Rub a dub dub.

courtesy of : Adolphe Marie Timothée Beaufrère

Femmes au Tub (Women Bathing)

Men may like high heels, but they can’t tell you’re wearing them unless they see them.

Shoes are the window onto the soul. If you by shoes you mean boobs. Wait, no, eyes! We mean eyes!

It is a debate that has raged for decades. Are high heels a torture device meant to objectify and hobble women, or an empowering fashion statement? Does the damage to your feet outweigh the benefit to posture?

Well, you may be able to check one reason off the list. One study says men don’t care! Or so go the headlines.

Scratch that. What they mean is men can’t tell the difference.

Experts at Northumbria University are studying the reactions of men to women walking while wearing high heels and others without heels.

But the experts say research has shown that men cannot even tell if a woman is wearing high heels when they walk.

It is part of a wider research project into attraction and the signals sent out by movement like walking and dancing.

Aging vs. Beauty

One thing that many women are worried about is aging.  I can understand why. Women feel the pressure more than their male counterparts; it is more acceptable for a man to get older and to show his age than it is for women. That doesn’t mean that men don’t worry about it at all or that they get some kind of free pass. But it’s worse for women.

There is no end to the beauty products advertised for women on television, in magazines, on the radio, Internet ads; everything that is marketed to women seems to be with the connotation that if you use this you’ll be beautiful — or beautiful again, or better looking than ever — and implies that if you do not then you are not good enough or pretty enough.

To a lesser degree, this occurs with men’s advertisements as well. It’s okay for men to show some gray. It’s okay for men to gain a little. It’s not the end of the world if a man has thinning hair. A little gray makes a man look distinguished, a little pudge makes him well-fed and probably able to afford indulgence. A man with a receding hairline might not like that his hairline is receding, but it’s unlikely to prevent him from finding someone to spend his life with.

The Secret Mommies Don’t Talk About

from MaijasMommyMoments

After my 10 pound Peanut was removed from my knowledge-rich womb, no longer afforded the luxury of time to read and surf, having no mother to ask my first-time-mom questions, and not having a single mommy friend to bounce my thoughts off of, I kid you not, the bulk of my “how to take care of baby” advice came in the doctor’s office waiting room, surrounded by other mothers and their babies. What none of these women warned me of, what not a single website or chat room ever spoke of, and even the “Do not read unless you have to!” section of What to Expect While You’re Expecting made NO mention of, was the irreversible deformation that was about to have its way with my tight, unblemished, tiny-tattooed, pre-pregnancy belly. Heads are nodding everywhere right now. Yes, I’m going to say it. The most unexpected and never talked about consequence to housing my 10 pound Peanut girl? The flap. The pouch. The front ass. The mommy apron. Call it what you will.

Maija’s Mommy Moments is running a week-long series about a woman, a mother of two, who is having a tummy tuck after seven years of… the dreaded FLAP. As guest blogger Lacey explains, the FLAP is not made of fat, it’s distended skin. Losing weight actually makes it sag more, fat buoys it into a rounder shape.

Her series begins by explaining her reasons and the preparation, and will culminate in post-op thoughts.

“Do I Look Like a Slut?”

via Flickr user striatic

Citibank fired employee Debrahlee Lorenzana for the way her clothes fit. Her manager argued that the curves of her body violated appropriate dress guidelines for the company, because the clothes fit her differently than they fit less-curvy employees. His judgment blurs the line between what a dress codes ultimately regulate: clothing and bodies.

Most of us have wondered, “do I look like a slut?” But when does a piece of fabric turn sexual, and where does this question come from?

The unlikely answer can be found in dress codes. From their start in ancient Greece, to their current-day applications, dress codes have clued us in to our inner “sluts” by dividing people in accordance with dominant virtue— both voluntarily and by force. The reasoning behind many dress-codes is the importance of public order and “professionalism,” or that “the outfit makes the man”— but what does it make a woman? For many of us, the answer is complicated. It’s bundled up in a complex set of rules and guidelines that date back to ancient times, which claim to uphold public order— but ultimately buy into a sexist system that disadvantages and sexually objectifies women on the basis of clothing.

