Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 05/30/2009

Facts of Looove

So normally I don’t pay any attention to articles promoted by e-mail services. Especially articles listed under “AOL Personals.” But my friend just showed me this article entitled “25 Fascinating Love Facts” and I was pleasantly surprised.

Honestly, I was expecting something like, “Communication is the key to success in love!” GROUND BREAKING! But this was kind of cool and apparently backed by research.

Anyway the point is check out #4: Feminist women are more likely than other females to be in a romantic relationship.

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Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 05/27/2009

Upsides of Technology

I don’t think it’s fair that teenagers are basically being condemned for our frequent (okay…obsessive, addictive) use of technology. Yeah, I don’t think it’s healthy to send thousands of text messages each month. Or to substitute all studying for phone conversations. But I do think those claims that we don’t know how to communicate anymore are ridiculous and false.

If anything we communicate better than any previous generation. Isn’t the complaint that we’re in constant communication? Just because it’s not oral communication (although by no means has my generation lost the ability to communicate verbally…) doesn’t mean it’s not communication.

And just to defend verbal communication—we don’t just use our cell phones for text messaging. And skype is completely verbal, whether it’s using the phone feature or the actual …

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Feminism, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 05/26/2009

The Art of Handling Public Affairs: Gloria Allred and Tina Brown on Elizabeth Edwards

I think it’s so easy for feminists to view a relationship in which a man cheats on a woman and say, “Girl, dump his ass.” It’s situations like these that the phrase “easier said than done,” was made for.

John Edwards cheated on Elizabeth Edwards. That’s a fact, it’s done, and at this point I’m not even sure the public should have / needs to have any more say on it. But still, we’re criticizing the way Elizabeth is handling the whole thing. It’s one of those weird moments in society where we take feminist values, then use those to beat down women.

Is she being assertive enough? Is she being a good role model for her children? Is she doing the right thing as a woman?

 Gloria Allred …

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Awareness | Posted by Julie Z on 05/25/2009

Female Soldier that Killed Herself to Avoid Torture

Greg Mitchell recently wrote about Alyssa Peterson, a US soldier who killed herself in Iraq because she refused to take part in interrogations, a broad term that undoubtedly included torture.

Peterson reportedly killed herself because she wasn’t able to be “two different people,” one a soldier, the other a torturer. The army decided to submit that she was killed in a “non-hostile weapons discharge,” kept her family in the dark, destroyed records of the interrogation techniques and blacked out Peterson’s personal journal.

I think it’s sad that a soldier’s moral standards conflicted with her “duty.” I think it’s sad that this conflict was obviously substantial enough for Peterson to decided to end her life. I’m sad that this was the way our government decided to respond to this event.…

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Creative, Pop-Culture | Posted by Julie Z on 05/21/2009

Urbindex

Go check out Urbindex- he’s a great musician and also a great guy (I’ve known him forever). 

Here’s one of his songs: sweet dreams. 

He’s on iTunes too- just search Urbindex.

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A Little F'd Up | Posted by Julie Z on 05/19/2009

The MileyDisney Generation

Okay, take a deep breath. This post is not about my feelings for Miley Cyrus. I will comment on neither her talent nor her personal life. What I’m going to comment on is the generation that worships at her billion dollar feet.

Interesting personal tidbit: Because I like buying things, I have an after school job. I happen to work at an after school / day care center through the local JCC for kids in the 6th grade and under. I happen to really like this job as my co-workers are all great and the kids generally keep me laughing for most of the time I’m there. Even after the worst day at school, it’s quite therapeutic to have a first grader sit on your lap, braid your hair and …

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Articles, Feminism | Posted by Julie Z on 05/17/2009

REAL Deal Blog Guest Blog: My Thoughts On Women, Leadership and Politics

Back in December, I guest-blogged on the National Council for Research on Women‘s blog The Real Deal

The prompt was: What are your thoughts, as a young woman leader, on women, leadership and politics?

Not a tricky question at all, clearly. Here is my response:

My friends and I always agreed that if a global warming induced, Mount Everest-sized ocean wave surfed by polar bears doesn’t eat New York City, we’d probably kill ourselves due to the absolute ineffectiveness of our government.

My generation was raised in fear; if we’re not afraid of death by the environment, it’s terrorists infiltrating our school or gas prices preventing us from getting a car. I guess adults expected us to cower in fear, but instead we responded with defense. We’re more sarcastic, …

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A Little F'd Up | Posted by Julie Z on 05/17/2009

Random Urban Dictionary: Star Trek

In honor of the new completely badass Star Trek movie, let’s explore what the masses at Urban Dictionary think. Apparently Star Trek is the pacifist, superior version of Star Wars that everyone’s sick of. Cool.

1) Star Wars’ mortal enemy

 StarWars Kid: Use The Force!

StarTrek Kid: Phasers on Stun! 

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