Saturday: Late Lunch Reads

Good afternoon, newsjunkies.

By late lunch, I really mean a) I’m eating from a box of Annie’s Homegrown cheddar bunnies, and b) this time last week, JJ aka Minkoff Minx and I were happily squished together in a restaurant booth in Atlanta waiting for our sandwiches to come out (which took forever to do so; I think this was the universe giving us more time together…)

JJ had an even bigger heart in person than I already thought she would–somewhat an impossible feat. I can only hope know this is just the start of many more Sky Dancer luncheons and meetups and such! (How does a Winter 2013 Sky Dancers convention sound, y’all? Or, maybe Spring Break 2014?)

The entire conversation last Saturday afternoon was such a blast, between JJ’s mama, her daughter Bebe, my younger sister Megan, and the two of us.

At one point, in my typical absentminded and inarticulate fashion, I stumbled trying to explain that we feminists hold our movement to a standard that I don’t think other social justice movements (of which I consider myself a member!) necessarily do. We struggle to find the perfect hypothetical woman to carry out all our diverse views on womanhood–when really all we need is a woman who lives her choices in action, and supports the choices of others. (Y’all know what comes next…drumroll please…)

Hillary 2016!

Anyhow, here are a few ‘easy-over’ links for you to graze on while you peruse the net this afternoon…

First up, if you haven’t seen it yet, Maxipad-gate: Now I Know Exactly How To Talk To Dudes About Periods! [via Upworthy]

I’m just going to excerpt here:

So this guy watched a maxipad commercial and thought that periods were the best time EVER in a woman’s life. Then, he found out that wasn’t true. So naturally, he took to Facebook and expressed his thoughts, which you can see below.

Then, the (fictional) CEO of Bodyform decided to respond to his unfortunate misunderstanding of the way the human body works.

Here’s the “Bodyform CEO” response:

Sardonic awesomeness, right? When I saw it, I just knew I had to post it here. Apologies if it’s a repeat of anything posted on the frontpage or the comments already. I’m still all tortoise-like slowly but surely catching up on last week and this week at Sky Dancing. So I should probably stipulate that this disclaimer applies to all my links 🙂

Next up, an -interesting- read via New Zealands “stuff.co.nz” network of publications, in which Rosemary McLeod examines the last fifty  years of feminism after Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique: What women wanted – and what they got.

I’m going to tease you a tiny snippet and withhold my opinions of the piece for a moment so I can hear some unvarnished feedback from y’all. I really hope you take the time to read it in its entirety and comment below if you have the chance this weekend–as ever, I look forward to hearing what Sky Dancers have to say on this topic!

Teaser, just to give you a taste:

THE POWER STRUCTURE

In 1963 there was no Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

QUESTION: What does the Ministry of Women’s Affairs do?

MORE QUESTIONS:

• What would Betty Friedan make of Madonna, Tracey Emin and Lady Gaga?
• Would she have enjoyed Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, or Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill?
• If she were young today would she have a pierced nipple/clitoris/tongue?
• What would her tattoo be, and where would she have it?
• Where did suburban neurosis go?
• Why are twice as many women as men currently on antidepressants?
• Why do three times as many men as women commit suicide?
• How are university women’s studies courses faring?

And, finally–a Hillary-bite! NBC to air Hillary Clinton miniseries [via Gary Levin in USA Today]:

Diane Lane will star, and the action will begin in 1998.

(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

Story Highlights

• Hillary miniseries is one of several planned by NBC
• Diane Lane will star
• NBC expects to air it before her presidential candidacy is formally announced

As Hillary Clinton is widely expected to make a second presidential run in 2016, NBC is planning a sure-to-be-controversial miniseries about the former first lady and secretary of State.

Diane Lane (Unfaithful) will star in the project, which has yet to cast an actor to play the former president. But it will begin in 1998, midway through Bill Clinton’s second term, when the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal engulfed the family.

Courtney Hunt (Frozen River) will write and direct the four-hour project.

Will NBC run afoul of campaign laws that require equal time for presidential candidates? Not if the network gets the project on in a hurry.

“She’s not going to probably declare her candidacy for two more years,” NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt said, “so this could well have aired before that.”

Oh wow! This reminds me of Obama and the West Wing storyline that preceded his election. Oh WOW. I’m kind of gathering my thoughts here on this, so…

I’m going to turn the comment sections over to y’all. Have at it!