I read Alex Briggs’s article on my way home from class recently, stopping off as I generally do to raid the dumpster of a major grocery chain. Yet surprisingly, while I found plenty of leeks, onions, bananas and oranges, there were no gender studies to be seen!
There’s nothing wrong with Alex’s ultimate point. He’s right, the pleasures of the world should be free, and we should work to make it so. But he doesn’t bother to draw a connection between “dumpstering returns us to our roots and balances our psyches” and the idea that dumpstering is inherently feminine. One builds an argument like anything else; foundations support every architectural conclusion. Relying on the old hunter-gatherer narrative of humanity is overdone and questionable in its accuracy.
Come on, Alex, don’t you find that equating scavenging with a feminine viewpoint a bit degrading? Aren’t you relying on the same tired dichotomy you profess to dislike about society – the man “imposing his will” on the Provigo aisles while the woman (or dude in a skirt, oh lawl at The Daily’s funny!) digs through the spoiled food out back? What does “following a feminine model of happiness” even mean? Can I just be happy? Is that allowed?
The greatest thing about diving for your dinner is that the dumpster is a great equalizer. As Alex points out, it doesn’t require any skills or pre-requisites, only a bit of common sense and an open mind. I love seeing friends of every ideological stripe stop by to drop off their riches, arms laden with dumpstered deliciousness. Why can’t we celebrate this quality of our lifestyle without trying to force it into a conversation about gender?
Amy Monroe
U2 Middle East Studies