Normally I'm a one-post-a-day kind of woman, but thought I'd share that this weekend is Send One Suit weekend, encouraging women to donate one suit to the nonprofit Dress for Success an organization that "gives disadvantaged women entering the workforce a leg up by outfitting them in professional business attire, providing career counseling and setting them up with professional women's networking groups."
Downturned economy leave you with suits to spare? Donate one this weekend! Drop off your suit at a local Dress Barn store (find one here) and help a good cause.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Hard News for Hardwicke, Disappointment for Women Directors Generally
Have a little backlog of posts due to the starting of a new job. Will post a couple of recent insights to sate the palate, and be back on a regular schedule next week.
So the jury's still out as to whether it was Summit's decision to kick Catharine Hardwicke out of the director's chair, or Hardwicke's decision to turn down directing the next installment in the Twilight series (based on what's she's described as a too-limiting budget). Either way it's a disappointment, especially since since the budget for the first movie was 37M and grossed 70M on opening day weekend (setting a new record for highest opening weekend gross for a film directed by a woman), and it's rumored that the modest budget planned for New Moon was increased upon hiring of America Pie helmer Chris Weitz to direct.
But now Nikke Finke reports that Summit is closing a deal for a third movie, director tbd, making it a little more bitter that Hardwicke's no longer in the director's chair.
And speaking of women directors, Defamer today railed against EW for its top 25 directors list, citing among other problems the lack of femmes at the top. They go on to post 26-50, and Sophia Coppola tops out at no. 26, ahead of Mira Nair (46) and Mary Harron (49).
Sophia Coppola at 26? Mary Harron at 49? Where's Karen Kusama (director of Girl Fight, Aeon Flux, and the forthcoming Jennifer's Body)? Jane Campion? Jodie Foster? Sally Potter? Mimi Leder? Kathryn Bigelow? Kasi Lemmon? Patty Jenkins? There's a serioiusly flawed rubric behind the present list, one that I don't understand and that celebrates celebrity in foregrounding Coppola at the expense of some more seriously acomplished directors, both critically and commercially. Ugh.
But
So the jury's still out as to whether it was Summit's decision to kick Catharine Hardwicke out of the director's chair, or Hardwicke's decision to turn down directing the next installment in the Twilight series (based on what's she's described as a too-limiting budget). Either way it's a disappointment, especially since since the budget for the first movie was 37M and grossed 70M on opening day weekend (setting a new record for highest opening weekend gross for a film directed by a woman), and it's rumored that the modest budget planned for New Moon was increased upon hiring of America Pie helmer Chris Weitz to direct.
But now Nikke Finke reports that Summit is closing a deal for a third movie, director tbd, making it a little more bitter that Hardwicke's no longer in the director's chair.
And speaking of women directors, Defamer today railed against EW for its top 25 directors list, citing among other problems the lack of femmes at the top. They go on to post 26-50, and Sophia Coppola tops out at no. 26, ahead of Mira Nair (46) and Mary Harron (49).
Sophia Coppola at 26? Mary Harron at 49? Where's Karen Kusama (director of Girl Fight, Aeon Flux, and the forthcoming Jennifer's Body)? Jane Campion? Jodie Foster? Sally Potter? Mimi Leder? Kathryn Bigelow? Kasi Lemmon? Patty Jenkins? There's a serioiusly flawed rubric behind the present list, one that I don't understand and that celebrates celebrity in foregrounding Coppola at the expense of some more seriously acomplished directors, both critically and commercially. Ugh.
But
Friday, February 13, 2009
Film Review Round Up - Badass Lead Chicks
I've been watching the reviews over the past couple of days and I must say, even if these movies are well executed, the fact that they got green-lightsays something. Here is some cinema featuring bad-ass ladies that you may not want to miss:
- Hong Kong thriller Chocolate features a martial artist savant, part autistic teen, part Muay Thai prodigy. 100% bad ass. I have to say I cannot wait to see this.
-The Countess - The summary reads "A 16th-century noblewoman turns to an unusual moisturizer for comfort after she’s been abandoned by her much younger lover" - the moisturizer? Virgin blood!! Talk about a woman scorned. Julia Delpy stars in a movie only the Germans could make.
-Cheri is about a love affair between an older courtesan (Lea) and a spoiled youth (Cheri). Okay, not as firce as the above two but still, nice to see Michelle Pfieffer in a substantial lead role.
