March 2009
5 posts
Shocking Suggestion
Does an obsessive, judgmental return to “natural childbirth” and “breast is best” always denote feminism in retrograde?
“I began to see in a strange new light the American return to early marriage and...”
– Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963
Comments on the quotations below...
I think they stand for themselves a bit. As you can tell, I’m reading The Feminine Mystique. I was never asked to read it before, believe it or not, and I think now’s the time. Sure, some of the stuff is dated. Sure, in her introduction from 1973, she states that in ten year’s time, women had already changed their attitudes completely, seeing the “their place on a false...
“Sociologists noted the astounding organization of suburban children’s...”
– Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963
“Not long ago, women dreamed and fought for equality, their own place in the...”
– Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique, 1963
January 2009
2 posts
Oh...and we ARE moving.
In April or May. Wish me luck.
Hello, out There (II)...
I’ve actually been doing a lot of thinking these past few weeks on the subject of feminism, motherhood and the group of women born between 1968 and 1978.
I plan to post some of these thoughts here. I need to get them out of my head…but I don’t seem to be making time to do this thing. I guess I’m blocking it, somehow. There are just so many other things that I need to be...
November 2008
2 posts
A tricky question...
I have a question for those of Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai descent. Are there any sub-groups in these countries that have blue eyes? I have never met anyone descended from these cultures with blue eyes, but I have admittedly only as much experience as my American upbringing allowed me.
I’m asking because I am made VERY uncomfortable by the number of women (three, at last count, of...
It's the Holiday Season
I’m not sure I’m ready. Like most of the rest of us, I’m feeling broke-ish. Not sure what’s coming up. Me and about 10 million other people.
October 2008
3 posts
I now totally and utterly resent Mad Men.
I may write a second post about this series soon. How derivative is that?
The Vestibular System Rocks →
A follow-up to a comment rant...
As I just said over at The New Girl’s blog…screw doctors with their stupid height-weight charts. These charts never made ANYONE happy, nor did they prevent anything bad. Oooh, I’m angry about that. You know what else? You know what other purpose they serve? TO MAKE PARENTS FEEL LIKE CRAP. Yeah, that’s right. Is your child heavier or lighter than the average? Average of...
September 2008
4 posts
Thinkin' of moving, people.
Yup, my family’s considering a move across this great country (the U.S. of A.).
It’s going to be a good thing, but goshdarnit, I hate upheaval.
On aging
I’m feeling so incredibly old today. No, that’s not quite fair. What I feel is afraid, not old; I fear that I’m growing irrelevant, but suspicious that this may be another plot of The Man (no, not my husband…THE MAN, if you know what I mean).
Here are the reasons that I am currently giving for “feeling old:”
1) They keep talking about this vaunted...
I can now no longer stomach it when bloggers talk...
Let’s think about this.
Why would you tell someone else that you are thinking of losing weight?
Most obvious reason: Because you want to hear, “Oh, that’s a good thing. You may feel out-of-control right now, but dieting is a good thing. We all think it’s a good thing. You should definitely go on a diet. No really. I wish I could be as good as you. You are a good person for...
August 2008
12 posts
Voting
I just read a blog post that really got under my skin and what I had to say to the author was so borderline trollish that I just couldn’t go there. So, I’m going to spew it here.
It is not “un-American” to choose not to vote. If you’re going to argue that there’s no point in voting because there is no candidate that seems PERFECT to you, we’re not dealing...
Hey...
The other, male, Dr. Attiton wonders…is there a bar called the “Foo Bar?” Because, if not, I’m quitting my excellent gig for a life of bartending there. Sure, I could just look that shit up on Google, but why? Why ruin a perfectly good dream?
Hello, out there
Guess what. I totally forgot to go to therapy this week. It just completely slipped my mind.
Luckily for me, my therapist doesn’t think that’s important. Yeah, that’s what I thought I said.
Why I don't like the Olympics: A List
It’s something about the move from “all amateur” to “some amateur.”
It’s something about the inflation of the number of events.
It’s something about the advertising.
It’s something about the gross nationalism of it all.
