Crone Island, disrupted

May 17, 2018 2:51 PM

Entrepreneur Kristina Roth has founded SuperShe Island, a private retreat off the coast of Finland where no men are allowed. Potential SuperShes apply for membership; those "upbeat and cool" women accepted pay rates beginning at $3500 for a retreat in a shared cabin, all-inclusive amenities, and helipad access. Critics argue the vetting process and price tag are unfeminist. Other critics find the whole concept sexist (no links necessary or desired). Forget the margaritas, though: no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.
posted by fast ein Maedchen (120 comments total)

So somebody has made Chako Paul City real?
posted by acb at 2:55 PM on May 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Forget the margaritas, though: no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.

Doesn't sound like paradise to me...
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 3:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [83 favorites]

Hopefully the food is better than a slice of supermarket cheese on wheat bread.
posted by tobascodagama at 3:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [15 favorites]

Forget the margaritas, though: no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.

Isn't that how you get scurvy?
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 3:01 PM on May 17, 2018 [49 favorites]

Man I would pay money NOT to have to share a cabin with self-righteous strangers and no booze for a week
posted by daisystomper at 3:02 PM on May 17, 2018 [95 favorites]

It's a shame that civil rights law in the US (at least in many states) makes such businesses dicey. Many do similar things that may be technically illegal, relying on the government not to enforce sufficiently well-intentioned activities.

Discrimination the basis of gender in the manner that SuperShe or The Wing does should not be equated with, say, hostile workplace environments, harassment, and unequal pay along a protected category. More nuanced laws would be nice.

I realize there is slippery slope here, and it's difficult to articulate perfect principles, but some slippery slopes need to be descended a bit.
posted by andrewpcone at 3:08 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Every part of this sounds bad except for having an island retreat that is free of men. But this? I guess the adage about not wanting to be a member of any club that would accept me is flipped on its head here. I have no desire to take part in anything like this; good job that they'd never take me!
posted by tzikeh at 3:14 PM on May 17, 2018 [18 favorites]

Women only, upbeat and cool, "Forget the margaritas, though: no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island."

Feels like they're on cult stage one, where cult stage three is starvation and Alison Mack branding people.
posted by leotrotsky at 3:19 PM on May 17, 2018 [67 favorites]

Is this the new trend? Like that expensive resort in Utah or Colorado that was on the blue some while back for exclusively super rich people?

This timeline is the worst.
posted by Fizz at 3:25 PM on May 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

what are the odds of this being gross and TERFy though.
posted by poffin boffin at 3:27 PM on May 17, 2018 [90 favorites]

no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island."

Whoever has a boat around Finland could probably make some money smuggling rum and candy to the island.
posted by FJT at 3:28 PM on May 17, 2018 [35 favorites]

Upbeat and cool are arguably mutually exclusive.
posted by surlyben at 3:29 PM on May 17, 2018 [18 favorites]

Upbeat and cool. So happy shiny people? Like Instagram.
posted by Ideefixe at 3:29 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

what are the odds of this being gross and TERFy though.

The WaPo article sheds some light on this: "But Roth rejects this argument and insists her island will be a place designed to be without sexual tension and inclusive of anyone who identifies oneself as a woman."
posted by FJT at 3:30 PM on May 17, 2018 [10 favorites]

a place designed to be without sexual tension and inclusive of anyone who identifies oneself as a woman

okay but like
...not everyone is hetero-oriented?
how on earth can any place that has humans in it be billed as 'without sexual tension' unless it's a retreat for ace people only, but it does not appear to be that, so
posted by halation at 3:34 PM on May 17, 2018 [58 favorites]

no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.


Hard pass..

... despite the fact that keto diet has me halfway there already.

Not that it matters because I'd fail all three (or more?) major criteria for visiting, namely sex, cool-factor, and funds in reserve.
posted by RolandOfEld at 3:35 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Okay, so I'll admit that this is ripe for mockery, but how exactly can you do this concept "right"?

