Just finished reading The Yellow Wallpaper, by late 19th/early 20th century writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman. You can read the short story by clicking here.
The story provides a lot of insight into the plight of women at the turn of the century. It's written in the voice of a woman suffering from postpartum depression before anyone knew what that was. She's put away and forced to rest, which only makes her depression worse.Chicago Sun-Times for jumping into the traditional year-end wrap-up. And I'm all for a list of "The ten women who inspired us in 2007," but just like my last top ten link, this one is really depressing.
While there are some great picks:
Link and picture via Pandagon:
This MSN article couldn't get more offensive. Without the details, here are the "5 Doable Resolutions" (natch) from MSN:
1. Cook more often
2. Revamp your wardrobes
3. Book a do-nothing vacation ("Go ahead and ignore the little voice that says you should travel to culturally rich foreign capitals.")
4. Stop having sex in your bed ("and start doing it in every other corner of your house.")
5. Support his guys' night out (I can't resist a full quote on this one):
Sure, it's hard not to resent the hours he spends away from you playing fantasy baseball or listening to Grateful Dead bootlegs with his buddies, not to mention the way he stumbles into bed afterward reeking. But if you consider that letting him have a guys' night without grief may be the single biggest thing you can do to win "coolest wife on the planet" credentials, it's really not such a big price to pay, is it? Tell him he should spend even more time having fun with his friends because he works so hard and it's so important for him to unwind. You're showing him that you truly care about his happiness (and accept that browsing the drawer pulls aisle at The Home Depot doesn't cut it). That's the sort of sentiment that will make your marriage stronger and make him eager to end those guys' nights at a sane hour to race home to your side.So for New Year's, ladies, remember, it's up to you to make your husband as happy as possible. Don't worry about yourself, unless it's to take a vacation with your husband. Fuck him, worship him, and lie to him.
India is busting out all over.
When I heard a report on surrogate mothers in India on Marketplace, I didn't think it was that big a deal. But I guess I was wrong.
There are, apparently, over 50 pregnant women in Anand, and 40 babies have been delivered since Dr. Nanya Patel started the program connecting women to infertile couples.
As much as I feel the world is overpopulated, and as much as I would encourage adoption, some people just want a product of their own loins. If they can't get that, surrogacy is the next best thing (the surrogate is impregnated via in vitro fertilization using the egg and sperm of the infertile couple).
The Indian women get more money than they could ever have imagined, the couple gets a baby. Couples in the US, Britain, Taiwan, etc. are jumping on this baby bandwagon.
Y
es, the bioethical issues of surrogacy are intriguing, but I think this is a good thing. It seems like the Indian women are happy, and that they know what they're getting into. Dr. Patel's facility takes care of them while they're pregnant, and it has been a very successful enterprise so far.
That's the issue. "Enterprise." It's hard for us to accept the fact that people can buy babies. That women can choose to use their wombs as money-making machines.
Get over it! Babies cost money any way you slice it, whether it's a simple, normal pregnancy, adoption, surrogacy, or some combination of those. At least this way, the money is going to families in need.
I find this article about the top ten stories of 2007 extremely depressing.
8 out of 10 are about famous girls gone wild.
Granted, this is from a silly gossip rag, but they're not entirely wrong. Why are we so fucking obsessed with shaved heads and rehab? What is wrong with us???
Via Feminist Law Professors:
Who knew Burger King had Burger Queens? They're very sexy and ridiculously willing to service Burger King anyway he wants.
Via Feministing:
CoolVirginity.com wants you to be a virgin.
Of course, that virginity isn't for yourself, it's for your husband. Don't stay a virgin because you're not ready for sex, do it because it makes such a great gift.
Ugh.
Woman wipes nose on cop.
She was arrested for slapping, biting, and spitting on a man. Then she blew her nose on the back of the police officer's uniform. Yikes.
Okay, this one could get sticky.
When Katherine Heigl called Knocked Up "a little sexist, I kept quiet. I also felt a little weird about the movie. I admit, I enjoyed it. But afterward I questioned how annoying the female characters were. Then, I realized the men were pretty damn annoying. So why did I like the movie? Eh, who cares, I like Judd Apatow.
