5 (un)Real Role Models
May 13, 2008 |
From Hillary to Miley to Condi to Britney, I find most discussion about female role models in popular culture pretty idiotic. There’s always some big “controversy” brewing in the media about women in the limelight: Too emotional or too robotic? Way too sexy or too pear-shaped in a pantsuit? Overly assertive or too demure? Too many dates or too many pounds?
Despite all the controversy and chit-chat about prominent women in the media, there’s one arena in which pop culture has gotten it right: fiction. In recent years, movies, books, and TV shows have presented us with some amazing female characters deserving of our admiration. In their honest depictions of the complexity of what it means to be flawed and human, these fictional women are as real as it gets. So here’s my personal toast to 5 great female characters and the traits that make them work emulating:
Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on May 13, 2008 | Comments (11)
Food for Thought
May 12, 2008 |
There are a lot of myths concerning modesty. One of them is that modesty is Victorian. But, in fact, it dates back way before the Victorian era. It’s in the Bible. As long as we’ve been human we’ve needed modesty, because as humans we don’t just have sex; we also have emotions and vulnerability. Modesty prevented us from being vulnerable with the wrong people. It also protected deep, erotic connections between the right people. When you’re young, modesty protects innocence, but when you’re older it protects profound connections.
Posted by Bonnie McMaken on May 12, 2008 | Comments (2)
Mother's Day's Surprising History
May 9, 2008 |
On Sunday, May 11, our nation will celebrate the 100th year anniversary of Mother’s Day. The United Kingdom began celebrating mothers much earlier than the United States. In the 17th century, on “Mothering Sunday,” children in the UK presented their mothers with flowers and “Mothering Cakes.” Early Christians celebrated a sort of mother’s day each year (on the fourth Sunday of Lent), when they remembered and celebrated the Virgin Mary, the Mother of Christ. Legend points to mother’s day remembrances practiced each spring by the ancient Romans and Greeks.
Now observed in more than 46 countries (often set on different dates), official and annual Mother’s Day celebrations give people the opportunity to thank their own mothers as well as recognize the valuable impact upon society the world’s mothers make and have made.
United States citizen and social activist, Julia Ward Howe (who wrote the Civil War song, “Battle Hymn of the Republic”), wrote a powerful “Mothers Day Proclamation” in Boston in 1870. She called for women to unite against war and work together to promote peace. (See www.rediscovermothersday.org/). She failed, however, to get formal and national recognition of an official Mother’s Day for Peace.
Posted by Caryn Rivadeneira on May 9, 2008 | Comments (0)
