Marie Antoinette: Feminist Role Model For Our Age

I’m always testing my theories and beliefs in order to make sure they hold true, I think all people should do that. One of my beliefs is that the media is utterly corrupt, so I often subject myself to the media to see if I need to in any way modify my position.

Today I came across a program guide for PBS and thought leafing through it might serve to strengthen or weaken my conviction about the media. This, after all, is the apex of television broadcasting. This is the station that puts forth high-brow programming and takes support from viewers and the government rather than relying solely on advertising dollars.

And when I looked at the cover I was indeed impressed, for upon it was an announcement for a series on Marie Antoinette. Perhaps media was not a complete wasteland after all, since PBS was willing to delve into the decadent era of 18th Century France and the out-of-touch royalty that had to, as Neal Peart wrote “kneel to let (their) kingdom rise”.

Alas, my hope that PBS might explore the theme of a decadent ruling class was dashed when I read the description of the series: “…follows a young Marie Antoinette as she learns the rules and secrets of the court and attempts to recreate Versailles in her image: free, independent, and feminist. But her successes provoke jealousy and rivalry, and her royal enemies will do everything they can to bring her down.”

So the story I had known my entire life of a woman of extravagant wealth and a complete indifference to the suffering of the commoners has been altered to fit the times. The woman whose entire life had been encapsulated in the quote (apocryphal or otherwise) “Let them eat cake” will henceforward be tied instead to an expression such as “Girl power!”

Sometime in the 90’s, I had an occasion to work on a project with a couple of people from Los Angeles. Having lived at that time for a couple of years in a small Wisconsin town, my cosmopolitan cred could not possibly equal theirs, so I followed their lead on sensitive and changing attitudes toward race, gender and what would now be called LGBTQ+ issues.

The man was gay, the woman was an outspoken feminist, and both were quite up on identity politics. I was young and exploring a world I had scarce had the opportunity to know about, having spent most of my working life in factories and garages. Yet here we were in a Vietnamese restaurant (my first time), and I was getting a chance to experience more of life than could be seen from a factory town.

It was obvious our waitress’s first language was Vietnamese. She spoke English with difficulty and she tended to rely on certain phrases she had quite possibly only recently learned. One which she used in response to almost every question or comment was “Thank you”. She said it in a way that betrayed her unfamiliarity with English. It was cute and I would say charming, but I have to confess it was also a little amusing.

My co-workers picked up on it right away and thought it was funny to say thank you in return, which elicited a “Thank you” from our waitress. And the more she was made to say “Thank you”, the funnier the people I was with found it. They really stretched it to almost absurd lengths. And although there was nothing overtly cruel in this teasing, the waitress seemed to become more flustered. Perhaps she did not know she was being teased, but she was not included in the fun, either.

While initially I found it rather funny/charming that our waitress behaved in this manner, the whole thing soon left me feeling uncomfortable. I was following the lead of people who knew more than me and were presumably more well-mannered than someone who had spent most of his time in a factory with white males. And yet I felt something wasn’t right.

Looking back on it now, I have this to say about it: for many people of the bourgeoisie and the petty bourgeoisie, identity politics are not intended for the poors. There is a vast and complicated set of rules for how we treat people of a certain class, but that does not extend to those who bus our tables, fix our cars, and carry the train of our dresses.

That is not to say that the rules of identity politics are not supposed to be followed by the great unwashed working class, just that it doesn’t apply to them. The upper class that creates the rules surrounding identity politics are quick to correct and look down on working stiffs who don’t use the proper terminology, but only when it is useful to them will they use those rules to defend working class people.

It’s surprising how quickly those who rise from the working class into the upper classes are able to forget where they came from and imitate the sensibilities of their new surroundings. There is very little class-consciousness it seems among the working class, but it is quite strong among the bourgeoisie and their more favored servants. AOC not so long ago boasted of her working class background, but that was quickly cast aside the moment she experienced a little power and recognition. I’m beginning to suspect her working class roots were somewhat overstated. People of the upper classes are always looking to get street cred by playing up their humble beginnings.

If you are poor, or among the lower rung of the working class, chances are identity politics is not your most important issue. I’m always surprised that a place like Hooters always finds women willing to work for them. I suspect it is because, whatever their feelings on feminist issues, many women are just thinking about their need to support their children. Many people are willing to put aside their personal values for the mighty dollar. Before you judge the working woman doing whatever she can for her family, consider how many people of the upper classes do the same without necessity dictating it.

Identity issues are important, no doubt about it. But they should not be dictated by an elite and alienated class of people who have no idea what life is like for the vast majority of us. Too often they create norms around identity politics as a way of assuming a greater moral stature than they have a right to assume. Money equates to neither intelligence nor moral stature. If you have any doubts about this, I suggest you take a look at the Trump family.

Identity politics need not be dictated to us from Ivy League Universities or millionaires on The View. Those who sit above us are always seeking to divide us: out of self-interest, out of a sense of entitlement, and perhaps out of sheer boredom. The results we get are documentaries about Marie Antoinette, feminist. We can and must do better.

As for me, I shall cling to the impressions I got of Marie Antoinette from less decadent and bourgeoisie-dominated times. Here are a few lines from the song Marie Antoinette, sung by Sonia Christina:

We are the people of France

We demand

that the elegant blue-blooded

leeches that bleed us

are taught what it means

to grow fat and not feed us

we are the people of France

you must heed us

…they rise

chanting revolution!

“Vive la Nation!”