Some weeks ago, following a panel, a cluster of students in suits (MBA alert!) approached me for a selfie because “ma’am we are supposed to network and document the networking.” I smiled for the selfie. Then, I went towards a martini, they towards other network selfies. It was a moment of perfect disconnection. No malice, no joy, no meaning.

They are being well-trained. I had encountered their grown-up versions just two days earlier. Five minutes into a zoom call with curators who had invited me to be on a panel, it became clear they knew nothing about my work. I was metadata and hearsay: #urbanlife #popularculture #feminism lady. They asked me to suggest questions for myself. The surreal pointlessness of it all was funny but in a disorienting way. When you proceed so indifferently, you do not make any difference. That’s how you keep the status quo safe.