Women


18
Aug 10

Black Women Run, Too

I recently received the Sept/Oct 2010 Women’s Running magazine and there’s a strong chance I may cancel the subscription. The magazine itself has some almost-useful-to-me information, but each time it comes in the mail, I’m reminded that the magazine is really not geared to me as a black female.

Women's Running magazine

Women's Running magazine

Just a glance at recent covers can tell you that. In the two years this magazine has been coming to my house, I don’t ever remember a woman of color on the front of the magazine. Inside the magazine, not one of the articles features a woman of color. Three ads contain a woman of color: One Latina near the beginning of the magazine, then on page 76 (this issue is 80 pages) in the lower left corner and again on the back of the magazine. The only time you see females of color accompanying an article is when they are children. Of course! It’s so uplifting to see young black and brown girls interested in fitness. *eyeroll*

Of course, this is nothing new. Women of color are be used to the dearth of useful information in magazines geared to (white) women. Self, Shape, Women’s Fitness, Prevention, and Fitness Magazine have never pretended to cater to me. That’s why I will never subscribe or read these magazines. But when I saw “Women’s Running” (previously Her Running), I had wrongly assumed that meant all women. If anything, this is extremely clear in the beauty sections, which mainly focus on products geared to those with fair skin and non-kinky hair. In other words, I’m not going to hold my breath expecting an article on which hair care products are best for black women who swim. Which is okay. I don’t need Women’s Running to change to fit me.

I think what astounds me most, is that when you consider the make up of the US Woman’s Track & Field team, it is mostly black women. I do not recall seeing them interviewed in this magazine. However, I do see many interviews from past white Olympians, including those who have never won a medal. When I go running in my neighborhood the young Latinas and older Asian women put rest to the belief that only white women run. When I join a race and see so many black women of various ages, I refuse to believe the image these magazines give me. There is a reason that I follow @blackgirlsrun on Twitter.

Sadly, there’s not many options for me out there. Heart & Soul magazine has a very, very limited fitness section. I used to subscribe to this magazine for years, but figured it was time to let go when I only wanted to read one article from it. Instead, I’ll continue what I’ve been doing; sending out tweets and blog posts asking black female athletes for tips. Word of mouth is strong among black women. We have that going for us.

Hopefully, I’ll learn of a useful-to-me magazine.

Enhanced by Zemanta

4
Aug 09

Are sponsorships to conferences to be expected now?

Monopoly before I started losing When conference dates and location are announced, excitement is expected. Greed is not. Trish Robinson alerted us via FriendFeed about the general response to BlogHer ’10.  She posted:

What the hell has BlogHer turned into? Nearly every comment on the first post announcing next year’s date are people trying to find sponsors and how to get a free trip? Wow. – Trish R

Curious, I clicked the link.

I am new to the ‘blog-a-sphere’ and didn’t make BlogHer 2009, it seems 2010 is coming to my hometown here in the big apple, how do I register since I won’t be requiring the hotel? Is there a separate registration section for us NYC based bloggers? what is the rate if you don’t require a hotel?

Should I start posting for a sponsor already/now???

So much to learn, so little time! :-)

That’s a worrying reaction for many reasons, but as you scroll through the comments, you see others posting about looking for sponsorships.

Continue reading →


8
Jun 09

Look at me too! or Why women drive me nuts…

Allison is unamused by Betty's efforts to flir...
Image via Wikipedia

There has to be a term for those women, the ones who when they see you flirting with someone immediately start flirting with that person too. Loser? Insecure prat? Pain the in ass? Leech? Sure I’ve noticed it before, but rarely paid it any mind. But now there is one particular person doing it and it’s just mind blowing. I actually would not have noticed, but in the course of a week, 3 different people who do not interact with her pointed it out to me.

So, in the interest of “science” and our sad need for amusement, 5 particular guys were chosen for me to flirt with. Bets were taken on how long it would take this woman to glom on to them.  Now, you have to keep in mind one thing: this person made it abundantly clear that these 5 dudes were not her type in any way. We started the “experiment” in late March. The findings were astonishing: With the exception of Dude #3, it took her at least 3 days to start flirting with the guy. Dude #3 took ONE  day.

What I find most fascinating is that she only does it me. Other women can flirt and she doesn’t react at all. It’s like we’re in this strange weird contest no one told me about. It makes interactions difficult only because I am forced to hold my tongue and not publiclly mock her desperate need for attention. And y’all know how I can get when it comes to a public mocking.

