by Within a capitalist consumer society, the cult of personality has the power to subsume ideas, to make the person, the personality into the product and not the work itself.
bell hooks
The Cult of Personality is the engine that runs the Safe Haven Baby Box movement.
I don’t know if the SHBB movement would disappear if SHBB Inc founder/CEO Monica Kelsey ran off to Argentina with a Swiss bank account in her purse, but it’s been fun watching Mrs Kelsey’s narcissistic turn south into LaLLaLand. How could she not, with millions of Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok followers and constant press attention? It happens. It’s the natural progress of celebrity in late-stage capitalism, where we are all commodities. It’s better to commodify yourself than be commodified by the invisible hand of the market that you can’t control. And there’s a sucker born every minute.
The Trumpyesque meme below was posted on SHBB social media sometime back, and illustrates perfectly bell hooks’ astute observation about the person becoming the product. That is, Mrs Kelsey makes her “baby saving” movement about herself. Look at me!
The Cult of Personality
Th first time I saw this meme, I thought Mrs Kelsey had outted herself as “Chief Baby Smuggler, I was thrilled at the unexpected audacity. Alas! ! On second reading I realized she is a “Baby Snuggler. ” Among other vocations. Self-promotion is the name of the Kelsey Game and her fan base seems to have no problem with this. ba ba ba
If I or any other adoptee rights advocates promoted themselves like this, we’d be driven out of Dodge. If any trad safe haven advocates promoted themselves like this, they’d be riding a rail. Yet, for some reason this is OK. And the money pours in and boxes are installed. Cross-posted to Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now!
Cross-posted from The Daily Bastardette
____________
(No, it will never be X!)
Stop Safe Haven Baby Boxes Now!
Poke the Bear 2025
Day 3 – 27 days to go!
Leave a Reply