What do you get when you marry victimhood and narcissistic self-worship? Today’s woke ideologue journalist. For it is left-wing journalists resting upon their precarious perch in corporate legacy media who, despite (admittedly declining) wealth and influence, believe they are actually victims worthy of America’s sympathy and support.
They are the oppressed, beleaguered heroes keeping the fires of truth burning in these dark days of reinvigorated conservative cultural and political dominance, waging a fearless battle against patriarchy and racism. They also happen to have sufficient wealth and free time to indulge in some of the priciest and most self-absorbed activities that define our digital age. One need look no further than a recent column by The Washington Post’s Karen Attiah to observe the paradox.
WaPo Columnist Weds Victimhood and Self-Worship
Attiah presents the perfect example of how the contemporary obsession with victimhood and self-absorption are actually one and the same thing. Her op-ed begins by talking about how much she hated being skinny. As a teenager, she claims she was subject to stereotypes about “underfed Africans.” She yearned to be strong so she could be “a threat to the gender system.”
When Attiah began working out at a gym post-Covid, she started to put on muscle. She admits her physical labor was motivated by a vain desire to improve her body. Attiah is obviously proud to be strong — between the print and web versions of the article, there are three different photos of her showing off her body in the gym. She brags about winning a silver medal at the 2021 USA Muay Thai Open. She calls lifting an act of resistance and declares it is “how we build the power to birth a better world.”
Yet despite her obvious “flexing” about her body, Attiah’s article is also peppered with digressions about women’s bodily and financial autonomy, and how women are “realizing that men are not unfailing providers and protectors.” She complains about strangers squeezing her arms without asking, while “random men” demand to arm wrestle or suggest fighting her. She’s even apparently threatened not only by conservative women but by women who want to get pregnant.
That the editors at The Washington Post didn’t perceive the bizarre hypocrisy in this piece demonstrates how little they have learned despite their recent shakeup. Attiah is a self-described victim of a white supremacist and patriarchal American society — yet she also has sufficient money for gym memberships and vitamins and the time to gain 20 pounds of muscle. Did I mention she’s a Washington Post columnist who has won awards for her “journalism”?
Much of the Elite Class of ‘Journalists’ Is Like This
If only Attiah were unique in her self-indulgence and fabricated sense of victimhood among the elite journalism class. Yet for liberal woke ideologues, this is arrestingly common. Indeed, one need look no further than CBS late-night host Stephen Colbert, who has sought to play the victim regarding the cancellation of his show, which many have argued was an attempt to placate President Trump, whom Colbert incessantly attacked with the vigor of the most liberal primetime pundit. Journalists across liberal legacy media claim Trump and Republicans are waging war against the press, such as recent moves to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a demonstrably liberal institution run by extremist ideologues such as Katherine Maher.
And who could forget crybully Taylor Lorenz, formerly of The Washington Post, who claimed she suffered from PTSD because of online criticism? Though Lorenz is a nationally known “journalist” with a national bestseller of a book, she also demands that everyone recognize her status as a victim. That she fawned over the assassin who brutally murdered UnitedHealthcare’s CEO makes such behavior all the more bizarre and disturbing.
Why Victimhood Goes with Narcissism
Perhaps it’s not all that surprising that narratives of both alleged victimhood and narcissism go together. If you believe you are a victim, even when things are going well for you, in the wealthiest and most successful country in the world, then you are obviously spending too much time thinking about yourself. The person who interprets everything through a lens of victimhood is already focused on the self and thus more prone to self-celebratory thoughts and behaviors. The more such people cycle down the drain of this narcissism, the more impervious they are to reality, lacking the self-awareness to see themselves for what they often actually are: entitled.
That certainly seems to be the case with people like Attiah, Colbert, and Lorenz, all wealthy and successful even by American standards. Lord knows how much time Attiah spends in the gym — presumably a lot, given she is also an amateur Muay Thai competitor. Yet somehow she still sees her life as a healthy, successful “journalist” as beholden to power structures that harm black females such as herself. So much so that she can’t help but write a 1,700-word column showing off her gains in the gym. Is it any wonder legacy media are continuing their long descent into irrelevance?