A Must-See for Any Woman

Last night, Molly, Lauren and I went to a screening of the film "Miss Representation," which was shown as a result of a partnership between the Alliance of Women in Media Foundation and the Women in Politics Institute at American University.  I didn't quite know what to expect going into the screening, and, admittedly, was just hoping to stay awake, considering that it has been a long week.

Let's just say that all three of us left the screening feeling really riled up.  For a quick taste of the gist of the documentary, here is the trailer.  The film discusses, with the help of representatives from the entertainment/media and political worlds (both male and female) the misrepresentation of women in the media (hence the name of the film) and how such a misrepresentation has a direct effect on the number of women in positions of authority in the entertainment, political and business spheres. 

The film was so rich in topics for discussion that I cannot possibly contain all of them in one post...which is why I have decided to dedicate several to the film.  I guess I would like to start by talking about the "Bitch vs. Whore" dichotomy, being that it is such a pervasive element of our media-driven society.  A perfect illustration of this (I was so happy that they used this clip) is a scene from the first Sex and the City movie, when Carrie and Miranda peruse the drugstore aisles.  Miranda surveys the options for Halloween costumes and says something to the effect of, "I can't believe this.  The only options for women are a witch and a sexy kitten."  Carrie responds, "You just said a mouthful there, sister." Now, I have to admit that I always chuckle a little bit when I watch that part of the movie, but it really is a telling scene in terms of how women are portrayed in the male-run media.

I should add as a caveat that I am kind of going to weave in arguments and opinions that I have formed as a result of having read Guyland, a fabulous book about the male 16-26 age bracket, because this film certainly gave supporting evidence to those claims.  For most men (though certainly not all), women are not on a spectrum, but, rather, are either a bitch (a Hilary Clinton-esque, strong and ambitious woman who is seen as a "threat" to their masculinity and ambition) or a whore (a Sarah Palin-esque piece of eye candy with not a lot going on in between the ears; despite the fact that I disagree with her politically, I was disgusted when multiple sound bytes throughout the movie saw her described as "great masturbation material.").  And, unfortunately, since men are the primary controllers and owners of media and news outlets, more often than not, the story of the whore is the one that is more pervasive. There is no space for a woman in the media who is both beautiful and competent/intelligent/accomplished, and that is a trend that sorely needs to change.

There was a clip of a news show that featured one female news anchor and a couple of male news anchors.  The clip was from the day that Paris Hilton got out of jail, and the men insisted, "Let's go to the Paris Hilton story," which the female coanchor refused to do, adding that she was there to report on one of the many real news stories of the day.  It was very telling that, ultimately, they played the Paris Hilton clip, but not before the viewer saw the female anchor with her head in her hands, shaking her head in frustration at the pigs she worked with.  I was so proud, in that moment, that she stood up for women on-air and protested that deplorable fratty behavior.

The last thing I would add is that the omnipresence of the "whore" in media- in rap music videos, in movies (even in movies like Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, where Angelina Jolie's character is supposed to be a strong, independent woman, she is still a sexual object), on magazine covers and even in politics- means that it is men who judge the beauty and worth of a woman.  I hear my own brothers speak so disparagingly of women based on their appearance and perceived worth, and, even though I sometimes protest, I admit that I could do more to break that cycle of behavior. A perfect example came last night, when Molly and I stopped at the grocery store near our apartment to get milk after the movie.  There were a bunch of 13 to 14 year-old boys perusing the magazines near checkout, and we heard them point and say, "she [Mariah Carey] used to be fat."  We just shook our heads, as if to say, "And so it begins."  What we need are strong male role models who will teach boys and young men how to be respectful of women, if we ever wish to break this cycle of unacceptable behavior.  Boys need to be taught that women are not objects meant for their sexual pleasure, but, rather, complex, multidimensional human beings worthy of respect.

