JD Vance Takes His Place in Long Line of Unqualified White Men

But read on for WAY BETTER writers and new SC progressive media company!!!

Is anyone else doing a sage cleanse of their minds after being subjected to so many images of Matt Gaetz and JD Vance and failed sons Eric and Don Jr.? New conspiracy theory: they’re all clones of the original mediocre white guy.

Evan Hurst

described Vance as an “unlikeable pile of human butthair” and this image will keep me laughing at him through the next few months until (oh god hopefully) he slips back into the dark shadows of billionaire lobbyist money and leaves us alone (except for Ohio, you elected him dummies now you’re stuck until 2028).

JD Vance got famous by writing his class traitor memoir Hillbilly Elegy that threw an entire region under the bus for his personal financial gain (way to be a team player, Vancie). Luckily for us, there are WAY BETTER Appalachian writers you can read. Fellow English professor Meredith McCarroll wrote a stellar piece for Bitter Southerner (seriously I love them), “Hillbillies Need No Elegy” to promote her edited collection Appalachian Reckoning. The book features dozens of writers from the region responding to Vance’s memoir, and I haven’t read it yet, but it looks fabulous. Of course also highly recommend Appalachian writer Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead, a brilliant rewriting of David Copperfield set in Lee County, Virginia, which is so much better than Hillbilly Elegy that Vance should just give up and shoot all the copies of his book into space on a Musk shuttle.

And one of my most favorite feminists, bell hooks, is also Appalachian. Did Vance steal his title from her work Appalachian Elegy? Probably, what a loser. Anyway, here’s an excerpt from that work:

bell hooks, Appalachian Elegy: Poetry and Place, 2012.

Speaking of great writers, I’m so excited about the launch of South Carolina’s only progressive media company,

The Arena

, featuring my favorite people from Twitter who I can’t follow anymore because Musk turned that platform into a dank fraternity basement. Highly recommend you subscribe, where you can read and watch pieces like these:

The Power of Sisterhood in the Senate with Senators Tameika Isaac Devine and Margie Bright Matthews

Emily Mayer Talks with SC Senate Candidate Jessicka Spearman

Y’all so many people are working so hard to make our state (and our country) a better place. Keep on keeping on, and save the date August 7^th at 5:30 EST for our Zoom discussion of our next book club selection pick, Do The Work.

And let the birthdays begin: Hot Feminism turns two today! Thank you so, so much to everyone for reading, sharing, subscribing, and especially to paid subscribers for your support. I turn 45 at the end of the month, so if you want to upgrade to a paid subscription to celebrate, this Leo would love it! xoxo