I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about Barbara’s post from last week, Choosing the Iconic Self, about how women–now freed from the simple definitions of either wife or daughter–struggle to define our authentic Self, and wind up trapped by the iconic image of whatever dream-self we aspire to become, saddling each choice with a […]
Search Results for 'perfection'
Perfection: A Zero Love Game
Posted in being judged, culture, feminism, identity, why women? on September 15, 2009| 10 Comments »
Repeat After Me: Just Say No.
Posted in "What should I do with my life?", gender roles, workplace, tagged Ambition gap, Emory University, Germaine Greer, Pleasers, Serena Chen, University of California at Berkeley, Wall street Journal, workplace on January 22, 2013| 1 Comment »
If we want to close the ambition gap, a good first step might be learning how to shake our heads. There’s this great quote from Feminist icon Germaine Greer: When we talk about women having it all, what they really have all of is the work.” She was being somewhat facetious. But then again, not […]
It’s Not Me… It’s You.
Posted in "What should I do with my life?", decision-making, life choices, worklife balance, workplace, tagged Ann Charlott Alstadt, gender pay gap, happiness, mindfulness, perfection, personal responsibility, second shift, structural change, Undecided, worklife balance, yoga on October 5, 2012| Leave a Comment »
The other day, a good friend who is Swedish emailed me a link to post by Ann Charlott Altstadt, a Swedish writer who suggests that when life gets us down, we’d sometimes be better off ditching the trip to the yoga studio or the psychologist and seeing a sociologist instead. Funny, my friend said, but […]
How The Pursuit of Happiness Makes Us Crazy.
Posted in culture, grass-is-greener, identity, Paradox of Women's Declining Happiness, tagged "the shoulds", Consumer culture, Daniel Gilbert, Eric Hoffer, expectations, Facebook, happiness, New York Times, perfection, Ruth Whippman, Stumbling on Happiness, Undecided: How to ditch the endless quest for perfect and find a career -- and life -- that works for you on September 28, 2012| 1 Comment »
The last time our family got together — finding all of us in the same zipcode at the same time is a rare and wondrous feat — we hunkered down in a suite at the Holiday Inn Express (Backstory not important). With no bar or restaurant in sight, our family of foodies trekked to the […]
There is No Having It All, There is No Perfect (and, Spoiler Alert: There is No Santa Claus Either)
Posted in "What should I do with my life?", culture, feminism, gender roles, identity, psychology of choice, why women?, worklife balance, workplace, tagged Ann Marie Slaughter, choices, Debora Spar, feminism's unfinished work, having it all, jugging, multitasking, perfection, pressure, public policy, The Daily Beast, the workplace, trade-offs, Undecided: How to ditch the endless quest for perfect and find a career -- and life -- that works for you, unfinished work, us vs. them on September 24, 2012| 1 Comment »
So, the subject of our book is certainly in the air as of late. First, Ann Marie Slaughter, and now, a piece on The Daily Beast by Debora Spar, whose take on the issues of women chasing perfection, juggling roles and choices in a not-adequately-changed world was, frankly, so similar to the things we’ve written […]
Baby Bumps and the Beauty Myth, Plastic Surgery and Politics: Or, What Jessica Simpson Has To Do With You.
Posted in being judged, culture, feminism, why women?, tagged "the End of Men", abortion, birth control, bump alert, Entertainment Tonight, Extraordinary Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Gloria steinem, Good Morning America, independence, Jessica Simpson, Katie Couric, patriarchy, perfection, plastic surgery, politics, post-baby body, power structure, pressure, reproductive rights, Roe V. Wade, Sandra Fluke, spanx, The Bachelorette, The Beauty Myth, the female vote, Trista Sutter on September 11, 2012| 2 Comments »
Isn’t it funny, at a time that’s been described as The End of Men And The Rise of Women, during an election season that’s been touted as hinging on the “female vote,” during an era in which young adult humans of the female persuasion have never known a world in which Gloria Steinem wasn’t an […]
Declaring a Ceasefire Against Our Sisters
Posted in "What should I do with my life?", being judged, culture, feminism, grass-is-greener, why women?, tagged Ann Romney, being single, childfree, Gloria steinem, Hilary Rosen, Larry King, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Mitt Romney, Mommy Wars, Oprah, pay gap, perfection, Salon.com, self-doubt, stay at home moms, the road not traveled, the second shift, us vs. them, working moms on April 17, 2012| Leave a Comment »
So, the Mommy Wars. They’re back. Again. Or still. A superquick recap: As you’ve undoubtedly heard by now, last week Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen said on CNN that Republican Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney’s wife Ann, a stay at home mom, had “never worked a day in her life.” Naturally the Romney campaign latched on to […]