I will definitely be blogging more about the film either over the weekend or next week, but I will say that, if any of you have the opportunity to attend a screening of the film, I would highly recommend going.  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Kristen

Good for Several Laughs

One of my favorite weekly activities is reading the New York Times' Sunday Style pages (more specifically, the Weddings and Celebrations section).  It's okay, I'm open about it.  Part of it is that I am a hopeless romantic and am obsessed with weddings, but it is also just so damn FUN to laugh at how pretentious some of the couples sound!


Here's a sample (created out of my own imaginary power, as well as years of reading the Sunday Style pages):


Victoria Helen Lancaster, the daughter of Philip J. Lancaster, Esq. and Veronica Lancaster of Greenwich, Connecticut, married Dr. Richard Louis Worthington III, the son of Dr. Richard Louis Worthington II and Patricia "Bunny" Worthington of Rye, New York at the bride's parents' country home in Chappaqua in a dusk ceremony on October 15th.  The Reverend Neil Weathers, an Episcopal minister and a close friend of the bride's family, officiated before 250 guests.

The bride, who will take her husband's name, is a senior associate editor at Marie Claire Magazine.  She graduated cum laude from the Yale University and runs an online jewelry boutique.  Her father is a senior partner at Walsh, Stone and Lancaster in New York, and her mother is a former event planner. 

The bridegroom is a surgical fellow in oncology at Memorial-Sloane Kettering Hospital in New York.  He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard, where he also captained the sailing team, and attended the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.  His father is the retired Chief of Surgery at St. Vincent's Hospital in New York, and his mother is a society contributor to The New Yorker.

The couple met at a charity regatta in Greenwich, Connecticut, when both were in school.  Mrs. Worthington, while initially unimpressed with Dr. Worthington's "cavalier" handling of his boat and its crew, was quickly won over by his charm, as well as his devotion to his medical career.

The couple lives in Manhattan.


Voilà!!!   Good thing I crack myself up, right? Somehow, my little "hobby" came to Dan's attention, and he said that Grantland, a mostly-sports (but partly-pop culture) blog that he reads, features a humorous monthly analysis of the NYT wedding announcements.  I knew that I was going to be all over this, so made him promise to send me the next one.  After I had waited anxiously, he sent me the October wedding roundup last night, as promised (really, could I ask for a better boyfriend?!).  I have not even made a dent in all of the wealth of laughs contained in this one blog post, so this, I think, will be my monthly gift that keeps on giving.

Even though I am not very far into the post, one article in particular caught my attention (I had actually seen it on the Times' website earlier in the week but hadn't had time to read it.  As it turns out, it was shockingly relevant to the blog!).  A New York man is suing his wedding photog because the last 15 minutes of the blessed event (the last dance and the bouquet toss) were not captured on film.  He is asking the photographer to pay to fly all of the guests back to NY and re-create the wedding so as to get a complete wedding picture album.  The only problem?  He and his wife got divorced a few years ago....ermmm, what?  It's nice to read things like that and know that I am not that insane (but, at the same time, it's just a bit sad to think that there ARE people that insane...and have more money than sense). 


Nothing like laughing at some wedding columns to add some humor to your day...it's the small things in life, particularly on Hump Day!!!

A Rare Food Post, and Holiday Prep

When I got out of work on Friday, I was desperately in need of a relaxing evening, so luckily, Molly and Lauren were willing to oblige.  In the spirit of trying new restaurants, we decided to wander on 14th St., and ended up stumbling upon Estadio, a Spanish restaurant.  I have tried a couple of other Spanish places in DC, and this one was, by far, my favorite.  The ambience, we decided, was very moorish, reminiscent of the architectural style and tiles of Southern Spain.  The food, too, was DELICIOUS.  I ordered Butternut Squash Soup (always a good choice), and we shared tortilla (claro), a bruschetta-like dish and manchego (again, claro).  Molly and Lauren also ordered patatas bravas, and we each got sangria.  Fantastic.  We then saw Like Crazy at E St. Cinema.  It was a decent movie- definitely not my favorite, but entertaining nonetheless- and it was just what I needed that night.