- Hong Kong thriller Chocolate features a martial artist savant, part autistic teen, part Muay Thai prodigy. 100% bad ass. I have to say I cannot wait to see this.
-The Countess - The summary reads "A 16th-century noblewoman turns to an unusual moisturizer for comfort after she’s been abandoned by her much younger lover" - the moisturizer? Virgin blood!! Talk about a woman scorned. Julia Delpy stars in a movie only the Germans could make.
-Cheri is about a love affair between an older courtesan (Lea) and a spoiled youth (Cheri). Okay, not as firce as the above two but still, nice to see Michelle Pfieffer in a substantial lead role.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
An Up and Down Week...for Children
Let me skip right past any homage to parenthood, my own parents, past my own desire to have kids and fears of a life without, and go right back over into the my-God-I-am-sacred-out-of-my-gourd phase. A few things floating around popular culture this week have scared the bejesus out of me.
The Times Op-Ed ‘Till Children do Us Part” and the now vintage-3-year-old Salon.com article by Mary Elizabeth Williams are fiercesome reminders of the economic and physical toils of childrearing. Add to that the economy woes, and it looks like I'm not alone, as Lisa Belkin writes in "Postponing a Baby in this Recession."
A couple other interersting issues are up in the air now too. The Balance between women and men workinging and the economic turmoil perhaps ushering a new age ofstay-at-home dads may be ne suprising outcome of this historic economic downturn, as Belkin points out in "Unemployed Dads at Home" and NPR's "Talk of the Nation" turned into a discussion about multitasking moms as host Neil Conan explored the culture of Blackberrying and the breakdowns between work at home with guest Dalton Conley, author of the book Elsewhere, USA. The current moment then raises all new kinds of questions about parenthood in the milenium. We'll wait and see I guess.
The Times Op-Ed ‘Till Children do Us Part” and the now vintage-3-year-old Salon.com article by Mary Elizabeth Williams are fiercesome reminders of the economic and physical toils of childrearing. Add to that the economy woes, and it looks like I'm not alone, as Lisa Belkin writes in "Postponing a Baby in this Recession."
A couple other interersting issues are up in the air now too. The Balance between women and men workinging and the economic turmoil perhaps ushering a new age ofstay-at-home dads may be ne suprising outcome of this historic economic downturn, as Belkin points out in "Unemployed Dads at Home" and NPR's "Talk of the Nation" turned into a discussion about multitasking moms as host Neil Conan explored the culture of Blackberrying and the breakdowns between work at home with guest Dalton Conley, author of the book Elsewhere, USA. The current moment then raises all new kinds of questions about parenthood in the milenium. We'll wait and see I guess.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
A Barbie World
On a lighter note, while there's been much talk about Barbie recently - from the giant store planned in Shanghai to Allure's article how she's changed over the years to the forthcoming book on how she was conceived - here's yet another fabulous piece of Barbie news: the Guardian reported on Friday that Mattel is announcing an Andrea Merkel Barbie.
Too bad she's one of a kind (like the real Merkel!)
Too bad she's one of a kind (like the real Merkel!)
Monday, February 9, 2009
Academy Awards Watch: Honoring Geek Chic
The Academy's recognition ceremony for accomplishments in the area of scientific and technical contribution to film was held in Beverly Hills last night. As part of the commitment of this blog to comment on the role of women and men in popular culture including tech, I'm obliged to report that the winners were all white dudes. This is not so surprising, as the educational and cultural institutions which promote success in science and technology have historically given been populated by given preference to white men. But I have few doubts 
that as these industries become less exclusive and girl gamers and programmers are on the rise, the demo of these awards will change a lot over the next twenty years. That will not however stop me from commenting that the choice of a gorgeous woman to host (Jessica Biel this year, succeeding prior hosting hotties Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, and Charlize Theron) does not = gender balance: it's more like throwing chum to an audience of hungry sharks, hungry nerdy sharks.
A brief list of the winners is below, with details on the Academy's webpage.
Gordon E. Sawyer Award - Ed Catmull, a computer scientist, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.
John A. Bonner Medal - Mark Kimball, a computer scientist and motion picture technologist with more than 28 years experience in the movie industry
Technical Achievement Award - Steve Hylen, inventor of the Hylen Lens System
Scientific and Engineering Award - Erwin Melzer, Volker Schumacher, & Timo Muller for the Arrimax 18/12 lighting fixture .