Chelsea Clinton Can’t Get No Respect

I caught this snippet of MSNBC’s Countdown (sans Keith Olbermann, sadly) last night, and something about it struck me as… odd.

Sadly, WordPress won’t embed it, so you need to follow this link to watch it.

Symphony music. “A royal wedding.” “Versailles-style mansion.” (And what is Andrea Mitchell doing wearing a fluffy pink scarf?)

“Chelsea, the Clintons’ only child, has come a long way from the teenager who grew up in the White House. Today, she has an elegant poise and style, and an impressive career as a hedge fund manager to match. A bride who knows who she is, and what she wants on her big day.”

Hmmm. “Come a long way,” huh? Oh, right. That’s code for, She used to be ‘unfortunate looking’ but she got the curls straightened and some blond highlights put in so now she’s pretty!

via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

via Flickr user philgarlic

Huge: Delving Deeper

I really like the Y.

“SCREW BODY FASCISM,” reads the handmade sign by Will’s bed. She made it, at least partially, from clippings taken from a magazine. A magazine that belongs to another girl.

“Ok, it fell on my bed, and when I see propaganda that I know is destroying girls’ brains, it’s my duty as an angry feminist to destroy it.”

Will really, really doesn’t like this shit. Amber has her own pin-ups, which she calls “Thinspiration.” Will puts up Rubenesque beauties from classical art. “They’re fatspiration,” she says pointedly.

I think she’s being snarky about the ‘angry feminist’ part. I hope so. Because destroying someone else’s property does not reflect well on any kind of feminism.

HEAR YE, HEAR YE. We do not advocate the willful destruction of property, even if it is propaganda.

Pretty Little Liars – Inoffensive? How’d that happen?

Forgive my delays, I have TiVo. I just watched episode 4, and I felt it was pretty mild. The tension was fairly low throughout, and nothing leapt out at me as blatantly bad. That makes this a great point write an intro to the series itself.

Billed as Desperate Housewives for teens, PLL was born in the marketing department, then shopped to writers and TV studios. I haven’t heard good things about the books, but the show seems to be taking off.

Like DH, PLL is set in a pretty little suburban town. Like DH, our primary characters were a group of five friends that has been cut down to four. We knew Mary Alice was dead–she shot her brain out. But no one ever found Allison’s body, she just  went missing. Now, a year after her disappearance, her four remaining friends are getting mysterious–and dangerous–messages from someone who signs themselves as “A” and knows secrets only Allison could know. A appears to be stalking them–creepily appropriate messages are delivered at just the right moment, mere minutes, or even seconds, after things take place. It begins with text messages, then branches out to letter, radio dedications, items left in strange places, and, at the end of tonight’s episode, a message on a mirror in Allison’s favorite lipstick.

Each girl has her own terrible secret going. If her friends know, she doesn’t want anyone else to.

Wonder Woman – Should we just move on?

"Booth, I don't actually squint."

Something about Wonder Woman sticks in the public consciousness. She’s part of the DC’s big three–Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman. Plenty of little girls like her–even literalist Dr. Temperance Brennan on Bones likes her enough to dress up as her for Halloween. There are TV shows, animated movies, comics… and yet she’s never really caught on.

The reasons why are enough to make a feminist despair. Over on Topless Robot, Alicia Ashby has made a top ten list that sums it up all too well. To summarize, she’s basically Superman with boobs, a skimpier costume, crappy tools, and no iconic story. Even worse, her creator had a thing for bondage; the early comics are full of fetish material.

First Impressions: Huge

When I saw the previews for Huge, I knew ABC Family had taken on something rough. The protagonist, played by Nikki Blonsky, hates the fat camp she’s been sent to, and makes no bones about it. “Wow,” I thought, “How are they going to play a pro-body/pro-fat message while we have a national obesity epidemic on our hands?”

What I know about so-called fat camps isn’t great. Kids (sometimes adults) are sent to a closed environment to lose weight, through enforced diet and exercise. Better programs will also address psychological issues and provide counseling. They’re controversial, with detractors saying they’re too harsh, unhealthy, and have poor success rates, or that campers gain the weight back after they leave. Others consider it a sort of tough-love, life-changing push toward health. Data is still be collected, so there isn’t yet a definitive answer. (My guess is that, like most things, the approach works for some people and not for others.)