Continue reading →


16
Nov 08

Bitches Gone Wild: The Motrin Drama

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Can you say stupid with a slice of WTF?

Last night, my Twitter started going off with angry tweets regarding an ad on the Motrin website.  I can’t show you the ad because it’s been pulled.  Let me describe it:

It was a way too long video with a voiceover of some whiny mom complaining about something.  The words she was saying were being tossed acrossed the screen in what was probably some misdirected attempt at hipness.  After I woke from a nap, the woman was still droning on and she started talking about how she uses a carrier (which somehow is painful)  to make her look like an “official mommy”.

Let the shitstorm begin.

All day long, as I checked into various social media sites, women with too much time on their hands were writing overwrought posts talking about the ad was ‘insulting’.  To whom, was unclear.  Some moms were offended by it because they were adoptive parents.  Some because their kids were older.  Some because they never use(d) a carrier with their babies.  Others because they know that if worn right a carrier isn’t painful at all. But they were insulted and seeking vengeance.

Insulted.

Mommy bloggers you won the internets today.  Your prize?

Later this afternoon, childless people, men and those who have lives walked into this dust up trying to figure out the problem with the ad.  Most of them realized quickly that the ad wasn’t anything to get upset about and moved on with their lives.  Sadly, the mommy bloggers didn’t. They were making videos y’all.  Videos.

THUD.

A few hours ago, the Motrin website went down.  Crazed mommy bloggers cyber-high-fived one another.  That’ll show Motrin.  Mess with us and our faux outrage.

Well, Motrin finally responded and was a lot nicer than I would have been if I were doing the PR for the company:

We certainly did not mean to offend moms through our advertising. Instead, we had intended to demonstrate genuine sympathy and appreciation for all that parents do for their babies. We believe deeply that moms know best and we sincerely apologize for disappointing you. Please know that we take your feedback seriously and will take swift action with regard to this ad. We are in process of removing it from our website. It will take longer, unfortunately, for it to be removed from magazine print as it is currently on newstands and in distribution.

-Kathy

Kathy Widmer
VP of Marketing – Pain, Pediatrics, GI, Specialty
McNeil Consumer Healthcare

So now there’s even more vindication, but even worse, the masturbatory “See what Social Media can do?” posts are going up.  It’s like a Daisy chain gone bad.  And this is why I don’t call myself a mommy blogger.  This is why I try to stay away from mom blogs.  This is why some people shouldn’t be allowed to use a fucking computer.

I will say that I am extremely jealous at the swift and angry reaction of these women.  Just think of what they could do if they organized to help the poverty-stricken or cure real injustices in the world.  I wish everything in my life was so perfect that I would have the luxury to get all agitated over a damn ad.


3
Sep 08

Sarah Palin’s national debut

Considering that all the speeches we saw tonight were disjointed messes, it was only natural that Palin’s speech would follow the trend.

Considering that all the speeches we saw tonight were chock full of blatant lies the records of the candidates, it was only natural that Palin’s speech would follow the trend.

Considering that Palin was a virtual unknown 5 days ago, the speech she needed to give to win over America, was not given tonight.  Instead, we got a red meat speech geared toward corporate and the fringe “religious” right.  In other words, tonight was another wasted night at the Republican National Convention.  Palin needed to introduce herself to America and assauge our fears that she was a credible pick for the VP slot.  Unfortunately, she turned herself into that friend you bring to a party who proceeds to insult everyone else at the party and their mamas.

While this made for great political theater in the Xcel Center and on TV, the reality is that instead of looking tough, she came off catty and shallow.  That’s very unfortunate and as a female, it was offensive and embarrassing.  Palin’s speech tonight put a very public and demeaning face on female executives across the country.

For someone with no national experience she touted what little experience she does have as more than Obama or Biden.  The only problem is that McCain’s experience is similar to Biden’s only less.  How do you walk that back?  How does the GOP, logically, say “Well, she has more experience than the Democrats, but not enough experience to be President.”?  How do you convince me that a person who left a town of 6000 with a $22M deficit is responsible?  How do you convince America that she’s a “reformer” when she not only asked for, but kept the earmarks McCain deplores and she lied about denying?