Scientific and Engineering Award - Jacques Delacoux and Alexandre Leuchter for the Transvideo-video assist monitors
Scientific and Engineering Award - Bruno Coumert, Jacques Debize, Dominique Chervin and Christophe Reboulet for the Angenieux 15-40 and 28-76 zoom lenses
A sincere congratulations to all.
that as these industries become less exclusive and girl gamers and programmers are on the rise, the demo of these awards will change a lot over the next twenty years. That will not however stop me from commenting that the choice of a gorgeous woman to host (Jessica Biel this year, succeeding prior hosting hotties Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson, and Charlize Theron) does not = gender balance: it's more like throwing chum to an audience of hungry sharks, hungry nerdy sharks.A brief list of the winners is below, with details on the Academy's webpage.
Gordon E. Sawyer Award - Ed Catmull, a computer scientist, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, and president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.
John A. Bonner Medal - Mark Kimball, a computer scientist and motion picture technologist with more than 28 years experience in the movie industry
Technical Achievement Award - Steve Hylen, inventor of the Hylen Lens System
Scientific and Engineering Award - Erwin Melzer, Volker Schumacher, & Timo Muller for the Arrimax 18/12 lighting fixture .
Scientific and Engineering Award - Jacques Delacoux and Alexandre Leuchter for the Transvideo-video assist monitors
Scientific and Engineering Award - Bruno Coumert, Jacques Debize, Dominique Chervin and Christophe Reboulet for the Angenieux 15-40 and 28-76 zoom lenses
A sincere congratulations to all.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Gross Out Girls
Salon.com today has a post by Rebecca Traister which takes issued with the slate of recent gross out posts by this column’s favorite blog Jezebel, and let me just say to her: get over it. She writes “Oversharing is in” – this isn’t oversharing – it’s simply sharing. It’s just that we’re not used to it.
Women’s bodies are complicated. The vagina is an extremely sensitive organ whose status is beholden to
hormones, environmental factors, women’s grooming, and emotional state (among others). Menstruation, birth control, and hygiene routines mean we spend a lot of time working on the old pipes down there and historically there’s been little place to discuss the ins and outs of all this. I for one find this refreshing. I remember one time pitching a short film to my thesis class – a dark comedy about a woman with dyspareunia, and let’s just say that even though the pitch got laughs, the overall response was tepid. Okay, maybe that pitch was pushing it (it did involve a talking vagina), but I think in large part that’s because we’re not culturally primed to hear about these in public.
All this reminds me of the 1970’s by Gloria Steinem If Men Could Menstruate:
What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not? The answer is clear - menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much. Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.The US Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts. Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free…Street guys would brag ("I'm a three-pad man") or answer praise from a buddy ("Man, you are lookin' good") by giving fives and saying, "Yeah, man, I'm on the rag!" TV shows would treat the subject at length…so would newspapers…and movies (Newman and Redford in "Blood Brothers"!)
Is it so shocking then that women would take the affordances offered by online communities to share and provide a forum for our shared frustrations, triumphs, difficulties, curiousities, and questions. This is feminism 2.0, and it’s about damn time.
And let’s face it. As the Jezebel response points out – this is opt in. It’s not like Letterman or Leno are joking about this on the news, and I doubt Conan will replace the masturbating bear with the menstruating red panda (though a girl can dream).
Write on ladies!
Women’s bodies are complicated. The vagina is an extremely sensitive organ whose status is beholden to
hormones, environmental factors, women’s grooming, and emotional state (among others). Menstruation, birth control, and hygiene routines mean we spend a lot of time working on the old pipes down there and historically there’s been little place to discuss the ins and outs of all this. I for one find this refreshing. I remember one time pitching a short film to my thesis class – a dark comedy about a woman with dyspareunia, and let’s just say that even though the pitch got laughs, the overall response was tepid. Okay, maybe that pitch was pushing it (it did involve a talking vagina), but I think in large part that’s because we’re not culturally primed to hear about these in public.All this reminds me of the 1970’s by Gloria Steinem If Men Could Menstruate:
What would happen, for instance, if suddenly, magically, men could menstruate and women could not? The answer is clear - menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event:
Men would brag about how long and how much. Boys would mark the onset of menses, that longed-for proof of manhood, with religious ritual and stag parties.The US Congress would fund a National Institute of Dysmenorrhea to help stamp out monthly discomforts. Sanitary supplies would be federally funded and free…Street guys would brag ("I'm a three-pad man") or answer praise from a buddy ("Man, you are lookin' good") by giving fives and saying, "Yeah, man, I'm on the rag!" TV shows would treat the subject at length…so would newspapers…and movies (Newman and Redford in "Blood Brothers"!)
