What the h Netflix?

So I decided to try out one of the yoga workout on Netflix Instant today. Check out my recommendations:

Notice anything odd? Look at the category- Quirky TV Shows Featuring a Strong Female Lead. And now the suggestion to the far right- Say Yes to the Dress.

Really Netflix? Really?

While I have occasionally been known to enjoy a Say Yes marathon or two, I strongly disagree that it is a. quirky and b. starring a strong female lead.

Female, yes. But strong? Not really. Are women spending thousands of dollars (often pressured by the salespeople to spend much more than their original budget) on their wedding dress(es)really what passes for strong female leads nowadays?

Sometimes I weep for the future.

In other news, my run outside yesterday was great and gorgeous and made me wish I had my camera. Also, I now have two blisters on the arch of my left foot from my inserts. Grr.

After being flabbergasted by Netflix suggestions, I tried out The Trainer's Edge: Long & Lean Yoga. I was not a fan. It was definitely a harder yoga workout than I am used to, and I think I've come to realize that I don't want to do yoga for conditioning. I was to do yoga for the mental benefits and flexibility and a little bit of strength. Mostly, I hate when yoga videos try to trick me into doing crunches by calling them "chest pulses". If I wanted to do crunches, I would do crunches.

Last week in review

Run/bike/swim:

I did all of my biking. Unfortunately, it was all indoors. I am counting down the days to my next trip to Santa Barbara (11 days!), and all of the outdoor biking I will do.

Still no swimming. Bad. This week! I promise!

I did ran 4 times this week, but I didn't get my "long" run in. I was so excited to run outside yesterday, but I felt sick to my stomach. And I've already learned the hard way that running when my stomach already feels off is a recipe for disaster. So I took Sunday off, and enjoyed the sunshine through my kitchen window.

Strength:

I lifted 4 times this week. Plus, I mixed it up more than the 8 - 10 lifts that I normally do. I also tried to get more of my body involved instead of just focusing on one area, like standing on one legs to do curls, etc.

Yoga/pilates:

No yoga or pilates classes this week, but I did some yoga on my own. I really think classes are important for me, but sometimes yoga on my own works out better for my schedule.

In non-workout life, I addressed 500 plus envelopes by hand this weekend, watched 10 episodes of Secret Life, 2 episodes of Battlestar Galactica (nerd alert!), and 12 episodes of Parks and Rec. My HLP, Jodi Christ Superstar told me that I have to watch Parks and Rec. I'm so glad she did, and Leslie Knoap is one of my new feminist icons. Ovaries before brovaries!

On Saturday night, I put on my tight jeans, thermal socks, boots and down coat and went to a bluegrass show at The Divided Sky. It was definitely the place to be in Lake Taco that night. A guy came up to me and said, "You look really nice. You're wearing jewelry. You went all out tonight." For the record, I was wearing giant ceramic earrings that I bought at Value Village and a plastic necklace from H&M. So it's not like I was blinging out like T Pain or anything. Lake Taco is a different kind of place. Bison was great, as was the hard cider that I drank. I forgot what kind it was, but it was delicious.

Since I was feeling sick on Sunday, and I care a negative amount about both the Packers and the Steelers, I didn't watch the Superbowl. I took advantage of the nearly empty laundromat and did a mountain of laundry. I managed to have more laundry than would fit in my basket, and had to have laundry overflow into a reusable shopping bag. It was pretty impressive.

Here's my latest workout jam: Tightrope by Janelle Monae feat. Big Boi. Sadly no imbedding.

And here's the non-workout tunes I've been listening to while addressing envelopes and dancing around my apartment:

And:

10 of my favorite movies that don't pass the Bechdel test

The Bechdel Test: The movie must have
1. Two women characters...
2. Who talk to each other...
3. About something other than a man.

Here we go:
1. Rushmore directed by Wes Anderson
Possibly my favorite movie. There are exactly 2 (named) women characters who never talk. The Royal Tennenbaums passes, Fantastic Mr. Fox & Darjeeling Limited fail.