But now, I need to call the lady out. Her new movie is called 27 Dresses. These dresses all happen to be bridesmaid dresses. Poor Jane is (how original) always a bridesmaid, never a bride. She never says no to anyone. She is, according to the synopsis, idealistic, romantic, and completely selfless.
Wait a minute...a woman wants to get married? A woman has trouble saying no to people? Too weak to NOT put her life on hold for other people? Afraid to stand up for herself? A little sexist, indeed. Maybe you should take a look at your career (My Father the Hero, 100 Girls, Romy and Michele: In the Beginning, not to mention her whiny, annoying, one-dimensional turn on Grey's Anatomy.
Sure, this doesn't mean she can't think stuff is sexist, but after looking at this list, I almost think Knocked Up is the least sexist thing she's done. DEFINITELY the best thing she's ever done.
Benazir Bhutto, Pakistani opposition leader and former Prime Minister, was shot when she appeared at a political campaign rally (I don't know that the shot has been verified). She was then hit by shrapnel when a bomb went off. At least 22 others were killed in the attack.
Bhutto was a strong opposing voice in Pakistan(the first woman to be elected in a Muslim state), and this will likely affect the upcoming elections and the mounting tension within Pakistan. And what will Bush do? The candidates?
Let's make-believe we're in debt!
Okay, I admit. I probably would have liked this as a girl. I loved playing library or grocery store, where we could pretend there was a check out counter. But we always wanted to be the person working, the person checking people out. We never thought about the "fascinating" world of shopping.
My main problem here is the unrealistic never-ending stream of money. I do wish manufacturers would make this kind of thing unisex, and avoid stereotyping, but we'll save that for another post.
Thanks to Feministing for the link.
This is an interesting article from Our Bodies Our Blog about two recent studies.
Here are some highlights.
Published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the authors report that the prevalence of low birth weight, term low birth weight, and premature birth was higher in black women, those under 20 or over 40 years of age, less educated, and unmarried, women, among other things. They also reported that the prevalence of all of these things increased with an increasing number of previous abortions. Predictably, some anti-choice outlets jumped on this news.
The problem? The study did not distinguish between spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) and induced abortion. It was also conducted via a survey of women between 1959 and 1966, when abortion was still illegal in America, making it difficult both to assess the possible health effects of the black market procedures and to understand the level to which women were honest about what was then a criminal act.
It also ignores how women's health status and access to healthcare may be different in the study population than in today's women. In fact, anyone reading the full text of the article would find these limitations quite clearly spelled out in the Discussion portion. Ultimately, then, this single study cannot serve as a definitive statement on today's risks of induced abortion.
Following a study published in the Journal of Adolescent health concluding that formal sex education delays teen initiation of sex, there was no shortage of commentary suggesting that this proves the failure of abstinence-only sex ed. Regardless of the other evidence on comprehensive vs. abstinence-only sex education, this study does not make a conclusion on the issue, because it simply can't.
The researchers looked at any formal sex education conducted by a school, church, or community organization, but did not separate the programs by the type of content delivered. As in the earlier study, the authors make this quite clear in their Discussion section, stating, "No conclusions about type of sex education (i.e., comprehensive sex education vs. focus on abstinence-only) can be drawn from this analysis."
Well, at least it sounds good. Smallville's Allison Mack and Kristen Kreuk, and Battlestar Galactica's Nicki Klein and Sarah Edmundson have teamed up to form a website for college girls.
The ladies have started a survey website to see what girls this age are thinking. Here's a sample from TV Squad article.
* You're finished classes for the day and as you're walking home, you hear the resonant sounds of a bumpin' party. How much would you cough up to see what all the fuss was about?
* How invested are you (emotionally, financially, academically) in the following issues: global warming, abortion rights, etc.?
* You're in a mad rush waiting for your coffee. You finally grab your order and take a sip. D'oh! It's not yours, it's someone else's and... wait a minute... it's amazing! Far tastier, richer, smoother, more expensive than your boring old latte. No one's looking, what do you do?
* What do you hope to get out of college? (One of the answers you can select is "My parents' approval, maybe finally I'll be good enough!")
* Would you swallow a glass of your own vomit for $100?... Now be honest... What about one million dollars?
You've probably all heard about this creative Digg song.