Is it so shocking then that women would take the affordances offered by online communities to share and provide a forum for our shared frustrations, triumphs, difficulties, curiousities, and questions. This is feminism 2.0, and it’s about damn time.
And let’s face it. As the Jezebel response points out – this is opt in. It’s not like Letterman or Leno are joking about this on the news, and I doubt Conan will replace the masturbating bear with the menstruating red panda (though a girl can dream).
Write on ladies!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
In Defense of the Chick Flick
I really do loathe the term“chick flick.” That said, I will not let that prevent me from my post today, which is a brief defense of said genre. In the last few days there has been a spate of criticism (including today’s column from Kevin Maher in today's Times Online) regarding romantic comedies and chick flicks, led by the recent releases of Bride Wars, and the forthcoming Confessions of a Shopaholic and He’s Just Not That Into You.
Before the Hollywood clitterati go on a rampage whereby we are ready to burn at the stake the writers and execs churning out this so-called this drivel - let me make an impassioned plea for some perspective.
Let’s put these comedies into context, shall we? While Maher claims that “for every smart-thinking Bridget Jones, Legally Blonde or Devil Wears Prada there appeared a slew of movies that appealed to the genre's baser instincts… 27 Dresses, Made of Honor, License to Wed and What Happens in Vegas.” Let’s compare this to a comprehensive selection of male driven comedies released last year: Tropic Thunder, Yes Man, Step
Brothers, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Harold and Kumar. Hancock, The Love Guru, Witless Protection – in terms of offering flattering representations of men, this pretty much spans the gamut. You may look at the success of Bride Wars or Paul Blart and make a good argument about the dumbing down of American comedic tastes, but I’m not convinced there’s a gender gap here.
Let’s face it, the real problem isn’t these movies – rather it’s the dearth of female leads and storylines in genres OTHER than chick flicks and romantic comedies. I think this IS a problem – a huge one. There’s a real lack of movies featuring female stars that don’t happen to be have storylines driven exclusively by female interests (i.e. men, shopping, and getting married). Women do not occupy the lead role in films across genres (actions, thrillers, dramas, superhero movies) with any regularity (as Jezebel's post on the Bechdel Rule reminded us) This is a tragedy.
I do worry that when we call for an end to chick flicks, we risk that chick flicks (be they good, bad, or ugly) will get a shrinking piece of the studio’s financial pie, and that I don’t want to see fewing women on screen, even if it means eduring the bad along with the good. The good ones are worth it!! So let’s not galvanize the Industry to kill the genre entirely just because of a one (or two, or three) movies that spoil the bunch.
Before the Hollywood clitterati go on a rampage whereby we are ready to burn at the stake the writers and execs churning out this so-called this drivel - let me make an impassioned plea for some perspective.Let’s put these comedies into context, shall we? While Maher claims that “for every smart-thinking Bridget Jones, Legally Blonde or Devil Wears Prada there appeared a slew of movies that appealed to the genre's baser instincts… 27 Dresses, Made of Honor, License to Wed and What Happens in Vegas.” Let’s compare this to a comprehensive selection of male driven comedies released last year: Tropic Thunder, Yes Man, Step
Brothers, You Don’t Mess With The Zohan, Pineapple Express, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Harold and Kumar. Hancock, The Love Guru, Witless Protection – in terms of offering flattering representations of men, this pretty much spans the gamut. You may look at the success of Bride Wars or Paul Blart and make a good argument about the dumbing down of American comedic tastes, but I’m not convinced there’s a gender gap here.Let’s face it, the real problem isn’t these movies – rather it’s the dearth of female leads and storylines in genres OTHER than chick flicks and romantic comedies. I think this IS a problem – a huge one. There’s a real lack of movies featuring female stars that don’t happen to be have storylines driven exclusively by female interests (i.e. men, shopping, and getting married). Women do not occupy the lead role in films across genres (actions, thrillers, dramas, superhero movies) with any regularity (as Jezebel's post on the Bechdel Rule reminded us) This is a tragedy.