2. Almost Famous written & directed by Cameron Crowe
A semi-autobiographical tale of the writer's adolescence following rock stars and writing for Rolling Stone. The "band-aids" talk to each other, about men.

3. Toy Story directed by John Lasseter
Andy's mom and Little Bo Peep are female, but they don't talk. Toy Story 3 passes!

4. The Shawshank Redemption written & directed by Frank Darabont
As it's mainly set in a men's prison, failing the test is understandable.

5. Superbad written by Seth Rogan & Evan Goldberg
The two named female characters don't really interact, until the end and we don't know what they are talking about.

6. Real Genius starring Val Kilmer & a bunch of people who never made another movie
This one pains me! There is a girl genius integral to the plot, but she never talks to any of the other 2 women, who only exist to bang the male geniuses.

8. The 40 Year Old Virgin written & directed by Judd Apatow, the king of sensitive feminist movie scripts
Women (other than the always brilliant Jane Lynch (playing a part originally written for a man!)) are flat, secondary characters, good for banging.

9. Ace Ventura starring Jim Carey in his oscar nominated role
You think that there are two women who talk to each other about something other than men in this movie, but nope! SPOILER ALERT: Lt. Einhorn is a man!

10. Indiana Jones Trilogy directed by Steven Spielberg
In the Indiana Jones trilogy (what fourth movie?!), there are 3 major female characters. One is a prissy prissy princess who screams, just beause she is covered by giant insects. One is a doctor, but, on the downside, a Nazi. One is kind of a bad ass, but she still ends up needing rescued. Poor showing, Steven Spielberg. I'll have to think twice about naming my first son Indiana.

All women are REAL women

I was watching this video, "This is what a real woman looks like", and I found myself getting really annoyed. On some levels, the video has a great message. I think the media's incredibly narrow view of what women are "supposed" to look like is incredibly damaging. The diet industry makes billion dollars a year. Women are supposed to constantly care about what they look like (and spend lots of money to look acceptable). The average age of a girls first diet is 8! There's no way this is right.

However, I think the "real women" backlash against the media is also damaging. All women are real women. Short, tall; fat, skinny, curvy, flat...we're all women. A different narrow box of acceptability isn't any better than the previous one.

Models that have been photoshopped into un-reality: not real women.




















Super gorgeous super-models (even if they're skinny): Real Women



















Supreme Court Justice Nominee Elena Kagan: Real Woman


















Dottie Kamenshek, member of the All-American Girls Baseball League: Real Woman



















Kerri Walsh & Misty May-Treanor, multiple Olympic gold medalists and all around bad-asses: Real Women



















James Franco's Japanese Pillow: Not a Real Woman


















Any questions?

What up, Madam Secretary!

"We have to expand civil and political rights in countries that are plagued by poverty, hunger, and disease. But our pleas will fall on deaf ears unless democracy actually improves people's lives while weeding out the corruption that too often stands in the way of progress.
Our foreign policy must reflect our deep commitment to help millions of oppressed people around the world. And of particular concern to me is the plight of women and girls, who comprise the majority of the world's unhealthy, unschooled, unfed, and unpaid. If half the world's population remains vulnerable to economic, political, legal and social marginalization, our hope of advancing democracy and prosperity is in serious jeopardy. The United States must be an unequivocal and unwavering voice in support of women's rights in every country on every continent."

Go Hilary!

I think this is awesome.

Recruiters for top women's colleges in U.S. see a bounty in the Middle East.

Douchebag Party

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004449470_seattleuparties31m.html?syndication=rss

I'm going to make a value judgement here:

- Douchebag party: okay
- Party named after an offensive word for the female anatomy where the men dress up like hunters and women dress up like prey: not okay

F You, Beyonce!

Don't you know that Sexualization Of Girls Is Linked To Common Mental Health Problems In Girls And Women?

I found this on jezebel. Here are some of my favorite titles of related blog posts:

How Many 8-Year-Olds Have To Get Bikini Waxes Before We All Agree The Terrorists Have Won?

Dear Moms: Your 6-Year Old Daughter's Ass Is Not "Juicy"

Britney Spears & Jon-Benet Weren't Born In Inappropriate Outfits, You Know