I was lucky enough to recently see Lady Gaga in concert–it was fantastic. She was fantastic (her voice is really good), the show was fantastic, and the world that she created onstage was fantastic. If you’ve ever seen her live or in a video, you know what I mean. If you ever, ever get a chance to see her in concert, go–it was that good.

One thing that stood out about her show was the way the she constantly reminded the audience of the fact that she–or at the least the version of herself that she is onstage–is fake. She is a reflection of what her listeners and audience expect and what from her; she is there to be whatever we want and need her to be. Towards the beginning of the show, she spoke this, what she calls “The Manifesto of Little Monster,” aloud to us:

“There is something heroic about the way my fans operate their cameras. So precisely, so intricately and so proudly. Like Kings writing the history of their people, is their prolific nature that both creates and procures what will later be perceived as the kingdom. So the real truth about Lady Gaga fans, my little monsters, lies in this sentiment: They are the Kings. They are the Queens. They write the history of the kingdom and I am something of a devoted Jester. It is in the theory of perception that we have established our bond, or the lie I should say, for which we kill. We are nothing without our image. Without our projection. Without the spiritual hologram of who we perceive ourselves to be or rather to become, in the future. When you are lonely, I will be lonely too. And this is the fame.”

What’s interesting about Lady Gaga, and what makes me love her, is that she is not just a pop-star with an image. She is an image–she epitomizes the postmodern idea that simulation and visual media can substitute for the real. There is no “real” Lady Gaga–she loudly proclaimed last night that the one thing she hates more than money is truth.

And yet, somehow, she constantly reminded us last night of the true and harsh realities of the world we live in. She talked about homeless LGBTQ youth, about societal pressures to be thin, and about people who feel they have no place in society–and proclaimed her show as a place where all the problems in society could come to die, proudly telling us that her Monster Ball is a safe-haven for all the freaks in the world. She blended her fake world with reality in order to subvert that reality.

If it were anyone else, I would have found a lot of the things Lady Gaga said last night to be cliche, and expected a lot of people in the audience to grimace. But when she said things like “I want you to walk out of her tonight not loving me more, but loving yourselves more,” the only response she got was resounding cheers. I was amazed at just how many people really do look to Gaga as affirmation of the fact that it’s okay to be weird and out of place–she’s really struck a chord.

A lot of pop stars are about image. But in embracing that fact and making it clear to her audience that she is simply creating an image for them, she has somehow been able to create the ultimate escape for her audience. It’s as if the very fact that she has been able to win us over with her fake world of acceptance and equality makes that world seem possible in real life.

PS: Gaga is also awesome and does a ton of charity work. She really does try to change the world we live in–she’s not all talk.

Dina also writes for From the Rib

Normally I don’t pay much attention to the Grammys, but this year there are a number of female nominees that I’m pretty freakin psyched about. Some I’ve featured on SWAS before, others are new inductees, but in honor of the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards I’ve decided to feature all of the badass women who are being recognized tonight.

By the way, the full list of Grammy Nominees can be found here.

Artist: Lady Gaga (Mainstream? Yes. But I will love her forever).
Nominated For: Album of the Year, Best Female Pop Performance

Artist: Miranda Lambert (Normally, I’m like “meh” about country music, but I absolutely love this song).
Nominated For: Song of the Year

Artist: Sara Bareilles (Fun fact: her first hit – “Love Song” – was not about a guy: it was her response to her record label that told her in order to become successful she’d have to write a love song about a guy. I really appreciate the creativity with which she took that double standard and showed the label where they could put it.)
Nominated For: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Artist: Florence & The Machine (Also check out “Kiss With a Fist.” Kind of violent? Yeah. Awesome song? Absolutely).
Nominated For: Best New Artist

Artist: Esperanza Spalding (Rachel P., a double bassist like Esperanza, once blogged about the sexism she has encountered because of her talent)
Nominated For: Best New Artist

Artist: Norah Jones (A voice made in lullaby heaven)
Nominated For: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance

Artist: Paramore (Hayley Williams) (We’ve also blogged about Hayley…)
Nominated For: Best Pop Performance by a Group

Artist: Janelle Monae (Best dancer of all of the nominees, hands down).
Nominated For: Best Urban / Alternative Performance

behold: circle lenses

As Joan Jacobs, in her great book The Body Project illuminated, the idea of teen girls working to improve their bodies in a detached way – as if it were a project with perfection as its goal, rather than relating those alterations to ourselves – is not a new one. Girls have been focused on the pursuit of changing our appearances for at least a century, probably longer. At first it was “slimming,” or reducing what we ate, and wearing specific clothes (thank god the girdle is gone; I take pride in my food babies). And now we’ll do just about anything; whether it’s a diet of dexatrim max and laxatives or a $500 facial, all so that our waistlines, our skin, our [insert body part here] will be more pleasing to the world. It seems like there’s almost no limit to what we’ll do. Almost no limit until now. Now we’re compromising our organs in order to have the perfect body.