My mom and I trekked out to the outlets in Woodbridge on Saturday, partly to do some preliminary Christmas shopping, and partly to shop for a gift for my cousin's baby shower.  The outlets were an absolute ZOO, so I can't even imagine what they will be like come December (this is why I get my Christmas shopping done early, so I don't have to deal with the crowds).  A personal highlight was that I FINALLY found a camel cowl-neck sweater that I LOVE!!!! JCrew, ladies and gentlemen.  I turned around and there it was...it was like we were meant for each other haha.  There's nothing like a beautiful new sweater to make you at-peace with the coming of winter.  I wish I could convey the look of utter confusion when, after he told me that he liked my new sweater, I practically screeched at Dan, "I know!!! A camel cowl-neck sweater!".  His look was something like, "Ummm, I don't speak woman...", so, by explaining to him the words "camel" and "cowl neck", I updated his fashion vocabulary :)

On Saturday night, my parents took Tim, Dan and I out to Morton's in Georgetown, where, for the obvious reason of me being a vegetarian, I had never been.  The waiter brought out a cart containing each of their offerings, and, even though I had looked the menu up beforehand, I did not see one thing I could eat...until the very end, when he reached onto the bottom shelf of the cart and grabbed a cut of Chilean Sea Bass.  YUM YUM YUM.  My omnivorous family and my equally omnivorous boyfriend each got some sort of steak, and there were more than enough sides to go around.  Afterward, Dan and I went home and watched the LSU-Bama football game, which I was at least mildly interested in because it was such a close game.

Being that I was tired, I fell asleep watching Parks & Rec (really, you know it's bad when I fall asleep during that), and awoke at 7 a.m. to the sound of Dan's roommate BLASTING the TV in the other room.  Apparently she decided she needed some background noise, forgetting that Dan's room is right next to the living room.  So much for an extra hour of sleep courtesy of the end of daylight savings time.  I certainly had a lazy Sunday after that: we got breakfast at Martin's (yay, pumpkin pancakes!!!!!!! I promise you, the childish excitement on my part was excessive- I think Dan got a kick out of it), and, after that, the most strenuous thing I did was go for a run.  It was a good thing I did, too, after this apparent fat kid weekend.  Due to the lost sleep from the night before, which had only compounded the lost sleep that I have been building up since, oh, probably the Lake back in August, I was EXHAUSTED, and fell asleep at the grandmotherly hour of 8:15.  Yay me?

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

This is getting rambly, but I am happy to report that I have knocked two people off of my Christmas list already!  I ordered Tim's present a few weeks ago (but, thanks to UPS, the newest company on my black list, I have yet to receive it), and ordered Dan's on Friday.  I have ideas for everyone else (including the materials for a crafty homemade gifts, which I will post pictures of after the fact), so now it's just a matter of buying everything.  I want to spend December prepping for my trip, not worrying about which presents I still need to buy.  Speaking of which...in exactly six weeks, my mom and I will be leaving for Strasbourg!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeee!

Makes My Heart Melt!

I stumbled upon this post on Cup of Jo, in which she talks to guys about what is going through their head before they kiss a girl for the first time.  It is so cute how nervous some of these guys were!  It's definitely cute to see a guy get all mushy and emotionally vulnerable every once in a while :)

Trick or Treat!

No, I did not go trick-or-treating (would you believe me if I said I had, though?!  When I was taking the bus home last night, seeing all of the kiddos in their costumes in Georgetown made me want to join in!).  Never fear, though, I did dress up- TWICE!