I wish I could be happy that the RNC finally broke it’s own cathedral high glass ceiling by nominating a female for Vice President.  But like with Hillary Clinton, it’s the wrong woman for the job.  There are many female Republicans who are not only part of the mainstream, but are smart, efficient capable females who would appeal not just to the fringe “religious” base of the GOP,  but to a wider swath of the electorate; moderate Democrats and Republicans and many independents.

As I looked in on blogs, twitter and friendfeed during her speech, I heard the same refrain from most of the Republicans, “This woman is scary.”  They felt insulted that her speech mocking Obama also mocked them for their actions.  They felt insulted that instead of telling us what they would do without lies and fear, they just repeated the GOP actions of lies and fear.  They felt insulted that because they live in big cities, they seem no longer welcome in their own party.

I want to thank Gov. Palin.  Tonight’s speech could have been very good and impressive.  Clearly, that’s not what the GOP was going for and the speeches leading up to hers proved that.  But what her speech did do was not only convince a lot of Republicans and Independents that the GOP is no longer for them, but she also energized the Democratic base.


19
May 08

Hillary Clinton & Karl Rove = BFF?

One more thing to add to the list of crazy the Clinton’s are doing: Clinton cited Karl Rove as a reason to stay in the race. Not like bringing him up like he’s the boogeyman, but…

“Just today I found some curious support for that position when one of the TV networks released an analysis done by – of all people – Karl Rove, saying that I was the stronger candidate,” said Clinton. “Somebody got a hold of his analysis and there it is.”

Yikes.

*****

That’s desperation…that makes this morning’s stupid memo from the Clinton’s campaign this seem brilliant. See, the Clinton’s released a memo that said that Sen. Obama better not declare victory in Iowa tomorrow night. Only problem is that declaring victory was never the plan. In fact, for the past week Obama has been shutting down all talk of declaring victory in Iowa and this morning news all over the place held that the Obama campaign was not going to Iowa for a victory dance.

But “facts” and “reality” have a funny way of avoiding the Clinton’s like they were Republicans or something. 3 hours after all the news reports and blog reports of Obama NOT declaring victory were posted, the Clinton’s released a intellectually deficient memo demanding Obama not declare victory in Iowa. The more cynical among us believe the Clinton’s did that so that win Obama, as planned, does not declare victory in Iowa they can puff up their chests for their deluded supporters and say, “We did that.”

Idiots.

******

I’ve been reading a lot about all the sexism Sen. Clinton has endured and her supporters are laying it directly on the feet of Obama in some fucktarded twist of logic. Ironically, many of these women make incredibly racist remarks regarding Obama, but I guess grrrl power supersedes bigotry in this case. It’s impossible to talk about the sexism from the media and ignorant assholes that Clinton has received without mentioning the racism that Obama has received not just from the GOP and the media, but more importantly from the Clinton’s and their supposed Democrat supporters. One quote from a white woman supporting Clinton blew it off, as “there’s more of us (women) than them (black people), so why make us mad?” You know, that’s their mindset right? If anything, this election has vindicated my view on old school, white, intellectual feminists. I never thought much of them before and as I’ve mentioned, I know that when they talk about women, they’re not including me. Still, considering how much I’ve been dismissed because of that view, it’s nice to proven right. But I’m not going to get into that.

We can see the double standards at work here. I’ve mentioned how Clinton plays that annoying girl on the schoolyard who hits a boy because she knows that boys shouldn’t hit girls, yet whines the boys want to ignore her. Hillary Clinton gave a talk at a women’s group back in April and no one batted an eye. Yet, we know that Obama couldn’t be seen speaking to the NAACP or at Tavis Smiley’s Strokefest State of the Black Union, because of his skin color. Clinton talks about women all the time in her speeches; she mentions old women who want to vote for her so they can see a female president before they die or moms bringing their daughters to see her because she could be president. Yet, I’ve seen or read many of Obama’s speeches and we don’t get stories of old black men telling Obama they’re voting for him because they want to see a black president before they die, we don’t get stories of moms bringing their sons to see him because he could be president. And if he did tell those stories, do you think the bigots on news sites and blogs would let that slide? Do you think the media would let that slide? Booman put into words exactly what I’ve been trying to say the past 5 months:

My overall view is that Hillary Clinton succeeded in convincing the American people that she was the presumptive frontrunner, which means that people were able to picture a woman president without much resistance. That frontrunner status was so ingrained that I think it actually hurt her campaign, as people rejected a coronation. Meanwhile, the black community displayed a lot of resistance to the idea of a black president. This was evidenced by the slowness with which they rallied around Obama. Prior to his victory in the overwhelmingly white state of Iowa, the polls showed Clinton running even or ahead among blacks in South Carolina. In other words, Obama had a harder time getting people to accept the idea of a black president than Clinton had getting people to accept the idea of a female president.