If you and a group of friends want to book a place for the week, you do it. This concept is "meet strangers, no men," but furthermore, you kinda want to meet different people right?

I dunno, maybe it's trying too hard to shape the experience, but it's a cabin retreat, not a staffed resort, so it'd make sense that they're gonna screen the guests.

With regard to cost and excluding minorities? Yeah that sucks, but it's a vacation. I'm not sure how a $3000 week-long vacation wouldn't have that problem. The same accusation could be levied toward any vacation experience.

Honestly, the "alcohol and sugar are banned" bits are the only things that seem really off. Everything else is kinda, "yeah it'd be great if we could all afford to have this."
posted by explosion at 3:36 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.
What's this then - from the promo video.
posted by unliteral at 3:44 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

At the very least you pick an island surrounded by warm water.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:46 PM on May 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

Tough crowd as always. From Indepedent more explicitly, “Transgender women are welcome to become members and travel to SuperShe Island,” says Roth.
posted by xigxag at 3:49 PM on May 17, 2018 [14 favorites]

this type of thing feels very alienating to me so I’m probably not the target market and hey that’s cool
posted by nikaspark at 3:51 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I don't know about the law in Finland, but vetting members is possibly a necessary step; most of the single-gender groups in the US that have been forced to integrate by the courts, as far as I'm aware, it's because they tried to be "private clubs" but didn't fuss at all about membership requirements aside from protected class membership. Scale matters, here. I don't actually see any problem trading the ability for straight men to congregate in private clubs for the ability of members of other classes to do so without straight men. This is one of those things where I think she should have the legal right to do it, but while I am 100% the right market for a women-only retreat space, I won't be trying to get on the list. Despite the comments, I'm not overly worried about being too queer... but I do think I'm probably too fat.
posted by Sequence at 3:51 PM on May 17, 2018 [9 favorites]

E.L. THREAD: Crone Island
MEFI: yay!
WONDER WOMAN: Themiscyra
MEFI: yay!
SUPERSHE: An actual private island for women
MEFI: well now hold on there
posted by prize bull octorok at 3:52 PM on May 17, 2018 [76 favorites]

come on, you can't tell me they don't have wine on Themyscira; they probably play kottabos with it
posted by Countess Elena at 3:57 PM on May 17, 2018 [33 favorites]

I'm genuinely curious, now, if a corresponding "dong island" exists
posted by phooky at 3:57 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

An actual private island for fabulously wealthy, "cool" women.
posted by tobascodagama at 3:58 PM on May 17, 2018 [7 favorites]

Bohemian Grove? (I don't believe they kill babies or anything, but they do exist --)
posted by Countess Elena at 3:59 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

"The retreat’s menu would be nutrient dense and healthy. The idea is to detox and hopefully lose a little weight by the end of the week. The island is a substance free zone, which means this is one retreat that will not be supplying alcohol."

This is just an old-timey fat farm for rich ladies, then?
posted by queensissy at 4:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [38 favorites]

"Tough crowd as always. From Indepedent more explicitly, “Transgender women are welcome to become members and travel to SuperShe Island,” says Roth."

I'm more curious if they'll allow gay women. She says one of the goals of the island is to have no sexual tension around.
posted by GoblinHoney at 4:02 PM on May 17, 2018 [20 favorites]

If I was making an island for women I’d say “all women are welcome, this includes cis women”

But then again I am living in a version of the future that’s not evenly distributed yet so I just try to be cool and chill and understand that my particular malfunction and damage means I feel more welcome on the island of misfit girls than I do the island of upbeat and cool girls.
posted by nikaspark at 4:04 PM on May 17, 2018 [23 favorites]

Hopefully the food is better than a slice of supermarket cheese on wheat bread.

