I keep seeing the meandering, doe-eyed, ethereally lovely boho yoga goddess. She’s lithe and seems unfazed by most things. She Pinterests vacation trips to see fluorescent fish and she doesn’t even appear to own a comb. She seems to maybe run the occasionally errant vintage fork through her amazing waist-length Ariel in the Little Mermaid style hair.
She appears to have an all-access pass to everything Free People stocks. What she hasn’t found there, she has gleaned from some vintage store I’ve never seen. Oh and she makes her own organic vegetable dyes for some hand-sewn clothes as well! The sun naturally highlights her hair while she’s outside practicing yoga or surfing. She’s pro-everything light and love. She doesn’t share an opinion that’s controversial.
The modern boho Ariel is so busy being lovely and magical that she doesn’t take anything on. She is a princess. She won’t challenge the status quo because that’d be icky. She lives in a fairy tale and when shit gets real – she doesn’t engage.
She’s on the side of love. We know. We get that. She’s on the side of animals. She’s on the side of the environment. That is where we all stood when we were five.
I want to know where she stands on Ferguson. I want to know what she thinks about police brutality. How does she suggest we transform that?
How do we find out what the boho Ariel actually thinks? Do we even care?
If the modern bohos won’t engage then their opinions won’t actually be heard. We cannot just share our recipes for smoothies, links for fair-trade yoga pants, and snapshots of yoga photos.
Can we stop embracing this pseudo-new stereotype of a woman whose focus is again on her looks, her softness, her ability to not make waves? How can we encourage all of the bad-asses to stand up off of their yoga mats and be heard and trust that they are still yogis? I want to encourage us to go further than snapping and sharing photos of quotes about peace. I’m all for peace and furthermore I’m all for opinions and solutions created by strong thinkers who practice compassion and empathy.
Stand up ladies and use that thing-a-ma-bob: your voice.
