Female Talk

Mythbuster Kari Byron: IS SmartI stumbled across this link yesterday, and could only read about a third of the suggestions before I started getting a headache.  This list of "Simple Tricks That Make You Look Smart" is, you might notice, mostly about cleaning.  In fact, here is how it breaks down:

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As I'm sure you've heard by now, on Sunday night Kathryn Bigelow became the first female director to win the Academy Award for Best Director for "The Hurt Locker."

Doesn't it seem like in the year 2010, it should be pretty hard to find anything where someone could be the "first female"?  Something as high profile as the Oscar awards should certainly be ashamed to be cracking the "first female" label.  It's trite to point out that the Academy is an "old boy's club" to end all old boy's clubs, but still!  People!  IT IS THE FUTURE.  

Only three other female directors have been nominated for Best Director in the past.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the list is: Read more

Dear Females,

The complexity of your gender in the area of outward appearance is beyond any understanding. Likewise, I’m sure you would say the same for your male counterparts, but this is not the focus today.

Many may try to assume or speculate conclusions with regard to your nature, but that usually leads to failed attempts of comprehension. This leads one into an area of complete confusion. An area that frustrates every bone in my body. Read more

FaithWhile religion has been hotly debated among various groups in the United States over the past couple of decades, one group has taken things way too far on a college campus in Texas where their latest stunt has far surpassed a matter of intelligent debate, crossing the line into obscenity and exploitation by conducting a swap program distributing pornography in exchange for Bibles or any other religious text in their all out assault on faith in this nation. Read more

Scales of JusticeA young Utah woman recently paid a man $150 to beat her. Why? Because she had hoped that his physical assault on her would kill her baby; she was in her last trimester. Fortunately, the baby survived and was adopted so the child is now safe. The man involved in the case was arrested and is currently in jail for his crime; however, the state judicial system was left with a bit of a legal quagmire since the current laws did not make any provisions for the state to also prosecute the woman involved. Read more

Crown of HypocrisyFormer Miss America contestant Carrie Prejean made headlines when she was, some say, one question away from winning the Miss America title—that one question asked what her views were on gay marriage. Her answer was simply that marriage is between one man and one woman but that she defended the rights of others to believe as they chose. Suddenly, she became a champion of family values and pin-up girl...hmm, I mean poster girl for the right. Read more

Yes, she’s a dingbat who would do anything—including die—for the boy-monster she thinks she loves. Yes, it’s a mawkish series (yet so oddly drag-you-in-like-an-orca-and-hold-you-underwater-until-you-can’t-breathe-and-die-ish for so many people) that’s pretty unoriginal (with the exception of glittering vampires, which is right out of a five-year-old’s imagination) and full of holes. But the Twilight series does have its teachable moments. Here are ten things that girls can learn from watching Bella bumble through misadventure after misadventure.

10. Don’t fall in love with a dead person.

This will only bring you heartache, suffering, and potential death. Go for a nice, breathing boy (or girl) instead—one who is enticed by your smile or eyes or even your butt rather than the smell of your blood. Read more

NASCAR Driver Erin CrockerThe New York Times Freakonomics blog is reporting that - in an announcement which surprises no one - in a couple situation, men are more likely to be behind the wheel.  According to the self-reported results, most women feel that they would rather be doing something else (I know that I prefer to knit than drive) and they feel that letting their husbands and boyfriends drive is an easy way to throw a sop to their easily bruised male ego.
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The Sociological Images blog BLEW MY MIND this morning when I read their post about the relative dangers of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS).  To sum up, FAS is actually very rare, and is only weakly correlated with alcohol consumption by pregnant women.  "only about 5% of alcoholic women give birth to babies who are later diagnosed with FAS."
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Ada LovelaceAda Lovelace Day is coming, so get your blog posts ready!  Ada Lovelace is widely regarded as "the world's first computer programmer."   The daughter of poet Lord Byron and a well respected writer of her own, Ada Lovelace worked with Charles Babbage on his Difference Engine.  She took copious notes, including what amounted to the world's first programming algorithm.

Ada Lovelace Day was launched in 2009 by Suw Charman-Anderson, who vowed to blog about a woman in technology who she admired if 1,000 other people pledged to do the same.  The pledge was a resounding success, drawing almost 2,000 pledges.  
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