This New York Times article points to Lady Gaga’s Bad Romance video for the rise in “circle lenses,” special contact lenses from Asia that are unavailable in the US and come in bright colors: violet and pink, for example. These lenses make the eye appear larger by covering the iris and parts of the whites of one’s eyes. But I don’t think we can blame the All Powerful Gaga for this one.

Lady Gaga in the Bad Romance video: Computer, not circle lenses - also not the issue

Now, it’s strange enough to imagine somebody actually looking in the mirror and thinking to themselves, “Now if only my eyes were pink…then I would be the most beautiful girl in the land!” But this whole concept of trying to look more doll-like (inanimate, because we are not supposed to have thoughts or feelings and you can do whatever the hell you want with us) and innocent/weak (Men don’t want girls who are able to complete thoughts. They want these phrases to be on repeat in your head: “that sandwich is coming right up,” and “sexual favor now, or in 5 minutes?”) is being taken to the next level.

The article also draws a clear comparison between the similarity of the effect of these contacts on a girl’s appearance and the look of anime girls, further indicating the desire to be objectified. And while I don’t know a ton about anime or its overall significance in Asian culture, I am aware of a game called Pachinko that is at least huge in Japan. This is a game that is generally played by men in “pachinko parlors” where the basic point — aside from some sort of pin ball guise — is that female anime characters are overly sexualized, and in some instances give the player a pornographic show. So, there is definitely a weirdly pornographic undertone to the whole anime craze.

And while the article seems to focus on American girls it’s pretty clear this phenomenon is more common in Asian countries (I’m an American girl and I have definitely never heard of this trend.). Which makes me wonder…maybe these girls are trying to look like anime characters, but is it possible there is an element of westernization – Asian girls trying to make their eyes “bigger”? And then the idea of American girls trying on an Asian trend for size, or trying to look like an anime caricature, seems like we’re pandering to that (god awful) stereotype of Asian women – quite and subservient (innocent, doll-like). So, now there’s this creepy “I’m innocent, yet totally fuckable and if I say no I don’t mean it” vibe going on that just makes me sad/angry/appalled. Either way, we all lose.

the NYT image of a college senior wearing circle lenses

And then if that weren’t enough, these lenses aren’t FDA approved. Apparently, sites that sell contact lenses approved by the FDA must verify customers’ prescriptions with their doctors while circle lens websites let you choose your prescription much in the way you choose your preferred color: anything goes – you’re the doctor now. Which is good, because the target audience (teenagers) has a vast expanse of ophthalmological knowledge. Clearly.

In the NYT article, some experts weighed on this seemingly ignored little problem. Karen Riley, spokeswoman for the FDA stated that when consumers buy contact lenses without a doctor-approved prescription / help from a doctor, they, “risk significant injuries – even blindness.” Optometrist Dr. S. Barry Eiden also warned that ill-fitting contact lenses could deprive the eye of oxygen and cause serious vision problems. So, we are messing with our eyes (a pretty useful organ– it’s not like we’re trying to make our appendix prettier) just to attempt to achieve an ultimately unattainable standard of beauty? Fab!

We always talk about unrealistic standards of beauty in comparison to models or actresses. But now, doesn’t it seem that our standard is surpassing even that 0.0001% of the population (or however many women are actually 5’11” and 110 lbs) and moving on to women that aren’t even real? We are trying to emulate literal caricatures of women that were probably drawn by men. And in the process, we’re not just objectifying ourselves; we’re dehumanizing ourselves. We’re not even allowed to be a pretty girl just for show anymore. At least society’s (once) ideally objectified girl could breathe. She had a brain even if she doesn’t use it. She was real. Now, we shouldn’t even exist off the page.

not (necessarily) a teenage feminist

She’s staring at me like I’ve just insinuated she embodies the anti-Christ. “A feminist? No, I’m not a feminist. Oh my God.” Despite the fact that this classmate of mine just spent ten minutes ranting about how a woman has the right to choose and thinks anybody who disagrees is archaic, she is equally appalled at the thought of labeling herself as a feminist. Am I frustrated? Yes. But as a teenage feminist, I’m used to it.

