{"id":102,"date":"2015-10-02T04:09:49","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T04:09:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tantradiva.com\/?p=102"},"modified":"2022-05-01T03:24:56","modified_gmt":"2022-05-01T03:24:56","slug":"the-non-guruand-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tantradiva.com\/index.php\/2015\/10\/02\/the-non-guruand-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"The non-guru\u2026and WOMAN!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sorry if I sound a bit cheeky, but news of Gwyneth Paltrow proclaiming that she is \u201cclose to the common woman\u201d is making its rounds. \u00a0I caught a bit of it on CNN\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

You can read the article\/view the video clip here:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/money.cnn.com\/video\/luxury\/2015\/03\/17\/gwyneth-paltrow-goop-im-close-to-the-common-woman.cnnmoney\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Interestingly, CNNMoney filed this story under its \u201cLuxury\u201d news items. \u00a0Clearly, this wasn\u2019t a \u201cCelebrities who are like you!\u201d piece.<\/p>\n

The cheapest thing I saw sold on Goop\u2019s (Gwyneth\u2019s) website, was a $12 lip-conditioner. The “Goop\u2019s picks” of the day featured $395 track-shorts, a $990 cross-body bag and a $2,260 diamond ear-jacket. \u00a0Right now, all yours truly can afford for my ears are Q-tips. \u00a0But, I\u2019m sure they\u2019re thanking me!!! \u00a0I can get a whole bunch of them for less than $4. \u00a0I couldn\u2019t possibly splurge on one ear-jacket for $2,260! \u00a0That\u2019s almost 3 months of rent!<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t usually do mud-slinging, and I\u2019m not about to start now. \u00a0But, Gwyneth pleeeeeease! \u00a0RECOGNISE YOUR PRIVILEGE!<\/p>\n

To be fair to Gwyneth, she doesn\u2019t postulate that Goop\u2019s philosophy is \u201cI can have it all, and so can you.\u201d \u00a0Judging from the prices, YOU BETTER HAVE IT ALL, before you shop there. \u00a0In her own words:<\/p>\n

What we try to do at Goop is curate and to edit. We know that a woman\u2019s time is her most precious resource and we want to multitask, get a lot done, and what we want to do is provide the best solutions.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m incredibly close to the common woman in that I\u2019m a woman and I\u2019m a mother and we all are in a physical body with beating hearts with compassion and love we are all seekers\u2026 we all want fulfillment, we all want to live our best lives. We want to be healthy and happy and squeeze the most we can out of life. I think that\u2019s all women.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hmmm\u2026I was tempted to do a\u00a0Woman is the Nigger of the World<\/a>\u00a0piece, based upon John Lennon\u2019s and Yoko Ono\u2019s observations. \u00a0However, I don\u2019t think that the majority of this pertains to Gwyneth Paltrow, unless we\u2019re discussing the roles that she can play in male-dominated Hollywood.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s never been poor. \u00a0She benefits from a mostly white, patriarchal system, which privileges thinness, white skin and white features, wealth and pseudo-aging. \u00a0The latter is the term that I\u2019ve coined for the aging process, seemingly in-reverse. \u00a0(Where you get older but you consistently look younger) \u00a0This is considerably easier to accomplish, if you don\u2019t actually have to work for a living, can afford plastic surgery and botox. \u00a0In other words, you can take a break from your Oscar-winning acting career, to focus on building your brand selling luxury goods.<\/p>\n

In my article\u00a0Dumbination not Domination: Why \u2018the secret\u2019 is just stupid<\/a>, I noted that the American self-improvement industry is valued at close to $11 billion. \u00a0John LaRosa, the President of Marketdata Enterprises, released\u00a0this report<\/a>\u00a0in November 2013: 70% of self-improvement consumers are affluent women, living on the East and West coasts of the United States. \u00a0There are very few barriers to entry, permitting the activities of numerous entrepreneurs and small firms. \u00a0The industry is guru driven.<\/p>\n

Gwyneth denies that she is a guru. \u00a0She states:<\/p>\n

I see myself as an actor and a mother and as an entrepreneur. \u00a0I don\u2019t see myself as a guru at all, I think that I\u2019m building a lifestyle business. I\u2019m not a guru because I feel like I\u2019m the one asking the questions, you know? I\u2019m not purporting to know anything. I\u2019m just asking this doctor or that nutritionist or this expert, \u2018Hey, what is your take on this?’<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fair enough, but Gwyneth is selling a lifestyle\u00a0as she mentions: \u00a0The idea that you can live your best life, have fulfilling relationships, be healthy, happy and afford\u00a0astronomically priced goods and services. \u00a0Like Rhonda Byrne before her, Gwyneth has recognised that there is a mass of people craving this message. \u00a0A giant bloc of consumers who have lots of money and are willing to spend it. \u00a0Why not cash in?<\/p>\n

Who am I?<\/h1>\n

I don\u2019t have the privilege of being blind to my own privilege: \u00a0I am a woman-of-colour. \u00a0An immigrant. \u00a0An English-speaker within a dominant, French environment. \u00a0A single woman who supports herself financially. \u00a0I really can\u2019t afford to be stupid. \u00a0Plus, it would be an unatonable disservice to my parents, who paid over CDN $50,000 for my education.<\/p>\n

I have a blog and I share information. \u00a0I am no guru. \u00a0I present my thoughts after research and careful consideration. \u00a0I would like to help people.<\/p>\n

I would like to inspire people to have hope, and motivate them to be better people. \u00a0I am no Communist, but I do believe this capitalist system is appallingly unhealthy, for human beings and our planet. \u00a0We need to have more dialogues around the activities that we undertake. \u00a0We need to have\u00a0a greater consciousness beyond buying\u00a0$200 keychains<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0$50 vagina steams.<\/a>\u00a0 Take it from me\u2013washing your vagina and then going commando, is actually sufficient\u00a0for its health. \u00a0If you must wear underwear, then boxer-shorts and loose-fitting cotton briefs are your best bets.<\/p>\n

We must pay more attention to our thoughts, our inner dialogues and our interactions with other life-forms.<\/p>\n

I am nobody special, but I am significant as Carlos Santana would put it. \u00a0My life began as all human lives began. \u00a0It will end as all human lives end.\u00a0 In between, I\u2019d like for as many of us to be as happy as possible. We are all significant.<\/p>\n

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