The Apple Eaters
Woman Unplug During Hurricane Sandy. The Apple Eaters are the women who come to New York, aka the big apple, to fulfill their dreams and take a juicy crunch out of life.
Sweet!
Stripped of connection with civilization, i.e. the Internet, and from any respects of hygiene, The Apple Eaters lodging at the Salvation Army Women’s Dormitory went raw. Just what any woman would do in a crisis: open a bottle of wine and spill their guts until laughter numbs the cranky pain. Rather than brush past each other en route to fulfill busy schedules, we paused to hang out.
The first recruit, who we will call Femminista, was lost in Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. The girl is a reader; in her current library is, “Feminism is for Everyone” and, “Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions,” by Gloria Steinem. She is totally comfortable with herself, which is why she was so intriguing to approach. As an Apple Eater, she is interning for the feminist pop culture magazine, BUST before returning to Iowa State University to complete her degree in fashion merchandising.
When I asked Femminista how a feminist could be in fashion, she responded that fashion is an outlet to express yourself and to enjoy.
If she could change womankind in three ways it would be to:
1. No need to trash talk others. Womanhood is not a competition.
2. Girls should be fashion leaders and not style according to the crowd’s latest trend.
3. Independence. A girl’s motivation should not be pressured by finding a mate.
Why she is a feminist:
“I believe in equality,” said Femminista.
BUST, “the magazine for women with something to get off their chests.”
I had seen the second recruit, Lady Antique, often around the dormitory as we share the same floor and found her to be shy and afraid of her own shadow. Not. the. case. Her opinion speaks volumes because she is concise and knows what she wants.
During the Hurricane, she found she was able to think more freely without the influence of, “media nonsense.”
Lady Antique believes in reincarnation and as a child was swept with conscious visions, arguably memories, of her past lives. The one that suits her most is being a schoolteacher in the 1960’s in New England.
An antique is valued for its’ age, just as Lady Antique is an old soul.
This disclosure triggered an Apple Eater discussion about the spirit of a generation. While our youth acts more in spirit of YouTube, hitting music videos like Gangnam Style millions of times, the 1960’s believed that less was more. We are the essence of quantity rather than quality because we are clique-ing followers.
We brought up the Occupy movement and so please blame the wine for the shrewd joke made if we were to occupy the fashion industry. Imagine barricading Fifth Avenue and protesting the $500+ purchases of Jake Marcobs handbags and Milano Cookie Blah-blah-nik shoes.
Having taken the bus from Harlem to downtown that day, I was shocked to have witnessed people shopping in the haute couture boutiques uptown.
How could you be sashaying your size 0 ass down Madison Avenue while your fellow New Yorkers didn’t give a damn whether it was bottled or tap; face it, they either needed water or needed to get rid of it.
Stepping up to the plate is not an aerobics class. Call me the Wicked Witch of West Village, but I’ll get you my pretties, and your little dogs with jeweled collars too!
Recruit 3, Geronima, was taught to never settle for second best. She is a project manager who gets her hands dirty. When a cockroach joined the Apple Eaters for some compassion from the storm, she fearlessly helped me chase it around, pick it up and toss it out the window. A living creature from before the dinosaurs deserved to live.
Naturally (positive sarcasm*), Lady Antique related the incident to the story of Metamorphisis by Franz Kafka. While the sister became more beautiful and confident, the brother remained a wilted bug and died.
And so we were back on the feminism track! Together, we shared our perspectives and defined what it means to be a feminist. Our conclusions:
The Individual: She is a feminist if she puts her best self forward uninfluenced by pressures of others. Feel worthy.
Relationships with Men: Both can be feminist by respecting each other for what they do. Believe in competence.
Relationships with Women: A feminist listens to other women unconditionally and is able to see the strengths of different perspectives. Listen and share.
Geronima would like to put our collective attitude into movement and so we, The Apple Eaters, have promised to reinstate the women’s new identity. A fashion show in Union Square is the ticket to representing what women feel great wearing. She is the brand. The clothes bring forward who she is on the inside. Think X-ray.
Join and drink champagne to celebrate The Apple Eater!
Confident to the bone.
Timing is everything. No better way to continue supporting Small Businesses Saturday than to shop from innovative pioneers set apart from the billboard brands. BUST magazine is the original small business magazine, emphasizing content, content, content. Going on their 20th anniversary, this eclectic femme magazine impacts women’s ferocity as they herald the notion, “for women with something to get off their chests.”
Networking, In Your Face 