(Un)Kind

Using the #JustBeKind trend of the 2020s as a starting point, (Un)kind explores how traditional beliefs about women´s ´kind´ nature have been repackaged for an age that remains dependent - socially, politically, economically - on female self-sacrifice while finding the concept outdated and essentialist. Looking at the various guises under which kindness culture is sold to women and girls - from play to self-help, social justice activism to empowerment - Victoria Smith argues that the pressure on women and girls has not decreased, but instead been incorporated into the ´work´ of feminism. (Un)kind analyses the way in which this phenomenon ultimately distorts relationships, harming not just those coerced into performing ´kindness work´ but the supposed recipients of their services. Kindness culture supports the backlash against feminism while claiming to represent feminism´s - and women´s - true nature. It is, at heart, unkind.