Teenage feminists are a mighty minority. You may find us in the malls, mingling amongst girls who carry bags plastered with the image of a naked torso and the word “Abercrombie.” We’re even at football games, willingly crushed between excited pubescent bodies. Maybe we’re the girls in the hoodies rolling our eyes as the cheerleaders jump around, but we are there. The fact is: we’re not always the hairy-legged girls with makeup-less faces scowling through the daily grind of the high school experience, clutching a battered copy of The Second Sex. Sometimes we are. But we’re not always that easy to spot.

Why? That image is a stereotype most feminists, let alone teenagers, don’t fit. We can be the girl at the game, the girl shaking her ass at homecoming, or even the “girl next door.” So, why can’t you recognize us? Most teenage feminists don’t even know that they are teenage feminists. How could you?

How are we supposed to identify as feminists when most of us don’t even know what a feminist looks like? Role models are important. They help us figure out who we are as we sit in a cafeteria full of people who are defined by a single word. Prep. Jock. My favorite: Slut. Role models help us figure out what we want to be rather than what everybody else has labeled us.

But who are our role models? Most teenage girls don’t know who Gloria Steinem is, or they believe that Hillary Clinton is a whiny bitch (like this winner), because that’s how the media portrays her. It’s sad but true. If these women are even on our radar at all, they’ve probably already been made unpopular by the media. And nobody wants to be unpopular at sixteen. We fear the hatred of others like our parents fear taxes.

ALMOST

But who is on our radar? Even in the best case scenario, celebrities who act feminist end up avoiding the word at all costs. Yes, I’m looking at you Lady Gaga. Or should I say Lady I-Recognize-The-Blatant-Sexism-In-The-Music-Industry-But-I-Love-Men-So-I’m-Not-A-Feminist-Gaga? Even more frustrating are the women who might be feminists, who make feminist statements in their music or interviews, but who have never confirmed this.

My solution is to be my own role model. Of course I draw from the masters: Gloria Steinem, Betty Freidan, Jessica Valenti, Courtney Martin. But it’s come to the point where the only reliable person I can depend on is myself, which is a feminist idea in and of itself. Of course this is easier said than done. The essential problem is that most girls need role models because they can’t come up with all the answers on their own. Plus, girls my age are trained so thoroughly to hate themselves that sadly, it’s probably harder for them to be their own role models than to find one in the vast, global populace.

It ends here. Our society’s obsession with fame is more than creepy or sad. It’s detrimental. We are looking up to people whose greatest accomplishments include grinding on stage in glorified lingerie and flashing the paparazzi. It may be their choice to do those things, but it’s my choice to reject them. I want to look up to somebody who is real and who has accomplished real things.

Real role models aren’t always famous. There are women who make a difference in thousands of people’s lives, but you’re never going to see their faces when you turn on the TV or open a magazine. Zainab Salbi started Women for Women International, an organization that helps refugees of war gain their lives back. While she’s been recognized, she’s definitely not a household name. We can’t always expect our role models to be right in front of our faces. But then again, sometimes they are. My own mother amazes me every single day. I have teachers and coaches in my life who do great things. Even my own peers, my friends, inspire me.

It’s up to us to be critical, to put in a little effort. And this is something my generation is completely capable of. So many of us see that our current role models are pathetic, but until society changes, until we start valuing women for what they do over the way they look, the right role models will never be in front of our faces.

My hope is that one day I will turn on the T.V. and see someone who is truly inspirational, dauntlessly representing feminist values. Until then, don’t lose faith in the next generation of teenage feminists. Look at the football games. Look at the dances. Even look at the mall, if you dare.

We’ll be there.

Taylor Swift

Inspired by AutoStraddle’s article.

Now, let me begin by saying I don’t hate Taylor. She plays her own instruments, writes her own song (a fact that at times is painfully obvious) and if she learned how to sing live, she would be a perfectly mediocre musician. She’s perfectly lovely, never rude to anyone (ever) and I also support any woman who follows her heart and manages the difficult task of succeeding in the music business.