So $3.5k gets you on the island.. What bands are booked for this one again ?
posted by k5.user at 4:05 PM on May 17, 2018 [13 favorites]

E.L. THREAD: Crone Island
MEFI: yay!
WONDER WOMAN: Themiscyra
MEFI: yay!
SUPERSHE: An actual private island for women
MEFI: well now hold on there

not really fair to reduce the crone island idea to just "an island with only women" as i'm pretty confident that crones didn't have big ole financial barriers and dieting requirements in mind as gatekeepers or anything.

i specifically recall promises of maragaritas and tacos, if one is so inclined
posted by lazaruslong at 4:10 PM on May 17, 2018 [56 favorites]

An exclusive mysterious retreat on a forbidden island? If this was gender swapped I would fully expect to show up and find it to be a "Most Dangerous Game" type deal.

I await the inevitable implosion and think piece articles.
posted by Query at 4:11 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I think it's more like...

Step 1: Buy island.
Step 2: Hand-select women who can visit the island.
???
Step 4: Have an island with only the people you personally want to hang out with, but have those other people foot the entire bill for having the island even though you get to make all the rules.
posted by Sequence at 4:14 PM on May 17, 2018 [24 favorites]

???

I mean, the ??? here is literally just "provide amenities and services as advertised." I personally would not pay three grand to sit under pine trees drinking La Croix with a bunch of dudes, but this isn't exactly an Underpants Gnome business plan
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:16 PM on May 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

Step 4: Have an island with only the people you personally want to hang out with, but have those other people foot the entire bill for having the island even though you get to make all the rules.

This really is the ultimate goal of Lean In feminism isn’t it.
posted by nikaspark at 4:17 PM on May 17, 2018 [17 favorites]

and inclusive of anyone who [...]

Am I crazy or is this the one thing you don't get to qualify without turning into its opposite...? Also, your treehouse smells like poop anyway. So there.
posted by kleinsteradikaleminderheit at 4:18 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

You could say that literally any business' step 3 is "provide amenities and services as advertised"--it's usually not actually enough to constitute a viable business plan.
posted by Sequence at 4:19 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

SuperShe Island? With a helipad?

It's probably good that J.G. Ballard passed when he did - much like The Onion, he's now been co-opted by unvarnished reality.
posted by ryanshepard at 4:21 PM on May 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

Sounds like Lesbos before they got lax about admissions.
posted by rongorongo at 4:22 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

well let's try it with the canonical example

1. Collect underpants
2. Provide amenities and services as advertised
3. Profit

doesn't actually make sense, does it? so maybe it's not really accurate to say that this fairly basic idea for an exclusive retreat is ridiculous and nonsensical? because it's just a damn retreat, for women, on an island?

it's sort of fascinating watching people feel around for a way to take this down a peg.
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:23 PM on May 17, 2018 [9 favorites]

Yeah, I could fit the bill in some respects, but others...yeah, no. Also, I am..ahem...a woman of substance, and health issues, and am allergic to sunlight. I really don't think they want me.
And I don't want them, either. (Or I'd better not. Or I guess they'd kick me out?)

The cool girls I would like to hang out are mostly here on metafilter, anyway, and not making insinuations about my sexual tensions or lack thereof. We're Singing musical theater in the bathroom, spontaneously transforming Les Mis into a show about public restroom facilities... you know us when you see us.
posted by Nancy_LockIsLit_Palmer at 4:26 PM on May 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

tbph i feel like 3500 bones for an "upbeat and cool" womens island experience takes itself down a peg just by existing, this is like those boring-ass rich millennials making skiing and playing outdoors somehow tedious due to a combination of exclusivity and intense blandness

i mean im not a woman anymore and i think this concept just kind of blows in general so w/e
posted by nixon's meatloaf at 4:28 PM on May 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

it's sort of fascinating watching people feel around for a way to take this down a peg.

except that there's no feeling around required - the obvious criticisms are part of the damn FPP

like, cool that you have no problem with SuperShe but acting bemused that anyone else could possibly find fault when the pushback is baked into the FPP and kinda obvious / important to other mefites is kinda funny to watch also.
posted by lazaruslong at 4:29 PM on May 17, 2018 [15 favorites]

I'm genuinely curious, now, if a corresponding "dong island" exists

It's dong marsh. I suppose it's not technically no-women-allowed, just no-women-can-stop-predators.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 4:30 PM on May 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

