I am going to begin this essay with some nerd lore.
In JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth, elves are an immortal race of staggering beauty, deep wisdom, rich culture and advanced magical propensity. The elves often find themselves at odds with the orcs, a hideous race who live for violence and destruction. In Tolkien's
The Silmarillion,
it is revealed that orcs were actually the creation of an evil lord named Melkor, later known as Morgoth, who captured a group of elves and imprisoned them. The elves "by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous race of the Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes."
I always think of this when I see trends in our society which began as healthy and good impulses, but which over time became twisted and warped by egotism and manipulation. Something springs up in human consciousness out of inspiration and natural compassion, quickly gains public support because truth is attractive, and then is eventually hijacked and perverted as power finds a way to twist that energy in a way it can use and exploit. It becomes "orc-ified".
Comment: Good on M&S for refusing to bow to unreasonable NPC pressure. The idea that selling women underwear is somehow sexist, simply because it's juxtaposed with selling men suits, requires a reading into the situation and twisting it to fit a narrative. It's a sign of ideological possession. In an age of giving in to any offense, and offering gratuitous apologies, the actions (or non-actions) of M&S should be considered heroic (as sad as that may be).
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