However; the fact that she won album of the year at the Grammy’s this year, an honour that had previously been bestowed upon the likes of Ray Charles, U2, Norah Jones, Bob Dylan, JOHN FREAKING LENNON, Michael Jackson, Alanis Morissette, the list goes on, and the fact that the legend, Stevie Nicks, was reduced to singing back up, got me thinking that maybe (just maybe) success in the music industry isn’t really dependent on any actual talent anymore. And maybe (just maybe) Taylor actually embodies many things that are terribly wrong with North-American culture.

So, without further ado, here are the reasons why I dislike Taylor Swift and she’s not exactly a feminist role model.

1. Her blatant misunderstanding of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, and her inability to use a thesaurus.

We have all heard the song, “Love Story.” If you haven’t, good for you. It is a perfectly adequate song – the music is catchy (if your into that sort of thing). It’s the lyrics that are absolutely cringe worthy. The chorus contains such mind shattering linguistic acrobatics such as:

“romeo take me somewhere we can be alone
i’ll be waiting all theres left to do is run
you’ll be the prince and i’ll be the princess
its a love story baby just say yes”

Really Taylor? A Prince and a Princess? That combination of people is groundbreaking and unheard of.

Plus, the concept of Romeo and Juliet being compared to a couple who love each other and are together for eternity made my theatre-loving soul cringe. Were you there that day in English 10 Taylor? I’ll do a little recap for you, THEY DIED, after knowing each other for a very short time. Oh yeah, and Romeo killed Juliet’s cousin.

Okay so maybe I’m being a little harsh, TONS of artists have bad lyrics right? I’m sure Taylor has some good ones, let’s take a look at “Fifteen”

“And then you’re on your very first date and he’s got a car
And you’re feeling like flying”

Whoa, just kidding.

It only takes a quick glance at the rest of her lyrics to realize that they are, for the most part, shallow and unoriginal and sound like a bad 80’s teen movie.

So, okay, her lyrics aren’t great, but if you manage to not be bothered by them, all it takes is a quick look at her videos. They may even be double cringe worthy. Which takes us to number two.

2. The Slut VS. The Virgin- Swift is a feminist’s nightmare

From the Taylor Swift videos I have seen, only two types of women exist. The bitchy slut, that loses in the end (or the nice slut, that still loses) and the virginal girl next door. Guess which one Taylor is! In almost every Video she is wearing a white dress and in the Love Story video she actually walks through a garden in a white dress and picks an under-ripe cherry off a bush. REALLY PAPI? REALLY?

Then in “You Belong with Me” Taylor shows up at the dance in her white dress, and steals the boy away from the popular bitchy girl in her smutty orange one.

Now, there is nothing wrong with abstinence and all that Jazz, but since we have established that Taylor is not musically or lyrically special. Why did she win over the sexual and creative Gaga? Or the strong, independent, and bootylicious Beyonce? Because America wants a conservative, tame, role model and Swift embodies that.

The idea that Women are only valuable if they are Married or Virgins is reinforced in “Fifteen”

“And Abigail gave everything she had to a boy
Who changed his mind and we both cried”

Everything she had? I sincerely hope that this Abigail’s worth is measured in more than just the state of her hymen, but furthermore, I hope that one day society will learn to respect and accept the choices that EVERY woman makes for her body, not just heterosexuality and abstinence.

That being said, I haven’t found a single one of Taylor’s songs that doesn’t centre around boys. I’m sure she has a complex and interesting personality, but I don’t know what it’s like because Taylor presents herself as an entirely boy-dependent, overly innocent, baby-faced bunny. The media milked the innocent bunny thing after Kanye interrupted her (and subsequently ruined his reputation) Come on, you were all thinking it, Kanye just said it out loud, as obnoxiously as he could. Which brings me to number 3.

3. Dear Taylor: your life wasn’t that sad, and glasses don’t make you an outsider

One of my biggest beef’s with Taylor is her constant reference in acceptance speeches and interviews to her “fairytale” story of her rise to fame. A white, skinny, conventionally attractive, heterosexual young girl makes it in the music industry? What are the odds of that? She was made fun of in middle school for liking country music? Well, most girls in Africa don’t get to go to school at all, if one of them rose to fame and won album of the year, I would be impressed. Swift was born to loving, supportive, wealthy parents, who pulled her out of high school and home schooled her so she could achieve her dream. Her story is less of a fight against the odds, and more the high school experience we all wished we would have had. Taylor, you are very very lucky, and no matter how many teenage girls identify with your lyrics because you wore glasses and a T-Shirt in that one music video, they still won’t have a fraction of the opportunities you did, because you fit in so well.