It’s something about how many of the sports treat the human body as something to be martyred.
It’s...
I sort of resent having to write this...but this...
It’s not that I’m a snob…it’s that I’m a big snob. I like TV. I do. But I don’t watch it much. I watched all of Mad Men last year and have been braving the hype of this year’s season; meaning, I’m watching it even though it’s been hyped to the heavens. That sort of thing usually turns me off completely. But, Peggy DECIDED TO GIVE UP HER BABY...
Back to the anger, folks.
I thought I was less angry there for a while, but not so much.
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that people are all morons, but many of them are totally clueless and insensitive.
“I tried my imagination, but I was disturbed.”
– A song. Guess which one! It’s fun…it’s a game.
Ooh, ooh...
Sarah Haskins and InfoMania on current.com…IT’S THE SARCASM CHANNEL I HAVE ALWAYS, ALWAYS BEEN LOOKING FOR. *ahem* Sorry for the shouting, I’m just so excited.
“I am just a lady…with a simple lady mind.”
Watch
It's been a rough few weeks for me...
Things just don’t seem to be clicking. I also think that it’s going around.
I am currently feeling overwhelmed by the number of things that need to happen in my life between now and, say, next April. I can’t even fathom it.
One step at a time, right? So, what’s the next one, then?
July 2008
35 posts
Cool piece of common sense that I didn't know...
Did you know why we don’t sweat when we have a fever?
It’s because fevers are intentional, so to speak. Your body is making a fever to fight off whatever bug is in your system by heating up your core temperature. It therefore doesn’t sweat, because sweating would cool you off.
Your body knows this stuff. Totally fascinating.
I ask goood questions... →
…but do I know the answers? No.
Hi, Everyone!
If you’ve come here from The New Girl’s blog, I feel I should make a little statement about my Tumblog…
I call this my “No Commitment” blog.
I write. You read. No need to comment (no ability to comment).
Recently, I’ve been posting some data on sizes in stores. It’s boring, but important to me. Before that, there is some normal blog stuff.
...
How Sofia Coppola Convinced Me to Have Children
Bob: It gets a whole lot more complicated when you have kids.
Charlotte: It's scary.
Bob: The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born.
Charlotte: Nobody ever tells you that.
Bob: Your life, as you know it... is gone, never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life.
This interchange, from Lost in Translation, was, in no small part, one of the reasons I decided to take the plunge and have children.
It does not please me that a movie character helped me make this decision, but he did. I listened and I thought, “Oh, right. Time does move on. You do not give birth to a child and then have that baby in your arms forever. They grow up and you get to meet...
It's funny...
I didn’t mean to leave that with just a long list of charts.
I have some conclusions as of July 2008:
Old Navy is a good inch larger than all the other brands. Their jeans are TWO inches larger. Which helps me not at all because the fabric that they use is so thin that you could see the impression made by a tatoo through them. Not the color mind you, but the difference in the raising of...
Eddie Bauer
Size 12
Bust: 37½ 38½ (as of Jul 08) Waist: 30 30½ (as of Jul 08) Hip: 40 40½ (as of Jul 08)
Size 14
Bust: 39 40 (as of Jul 08) Waist: 31½ 32 (as of Jul 08) Hip: 41½ 42 (as of Jul 08)
Size 16
Bust: 40½ 41½ (as of Jul 08) Waist: 33 33½ (as of Jul 08) Hip: 43 43½ (as of Jul 08)
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October 2006, September 2007 and...
J. Jill
Size 12
Bust: 38 Waist: 30½ Hip: 40½
Size 14
Bust: 39½ Waist: 32 Hip: 42
Size 16
Bust: 41 Waist: 33½ Hip: 43½
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October 2006, September 2007 and July 2008.
J. Crew
Size 12
Bust: 38½ 39 (as of July 08) Waist: 31 31½ (as of July 08) Hip: 41 41½ (as of July 08)
Size 14
Bust: 39 40 (as of Apr 05) 40½ (as of July 08) Waist: 32 33 (as of July 08) Hip: 42 43 (as of July 08)
Size 16
Bust: 41 40½ (as of Apr 05) 41½ (as of Oct 06) 42 (as of July 08) Waist: 33 34½ (as of July 08) Hip: 44 44½ (as of July 08)
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in...