Love when ladies succeed in getting their shit out there.
Kina Grannis (the guitarist, lead vocals, and songwriter) is one of the top ten finalists in a Doritos competition. If she wins, her music video will be played during the Super Bowl. Plus, she'll be signed by Interscope Records. Vote for her here. Normally, I wouldn't care about this, but she's the only one representing the ladies, and I think she's pretty good.
It's only been (almost) three years since YouTube launched it's site, so it's about time the Queen of England had her say. It is, after all, all about YOU and YOU can now watch more of the family everyone loves to kinda hate.
"The queen always keeps abreast with new ways of communicating with people," Buckingham Palace said in a statement. "She has always been aware of reaching more people and adapting the communication to suit. This will make the Christmas message more accessible to younger people and those in other countries." (via the AP)
Live vicariously through the garden parties and state banquets. Laugh and cry over The Queen Mother's wedding in 1923.
Embedding of the videos has been disabled, but I managed it. What the fuck is that, huh? Why not let people share the endless, boring lives of rich royalty? Give us our freedom, dammit.
Anyway, thought it was interesting and funny. The videos are really boring, though. I've never understood the fascination or the existence with/of the royal family. It all seems so old-fashioned and the Royal Channel on YouTube just proves that even more for me.
This article, from WebMD and Redbook, has been Dugg 424 times (the last time I checked).
The title is "Don't-Tell-the-Wife" Secrets All Men Keep." Here's a piece of the intro:
...Then one day, as we stood in line for a movie at the mall, Simone Shaw, junior high prom queen, sauntered by. Suddenly Amy turned to me. "Were you looking at her?" she asked. "Do you think she's pretty?"
My mind reeled. Of course I was looking at her! Of course she was pretty! My God, she was Simone Shaw! I paused for a second, then decided to play it straight.
"Well, yeah," I chortled.
Five days later our breakup hit the tabloids (a.k.a. the lunchroom).
There comes a time in every man's life when he discovers the value of hiding the grosser parts of his nature. He starts reciting the sweet nothings you long to hear: "No, honey, I play golf for the exercise." "No, honey, I think you're a great driver." "No, honey, I wasn't looking at that coed washing the car in the rain."
If we're ever going to get anywhere in the fight against global warming (it's always a fight against something, isn't it?), women need to get their acts together.
According to The Telegraph, UK government chief scientist David King says that women need to fight the urge to love only men who drive sports cars.
Yep. We're responsible. Men only buy sports cars to impress women and women are only impressed by sports c
ars. In order to fight global warming, hybrids need to become sexy.
Wait, since when were cars actually sexy? Isn't that just a myth that men created so they could buy what they consider "cool" cars? Sure, maybe there are some that like cars. But it's not a dealbreaker, I'm sure. And if it is, why would anyone want to be with someone like that anyway?
Just one woman's humble opinion. But I feel like this is some major digging here. Maybe the problem is more that people make these cars in the first place? Or that no one wants to give up their creature comforts to save the world?
The good/bad news is that we're not alone. Every government has at least one jackass.
If every woman who was a victim of sexual assault got this attention, we'd never hear any other news.
In Danbury, Connecticut, a woman on crutches was arrested for groping santa.
The 65 year old santa was embarrassed. The woman denies any unwelcome or unwanted (to borrow corporate sexual harassment slang) touch.
She was arrested for 4th-degree sexual assault and breach of peace. How, exactly, did she breach peace? Hmmm...
I don't think women should get any different treatment than men for this kind of stuff, but this seems unequal to me. Just check out Hollaback NYC for all the groping that's going on out there.
Is this woman being treated differently because she's a woman? Because he's 65? Because he's santa? I'd say all of the above.
On his radio show yesterday, Rush Limbaugh talked about a picture of Hillary Clinton featured on The Drudge Report.
Here's Drudge's picture:
No story accompanied the picture, just the headline,"The Toll of a Campaign."
Eek! A woman with wrinkles!
