Are you STRESSED... or Just Happy to See Me?

A hardee, har, har. 

Ecouterre shared this little techno fashion nugget last week and it's too good to pass up so - get this:

Microsoft is developing a brassiere that monitors your stress level and will alert you, via phone of course, when you're in danger of overeating due to stress.  Um.... hmmmm.

Well, I agree with the article, VERY sexist to say nothing of absurd.  If I got beeped every time stress levels hit warp speed I'd be forced to chuck the stupid contraption out the window in the fast lane thus risking a littering ticket, throwing my eco principals to the wind and therefore raising heart rate levels past *ludicrous to plaid speed.  We all know when we stress eat, so telling us isn't going to help much.  A glove that shocked my hand every time I reach for food, on the other hand....


*Spaceballs reference if you've forgotten the ways of Lord Dark Helmet.

Never underestimate the power of the schwartz.

Grateful, Yes, but Women Deserve MORE

Reel Girl & Miss Representation just shared this enlightening info graphic today.  (pardon the obnoxious formatting here).   I ask you - how is it OK that Angelina doesn't bank what the dudes do?

Since we're about to celebrate all things "thanks" tomorrow - I'll just say I'm thankful women are making headway in the movie industry, but I'm going to start voting with my box office bucks for more WOMEN.
A million thanks to the New York Film Academy for the data.  You can see it here.

Courtesy of: New York Film Academy

Airbrush Be Gone!

 Ok.  Let's discuss the new VOGUE cover! 

I staggered when it arrived.  My physical response was so harsh  I was compelled to text a snap of it to my sister, a writer, whom keeps me on the feminist straight & narrow.  WHAT?  How could they DO this to the beautiful, fearless, smart & sassy Kate Winslet?  And to Mario Testino, the venerable photographer?  I beg the two of them to stand up and speak out about this!
 
What, you ask, is raising my ire so violently?  In short - who IS this woman?  Is it Kate Winslet, Sharon Stone, Molly Sims, Kate Hudson, who exactly?  This Kate has been so wildly Photoshopped as to be nearly unrecognizable, and her beauty certainly does not deserve such maltreatment.  And then there's the pregnancy bit.  
 
Apparently I'm not the only one enraged by this.  Both CNN and The Guardian ran commentary on it this morning, quoted from below.  
 
Regarding the pregnancy issue - on one hand - YAY! mainstream fashion magazines have begun to show pregnancies.  Finally.  Thank you eternally to Demi Moore for starting the trend way back when.  But.... they only show one version of it which is skinny (except for baby bump), sexed up and airbrushed.  What about real pregnancy?  Totally ignored.  When, when, when is the media going to accept femininity as it really is - human, alive and quite often "imperfect"?  People are people and the lucky few whom are extraordinarily beautiful are wonderful to look at, but why aren't we allowed to see them in a more realistic light, see their actual skin?  Would it really make us love them less?  I think not.

 Perfectly pregnant celebs? Don't fall for it:
"these magazines set up unrealistic expectations for both pregnancy and motherhood, neither of which is easy, beautiful, or picture-perfect, at least not all the time...People, with the help of the media, seem to forget that pregnant women change shape, and that's a wonderful, natural thing that needn't be covered up or defended or cloaked in haute couture. It needn't always look perfect, because when is it, really?"  Quoted from:


 Peggy Drexler, the author of "Our Fathers, Ourselves: Daughters, Fathers, and the Changing American Family" and "Raising Boys Without Men." She is an assistant professor of psychology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University and a former gender scholar at Stanford University. Join her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter @drpeggydrexler.

Emma Brockes writing in The Guardian says, "The best response to the Vogue cover is to laugh: the magazine is so far out to sea at this point, it has no sense of how transparent its manipulations are...The grotesque can be beautiful, but not here."   

Hear, hear. What do you think? 

Oh the NERVE!

One of my favorite pinners on Pinterst, High Plains Thrifter (bonus points for riffing one of my top 3 Clint movies), posted this gem today.

Apparently Suffragettes in 1921 used to don bathing suits (gasp*^!) and eat pizza IN PUBLIC just to annoy men.  Seems this was long before prime time twerking debacles.

Vote like a Lady

In light of today's brou-ha-ha, I'm re-posting this:-)

Words of Wisdom from Jane of the Jungle

Jane Goodall is a heroine if there ever was one; a woman whom went out on a limb (pun intended) to hang (another intended one) with the chimps way back when the glass ceiling really was low.  She exposed us to a life led fearlessly.

I was very fortunate to hear her speak long ago as a child and remember being in awe of her calm fortitude even though I was so young the content didn't really resonate.

A quote from a recent interview Rachel Sarnoff of Mommy Greenest and EcoStiletto.com fame conducted w/ Ms. Goodall:

"I met so many young people as I traveled who seemed not to have hope for the future. They were depressed, angry and apathetic. “Roots & Shoots” [encourages participants to understand that ] every single one of us makes a difference every single day. We can’t live through a day without making an impact. And we all have a choice."

What do you chose to make an impact about today?

Hear, HEAR!

somebody posted this on FB and I had to pass it on...

Spread the word, Ladies.