The island sleeps 10 people in four luxurious cabins, offering wellness activities and opportunities for bonding.

literally 9 women handpicked by a wealthy white woman who owns multiple islands with a big ole price tag and boasting its weight loss perks and helipad access


HOW CAN ANYONE FIND A WAY TO TAKE THIS DOWN A PEG?
posted by lazaruslong at 4:31 PM on May 17, 2018 [63 favorites]

the obvious criticisms are part of the damn FPP

and various criticisms have been floated that are unsupported or even explicitly refuted by the FPP
posted by prize bull octorok at 4:32 PM on May 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

I wonder who will be making the beds, cooking the meals, etc. Upbeat / cool "help" of the appropriate gender, I guess?
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:32 PM on May 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

On my imaginary island "strong yet submissive men" is the answer to that question.
posted by nikaspark at 4:45 PM on May 17, 2018 [16 favorites]

I wonder who will be making the beds

I hope it is Robots.
posted by Ashwagandha at 4:47 PM on May 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

literally 9 women handpicked by a wealthy white woman who owns multiple islands with a big ole price tag and boasting its weight loss perks and helipad access


HOW CAN ANYONE FIND A WAY TO TAKE THIS DOWN A PEG?

james bond will - it's going to be in his next movie
posted by pyramid termite at 4:52 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Only hot robots, though.
posted by praemunire at 4:54 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I hope it is Robots.

Isn't that like 40k - 120k/day?
posted by mikelieman at 4:54 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

it's monster dong henry isn't it
posted by poffin boffin at 5:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

with his weird flexible teeth
posted by poffin boffin at 5:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [12 favorites]

Only cool and upbeat robots.
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

Yeah that sounds nightmarish. Being surrounded by thin, enthusiastically upbeat rich women with no alcohol? Nopeity nope nope. Good thing I am too poor, fat and depressed to pass their admissions test.

Mind you, this is NOT Crone Island, you can tell by the stupid name "SuperShe".
posted by Athanassiel at 5:05 PM on May 17, 2018 [21 favorites]

honestly trapped on an island with anyone, anyone at all, sounds unbearable and hellish to me. trapped on an island with a horror movie killer would be less agonizing because at least you have the sweet release of death from otherwise having to do trust falls or whatever with wealthy wineless white women.
posted by poffin boffin at 5:08 PM on May 17, 2018 [12 favorites]

All for women doing their thing and being free of men if/when they want, but this honestly sounds like something Gwyneth Paltrow could have cooked up, and just, ugh.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:18 PM on May 17, 2018 [21 favorites]

...and am allergic to sunlight...

With the island off the coast of Finland, you probably don't need to worry too much about that part.
posted by tclark at 5:22 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

The island sleeps 10 people in four luxurious cabins...

I love the way this math doesn't really work.
posted by rokusan at 5:56 PM on May 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

The island sleeps 10 people in four luxurious cabins...
I love the way this math doesn't really work.

Umm... bunk beds?
posted by Ashwagandha at 5:59 PM on May 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

The other two people camp out on the helipad?
posted by tobascodagama at 6:02 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

there are two elite private cabin for Roth and her richest friend?
posted by Grandysaur at 6:03 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

The rest get to bunk bed like plebs.
posted by Grandysaur at 6:04 PM on May 17, 2018

With the island off the coast of Finland, you probably don't need to worry too much about that part.

You're half right.
posted by acb at 6:06 PM on May 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

like imagine spending $3,500 on a vacation and when you get there you've not only got roommates but there's NO CAKE TO BE HAD
posted by poffin boffin at 6:30 PM on May 17, 2018 [30 favorites]

I bet these are "cabins" like rich people have "cottages" by the sea named The Breakers with thirty rooms, so everyone gets their own room and full-sized bed.
posted by Frowner at 6:32 PM on May 17, 2018 [9 favorites]

Presumably,

cabin 1: Roth

cabins 2, 3, and 4: three invitees apiece
posted by Spathe Cadet at 6:32 PM on May 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

Tough crowd as always. From Indepedent more explicitly, “Transgender women are welcome to become members and travel to SuperShe Island,” says Roth.

