The Right Equipment

A woman and her husband were vacationing at a lake. The husband liked to fish, and the boat was full of his equipment, but one day while he was napping, the woman decided to go out on the boat herself. She found a nice place on the lake and began to read her book.


A warden pulled up and told her she was in a restricted zone (no fishing) and he would have to arrest her. The woman explained that she was not fishing; she was reading. The warden responded that she had all the proper equipment for fishing and he would have to take her in to the station.


"If you do, I'll charge you with sexual assault" she snapped.

Dumb-struck, the warden protested that he hadn't even touched her.

"Yes, but you have all the proper equipment," she replied.

The moral of the story? Don't argue with a woman who reads; it's likely she can also think.

What I'm Re-reading Now

Nearly forgotten after her death in 1970, Haushofer began to attract attention again when this novel was republished in the 1980s. Although it is described by the publisher as "a startling redefinition of ecofeminist utopian fiction," this first-person narrative has been characterized by most commentators as dystopian. It tells of a woman vacationing in a remote mountain hunting lodge who survives an unexplained catastrophe in which (almost) all the rest of the human world perishes. Imprisoned on the mountainside by an invisible wall, the unnamed narrator recounts her struggle to survive and her attempt to discover the essence of her own personality, femininity, and humanity. The minimalist plot is enhanced by rich description and wise insight, and the translation succeeds in capturing the author's fluid, lyrical style

Miscommunication

Just For Fun

Smart Women VIII

Movie Time

I'm not quite sure why I haven't seen this film until now. It caught me in the first scene, when the bookseller pulls his cart through town hawking his wares, "Storybooks for women! Sacred books for men!"

Barbra Streisand portrays Yentl Mendel, a girl living in an Ashkenazi shtetl in Poland in the early 20th century. Yentl's Father, Rebbe Mendel (Nehemiah Persoff), secretly instructs her in the Talmud despite the proscription of such study by women according to the custom of her community.

After the death of her father, Yentl decides to dress like a man, take her late brother's name, Anshel, and enter a Jewish religious school, oryeshiva. Upon entering the yeshiva, Yentl makes friends with a fellow student, Avigdor (Mandy Pantinkin), and meets his fiancée Hadass (Amy Irving). The story is complicated as Hadass's family cancels her wedding to Avigdor over fears that his family is tainted with insanity, and decides that she should marry Anshel instead. Meanwhile, Hadass develops romantic feelings for Yentl (as Anshel), while Yentl herself is falling in love with Avigdor. After much turmoil, Avigdor and Hadass are reunited, while Yentl leaves Europe to go to America, where she hopes to lead a freer life.

Smart Women VII

Our Century’s Greatest Injustice

Our century’s greatest injustice: Sheryl WuDunn on TED.com

Smart Women VI

The Girls at the Office

Awesomely Sexist Pepsi Commercial From 1957

Smart Women V

She Caught On Quick

Smart Women III

Smart Women II

Smart Women I

Princess Camp? Really?

This is front page news in Searcy, AR:

"Princess Camp Teaches Etiquette"

Searcy's younger generation is learning to compose themselves like royalty, thanks to Planned to Perfection's Princess Camp. [ . . . ] Two different classes were offered, one for princess ages 4-6, held in the morning, and one for ages 7-9, held in the afternoon.

Girls were able to construct their own tutus and wands and were crowned during the climactic tea party. The older group composed their own princess song that they sang to their family. [ . . .]

Some of the etiquette campers learned included: yes sir, no sir; don't talk with mouth full; no slurping; no elbows on the table; and how to sneeze like a princess.

Princess Camp gave all finishing girls a diploma with the declaration: "This princess is not only beautiful on the outside but on the inside too. This royal princess is polite, knows her manners, has good self esteem, and knows how to be a good friend."

I don't even know where to begin . . .

Just For Fun

Smart Girls at the Party

Amy Poehler, Meredith Walker and Amy Miles celebrate girls who are changing the world by being themselves. Check it out here.

Natural Look?