In conclusion, Taylor Swift is a conservative parent’s wet dream. She is safe, and digestible. She didn’t wear a red latex dress to meet the queen. She went to a Christian school, her lyrics promote abstinence, and ‘normal’ heterosexual relationships with football players, instead of riding on disco sticks. She embodies the American dream, she leaves taboos and boundaries exactly where they are.

That is exactly why she shouldn’t have won, but exactly why she did.

The girl does have some good hair though, doesn’t she?

hair win, feminist fail

Lady Gaga on why she’s not a feminist:

Someone seriously needs to let her know that many of the values she has expressed clearly align with feminism, and that she should consider getting on board. Spreading the idea that they’re different is not only ignorant but really disappointing. Lady Gaga has the potential to seriously raise some awareness about feminism, here.

I think I will write a strongly worded letter…

And I get that everybody was pissed off on behalf of Taylor Swift. I mean, what a terrible situation. There you are, thinking this is a great moment in your career, and then this asshole comes on stage and not only insults you, but leaves you in front of an audience of millions, just standing there. I mean What. The. Hell. Kanye, that sucks. 

But I mean, Kanye has proven that he’s a jerk before. Remember in 2006 at the EMAs when his ‘Touch the Sky’ video lost Best Video? He crashed the stage during the winners’ acceptance speech as well, and told people that his video “cost a million dollars” and “had Pam Anderson” in it, so it deserved to win. The video of that lovely moment’s right here. (fast forward to about 1:06).

And that’s when I started to wonder. Is this Kanye being an egotistical jerk again? Or does this have deeper implications about gender? 

I really liked Jessica Hopper’s take on this whole situation. As she put it, this is another instance of: 

That guy who pops up and unsolicited, tells you YOU ARE DOING IT WRONG, MISSY. I have seen it happen at shows–some other bands manager or sound guy or another guy in a band will–not even knowing your band’s situation, values, training–pummel you with advice and an opinion about the right way to do what you are doing.

I do think that at the very least, what Kanye did was douchebaggery at its finest. But beyond the basic asshole behavior, I think it was a masculine, egotistical thing. Of course there are women like this too, who like to tell you what to do and how to do it. But I think more often than not guys have that inherent reassurance that their opinion is correct, and that you obviously want them to impart their pearls of wisdom. Girls definitely doubt their opinions more. At least enough to NOT share our opinion on what JUST happened with millions of people at a completely inappropriate time, humiliating someone who in reality had no control over what happened. No…not many girls would go there, I don’t think. 

So I must admit, I am torn. Did Kanye do this because he is a douchebag influenced by the way society makes it more appropriate for men to share (ahem, force) their opinions on others…or just because he’s a douchebag? Truly a question for the ages.

But then Taylor Swift’s response on The View. Another reason why I seriously like her.

And this is completely unrelated. 
But all together now: 
LADY GAGA: WHAT THE !@#$@#%#$???????

Duah Fares

Now, I kind of hate beauty pageants. I mean I just think they’re completely unnecessary and promote the objectification of women and valuing beauty above all else (obviously). And for those people who say it’s “confidence-building” and that of course there is a “question and answer” section that proves these competitions care about women’s minds…just, no. If you want to build confidence and care about your mind, join one of those teams that builds robots, like Rock N’ Roll Robots. Or something along those lines. That said, I have no idea what’s available to young girls in Israel…but I’m pretty sure there must be something other than beauty pageants. There are always other options.

Anyway, Duah Fares apparently really wants to be just like Angelina Jolie (she even changed her name to Angelina), and thinks that the first step towards achieving this goal would be to enter a beauty pageant. However, she’s a member of the Druze religious sect, and to participate in the bathing suit competition would disgrace her family and even endanger her life, as the sect is incredibly conservative. 

Below is a clip from Contestant No. 2, a show that follows as Duah and her family try to achieve this goal while also maintaining their values.

On the one hand, it’s completely awful and wrong that by putting on a bathing suit in public, this girl is risking her life. She should be able to wear whatever the hell she wants to wear. I mean if Lady Gaga can wear this in public (or really, anything she wears), then Duah Fares should be able to wear a freakin bikini. She is not disgracing anyone, her body is not shameful. 