Yeah I'm guessing that we're not in fact welcome. Let's suppose that I, a trans woman, decided that - per the description on the website - I wanted to go swimming naked with the cis ladies. I guarantee you that regardless of what Roth says, the probability of me being harassed by a TERF is exactly 1.
posted by saltbush and olive at 6:37 PM on May 17, 2018 [10 favorites]

also i finally clicked through and not to be petty as hell but

Daily wellness activities led by fellow SuperShe’s such as yoga, meditation, farm-to-table dining, cooking classes, fitness classes, nature activities, and so much more.

even if i had $4K, which i don't, i'm not giving it to someone who can't even be arsed to have someone proofread their pitch page, come on now
posted by halation at 6:42 PM on May 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

island of misfit girls

As a dude I'm not invited to any of these islands, which is completely fine, but I know this is the one where my favorite people would all be at.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:49 PM on May 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

led by fellow SuperShe’s

Grammar aside, so there are no professionals leading activities, what guarantees are there that the other visitors have any useful skills whatsoever?

Or from the other side, if you're the only person to have any of those skills, you get to spend your entire "vacation" leading/ teaching the other attendees?
posted by porpoise at 6:50 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I have SuperSheIsland already. It's called owning your own house and living alone. Well, dog is here, but dog is also a she. I'm typing this from my backyard in a lawn chair with a Modelo. I didn't have to pay 4k for it. Come over, but it's BYOB.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:04 PM on May 17, 2018 [42 favorites]

I'll bring the prosecco and another dog, also a she. boom! proper crone island.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 7:09 PM on May 17, 2018 [10 favorites]

3.5K for a week with no red wine and dark chocolate?

This is not MY idea of a vacation.

I'll bet I could promise a glass of wine and a piece of chocolate in the evening during a stay on a sunny Crone island, and I'd have more than ten new friends!
posted by BlueHorse at 7:10 PM on May 17, 2018

I'm genuinely curious, now, if a corresponding "dong island" exists

I think Peter Theil had something in the works. Utopia, no doubt.
posted by wildblueyonder at 7:14 PM on May 17, 2018

The dong island equivalent is Iron John retreats, which are still happening 25+ years later.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:17 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I'm genuinely curious, now, if a corresponding "dong island" exists

It's more of a peninsula.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:22 PM on May 17, 2018 [65 favorites]

Well, I got to say that you could save a load of cash and go to a Girl Scout camp if you want to have the following things SuperShe is selling:

• retreat to an island
• breathe fresh air
• swim naked
• surrounded by females
• sleep under the stars
• activities, lots of activities

Let me tell you, that a Girl Scout camp will provide all this and MORE including mentoring by older ladies and depending on facilities a lot of opportunities to reshape your experience like making spaces habitable and isolation from electronics.

But I get that Girl Scout camp is not as exciting or as lifestyle performance driven as SuperShe. I guess what I am trying to say is that it seems like a place for a very small subset of people whose ranks are self-selected for intellectual masturbation; self-pleasure for a specific type of persona. Now, I am going to be fair and say that this judgment is independent of it being an island of shes and my assessment would be the same towards dong island, too.
posted by jadepearl at 7:25 PM on May 17, 2018 [15 favorites]

I was once forced to stay on an island for a week with all of my coworkers, who were a mob of extroverted singalonging do-gooders.

A WEEK AN ENTIRE WEEK.

And everyone had to stay in gross dorm rooms, local staff matched with international staff (most of whom had never met one another) so that we would Get To Know New People. The food was like summer camp cafeteria food. The showers didn't drain right and were full of hair.

