America Is Mad

So here I am on a rather dismal rainy Saturday morning, trying desperately to ignore my hangover with the help of the 'Fashion and Style' section of the New York Times, when I stumble upon a rather perplexing article about the rise of the New York socialite as a means of high end fashion advertising. No longer content with peddling their goods on the microdermabraised backs of celebrities, luxury brands are now including young socialites in their advertising campaigns. With absurd names like Tinsley Mortimer and Aerin Lauder Zinterhofer, these ladies form the new vanguard of American aspiration. Like celebrities, they are rich, thin and polished to an inch of their lives. The only difference it seems is that it is even less apparent why we should look up to them, let alone try to imitate them. Reading on, I discovered that the commodifaction of these socialites is made even more complete with the existence of a plublished social ranking. This is ridiculous. Quite frankly this could very well be one of the most perverse manifestations of meritocracy since infant beauty pagents. I suppose this is what happens when you give puritans way too much money.

JonBenet, meet Tinsley.