On the other hand…please, girls, stop entering beauty pageants. Yes you should be able to choose whether or not you want to be in a beauty pageant, that’s your choice. But we can just do so much more…

Duah’s situation is interesting, because I really want her to do this, and challenge a culture who believes she’d be better off dead than in a bkini… but at the same time I just hate seeing people enter beauty pageants, and her motivations seem based on a desire to be famous. 

Thoughts? Is Duah entering the Miss Israel Beauty Pageant  a good thing?

Thanks to Jill for the clip

The Good

Nikol Hasler

Nikol Hasler from the Midwest Teen Sex Show apparently now writes an advice column for Milwaukee Magazine. I know what you’re thinking: Milwaukee Magazine has an advice column focused on issues of teen sex? MILWAUKEE is the progressive one who recognizes the sexual problems of teenagers, and all people for that matter, as truly important? WTF? Well, not quite. It’s pretty general advice for the most part, but it’s Nikol Hasler, so it’s awesome. Good job, Milwaukee, good job.

Here is one column focused on sex and here is the most recent one about forgetfulness. Archives here.

Also SARAH HASKINS HAS A NEW TARGET WOMEN. yayyayayayayyayay!!!! And apparently it was recently Sarah’s 30th birthday, so happy birthday Sarah!

The Bad

LADY GAGA WHY DO YOU VEX ME SO?

You make a feminist statement (“You see, if I was a guy, and I was sitting her with a cigarette in my hand, grabbing my crotch and talking about how I make music ’cause I love fast cars and fucking girls, you’d call me a rock star. But when I do it in my music and in my videos, because I’m a female, because I make pop music, you’re judgmental, and you say that it is distracting. I’m just a rock star.”) and then follow it up with: “I’m not a feminist – I, I hail men, I love men.”

Yes, feminists are man-haters, OBVIOUSLY. And anyone else feel like she’s trying so hard to be eccentric? That finger-licking thing…?  Via feministing. 

Dov Charney

Dov Charney, founder and CEO of American Apparel and my favorite person in the world EVER, is apparently going through AA employees and firing the ugly ones. Besides this being disgusting for obvious reasons, you’d think that considering Abercrombie and Fitch just recently went through the same ordeal and got slammed with a huge lawsuit for it, Charney would think to himself, “Hey…not this time, Dov, not this time.”

This could be complete bullshit…people do seem to like picking on this guy (for apparently good reasons), but if it is true, it’s just another item on my long list of problems with American Apparel.

The Ugly

An fbomb reader just started a petition entitled “The Daily Mail should fire James Slack.” I think this qualifies for ugly not because of the action (it rocks that she made it) but because of the ugliness of James Slack. 

This guy has written such articles for The Daily Mail as “In the week Harriet Harman takes charge, yet another feminist initiative” a lovely piece on how an initiative to teach kids about domestic violence in school is not a good idea, as it costs too much money, and, my favorite line, “This is despite evidence showing that boys and young men are more than twice as likely to fall victim to violence, and that young women are becoming increasingly aggressive.”

Not to say that men are never abused by women, because they are, but considering Amnesty International has found that one in four women will be a victim of domestic violence in their lifetime, and that one instance of domestic violence is reported to the police every minute, I think that statement is incredibly misleading and not representative of what’s really going on. 

Read more of James Slack’s ugliness, if you dare. 

Thanks to Niamh H for starting this. Please go sign! 

Kevin Jonas's hair in this picture. That is all.

Bill O’Reilly slams Michael Jackson. Disgustingly inappropriate? It’s Bill O’Reilly…so always. 

Vincent Crab (I hear he has a real name…) got caught with 8 bags of pot in his Audi…heading to court.

oops

I don’t get Lady Gaga…but she seems empowered until proven otherwise.

her outfit choice for a press conference

Remember Ela Thier and co.- Nora Ephron thinks women directors and writers should stop whining and just do it. She knows- she wrote Sleepless in Seattle and When Harry Met Sally I can totally get behind the stop complaining about patriarchy and slam it argument.

Nora Ephron gets shit done

Go see Cheri – Michelle Pfeiffer stars (support women!) Sounds pretty good – some cradle robbing and lots of seduction. Always a bonus. NY Times reviewed it here.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend...I want to be his friend...

Via: Perez Hilton, Women and Hollywood and the NY Times