On Friday night, we were going to a party at Dan's friend's house, and another of his friends had decided that he wanted a bunch of us to go in Batman costumes.  I was assigned Catwoman, which I was excited about because I found black pleather leggings and a black leotard (with a low, scooping back) at American Apparel.  I think the saleswoman guessed, as soon as I walked in the store dressed in my not-at-all-hipster work clothes, that I was looking for a Halloween costume, although she insisted that she wore the leotard all the time (obviously so practical).  I found some other cute accessories, and I would say that it was definitely a "cute" spin on Catwoman.  Aside from my costume, we had Batman, Batwoman, Poison Ivy, Two-Face and...drumroll please....Dan won the best costume (hands-down) with his FABULOUS fluorescent green suit that he bought to be the Riddler (he got extra points in my book for drawing question marks all over it, without whining and making me do it!).  We looked like quite a group, and definitely got some enthusiastic reactions on the Metro on the way to the party.

 See what I mean?!?!?!?! THE SUIT

Batman crew (plus our lovely hostess, Rainbow Bright)

On Saturday night, we had some friends over to our place for a Halloween potluck.  We had two types of chili, lots of good sides, and more sweets than even we knew what to do with (my contribution was Halloween-themed cookie dough cupcakes, a recipe that I originally got from Kate).  That night, I decided to change up my costume and go with my old standby of my beloved fairy costume, which, although it looks like it was made for someone a foot shorter than me and, frankly, looks a little strange on me, I have now worn for three Halloweens because I love it so much.  After we stuffed ourselves with delicious food that all of our wonderful friends made and drank yummy pumpkin ale (among other things), we headed to Dupont and settled on Science Club, the one place we could find with no line and no cover (and, since we had gotten snow- FIRST SNOW! WOO!!!- earlier in the day and it was FREEZING, we were not in the mood to wait in line outside).  It actually had an amazing vibe- I could have done with some more Top 40s music, but it was good dance music and the drinks were reasonably priced.  All in all, a win of a night, because I got to be surrounded by some of my favorite people!

Hoyas! (plus two non-Hoyas; we also apparently self-segregated, because the Domers are not really in any of our pictures)

I can't believe it is already November!  Since I'm totally insane a big-time planner, I started my Christmas shopping last night.  I will never be that person in the mall on Christmas Eve Day, and I'm not about to apologize for it.  I like for my Christmas shopping to be leisurely and stress-free, so I've already started coming up with ideas for the people in my life so that I can buy soon.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so excited for Thanksgiving (I would say it's my second-favorite holiday after Christmas), but the Christmas season is what really turns me into a caricature of myself haha.  I can't wait to put up the tree, sing Christmas carols, bake Christmas cookies, force Dan to watch Love Actually (I totally have a trump card left over from him making me watch Zombieland, which is actually worth several chick flicks, in my opinion).  But I digress.  First things first: Thanksgiving!

Things That Relax Me

I saw this picture on BBB this morning and just had to post it.  I really am just about my most relaxed when I'm hiking, so a little nature walk like this one looks so appealing right now (especially since, even given how amazing the foliage was on our Old Rag hike a few weeks ago, it is probably that much better now!):

(via Bippity Boppity Boo)

Another relaxing thing?  My mom and I went and got massages yesterday!  I had bought Living Socials for it for Mother's Day, thinking that it would be a fun mother-daughter outing, and boy, was it ever!  For those of you who know me, I am neither a relaxed nor a Zen person, but, for whatever reason, last night I was able to completely let go and let myself be in a place of total relaxation (which I sorely needed).  Other than sitting on the dock at the Lake, I cannot think of another time when I have been that blissfully relaxed.  While I know that massages are certainly frivolous and unnecessary, I think I might have to make a pact with myself to get one once a year...

One last  update is that plans are coming along quite nicely for our family European Christmas vacation (it's very National Lampoon of us, really).  I'm already bouncing off the walls with excitement, so I can only imagine what I'll be like when we're there in less than 2 months!