The Clintons have consistently tried to convince people that a black man is unelectable (whether they sincerely believe it or not), while the Obama campaign has never to my knowledge tried to convince people that a woman is unelectable. The Clinton campaign has used a million and one excuses for their losses, including that certain states have too many black people in them. The Obama campaign did not make the converse argument to explain why they lost any states until West Virginia.

emphasis mine

Remember this the next time people tell you that voting against Clinton is sexist. I would say include “voting against Obama is racist”, but the only people I see saying that are Clinton supporters, so I’m going to assume it’s a talking point of the Clinton’s campaign.


14
May 08

ELECTION ’08: Battle of the pro-choice endorsements

NARAL endorsed Sen. Obama today and in bizarro world that made EMILYs List mad.  They went and played the Evan Bayh card:

“I think it is tremendously disrespectful to Sen. Clinton — who held up the nomination of a FDA commissioner in order to force approval of Plan B and who spoke so eloquently during the Supreme Court nomination about the importance of protecting Roe vs. Wade — to not give her the courtesy to finish the final three weeks of the primary process,” said Emily’s List president Ellen Malcolm. “It certainly must be disconcerting for elected leaders who stand up for reproductive rights and expect the choice community will stand with them.”

You got that? Malcom, president of EMILYs List, is mad that NARAL chose to give an endorsement as things are winding down.

<blank stare>

Are you kidding me?

Maybe Ms. Malcom forgot why EMILYs List is around. Their stated goal is to help underfunded and unknown female pro-choice politicians get elected. Besides being female and pro-choice, exactly how was Clinton underfunded and unknown? Did NARAL put out a statement shaming EMILYs List for not living up to their mission statement?

It’s bullshit like this that makes me glad that I stopped donating to EMILYs List.


16
Apr 08

The Future First Lady

Is it wrong that a little part of me is only supporting Obama because of his wife?

If loving you is wrong, I don’t wanna be right…


17
Mar 08

The City of LA celebrates Women History Month

I got an email:

Women’s History Month Celebration

Women's History MonthA program celebrating the California State Legislative
Month of Recognition
Thursday, March 20, 2008
6:30pm – 8:30pm
Honoring:
Sandra Evers-Manley, Hon. Judy Chu, Alexandra Gallardo-Rooker and Carolyn Webb de Macias

To RSVP Contact Bobbie Anderson
(213) 744-2111

For more information please click here!


10
Mar 08

A vote for women bloggers

You know it’s Women’s History Month right? No matter if you were born with ovaries or got resleeved, this month is for you. Poke around your local women’s groups or check your email and I’m sure that you’ve received invitation after invitation to hear various women speak on various issues.

March always makes me glad to be a woman in LA. I have invitations to hear Latinas speak on economics and female empowerment, a couple of my transgender friends are giving speeches on books they’ve written. Famous women from around the world drop into LA colleges, bookstores and libraries to gives talks on femaleness.

Yet, while I know how lucky I am, there are women out there who don’t have the time or inclination to get involved. They don’t see themselves as part of this group. They call themselves ‘soccer moms’ or whatever label the media adopted from whatever political group. They don’t see Women’s History Month as relevant in their lives. Some of these women are bloggers. Despite the fact that they’d probably do anything to get out of attending a dyke panel on Organic Living for Your Urban Family (March 18th!), they more than likely have a lot in common with the women attending.

These SheBloggers quietly tap away at their keyboards sharing slivers of their lives online. Some of them focus solely on their family. Many of them blog as a way to deal with those little wrenches life tosses us, whether it’s a sick child, being a working mom or dealing with a divorce, they add their voices to the Women’s Experience. Sometimes, you read one of these women and you want everyone to know about her.

I’ve had this badge on my site for almost a week now. This is your chance to vote for your favorite female blogger. Women Voices, Women Vote is doing this to make women’s voices heard. Voting has been going on all month and the last day to nominate your favorite female blogger is March 21st. After that, you’ll be able to vote for the finalist among the top 10.

It’s time that women’s voices get heard in the blogosphere.