WaPo takes on women’s leadership…with cutesy, sexist nicknames


Not amused, guys.
Believe it or not, the Washington Post has managed to stereotyped women leaders in the worst way possible – with nicknames like “The Iron Lady” and “Grandmother in Pearls.”
These were made in a recent piece titled, “Women Leadership Styles,” asking the question: “What kinds of women run — and win? A few distinct types have emerged.” What comes out of it are completely trivialized descriptions of women with political power, examples being “The Iron Lady” as a descriptor for Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher, using Sarah Palin an example for “The Young Mom,” or coining Nancy Pelosi as “The Grandmother in Pearls”:

It will be the lasting image of her Speakership: Nancy Pelosi, wielding the ...


Not amused, guys.
Believe it or not, the Washington Post has managed to stereotyped women leaders in the worst way possible – with nicknames like “The Iron Lady” and “Grandmother in Pearls.”
These were made ...

Ellen Goodman to retire


Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer prize winning syndicated columnist, author and feminist, announced her retirement this weekend.
Goodman has been writing for her column in the Boston Globe since 1967, and has not only served as one of the most renowned women columnists we’ve seen, but more importantly has been bringing women’s rights issues to the forefront through her writing over the last four decades. Good luck, Ellen!


Ellen Goodman, Pulitzer prize winning syndicated columnist, author and feminist, announced her retirement this weekend.
Goodman has been writing for her column in the Boston Globe since 1967, and has not only served as ...

Happy Holidays! Or not.

Just a little Monday morning understanding from Jay Smooth for all the humbuggers out there this holiday season.

Approximate transcript after the jump.

Just a little Monday morning understanding from Jay Smooth for all the humbuggers out there this holiday season.

Approximate transcript after the jump.

Against the Lysistrata approach

via Amanda Hess, I see that Rock the Vote is running a campaign asking young people to pledge that they will “hold out for health care”:

“We pledge ourselves to the health and liberty of young Americans and to government for the people … and to never fucking you if you are against us,” the video announces. “We will vote against you, work against you, and once again, just in case you forgot, never ever, never ever, never ever, never ever fuck you.”

At its core, this is basically the Lysistrata approach — a reference to the Greek comedy in which women withhold sex until men negotiate peace. As Jaclyn Friedman wrote this week in a similar vein,

It’s ...

via Amanda Hess, I see that Rock the Vote is running a campaign asking young people to pledge that they will “hold out for health care”:

“We pledge ourselves to the health and liberty of young ...

Quick Hit: Beauty standards as backlash

Michelle Goldberg has an interesting theory:

Thinking about what the last year and the last decade has meant for American women, I kept coming back to the increasingly cruel physical scrutiny that they’re subject to. Impossible beauty standards seem like a subconscious cultural reaction against women’s growing power. It’s fine for women to do everything men do — as long as they stay skinny, sexy, young, and soignée at the same time. The surveillance culture of the Internet and the tabloids sends a message to all women that to let oneself go for even a moment is to open oneself up to a psychotic Greek chorus of abuse. Even as our politics get a little bit better for women, the ...

Michelle Goldberg has an interesting theory:

Thinking about what the last year and the last decade has meant for American women, I kept coming back to the increasingly cruel physical scrutiny that they’re subject to. Impossible beauty ...

AP nominates two horses for “Female Athlete of the Year”

It’s the end of the year, aka the merry season of top ten lists. The Associated Press recently published the vote tallies for its Female Athlete of the Year, in which 158 sports editors around the country weigh in on which of these ten female athletes deserves the title.

Serena Williams 66
Zenyatta 18
Kim Clijsters 16
Lindsey Vonn 15
Diana Taurasi 14
Maya Moore 13
Rachel Alexandra 10
Bridget Sloan 3
Jiyai Shin 2
Erin Hamlin 1

We love Serena, too! One minor problem withe the award, though: Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra are horses. Was it really so hard to find ten athletes who are women? Writes Mark Goldberg,

That’s right. We live in a world in ...

It’s the end of the year, aka the merry season of top ten lists. The Associated Press recently published the vote tallies for its Female Athlete of the Year, in which 158 sports editors around ...

What We Missed: Health Care Reform Edition

Protect Insurance Companies PSA from Will Ferrell

The health care debates are making me feel more ambivalent about politics than I have in a while. Enjoy some better babbling on the topic.
Will the Nelson Amendment be hard to keep in the bill? The AP seems to think so.
Latoya on how no one is happy with the Nelson Amendment.
Cecile Richards on the what of Nelson Amendment and why it is just not OK.
More generally, Nate Silver on the “Myth of Reconciliation.” Scott

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