This is Real

Hope you're keeping an eye on: http://riverbendblog.blogspot.com/

The girl who writes Baghdad Burning says that so many people have left Iraq this summer she wonders if it’s hundreds of thousands. Of course there are no official figures for something like that…

She says that residents of Baghdad are “systematically being pushed out of the city.” No one trusts the government, the Americans, the military, or anyone but friends & relatives. The only hope is to say alive – “not safe, not secure - just alive.” We can’t even IMAGINE what that feels like.

Not that I read all the news on this subject – how can anyone without being permanently depressed? – but I have yet to see this info in the news…

More from “I’m Not a Feminist But…”

* If childrearing is the most important job in the world, why is it an unpaid position? (And why don't more men do it full time?!)

* Why are modeling and prostitution the only two fields in which women routinely out-earn men?

* If intelligent women are unaffected by media images, why do a quarter of female college students develop eating disorders?

What is Chick Lit?

As an English major and fan of literature from a female perspective, I have read lots of novels by women. Some of them probably fall into the "chick lit" category - the definition of which I'm not sure I really understand, and have honestly not thought much about.

So when I saw two book covers: "This Is Not Chick Lit" and "This Is Chick Lit" I just assumed they were spoofs - until I read the accompanying text and realized they are both anthologies being published this summer. Check it out: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2006/08/10/this-blog-post-is-not-chi_e_26955.html


As I thought about it, I realized that I am guilty of two things:
* I probably tend to avoid most "chick lit" because I assume (ah, we know about that word!) that it's stereotype-filled fluff that's not worth my time,
* I just read and really enjoyed Candice Bushnell's "Lipstick Jungle".

Lipstick Jungle is not a story from which I learned anything or even got any new ideas, but it was a fun read and very affirming of women in leadership and women who don't operate within traditional roles. That is probably the essence of chick lit - and if so, why avoid it?

Rights

Ran across this in my law class:

"Having the right to do something does not mean that doing something is right."

No doubt!

Question of the Day

from “I’m Not a Feminist, But…”:

Why are women warned to stay in at night for their own safety, when home is the place they’re most likely to be assaulted?

Has it really been 20 years???

Whirlwind reunion weekend – and then it’s over. After months of planning & organizing, the weekend itself came & went quickly! Being there - after the amusement of seeing who has & has not changed - didn't feel much different from high school itself. We have been out of high school for 20 years – but I don’t feel old!

My girls got together today to relax & recap – and be thankful once again that we stuck together through all this time. We all had a great time both nights – and felt pretty good about where our lives are at this point! Most people seemed to be doing fine, (though of course some of them probably worried about going bald or being fat or not being married or whatever,) but who knows how the people who didn’t come are doing? Most of the people that I wanted to see did show up, but there were a few that I was disappointed not to see. Hope they are well!

I'm not sure what I expected, but the whole thing wasn't exactly life-changing. It was just two nights of big fun parties. Or is that what it's supposed to be? :)