Lane Bryant
Size 12
Bust: 38 (as of Oct 06) Waist: 31 (as of Oct 06) Hip: 41 (as of Oct 06) (Did they add this size for show or what? Also to be noted is that there was a giant ownership change in April 2005. Not for the better, either.)
Size 14
Bust: 40½ 40 (as of Apr 05) 40½ (as of Oct 06) Waist: 32½ 34½ (as of Apr 05) 32½ (as of Oct 06) Hip: 42½ 45 (as of Apr 05) 42½ (as of Oct 06)
Size 16
Bust: 42 ...
Talbots
Size 12
Bust: 38 Waist: 30 Hip: 40
Size 14
Bust: 39½ Waist: 31½ Hip: 41½
Size 16
Bust: 41 Waist: 33 Hip: 43
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October 2006, September 2007 and July 2008.
Banana Republic
Size 12
Bust: 38½ Waist: 30½ Hip: 41½ 40½ (as of Nov 04)
Size 14
Bust: 40 Waist: 32 Hip: 43 42 (as of Nov 04)
Size 16
Bust: 41½ Waist: 33½ Hip: 44½ 43½ (as of Oct 06)
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October 2006, September 2007 and July 2008.
Old Navy
Size 12
Bust: 39 Waist: 31 Hip: 41½
Size 14
Bust: 40 40½ (as of Oct 06) Waist: 32 32½ (as of Nov 04) 33 (as of Sep 07) Hip: 43 43½ (as of Sep 07)
Size 16
Bust: 42 Waist: 34 35 (as of Sep 07) Hip: 44½ 45½ (as of Sep 07)
As of July 2008, Old Navy has an entirely different set of sizes for jeans:
Size 12
Waist: 32 Hip: 42
Size 14
Waist: 34 Hip: 44
Size 16
Waist: 36 Hip: 46
All charts...
Gap, The
Size 12
Bust: 38½-40 38½ (as of Oct 06) Waist: 30½ 31½ (as of Oct 06) Hip: 40½ 40¾ (as of Oct 06)
Size 14
Bust: 38½-40 40½ (as of Oct 06) Waist: 32 33 (as of Oct 06) Hip: 42 42½ (as of Oct 06)
Size 16
Bust: 41½-43½ 42 (as of Oct 06) Waist: 33½ 34½ (as of Oct 06) Hip: 43½ 44¼ (as of Oct 06)
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October 2006,...
Ann Taylor Loft
Size 12
Bust: 38¾ 38½ (as of Oct 06) Waist: 30½ 31 (as of Oct 06) Hip: 40½ 41 (as of Oct 06)
Size 14
Bust: 40¼ 40 (as of Oct 06) Waist: 32 32½ (as of Oct 06) Hip: 42 42½ (as of Oct 06)
Size 16
Bust: 41¾ 41½ (as of Oct 06) Waist: 33½ 34 (as of Oct 06) Hip: 43½ 44 (as of Oct 06)
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October 2006, September 2007 and...
Ann Taylor
Size 12
Bust: 38½ Waist: 30½ 31 (as of Nov 04) Hip: 41
Size 14
Bust: 40 Waist: 32 32½ (as of Nov 04) Hip: 42½
Size 16
Bust: 41½ Waist: 33½ 34 (as of Oct 04) Hip: 44
As of July 2008, Ann Taylor has a SECOND size 16 (both grouped under the ‘XL’ moniker), thusly:
Bust: 43½ Waist: 36 Hip: 46
All charts first created in October 2003. Updated in November 2004, April 2005, October...
So, here's the day in which I post something very,...
Over the last few years, five years to be exact, I have been keeping track of how the size charts of some of the major chain clothing stores have changed over time. What I have found is a systematic enlargement of most sizes over time.
Thus, a size 12 today is much closer to what a size 14 was a few years ago.
What does that mean for us? Oh, many things, but there are two that stand out for me:
...