EDITORIAL

THAT Mslexia isn’t bristling with in-your-face feminism has confused some reviewers. That it contains some (whisper it) irony has confused them still further. But, as Julian Barnes once commented, ‘irony can be defined as what people miss’. So perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.

Irony, it seems to me, is about having a bit of a laugh at something really rather serious. Without pretending it’s not serious. That’s the crucial diff-erence between irony and snide: irony cares; snide couldn’t give a flying one. Irony says ‘yes - and no’. Snide says ‘What does it matter? Let’s just poke fun at it’. Both are intended to be humorous. But snide leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. That’s why Mslexia likes irony (by and large). And dislikes snide.

But there’s a lot of snide about these days - had you noticed? And women (‘wimmin’ in snide-speak) doing it (whatever it is) for themselves are some of its fav-ourite targets. The result? Bit by bit the forum for discussing women’s concerns is contracting. Who, after all, wants to be sneered at? Only those with intensely-felt con-victions. And who wants to be associated with them?

Actually, Mslexia does (for the most part).

Debbie Taylor
Editor