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prettiness is not a rent you pay for occupying a space marked female erin mckean

“Prettiness is Not a Rent You Pay…” by Erin McKean


YES.

AND ALSO: I’ve seen this quote floating around on Instagram, usually attributed in error to Diana Vreeland.

In fact Erin McKean, the founder of the not-for-profit Wordnik.com, “the world’s biggest online dictionary” wrote this in 2006.

It’s from McKean’s “You Don’t Have to Be Pretty” post, which you can find here:

You Don’t Have to Be Pretty

Let’s take a moment to check our citations because referencing where our ideas come from, even and especially on social media, is a culture-making practice.

[It’s also a way we interrupt the online marketing practice of creating faux-authority vested in one person we should apparently obey (and buy from).]

In other words: thank you, Erin McKean.

And thank you to writer Molly Mulshine for noting the syntax was too recent to be Vreeland’s and tracking down the origin of the quote in this piece.

picture credit of Erin McKean: CC-BY Joseph Gerharz

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Kelly Diels teaches culture-making entrepreneurs & creators how to develop a substantial body of work that changes EVERYTHING -- your life, your industry, our world. (AKA Thought leadership for people who cringe at the phrase "thought leader".)  Her Sunday Love Letter can help you surface *your* unique method, step by step, week after week. www.kellydiels.com/subscribe

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