Rush's comments, courtesy of The Huffington Post:
There is this thing in this country that, as you age -- and this is particularly, you know, women are hardest hit on this, and particularly in Hollywood -- America loses interest in you, and we know this is true because we constantly hear from aging actresses, who lament that they can't get decent roles anymore, other than in supporting roles that will not lead to any direct impact, yay or nay, in the box office. While Hollywood box-office receipts may be stagnant, none of that changes the fact that this is a country obsessed with appearance. It's a country obsessed with looks. The number of people in public life who appear on television or on the big screen, who are content to be who they are, you can probably count on one hand. Everybody's trying to make themselves look different -- and in that situation, in that case, they think they're making themselves look better. It's just the way our culture has evolved. It's the way the country is. It's like almost an addiction that some people have to what I call the perfection that Hollywood presents of successful, beautiful, fun-loving people. So the question is this: Will this country want to actually watch a woman get older before their eyes on a daily basis?
Who wouldn't want a candidate who values his wife, right?
Or not. The AP, in all it's wisdom, asked the candidates what their most prized possession was. Fred Thompson's answer? His "trophy wife."
Honestly.
But don't worry, it was all tongue in cheek.
Thanks to my awesome brother for the link.
Dead in Iraq
by Rosie O'Donnell
hulk hogan
the wrestler guy
wants to pummel me
isnt that sweet
and wildly odd
its like a gang of gross guys
a club almost
old dumb white and on tv
nearly 4000 dead in iraq
focus
we r in atlanta
for jane fondas b day
70 and stunning
she - i adore
GCAPP.ORG
peace out
I saw this on Feministing today.
An actual headline from the actual New York Post about the death of notorious abuser Ike Turner. While at first, to some, this might seem clever and maybe funny, further thought reveals how offensive and distasteful it is.
Sorry, maybe feminists don't have a sense of humor. But to me, this is horrible.
When I saw this article on Feministing, I thought it was gross, sure. But what do we expect from Wal Mart? Plus, there's a ton of ridiculously inappropriate clothes out there for girls. On the back, it apparently says "when you have Santa" so it's not exactly as disgusting as it seems. But the innuendo is there, no doubt about it.
Well, I was wrong. Claiming "parents" had complained, FoxNews broke the story. Wal Mart pulled the underwear. Feministing has officially changed the shopping experiences of Juniors everywhere. And they called out the hypocrite that is Wal Mart.
Three cheers for online activism! You can read Feministing's victory cheer here.
I love The Onion videos. Here's the latest that made me pee.
"It really convinced me that women can do anything men can do on T.V."
Evangeline Lilly Wins 'Best Wet T-Shirt Fight Scene' At Strong Women In TV Awards
For the kid who has everything, meet The Hillary Nutcracker. A bestseller on stupid.com, this little nugget features stainless steel thighs. Sadly, the website tells us: "Like Hillary herself, nuts are not included."
Of course, the website is full of stupid shit, but this is a little offensive. Here's some of the copy:
Look at her! Standing with arms akimbo, legs confidently spread, ready to crack some nuts with her stainless steel thighs. We're not certain if this is an Anti-Hillary item or a Pro-Hillary Item. But either way we think it is really weird and funny.
Alright! So when do we get the cunt-punching Mitt Romney? Or the ass-licking Bush?
I don't know much about Australian history, except that it was the country where convicts were sent. Thanks to this Broadsheet article, I came across this poor girl's story.
Turns out Americans aren't the only ones who have problems with rape allegations. A ten-year old girl, in foster care forever and diagnosed as "mildly intellectually impaired" and a victim of fetal alcohol syndrome, must have agreed to have sex to the 9 boys who gang raped her. According to the judge: "I accept that the girl involved, with respect to all of these matters, was not forced, and that she probably agreed to have sex with all of you."
To be fair, Australians are already calling for Judge Bradley to step aside.
Uh...YEAH! To make matters worse, this is Judge Bradley:
Thanks, Feministing, for finding this ridiculously misogynistic "funny" e-card.
If only I could meet the man who wants a remote to shut up his stupid, feminist wife. I would ... no, words will only diminish my hatred. Let's just say rope and tape would be involved. And NOT in a good way.
Wait...wait. Where's my sense of humor? Who wouldn't want someone to do everything they wanted, have sex whenever they wanted, stop PMSing whenever they wanted. Doesn't really matter that it's enslavement, rape, and oppression. Oh yeah, that's really funny.