TEAM BONDING EVERYBODY
I was only part-time; it was extremely unfair

The feedback forms everyone filled out afterward ensured that they will never, ever do anything like that again.
posted by little cow make small moo at 7:25 PM on May 17, 2018 [14 favorites]

Daily wellness activities led by fellow SuperShe’s such as yoga, meditation, farm-to-table dining, cooking classes, fitness classes, nature activities, and so much more

As a person living in a liberal area surrounded by insufferable people who do these things, this sounds like my version of hell.
posted by Melismata at 8:11 PM on May 17, 2018 [7 favorites]

I'm genuinely curious, now, if a corresponding "dong island" exists

They do. It's called "literally every other island and continent in the world".
posted by AlSweigart at 8:17 PM on May 17, 2018 [14 favorites]

Forget the margaritas, though: no alcohol or sugar will be served on the island.

At 1:45 in the video that autoplays on the website there's a table set with glasses full of red wine. So, maybe they should work on that messaging.

Regardless, everybody's got vices. If it's not alcohol, it's something else. It's a little creepy that it's not alcohol, unless *not-alcohol* is the specific reason for the place.
posted by gurple at 8:31 PM on May 17, 2018

Jesus, what even is the gotdam point of Crone Island if you're not allowed to get FAT and FUCKED UP because SCREW THE MALE GAZE?
posted by drlith at 8:41 PM on May 17, 2018 [47 favorites]

Maybe they put molly in their farm to table brie.
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:43 PM on May 17, 2018 [16 favorites]

I'm genuinely curious, now, if a corresponding "dong island" exists

Serious response: all-male clubs (think country clubs, fraternities, golf clubs) have existed for a really, really long time and I have no doubt that at least one of them must have owned an island, right?
posted by LSK at 8:47 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Fire Island
posted by fluttering hellfire at 8:55 PM on May 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

it's sort of fascinating watching people feel around for a way to take this down a peg.

I'll take my shot.

Men and women both probably need sex-segregated spaces at times (my refutation is off to a great start!). Men and women probably also need each other at times, at least generally speaking, and while this project is clearly not explicitly an attempt to deny that, I expect that at some level some people probably process it a little like it's in that *direction*.

But perhaps more critically, it does kindof remind me of libertarian paradise pitches -- in that it seems pitch-y and aspirational rather than driven by EL conversations and dreams of crone island. Thus all the people imagining that you're going to get there and find the male gaze replaced with the instagram gaze. And your water bottles are going to be $5 each and you'll be talking about whatever the next Fyre Festival is.

Maybe that's wrong and it's really just like a super nice girl's camp for powerful women. *shrug*
posted by wildblueyonder at 9:19 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

This ain't Crone Island Disrupted, it's just another Rich Lady Timewaster. Pfft.
posted by emjaybee at 9:23 PM on May 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

How does farm-to-table dining require a class? You... eat it?
posted by lazuli at 9:25 PM on May 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

Trapped on an island for a week, with wealthy 'detoxing' upper crusters, and

what guarantees are there that the other visitors have any useful skills whatsoever?

This seems like a really great premise for either a vicious class-based satirical comedy, or an isolation horror film where the real monsters are the other campers
posted by Existential Dread at 9:31 PM on May 17, 2018 [6 favorites]

How does farm-to-table dining require a class? You... eat it?

god i bet you spend an hour earnestly talking about your ~feelings on having previously had to buy your produce at whole foods instead of direct from olaf the apiarist with the strong yet gentle hands
posted by poffin boffin at 9:37 PM on May 17, 2018 [18 favorites]

Oh, are you still shopping at Whole Foods? Hmm.
posted by lazuli at 9:41 PM on May 17, 2018 [11 favorites]

Kristina Roth's comment that "we're the average of the five people we surround ourselves with" seems like an extremely un-feminist thought. In the context of justifying an all-female island, it's akin to saying that [women] lack core personality and their own minds. They just inevitably become the common ground between whatever happens to be surrounding them. The implications of this aren't far removed from the ideology of the Allison Mack cult. Just speak for yourself, Kristina, because not all people or all women are that way even if it does describe you
posted by knoyers at 9:43 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

without sexual tension

I may have discovered a flaw.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:44 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

I've gone entire DAYS without alcohol!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:57 PM on May 17, 2018

We're all dragging on this, but, shit - being queen bee in this setup and a rotating series of "gurus" who pretend to be your bestest friend forever is helluva drug.
posted by porpoise at 10:00 PM on May 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Metafilter: fat and fucked up.






