Women, Writing, and Vulnerability

The NY Times article about former xojane staffer, Cat Marnell, linked in this Feministe post was an uncomfortable read. 

I’ve known quite a few addicts who weren’t glamorous, who weren’t young, thin, or pretty, and who definitely weren’t celebrated. If her talent (and to be honest, I’m not a fan of Cat's writing, sober or high) is based on her ability to be a beautiful trainwreck — or rather, her marketability as a beautiful trainwreck — maybe we should be talking about that. 

I’ve always been uncomfortable exalting people based on their ability to make their audience feel empathy at the cost of their mental, physical, or emotional health. Where does the talent truly begin and the pathos end? When the line is that blurry, maybe it's time to step back and ask, "What am I really responding to? Great writing, or my desire to take you home and make you a bowl of soup?" Of course, I’m a total hypocrite and if I truly believed that I’d never read a book, listen to a song, or watch a movie again. But think there's a pressure unique to women not just to write or create, but to open up a wound a bleed.

In the Time's article, Marnell herself is quoted as saying, "Why does a person have to have resolved their drug issues in order to be allowed to write about them?" I don't think anyone should be prevented from writing while in the throes of addiction -- a lot of people find their way out by having a creative outlet, but what concerns me is that Marnell's value comes only from her being that vulnerable. Would her writing has as much impact as seen through the eyes of someone viewing their addiction as "something in my past, and I got over it?" I don't think so.