Okay, so Huckabee is rocking the polls. Doesn't change the fact that he's a religious Republican who, according to Newsweek, has an explosive temper.
Who knows why he signed the evangelical ad in USA Today confirming his belief in the '98 Southern Baptist Convention's statement on family. ("A husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church ... A wife is to submit herself graciously to the servan
t leadership of her husband even as the church willingly submits to the headship of Christ."..."You are right because you called husbands to sacrificially love and lead their wives. You are right because you called wives to graciously submit to their husband's sacrificial leadership.")Aside from completely confirming that I don't like Huckabee, this quote means a little more to yours truly. I've actually been to a wedding...where the minister...wait for it...quoted this affirmation.
As you can imagine, I was speechless and aching to scream at the same time. I'm good friends with the guy who was getting married and, yes, he's an evangelical, but I didn't expect this. I don't know why. I couldn't believe any woman would agree to this. Servant leadership? Submit? How can you say "I do" to something like that?
Gross. This article from Our Bodies Our Blog makes me want to throw up. Sorry...give me a minute.
Okay, I'm back.
The article covers a Chicago Tribune article about so-called purity balls. The link will take you to a better video than this one:
Yikes!
Nothing like giving up your body and choice to a male power. A sign of things to come?
Oh Wall Street Journal, alpha females?
Apparently, businesswomen aren't sold on Hillary Clinton. And according to the WSJ, it's because they're either Republicans, afraid to speak their minds (natch), or (gasp) they're actually looking at the issues.
In last week's On the Media(great podcast - check it out), there was a piece about the fact that we all call Hillary Clinton by her first name. Co-host Bob Garfield wondered if it made him a bad feminist, or if it just made him a bad reporter (Clinton is branding herself as "Hillary!"). I don't know, but I'm going to stop using the familiar when describing someone I don't know personally. I hate when people do it with celebrities, so why should I do it with a presidential candidate?
In other news: I love Nellie McKay. There isn't a good video of her song Mother of Pearl, but definitely check it out. Here's her only (I think) music video:
.
She performed both of these when I saw her in Brooklyn. Go: love her as I love her.
As a participant in Web Part Deux (web 2.0, for all you nerds out there, web with interaction, individualization, interconnectedness, and indifferentiation for those who don't know the lingo[I hate parentheses inside parentheses, but I had to note that one of my "in"s is completely made up])...
Okay, those parentheses were too long. Now you've forgotten what I said in the beginning.
Since my brother dragged me into the world of web dos (the Spanish way of saying it), I decided I should pull some of that into my blog.
Nope, I'm not cool enough to delve into anything more interactive than the little comment section below. But I HAVE been doing some surfing.
Is it still called surfing? I feel like there should be a more web the second way of saying it. Plugging? Hitting? Sticking? Clicking? Spotting?
Oh wait. That last one's already something. Interestingly enough, spotting is both a sign of hope and a sign of despair. Hmmmm...maybe that's just right.
Sorry, back from my tangent.
Anyway, I decided to explore the world of feminist blogs. I use Netvibes
as my RSS reader (how web: the next generation am I?), and I need a "women" tab.
No, I won't be getting laid there, or looking at porn, I'll be reading about women (health, news, language, society, you know). And I'm going to add the links to the left over there. If I stop reading one, I'll quietly take them off.
I'm sure these links will show up in my posts from now on. And ladies, if you're reading, feel free to put The Peeled Apple on your blogroll.
Finally, my background music for my search has been this excellent new-to-me band: Straylight Run. I'm listening to they're latest CD, The Needles The Space
Okay, first the toasted-sub chain aired a euphemism-heavy commercial, which seemed completely normal until a woman at the end said her sub wasn't "lacking any meat. And that's what women like." Cue the controversy. I didn't have a problem with that one.
The new commercial is a different story. I could hardly believe what I'd seen.
Okay, tongue in cheek, maybe. Still, the underlying theory is that women are unhappy. If you're beautiful, you constantly want to eat. If you're normal-looking, you're so down on yourself that you're actually PLEASED when a beautiful woman says that she hates you. If your willpower isn't overwhelmed by food, your mind is. While it may be true for me, it's not true for everyone, and it's offensive regardless.
