Emma Thompson Stands Up for the Right To Eat

Gotta quote this Feministing post:

I love this. Hayley Atwell is starring in Woody Allen's new movie, Cassandra's Dream, but Miramax Films asked her to loose weight.

Says Atwell: "I went round to Emma's one night and she was getting very angry that I wasn't eating all the food she was giving me. I told her why and she hit the roof." The no-nonsense Thompson was so outraged that she called the producers the next day and threatened to resign from the film if they forced Atwell to lose weight. Faced with Thompson - a two-times Oscar winner - on the warpath, Miramax Films swiftly relented.

Proof that ultimatums CAN do some good.

No One's in the Kitchen with Robert

Oh, jesus. Vanessa Richmond posted an article on AlterNet today that made me never want to cook again.

I'm lying. Cooking makes me never want to cook again. But not according to Richmond. She writes that feminists don't cook because they think it's demeaning and oppressive. If they have time to cook, they should use that time to "enjoy life" some more.

So men are taking the reigns. Richmond says it's because cooking is "sweet" when men do it. They get praise. Women are expected to cook, and thus feel pressure.

How does Richmond get to this point? Quotes from her friends, her own interpretation of their tones, and a general sense.

Yes, my man cooks for me. But he J cooks because he's good at it, and he enjoys it. I reap the benefits, and I make sure to thank him very much. If I were cooking, he'd do the same.

Anytime I've tried to cook, I've found it annoying, tedious, and time consuming. I have not found, as Richmond states, that "anyone who's ever cooked will tell you the act of preparing food makes you more powerful and sexy." Oh, is that a fact? Tell my stained jeans and sticky cheeks. Tell my husband that when I've burned or somehow fucked up the meal.

I think the base of Richmond's argument (that women are cooking less because they don't think they "should," because it's too oppressive) is ridiculous. Her survey is unscientific and based completely on feeling. I find it offensive to be accused of thinking that much about cooking (or not cooking in this case). Frozen meals and hot dogs are fine for me. And it's NOT because I'm a feminist. It's because I'm a horrible cook.

"The Guy's Guide to Cooking For Girls"

Via Techcrunch:

Culinary Seductions is a new site that bribes men to cook for women. How? It'll get them into bed.

The ridiculously sexist site never calls women "girls." In fact, they ask girls to upload pictures of themselves.

(From the site) We're looking for photos and videos of sexy girls admiring their favorite foods! Send us photos of yourself or your date. We'll post the ones that make us the hungriest!

The picture in this post is their "Bite of the Month."

I know I'm lucky. My husband cooks dinner for me a lot. All I can do is hot dogs and frozen dinners. I know a lot of men don't cook, but is this really necessary? Maybe it works as a gimmick (a big MAYBE), but the site is just an excuse to gawk at beautiful women.

Here are some more gems:

Tease Her Taste Buds

You'll be sure to find the perfect dish for any doll.

Click the menu tab and you'll find a Meat Loving Madam (who is, apparently, breasts)

The deeper you go, the worse it gets. Ugh.

"Roe"bration

Tuesday, January 22nd is the anniversary of the historic (if flawed) court case Roe v. Wade. And it's time for some celebration! We should party now while we still have some rights left.

Feministing has a great list of stuff going on to commemorate the occasion. Check it out.

They left out an event my cousin is going to (in Seattle). NARAL Pro-Choice is hosting Chocolate for Choice, a chocolate crawl benefit. Though it's playing into stereotypes a bit, fuck it, chocolate is as good an enticement as any to get people to contribute money for choice.

I'm going to try to get to Politics Uncorked on the 29th and the Feministing party on the 31st (both in NY). Anyone want to join me?

Subway will help your self esteem

I saw this commercial a week ago, and couldn't find it on YouTube.

Thanks, Feministe, for finding it.

Newsflash: Subway can make you fat too! But maybe it's the kind of fat that doesn't need therapy. Do you think that's what they're trying to say? Yeah, I don't think so. Oh, and do I have to mention it was a woman talking to a man?

The real subway pissed me off today too. No service at my stop? I don't care if it's safe or not...get the subway back!

Okay, I'll stop complaining about my personal issues. Back to the commercial.

I love that Subway is trying to be the health-conscious fast food place. And, of course, it's not enough to just be healthy (which, granted, some of their stuff is), they have to guilt you into going there. Well...yeah. Makes sense, right? Pay a little more for a meatball sub at Subway and you won't have to lose your self esteem because of all that weight you're going to gain. It's a magic meatball sub. I think I forgot to mention that.

Subway - either make your food holes completely healthy (and maybe clean them up a little) or shut the hell up and mind your own self esteem.

Man, I miss Evos.

The kids will love this

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?

Quiznos Commercial

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.