowed to fuck up. We’re allowed to be lazy, goofy, stoners. We’re allowed to not know what we’re doing with our lives.
pixelskylines
kianamaiart
yousharknotpass
2087
annaxmalina
gummygunk