Happy (almost) Friday!!!! Is this week over yet? Haha. I can't wait for all of the Halloween festivities this weekend!  I'm doing a group costume with Dan and his friends tomorrow night (I am Catwoman, as a part of the superhero/comic book character theme), and then I'm recycling my beloved fairy costume on Saturday night.  It should be a lot of fun!!!

A Very Hoya Homecoming

I have to be honest, I was not jumping up and down about Homecoming Weekend.  Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled at the prospect of seeing out-of-town friends who were making their yearly pilgrimage back to the city, but the stress of all of the people I wanted to see was weighing down on me.  Add to that a week that wasn't stellar and I was not particularly psyched for the weekend.

One of the things I was really excited for was spending Homecoming with Dan, seeing as how one of the things that I love about our relationship is that shared Georgetown connection.  However, the reality is that we each have our separate groups of friends, so, naturally, our priority was going to be hanging out with our respective friends.  So we kind of took a "well, I'll see you when I see you" attitude toward the weekend, which actually ended up working out nicely.

I went to bed at the grandmotherly hour of 9:15 on Friday night, feeling completely worn out.  True to form, I followed that early bedtime up with an early morning, waking up slightly before 7 to run.  Boy, I needed it.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, there is nothing like the automatic mood-boosting powers of a good run! I met up with Lauren and we headed over to the tailgate, which soon turned into a mob scene (so much so that Tim, not a fan of lines or huge groups of people, turned right back around and left before he even made it into the cordoned-off area).  One thing that you're guaranteed to find at Homecoming is a boatload of Hoya spirit, with blue and gray at every turn, and it really warms my heart.

I really did miss my out-of-town girls, more so this week than I maybe typically would, because Homecoming is not only the ideal time to make small talk with people you crossed paths with at some point during your college experience, but it's also a wonderful excuse to have a no-holds-barred fun weekend with your best friends.  It was hard not to have them there, and they were certainly on my mind all weekend.

Miraculously, I was able to find Dan and his friends in the crowd, and, after hanging out with them for a bit, we went back and found my friends before heading up to the swim meet that was on campus that day.  That was my first swim meet ever, and getting to experience something that was such a big part of Dan's life really meant a lot to me.  I can genuinely say that I had a great time!

My plan was to take a power nap so I would be ready for round 2, but, thanks to an obscene amount of traffic, the bus took much longer than expected.  I had a little bit of downtime to change, but then it was time to head back to Georgetown with a group of nearly 20 friends.  It was a really fun time, and I got to see some people who I would not normally get to catch up with otherwise.  From there, a group of us walked down to the waterfront and then to the Kennedy Center to check out the views from the rooftop terrace.  We then walked back to the waterfront, where our class had its class party.  I just have to say that, whoever planned the bar night did a God-awful job (did they forget about the flooding back in April that has rendered the inside of many of the restaurants inoperable?), because it felt like it was about 40 degrees, and damn, we were freezing after being out there for about 3 hours!!!  Dan met up with us there, and, soon after, a group of us headed back to nice, warm Chadwick's, where his class party was.  We headed back about 1:30, and, as we were walking home, we were enveloped in fog on Key Bridge.  About halfway across, we could no longer see Georgetown, and boy, was it eerie!

We had a perfectly lazy Sunday (complete with the most delicious French toast ever at one of our favorite breakfast venues), which was a nice counterbalance to the hectic two days that had passed before.  Although my mind was fighting me, I couldn't help, as I rode the bus home in the middle of the afternoon, but experience an overwhelming urge to run.  So run I did!  It won't be too long before it's too freezing to run outside, so I'm taking advantage while I can.  It gave me a lot of time to reflect on how lucky I am to have the people in my life that I do.  I do give thanks for them every day, but I felt particularly lucky in light of the weekend full of reunions that I had just had.  Thank you to all of you, whether you're reading or not, for enriching my life, and I truly do feel blessed!

True to form, a few pictures from the weekend :)

 Lovely ladies at the tailgate!

With one of my favorite fellow Hoyas!