I do worry that when we call for an end to chick flicks, we risk that chick flicks (be they good, bad, or ugly) will get a shrinking piece of the studio’s financial pie, and that I don’t want to see fewing women on screen, even if it means eduring the bad along with the good. The good ones are worth it!! So let’s not galvanize the Industry to kill the genre entirely just because of a one (or two, or three) movies that spoil the bunch.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Goodbye to My Man-Hating Literature
So it's Tuesday (almost midnight PST, just under the wire) but just wanted to get in this eulogy.
International traveling (as well as impending nuptials) have left me with a need to pare down my belongings and make room for the future. Among the many victims of this purge are my bookshelves, which have been overcrowded with many tomes that have gone unopened for years. I freely admit that many of these books are from my undergraduate and early grad school days, and I've hung onto them for ego's sake, as evidence not only that I have read them but that more importantly they serve as a sort of external proof that I am a thoughtful and well-educated person. But it's time to reckon that, though I owe many of these works deeply, it's time to let them go and trust the impact they've made on me.
As these works now sit in a pile on my floor waiting to be sold and shipped to the good people who buy used-book from Amazon.com, I realize this collection contains much of my "Man Hating Lit" as my male friends call it - literature that would scare the pants off of any possible suitor who happened to peruse my bookshelves. I have tried in vain to defend this literature as showcasing my active interest in understanding men and women (and maintain that makes me an open-minded, attractive person, no?) to no avail. While no one of these books contains any sort of misandronist message, apparently the whole lot of them say to the world that I'm a vicous man eater.
And so here it is, a compendium of mini eulogies dedicated to the books that scare the pants off single men.
Bachelors by Rosalind E. Krauss - recommended reading for an undergraduate history of photography course.
Representing Women by Linda Nochlin - for my gender and representation in 19th and 20th century French painting class. Awesome, but unopened since '98
Male Trouble by Abigail Solomon-Godeau - ditto
Feminism Without Women: Culture and Criticism in a Postfeminist Age by Tania Modeleski - Modeleski was a celebrity prof at my school and so this was de facto required reading
Speculum of the Other Woman by Luce Irigaray - okay, I admit it - any book with "speculum" is bound to scare off men.
Is Menstruation Obsolete? by Elsimar Coutinho and Sheldon Segal - speaking of scary titles. An interesting argument, but as a lapsed Catholic I will never not panic when I think I've missed my period. The anxiety over a potential unplanned pregnancy is just ingrained in me.
Feminist Television Criticism: A Reader ed. by Charlotte Brundson and Lynn Spigel - a great primer on feminist theory on tv (guess the title kind of explains itself)
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality by Ann Fausto - like new! I never did get around to cracking this one (as assigned reading during the last week in a film theory classs chock full of high theory, this became optional reading)
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks - inspiring but also makes you feel kind of hopeless, like unless you engage in full on revolution, there just ain't no hope. Bummer.
Against Love by Laura Kipnis - purchased this after I saw the author give a talk, enjoyed it most when I felt my own relationship was doomed. Some women turn to ice cream and Meg Ryan movies; I turned to Kipnis.
Great Women of Film by Helena Lumme and Mika Manninen - receved as a gift. A beautiful black and whote book, but a little more timely than timeless and thusly feels dated. Not doing a good job of selling this one, am I?
Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman's Film by Julie Dash - bought for a production class. Okay, this one may well push me into unshaven leg, bra-burning territory.
Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving by Betty Dodson - bought this as a sight gag for a short film, and read it years later. Betty Dodson is my favorite old-school blue-haired diva. I want to be like her when I grow up.
The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women by Tristan Taormino - what can I say? I'm just not that into it.
Still keeping some that I just can't let go of - my Feminist Film Theory Reader, Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, Linda Williams' Hard Core, Susan Hopkins' Girl Heroes to name a few.
International traveling (as well as impending nuptials) have left me with a need to pare down my belongings and make room for the future. Among the many victims of this purge are my bookshelves, which have been overcrowded with many tomes that have gone unopened for years. I freely admit that many of these books are from my undergraduate and early grad school days, and I've hung onto them for ego's sake, as evidence not only that I have read them but that more importantly they serve as a sort of external proof that I am a thoughtful and well-educated person. But it's time to reckon that, though I owe many of these works deeply, it's time to let them go and trust the impact they've made on me.