I’ll see myself out.
posted by datawrangler at 10:01 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

This sounds like No Fun for me at least. Ten people is very fucking small, and it sounds really like it’s living in each others pockets or obligatory participation. Crone-field (like crone island but with latrines) that I occasionally attend balances the social and restriction based aspects as follows: common kitchen with separate vegan counter for food prep, help yourself to breakfast and lunch, common vegan meal in the evening for those who wish, prepared and cleaned by teams. Meat and alcohol permitted but by your own tent/van (a little like having a no peeing section in a public pool, but you know). So there’s together and apart stuff and you can be without meat, drink, people, etc if you wish but don’t have to. Young boys allowed and when they’re getting too big they get a little ceremony at their last camp and I believe that there is talk now about the boys who are now men perhaps putting together something similar, there’s women bringing their grandkids now who brought their kids back in the day.
posted by Iteki at 10:43 PM on May 17, 2018 [7 favorites]

Why does this instantly make me think of Fyre Festival?
posted by sacrifix at 11:18 PM on May 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Maybe Roth has done her due diligence and found a way for SuperShe activities to survive legal challenges, but I'd be surprised if it did. Finland's Equality Act (summarized in English here) "applies to all societal activities and all areas of life" and overall seems pretty clear on this. The law has general and special prohibitions on gender discrimination, and the special prohibitions are stated as including "discriminative actions in working life, at educational institutions, in interest groups and regarding provision of goods and services".

"Relationships between family members, other private relationships or activities relating to religious practice" are the only things exempt from the Act, and I can't really see a plausible way to make this fit into any of those categories, though my snark glands are ready and willing to treat cultish rich person bullshit like this as being quasi-religious.
posted by jklaiho at 1:13 AM on May 18, 2018

Gah!

It's like somone had Crone Island explained to them but thought "Great idea, but what if we filtered it through Gwenyth Paltrow's brain and did that instead?"

Gah!
posted by Faintdreams at 3:51 AM on May 18, 2018 [10 favorites]

tbh im gonna buy dong island for trans femmes and the rest of you can fuck off
posted by yaymukund at 4:03 AM on May 18, 2018 [12 favorites]

How does farm-to-table dining require a class? You... eat it?

There's a lot more to consider. Camera angle, lighting, the perfect caption, hashtags...
posted by rokusan at 4:35 AM on May 18, 2018 [9 favorites]

The problem with "Dong Island" is that we know how that turns out, historically. Guys, guns and daily death on the street (example: Twain's account of Virginia City, NV in Roughing It). It's not so much a vacation spot as a place where men go to die.
posted by SPrintF at 4:44 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

But are there dinosaurs?
posted by Young Kullervo at 5:09 AM on May 18, 2018 [3 favorites]

I stumbled across this Medium article while searching for something else and it resonated with me in regards to this thread:

Why humility is such an important value for any community (especially for the ones with “rockstars”)

I think every community is better off with a culture shaped by humility, however certain groups embody it naturally. But there are certain communities that need humility to survive: the more “accomplished” the audience, the more selective the group, the higher the expectations towards the members, the more essential a sense of humility is. Otherwise what you’re creating is not a community, but a marketplace for really shiny human beings to show off their best selves and look for the right opportunities. The way I think about it is that in a community of rockstars, people show up in big armor. Because of how accomplished they are, they have built a really strong and really splendidly looking armor. But unless you strip them off their armor, they will just hide behind it, bounce off each other, instead of truly connecting.

posted by lazuli at 7:02 AM on May 18, 2018 [4 favorites]

when i hear phrases like "dong island" it makes me feel like to be a good feminist i'm supposed to be ashamed about having a dick, which i don't. it's not a nice feeling
posted by yaymukund at 8:17 AM on May 18, 2018 [8 favorites]

