44. On being a woman: the glow-up and the regression
One thousand women figured out how to thrive. The data suggests the next generation may not get the same chance.
Today’s letter includes: Daryl Hannah’s NYT clapback, the B2B exec who quit her job to Substack, Eddie Huang is so back, the effects of war and the things happening while we’re distracted by it, trains are sexy again, a musical about Luigi Mangione, and more.
Hi friends.
There’s a certain kind of woman in her 30s right now who is thriving.
She left her toxic relationship. She’s financially independent. She started sleeping and puts on sunscreen. She looks, frankly, incredible — and more importantly, she feels it.
In the article, “1000 women told me how to stay hot in your 30s,” survey answers were a split between the expected (retinol, strength training, sleep etc.) and the slightly more radical, like “leave the relationship that is aging you.” Basically, the real secret to staying hot is mostly just removing the things that were quietly destroying you. I can personally attest to the glow up afterwards.
But shedding what doesn't serve you only gets you so far when the world keeps adding to the pile. The Epstein files, the Alexander brothers' conviction this week, and Gisèle Pelicot’s recently released memoir tell the same story from different angles. The threat isn't anomalous. It's structural.
One reading of all this: as women gained independence over the past few decades — and boomer men, by and large, didn’t believe they needed to be “controlled” (see study below) — some men found other, darker ways to assert dominance anyway. The abuse didn’t happen despite progress. It may have happened alongside it. Which makes the next data point all the more unsettling.
A new global study of 23,000 people across 29 countries found that nearly a third of gen Z men believe wives should obey their husbands, a rate double that of baby boomers. A third (33%) of gen Z males also said a husband should have the final word on important decisions and almost a quarter (24%) of gen Z males think women should not appear too independent or self-sufficient (compared with 12% of baby boomer men).
But here’s the twist: gen Z men are simultaneously the generation most likely to find women with successful careers attractive.
So they want you both ambitious and subservient?!
For the women coming up behind us, the glow-up might be a longer road.
Rumor has it that Substack is suppressing free content. If you’d like to resist the algorithm pushing paid content only, then liking, sharing, quoting and restacking this newsletter will help! <3
The race to figure out how creators/newsletter writers will make sustainable livings continues.
Rich Text makes move from Substack to Patreon. The pop culture publication/podcast explains why here.
The “I left my job to start a Substack” has officially landed in the B2B world. Former VP of Rev Ops at ZoomInfo (who had a long career at Salesforce before that) announced that she was “launching an AI-first RevOps agency, dropping a new podcast called Little Less Corporate, starting a Substack, and quietly building something in the background that [she’s] not ready to share yet.”
Lonely Planet is hiring a social media manager. Salary is listed at $70-112K.
New York Magazine interviewed 53 New Yorkers about how much money they make. Highlights include a fashion Substack writer who apparently made $275,300 last year and a ghostwriter pulling $107,768 writing for other people’s Substacks. An industry inside an industry.
Collina Strada sale is doing extra 20% off at checkout.
Eddie Huang reopened Baohaus in the East Village. The restaurant is now open at 97 St. Marks Place near First Avenue. “It’s grown up, and it hasn’t. Hip-hop is still played at rattling volume, and Huang himself was still supervising the pass, in a bucket hat and Terry McLaurin jersey, pausing to dap up old friends,” wrote Matthew Schneier for Grubstreet.
Trains have never looked sexier! High speed trains are much more resilient than air travel in inclement weather, which we’ve been experiencing at frequent rates due to global warming. Learn why they’re better even though we’ll never have them, probably.
I didn’t see the Moment but…. I guess Charli XCX wants to quit music for acting now.
War effects:
Oil just hit $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine. The Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20% of the world’s oil passes — has come to a near-halt as the war in Iran escalates, forcing major Gulf producers to cut output as storage tanks fill with nowhere to ship. Trump has since stated there will be a quick end to the war and prices have pulled back — but analysts warn that if the strait stays closed, $150 a barrel is on the table.
The war is also rattling Wall Street. Veteran strategist Ed Yardeni has raised the probability of a market meltdown to 35%, up from 20%, and cut his odds of a “meltup” — when investor enthusiasm overrides shaky fundamentals — to just 5%.
Mrs. Dow Jones is begging you to freeze your credit. Real war means real cybercrime — and right now the conditions are perfect for it. “My credit is always frozen,” she says. “Yours should be too.”
Two inflation gauges are telling different stories. The consumer price index shows inflation around 2.4%, while the Fed’s preferred measure — personal consumption expenditures — sits closer to 2.9%. Rising oil prices tied to the Iran war are making the Fed’s job harder: cut rates too soon and risk accelerating inflation; hold too long and risk slowing the economy. There is no good answer right now.
While we’re distracted by war:
Live Nation gets away with monopoly. The DOJ settled with Live Nation on Monday, letting them keep Ticketmaster. The DOJ pushed out its own antitrust chief shortly before settling — the same period Live Nation added one of Trump’s closest advisers to its board. Corruption continues to go up, concert ticket prices will not be going down.
One family is about to control CBS, CNN, and HBO. David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance beat Netflix in a bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. A deal that, combined with Paramount’s existing ownership, puts an extraordinary share of American media under one roof. Democrats in Congress have vowed to scrutinize the deal. Given everything else happening this week, don’t count on anyone paying close attention.
Ozempic and Hims just became frenemies. Months of legal rancor came to an end Monday when Novo Nordisk and Hims & Hers agreed to sell Wegovy and Ozempic together, sending Hims shares up more than 40%.
Daryl Hannah claps back on how she’s portrayed in “Love Story” the show about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. “The character ‘Daryl Hannah’ portrayed in the series is not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John,” she wrote in an Opinion essay for the NYT. “The actions and behaviors attributed to me are untrue.” Jamie Lee Curtis posted excerpts on Instagram in solidarity.
Noma joins list of restaurants with toxic workplaces. Dozens of former employees say René Redzepi inflicted physical and psychological violence on the staff. Redzepi has since released a statement of his own, which includes an apology “to those who have suffered under my leadership.”
There’s already a musical about Luigi Mangione. “Luigi: The Musical” imagines Mangione’s time inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Sunset Park, where he rotates into the jail’s fictionalized “Big Three” alongside Sam Bankman-Fried and Sean Combs. It looks wild.
Thanks for reading!