As these works now sit in a pile on my floor waiting to be sold and shipped to the good people who buy used-book from Amazon.com, I realize this collection contains much of my "Man Hating Lit" as my male friends call it - literature that would scare the pants off of any possible suitor who happened to peruse my bookshelves. I have tried in vain to defend this literature as showcasing my active interest in understanding men and women (and maintain that makes me an open-minded, attractive person, no?) to no avail. While no one of these books contains any sort of misandronist message, apparently the whole lot of them say to the world that I'm a vicous man eater.
And so here it is, a compendium of mini eulogies dedicated to the books that scare the pants off single men.
Bachelors by Rosalind E. Krauss - recommended reading for an undergraduate history of photography course.
Representing Women by Linda Nochlin - for my gender and representation in 19th and 20th century French painting class. Awesome, but unopened since '98
Male Trouble by Abigail Solomon-Godeau - ditto
Feminism Without Women: Culture and Criticism in a Postfeminist Age by Tania Modeleski - Modeleski was a celebrity prof at my school and so this was de facto required reading
Speculum of the Other Woman by Luce Irigaray - okay, I admit it - any book with "speculum" is bound to scare off men.
Is Menstruation Obsolete? by Elsimar Coutinho and Sheldon Segal - speaking of scary titles. An interesting argument, but as a lapsed Catholic I will never not panic when I think I've missed my period. The anxiety over a potential unplanned pregnancy is just ingrained in me.
Feminist Television Criticism: A Reader ed. by Charlotte Brundson and Lynn Spigel - a great primer on feminist theory on tv (guess the title kind of explains itself)
Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality by Ann Fausto - like new! I never did get around to cracking this one (as assigned reading during the last week in a film theory classs chock full of high theory, this became optional reading)
Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center by bell hooks - inspiring but also makes you feel kind of hopeless, like unless you engage in full on revolution, there just ain't no hope. Bummer.
Against Love by Laura Kipnis - purchased this after I saw the author give a talk, enjoyed it most when I felt my own relationship was doomed. Some women turn to ice cream and Meg Ryan movies; I turned to Kipnis.
Great Women of Film by Helena Lumme and Mika Manninen - receved as a gift. A beautiful black and whote book, but a little more timely than timeless and thusly feels dated. Not doing a good job of selling this one, am I?
Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an African American Woman's Film by Julie Dash - bought for a production class. Okay, this one may well push me into unshaven leg, bra-burning territory.
Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving by Betty Dodson - bought this as a sight gag for a short film, and read it years later. Betty Dodson is my favorite old-school blue-haired diva. I want to be like her when I grow up.
The Ultimate Guide to Anal Sex for Women by Tristan Taormino - what can I say? I'm just not that into it.
Still keeping some that I just can't let go of - my Feminist Film Theory Reader, Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, Linda Williams' Hard Core, Susan Hopkins' Girl Heroes to name a few.
Monday, February 2, 2009
The Ledbetter Double Edge
Last week the news was rife with coverage of Obama’s signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Obama’s first bill which overturns legislation restricting an employee’s ability to file a pay discrimination lawsuit against their employer. Considered a bittersweet victory for women (essentially returning things to their pre-2007 state) it’s also a misstep f
or Obama, who promised as part of his campaign to publicly post non-emergency bills in consideration for review and commentary by the public for five days before signing. As Politifact, the organization running the “Obameter” keeping track of his campaign promises reports, he did not do this for the Ledbetter Act. Considering that I can’t even get both my computers connected to my wireless printer, I sympathize with the technical difficulties, but wouldn’t it have been smarter for them to get ahead of this with a quick press release rather than wait for it to catch up to them? Hate to think that this bill, which helps to restore equality among workers and is already being pigeonholed as a some kind of feminist (not humanist) legislation, will suffer another little blow, ultimately detracting from the good work being done here?
or Obama, who promised as part of his campaign to publicly post non-emergency bills in consideration for review and commentary by the public for five days before signing. As Politifact, the organization running the “Obameter” keeping track of his campaign promises reports, he did not do this for the Ledbetter Act. Considering that I can’t even get both my computers connected to my wireless printer, I sympathize with the technical difficulties, but wouldn’t it have been smarter for them to get ahead of this with a quick press release rather than wait for it to catch up to them? Hate to think that this bill, which helps to restore equality among workers and is already being pigeonholed as a some kind of feminist (not humanist) legislation, will suffer another little blow, ultimately detracting from the good work being done here?
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