Yeah, I thought we'd collectively moved past the trans-erasing "dong as synecdoche for male" thing around here. Disappointing.
posted by obliviax at 9:04 AM on May 18, 2018 [9 favorites]

What kind of nut wants to hang out on a Finnish island with no lakka, cider, vodka, or akvavit? Especially when you have to share a cabin with some "upbeat" stranger. No thanks.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:23 AM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

> upbeat

Did you miss the part that this is in Finland
posted by The corpse in the library at 9:55 AM on May 18, 2018 [4 favorites]

I can see the appeal. I would enjoy a week's vacation in a nature-ish setting; I don't drink normally so a week without intoxicants is basically "a week" for me; I don't care for upscale mindfulness woo, but I also don't hate it. I'm an introvert but I generally enjoy the company of extroverts. (They do all the conversational heavy lifting.) So I would consider this... at 1/10 the price.

The current pricetag, and the fact that it won't cover airfare and other costs, means they're looking for a very particular demographic, and that group is not "women who really need a vacation from the grind of everyday working life." It's "women who don't trust their friends enough to go on a local camping trip." These are women who could certainly afford that--but they need strangers so they won't face consequences for gossiping or just letting their real feelings out. They don't want to relax around anyone they normally spend time with.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 11:15 AM on May 18, 2018 [11 favorites]

Lady of the Flies.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 12:59 PM on May 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Everyone who hates this idea would probably get a kick out of the terrible fluff novel that is Fitness Junkie.
posted by Night_owl at 5:33 PM on May 19, 2018

The concept and practice of "teaching for the SOL" has kind of leaked out and taken hold of much of modern culture. It infuriates me most when it's apparent in things like politics and feminism.
It used to be, at least at one point, that feminism wasn't a thing in and of itself, but a descriptive used to group actions, movements, and thoughts that either had the same goal, or were born in direct opposition to the same enemy: female oppression.
Now it's like, people and colors and brands and ideas are deemed feminist, regardless of their position in relation to female oppression. And then retroactively their goals and opposition are deemed feminist and anti feminist, respectively.
So you're left with ideas like "we need more female ICE officers" and "it should be cheaper for women to vacation on your private island".
posted by FirstMateKate at 10:39 PM on May 19, 2018 [2 favorites]

I wonder what the best masculine analog of "Crone" would be? "Codger?" "Coot?" "Geezer" has different connotations in the US and UK, I believe. "Coot Island" has sort of a ring, although it lacks the connection to folk magic you get with "Crone."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:41 PM on May 19, 2018

Codger Island would have lots of old dudes sitting in rocking chairs on a general store porch grumpily reminiscing about the good ol' days. I'm not about that.

Geezer Island would have lots of old dudes in a stinky old rec room sitting in overstuffed arm chairs watching the news, doing crosswords and spitting tobacco juice in the corner. I'm not about that either.

Coot Island, though, would have lots of old dudes ambling around with canes, getting into trouble with grand-kids, cackling and wisecracking, and being surprisingly spry when necessary. That sounds like fun. I could do Coot Island.
posted by seanmpuckett at 7:17 AM on May 20, 2018 [5 favorites]

This seems like a really great premise for either a vicious class-based satirical comedy, or an isolation horror film where the real monsters are the other campers

Yeah, even if this wasn't intended to be a viral marketing stunt for an upcoming horror/comedy, there's no way this doesn't end up being the premise for one (or more).
posted by mstokes650 at 11:35 AM on May 23, 2018

Geezer Island in the UK would be populated by blokes of any age wearing tracksuits/polo shirts/Mod haircuts/sideburns/knuckle tattoos/pinky rings/anything from SuperDry and doing blokey things (watching and/or arguing about the football loudly, playing darts, playing electric guitar, comparing the relative merits of lad's-mag centrefolds), and complaining how nowadays everything is rubbish innit.
posted by acb at 9:44 AM on May 27, 2018