If you ever want me to do something, just tell me not to do it. It might be my stubborn nature or because I’m open to trying just about anything – especially if I think there’s any chance it might help someone out. But don’t ever tell me not to try.
That’s a pretty self-serving way to open a blog post, but I’m talking about the petition for Laura and Euna – to free these two journalists that are being detained and were just sentenced to 12 years in a prison in North Korea. Some folks at Care 2 started the petition for Laura and Euna, and I decided to push it around via Twitter.
What surprised immediately was two things – how much immediate hating I got from others on twitter, and how fast the petition got retweeted. (Thanks for those that did retweet the petition.)
Let me make something really clear: I know that this petition will not directly sway the North Korean government. That doesn’t mean its not a meaningful act. Continue Reading »
My great grandmother (according to family legend) was fond of saying “There’s no accounting for taste, as the old lady kissed the cow.” The first part of the saying it familiar, but the second part is just bizarre. It does, however, aptly describes how widely people’s individual preferences can be. That broad spectrum of taste is something I’ve been trying to examine as I process the Oklahoman Sotomayor cartoon. Continue Reading »
Some academics at the University of Florida published a study today that really burns my butt has some interesting findings.
Apparently Sarah Palin proves to the world that if you’re good-looking you can’t be smart, competent or be in executive political leadership. But hey, how can 133 college students be wrong, right? Even if it flies in the face of the scientific method.
I totally disagree with the findings of this study, because I’d like to offer:
Exhibit A: Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm
Exhibit B: Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones (we miss you, lady!)
Exhibit C: Governor Ann Richards, who observed during her 1988 Democratic National Convention keynote address that “Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did. She just did it backwards and in high heels.” (I miss her a lot, too! Such sass!)
Exhibit D: Mary Robinson, the former President of Ireland
Exhibit E: Benazir Bhutto. (we miss you, too, sister) the first elected woman to lead Pakistan and twice was their Prime Minister.
Exhibit F: Michelle Obama. She’s not elected but you better believe she’s got the full package and is highly influential.
And what about Exhibit G: Jennifer Brunner – currently Ohio’s Secretary of State? This woman is beautiful and courageous.
There are so many more!! We’ll update later.
Yeah. That one.
About.com posted a list today (in honor of March being Women’s History month) ranking the Top 100 Women of history. Madonna Ciccone is listed as #1, outranking her style icon Marilyn Monroe, and um, CLEOPATRA. You can find the author Jone Johnson Lewis’s ranking methodology here and she makes it clear through her clever italics that it’s based on internet searches. Well. Alrighty then. The Interwebs are never wrong, and this post is brought to you by the letters S, E and O.
So let’s think about this — modern poptart turned major business entertainment megastar outranks the sole leader of Egyptian Empire. (ps – where’s Queen Elizabeth? #22.) Where’s my gal Hillary Clinton? #15 which isn’t too bad.
I prefer Jill’s list to the About.com one, but hey, everyone’s a critic.
And more importantly – guess who didn’t make the list?
Authenticity is the strongest sunlight we can shine on fear. Love shines the brightest.
You might have seen it a few times already (I love that news travels in near-realtime now) but in case you didn’t – take a moment and look at the many faces of love, and then pass it on:
(Please go to the Courage Campaign and SIGN THE PETITION. 
Feministe and a bunch of other blogs and organizations posted about it, and if you have a blog, you should, too. Let love rule.
It really does feel a little bit like Groundhog Week. As much as women move forward, we seem to move back as well.
We started a weekly feature here at Not My Gal, asking readers to vote on their Gal/Not their Gal of the week, and the results are in:
We’ve decided to add a new weekly feature to NotMyGal — we’re going to start the Gal/NotGal of the week. A woman making you want to fling poo in their general direction? A woman that inspires you to keep your fists up? Let us know (and for purposes of inclusiveness – you can add your own, but we’re aiming more for people who’s been in the public eye for the last week.) Continue Reading »
I just gained 300 new sisters. There’s really no other way to say it. Take a look at highlights from our panel:
Feminism 2.0 at George Washington University was AMAZING. Jen Nedeau, Cynthia Samuels and I lead a discussion about how we as women – in a cross-generational way – reach each other online AND offline. LaurieWrites graciously liveblogged the panel. Continue Reading »
Photo Credit: Martin Rice
Well, that was fun. So my friend elledub08 and I decided we’d spend our Saturday night gawking at President Obama, Gov. Sarah Palin and 200 of the most powerful political folks in DC. They were getting together for the Alfalfa Club Dinner, an annual tribute to Robert E. Lee – named after a plant that “will do anything for a drink”.
After a failed attempt to crash the gate, we live tweeted the shenanigans from the sidewalk across the street. More after the jump, including elledub08’s thoughts on attendee’s fashion choices, and whether she’s ever go to the dinner herself. Continue Reading »
Terrible Towel Time!
So here’s the thing: I love football. I can’t lie – I’m pretty uneducated when it comes to the technical aspects of the game. But I am enthusiastic in my ignorance, and I learn a lot from watching teams. I’m an organizational-behavioral dork – my nickname is Nerdette, for goodness sake.
But what’s the greatest reason for rooting for the Steelers this weekend? Turns out the Cardinals have a quarterback who is married to Elizabeth Hasselbeck.
