Mochas and New York Magazine

A few random rants to start off my Tuesday morning post:

First of all, why does iTunes make it so easy to spend $17 on songs in the same number of minutes? Has anyone else discovered iTunes MyGroove playlists? Pre-selected songs are grouped as "study rock" or "90s memories" or "bachelorette parties." Last night I found myself downloading songs from their "Autumn" playlist (I told you, I'm on a fall-in-New-York-City-bender.) Gah, I could spend hours - and hundreds - reminiscing over old songs and discovering new ones.

Secondly, I'm convinced I'm going to be attending the presidential inauguration this year. I was never too much of a sucker for raffles. I’m usually able to rationalize that there are tens of thousands of people out there with the same odds of winning as me. Plus, beyond winning a giant, stuffed Sylvester cat in fourth grade I’ve never been that lucky. That was, until New York Senator Charles Schumer announced a lottery to win tickets to the presidential inauguration. I’m convinced my luck will change for this, and I’m bound to win. Tell you what: if I win, I’ll take you, as long as you promise you’ll take me if you win. Deal.

Lastly, the real reason I even wanted to post this morning:

I read an interesting article in New York magazine last night. I’m not going to tell you what food I was eating while reading it, but I’ll admit it does start with a t and end with an i and yes, Megan, I have an addiction. The article, The 'Bitch' and the 'Ditz', was about what women lost, not gained, from the 2008 election season.

There was a lot to celebrate with the election of Obama this month. But I found there were also a lot of tough moments during the entire election season for me, as a woman – as a feminist – to swallow. First was the realization that the country was not ready to elect a female president. I say this with a simultaneous counter that I was no Hillary supporter. But the blatant sexism that shadowed her campaign, not only from conservative pundits, but also from male friends of mine, made me sick and frustrated. People I knew and thought respected women, clearly did not believe one was capable of running this country. The introduction of Sarah Palin to the scene seemed to reinforce the belief that many had that a woman could not handle this position. The article did a really articulate job of highlighting how Clinton and Palin were played as caricatures of women in power:

"Among the darker revelations of this election is the fact that the vice-grip of female stereotypes remains suffocatingly tight. On the national political stage and in office buildings across the country, women regularly find themselves divided into dualities that are the modern equivalent of the Madonna-whore complex: the hard-ass or the lightweight, the battle-ax or the bubblehead, the serious, pursed-lipped shrew or the silly, ineffectual girl."

To be fair, I think SNL did a really good job of mocking the two stereotypes, thanks – no doubt – to the witty female minds of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

The article ends: “Many will say we’ve come a long way this year. The truth is we have a long way to go.”

I couldn’t agree more.