Back in skinny jeans

International Museum of Women - Imagining Ourselves

I've written before about Yahoo's promotion of the International Museum of Women - Imagining Ourselves online exhibit. A brief description:

"Throughout March, April, May, and June, notable women around the world will explore the themes of love, money, culture, and the future as they pertain to women in their twenties and thirties."

If you haven't checked it out, please do before it ends. The stories and perspectives from all these wonderful women from around the world is very inspiring and uplifting. It really is amazing, and does make you feel proud to be a woman. For me, it gets me completely out of the whole obsession with weight and looks, and into the deepening of the soul and heart. For the last 4 months, there has also been an impressive line-up of women bloggers from countries around the world like Columbia, Nigeria, Australia, Malaysia, and Benin. I learned of a new country today. See the complete list here.

There is also a link to a list of Yahoo groups related to women's issues. I took a quick look at the list and was amazed to see the kind of topics there are for various groups. A cool one, I thought, was about female arm wrestling. The one thing I do love about being a woman is the social bonding and emotional support. Just from this blog alone, I have met some really warm, funny, and fabulous women.

Take a moment today and go visit the Yahoo International Museum of Women - Imagining Ourselves online exhibit here. You'll be glad you did ;-)

 

When you're pissed at a World Cup referee call..

source
This is what you do to let the ref know what you think of his sticking call. I love it!

Star's burning View bridges

When Barbara Walters says on TV, "We're not going to pretend that everything is okay here at The View." You know that some major sh*t is going down. Apparently, Star Jones shocked everyone at ABC yesterday when she announced that she had been canned from The View and would be gone in a month or two. There wasn't time to bleep it all out, so this morning they told Star that she is done. Don't come in.

Star Jones has been stirring up all kinds of stuff of late. Kathy Griffin sure has an opinion about the Star. Maybe it's just me, and I could be wrong, but most of it seemed to start after she lost all that weight. Becoming skinnier seems to have brought Starzilla out. It's not uncommon for some who are newly svelte to exhibit diva, now-I'm-better-than-you-all skinniness attitude. I've seen it before where the new found thinness makes some people feel like they now have the power to be superior because they are now in the "thin and beautiful" club. No matter, Star Jones is off The View in a dramatic way. I look forward to seeing Rosie O'Donnell take her new seat at Barbara's table.

Update: Took the Baba Wawa clip down cause the copyright police raided Veoh.

Pregnant (naked) Britney graces Bazaar cover

This morning I saw this over at Gawker. As you can see, Ms. Spears is doing a Demi-type cover pose for Bazaar magazine's August issue. Honestly, I don't know what to think of these pics, but good does not entertain any of my thoughts There are more pics of Brit-Brit from the spread here.

One pic in particular has her dressed only in a thong in a long winter type coat laying on the floor with a come hither "do-me" look on her face. Don't get me wrong, I think pregnancy is sexy, and just because you are pregnant doesn't mean you can't be steamy. But the sauciness, in this Britney spread is just not there, and it reeks more of desperation for attention than empowerment of the beauty of pregnancy, at least in my eyes. It also feels like a drastic attempt to salvage her "hotness" after that horrid Matt Lauer interview, and all the controversy around her marriage, mothering abilities, and career choices.

Things are tough for Britney right now.

Go on a media fast

There was a time when I used to subscribe to almost all the women's magazines covering fashion, fitness, and home stuff. I also regularly read all the celeb pubs like People, US, Star, and The Enquirer, for the pictures, of course. I'd also watch TV programs that dealt with fashion and lifestyles of the rich and famous. It dawned on me that consuming all that media kept me in the fashion and trends loop, but afterwards it also made me feel inadequate and not pretty enough.

Moderation is fine, but when you read over half a dozen mags and watch countless TV shows all the time, you are bombarding your psyche with tons of messages from all those media outlets. As far as the magazines go, there is always an article about how to lose 10 lbs quickly, how to disguise your figure flaws, how to make "him" love you, and how to make yourself over. Then couple the beauty rags with the celeb rags, and you see what glamorous life you "don't" have, and wish you could experience. If you had the chance to walk down the red carpet, wouldn't you take it? Admittedly, I'd be all over it.

So, if you do find that you inundate yourself with all kinds of magazines, shows, and even blogs and websites, why not try a media fast for a week or up to a month to detox yourself from all those messages about what you should look like, what you could look like, or what you need to look like. If you can't go cold turkey for a week, just try a day or two, or start by cutting your media fix by half of what you consume today.

Try a media fast, and see how you feel at the end of it. I bet you will notice a difference in how you feel about yourself.

Girls Gone Wild videos

I like to watch Comedy Central because there's lots of funny stuff there. But lately, I have noticed that they have been showing commercials for a new Girls Gone Wild video more than usual. The video has something to do with college co-eds and their first time girl on girl. The girls look like they are barely 18, and we see them inside what looks like a trailer or a dorm room, and of course there is a shower. I can't believe they allow this commercial to air because they show some risque stuff. It's definitely not something you want the kids to see.

I just have to say that I absolutely hate the Girls Gone Wild concept. It's very degrading to women and just perverse. It's not celebrating youth, it's exploiting it. This company is making millions of dollars from capitalizing on barely legal girls who don't know better. And at the same time, you have these young college co-eds flashing and cavorting, most likely drunk, acting like it is cool to be exploiting their bodies for these DVDs like it is some honor of flattery. Being in a Girls Gone Wild video is definitely one of those things that will bite you in the butt one day. The big sister in me wants to just beat talk some sense into these young women.

In the Girls Gone Wild site, they also have a tour blog where some guy talks about his adventures with the girls going wild. Plus there are video and pic sections where you must be over 18 because you can see the debauchery in action. Why have some of us gone downhill so fast?

Fitness: are you "Being" or "Doing"

Here's an interesting post over at the blog Ideas for Women written by Jayne Osbourn called, "Fitness-Distinguish Between "Doing" and "Being."

In summary, she has you take a peek at how you view fitness. There is a difference between "being" fit versus "doing" fit. Jayne has some great points, and I found it helpful when looking at my own apathy when it comes to exercise. I used to be a fitness fanatic and was in the gym at least 4 times a week, but in the last year and a half, exercise has become a struggle for me because, according to Jayne's points, I'm "doing" fitness as opposed to "being" fit. Thought-provoking.

Kidman marries Urban

Nicole Kidman married Keith Urban Sunday night, Aussie time. Here's the beautiful couple. Nicole looks like an angel. As far as wedding photos go, I think this one really is exquisite, and you can tell that they really look happy. Awwww!

You're beautiful: The song

You're Beautiful
by James Blunt
Album: Back to Bedlam
buy at iTunes

The first time I heard this song, I was enthralled with this man's voice. The story behind the song "You're Beautiful" is one that lived in my skinny dream fantasies when I was in my 20's. Many women have the same fantasy, and some actually get to live it.

The story goes, cute guy sees you from across a crowded room. He doesn't know you, and you don't know him, but the moment he lays his eyes on you he is in love. But, alas, it is a forbidden love because you are either with someone else, or you are betrothed to wed the son of your parent's accountant. The guy is aching to be with someone as beautiful and unattainable as you.

The lyrics in "You're Beautiful" that capture this essence:

You're beautiful, it's true.
I saw your face in a crowded place,
And I don't know what to do,
'Cause I'll never be with you.

This might be bold to say, but I think that EVERYONE has at one point in their lives the fantasy of locking eyes across a crowded room and falling in love with their soul mate. It is so Danielle Steele, but yet we guzzle it up like shots on "get drunk" night at the local bar.