Tag Archives: feminists

Taylor Swift: The Anti-Feminist

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Taylor Swift said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” She said it in response to being asked if Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s joke about her love life upset her. I have several problems with this. First being that Taylor Swift’s love life is a joke and she makes it a public one because every song she ever writes is about it. Second, you can’t say that these two brilliant powerful women who broke the mold for women in TV are going to hell because they didn’t back you. You just committed the same folly.

When Amy Poehler was asked what she thought about the comment she said something to the effect of, “I’m going to hell but mainly for boring tax reasons” and that’s how it’s handled. Once again proving that charm, maturity, and comedy will always outweigh the “poor me you were mean to me” little whiney girl.

That’s all Taylor Swift is, a perpetual teenager stuck in a “poor me” party. I understand that heartbreak makes the best poetry and lyrics are poems but enough is enough. How many men has she dated?! Enough to have at least three albums worth of lyrics, there’s an entire Wiki about them. That’s a lot of public heartbreak. I mean, most people in the public view have relationships end but they don’t talk about them endlessly.

My point is I feel like Taylor Swift sets back feminism. She’s a meek, little girl whose happiness (and album successes) relies on a man. I would love to see her break out of this mold she’s created for herself. She’s 22 now, I don’t want her riding around in the basket of a shopping cart—it’s time to grow up.



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Sexism in Tech

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As far as the feminist movement has come it still has a way to go—especially when it comes to tech. We’ve touched base on Melissa Mayer being the mother we love to hate in tech but it’s not just Yahoo dropping the baton.

NPR did a report on sexism in tech and I literally gasped when I heard one woman say that when she told a man her salary requirements his response was, “wow. You are really overvaluing yourself as a female.” It got me thinking about my first job in tech. My training for Google search was “hot Jewish chicks” and the terms we searched for were “hot Jews”, “Jewish boobs”, “Israeli girls” “hot Israeli girls” “Israeli boobs”…you get the idea. In fact the CEO said to me, “wow you could sue me for this” because of the results that came up.
My next training was on how Google crawls. My trainer said, “When you look at a hot guy what do you see first?” I said “face?” he said “yup, face. So, I’m checking out this hot chick and I see her face—that’s the title. Then I see her tits that’s the description, then I see her ass that’s the list”.
Tech is dominated by men and women still need to “prove themselves”. Sometimes we do that by being over masculine and dealing with the T&A talk like it doesn’t bother us, sometimes we bow out, sometimes we overcompensate by pretending we aren’t female (like talking only two weeks maternity—I’m looking at you Mayer.)

The work place has always been a battlefield for the movement and this is just another battle we’re fighting. We won on pay, we won on benefits, and look out Internet cause the female demo is going to win this war, too.



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Women’s History Month…Exists

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Everyone in America knows when Black History month is. It’s taught in schools and all major networks run a graphic that says “Happy Black History Month” or “In Honor of Black History Month”. In short, Black History Month gets a ton of air time. It should. It’s important. Did you know there is a Women’s History Month?

I didn’t either. I learned that March is celebrated as Women’s History Month from Twitter, since the 80’s March has been recognized throughout America, Canada and the UK. I had no clue. It’s not taught in schools, no one runs a graphic on NBC it just goes by silently. There’s not even an influx in female programming or documentaries. Nothing is done to recognize this month. It bothers me—but not as much as it should.

I don’t think we should have separate months celebrating “women” I think it should just be part of history. The women’s rights movement is amazing; it’s inspiring and not just for women. Learning about people standing up to injustice and fighting for equal rights is what this country was founded on. It’s part of our collective history so why separate it?

There’s still a long way to go in the women’s rights movement. There’s a lot of ground to cover but I’m very confident we’ll get there. Maybe on the road we’ll all realize that to be equal means to be together as one. I don’t need a month to celebrate the trials and successes of these amazing women. I do it every day.



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My New Feminist Icon: Arianna Huffington

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photo of arianna huffington pictures
Arianna Huffington is by far one of the most successful women in new media today. As president and editor-in-chief of Huffington Post Media Group she is the figurehead of one of the most popular websites on the Internet. The whole Internet. This woman knows business, and therefore knows stress in fact four and a half years ago Arianna fainted from exhaustion, broke her cheek bone and wound up with stitches around her eye. Since then Arianna has revolutionized herself and her company by focusing on helping people “de-stress” to that point she has a new app called “GPS for the soul”.

You can create your own “guide” or use Arianna’s or Dr. Oz’s. It allows you to focus on things you find calming or that embody “love” for you. It also has a little graphic that moves up and down so you can slow and match your breathing with it. As someone who is riddled with anxiety and stress I really enjoyed this app, but even more so I enjoy Arianna.

Mashable did an interview Arianna recently in which she stated that she doesn’t want her employees to return her emails at night or on weekends. The President of a huge company says doesn’t want you to respond to her emails. Can you imagine that? Especially someone in new media and entertainment…for goodness sake the woman runs a news website! News doesn’t stop! But Arianna wants her employees to stop, to de-stress, the woman is a nap pusher. I’m fortunate enough to have some insider info at Huffington Post and I have yet to hear anyone complain about Arianna (another amazing feat).

A few weeks ago I was speaking with someone from Huffpo and they were telling me all about how excited Arianna can get when you tell her you’ve napped that day. She’s big on getting enough rest. If you check out her twitter feed there are pictures of staffers napping on election night and her tag is always to the “good for you!” type of comment.

Working for one of the largest studios in the country I was blown away by this. At my work you come in no matter what. You work through sickness, you respond to every email, and you don’t complain about it because no one wants to hear it, if you’re not out till 1 in the morning with your boss at in the office at 9 you’re shunned and bullied, you are not part of the group. It’s refreshing to know that there are still people in power, who are insanely successful and haven’t turned into complete human-waste-holes.

Arianna Huffington is an incredible icon for women. She is a woman that has lifted herself to amazing heights, raised a family, looks fabulous and hasn’t let any of that rob her of her humanity. She is a study in success and feminism. I decree Arianna Huffington as my new feminist icon. Forget Rosie Riveter put Arianna on my poster!



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