As the country (okay, fine, Republican and Democratic pundits) debate whether Ann Romney has actually worked a day in her life (yes, she's worked at raising her children and maintaining the household; no, she's never earned a paycheck to feed or shelter her children), the Wall Street Journal brought our attention to a 1994 interview Ann Romney gave—here's how the WSJ described it: "When Mitt Romney, then a successful private-equity executive, ran for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Mrs. Romney gave a lengthy interview to the Boston Globe, which published a 4,000-word article that portrayed her as wealthy and spoiled. Boston's rival newspaper, the Herald, quoted excerpts in a column titled, 'Daughter of Privilege Knows Little of Real World.'"
Vintage Ann Romney: "Daughter Of Privilege" Who "Knows Little Of Real World"
Republicans Cool With Violence Against Women, As Long As They're Gay Or Immigrants
Democrats in the Senate are pushing to renew and expand the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), which passed after a bipartisan effort in 1994. The only problem is that Republicans are gearing up to fight them tooth and nail about it: “I favor the Violence Against Women Act and have supported it at various points over the years, but there are matters put on that bill that almost seem to invite opposition,” said Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama. What sort of matters might those be? Helping immigrant victims claim battery and expanding protection to same-sex couples. Oh, and failing to put in safeguards to ensure that domestic violence grants are being well spent—because obviously we wouldn't want those grants going to help gay or immigrant women!
"Mommy Porn" Book Lets Ladies Love Erotica, Jerky Male Characters
Apparently bereft over the season end of Downton Abbey, American women have set their sights on an erotic British novel, Fifty Shades of Grey, about a naive college student's seduction by a billionaire businessman and its accompanying graphic depictions of BDSM: "Uncoiling from the floor, rising lazily, like a jungle cat, he points the end of the riding crop at my navel, leisurely circling it — tantalizing me. At the touch of the leather, I quiver and gasp." But don't laugh—women are apparently excited enough to do it with their dudes after reading this!
Columbia Undergrads Really Envious Of Barnard's Obama Visit
You know what will make Columbia University undergraduates more insane than rumors about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadenijad being invited to speak on campus? The confirmation that President Barack Obama, Columbia College Class of 1983, will speak at Barnard College's commencement. Here's a sample comment from Columbia's student newspaper: "What a dbag. Romney 2012."
Hospitals And Placenta-Hungry Moms At Odds Over Afterbirth
We're still trying to get our heads around this whole moms-eating-placentas-to-ward-off-postpartum depression trend. As Joel Stein horrifyingly put it, placentas are "what your liver would look like if it got into an accident on the autobahn with one of those aliens from Mars Attacks! and their bloody carcasses threw jellyfish at each other." It seems that many NYC-area hospitals are also having trouble getting their heads around placenta pickers, with many now having to review their placenta policies in the wake of increased demand.
It Sucks To Be A Female Restaurant Worker, Says Report
No question, being a waiter is hard—especially on Valentine's Day! But you know what is even harder? Being a waiter with two x chromosomes. According to a new study, Tipped Over The Edge — Gender Inequity in the Restaurant Industry, not only do female restaurant employees face "systemic discrimination" they also get paid less, have fewer sick days and can expect to see five times more harassment than the general female workforce. Not helping things? The fact that "the federal minimum wage for servers and other tipped workers" has been frozen at $2.13 per hour for the past 20 years.
Men Are Too Stubborn To Admit They Feel Pain, Says Science
Leave it to science to reveal hidden truths behind the battle of the sexes: according to a new study of patient records, women reported feeling about 20 percent more pain than men. This study, of course, does NOT mean men have superhuman abilities, nor does it mean women are frail creatures comparatively. "We may have to adjust our thinking about how men and women report their pain," said Dr. Atul Butte, the lead author of the study. "The killer question is: Do women actually feel more pain than men?" Of course, that's not how the internet interpreted it.
Fat Girls Make Less Money, Says Science
Bad news for the 65 million people who are on the express highway to obesity the next few years—not only will you be fat, but you'll also be poor, especially if you're a chick!
Drunk People Like To Have Sex At Holiday Parties, Says Science
Normally, we don't spend that much time perusing South African newspapers, but every once in a while, something pops up that's worthy of international attention: several doctors report that people like to get drunk at office holiday parties and have casual sex. Especially women, who apparently don't know how to deal with getting drunk and hooking up.
Whisky Expert Heather Greene: Women Should Drink More Scotch
Who says women don't like whisky? Certainly not Heather Greene, a petite whisky expert who travels the world extolling the virtues of single malt Scotch for Glenfiddich. Greene, who stumbled into her career in liquor while traveling through Scotland as a musician, recently launched a "Women & Whisky" campaign, a series of events and tastings designed to get discerning ladies to spread the good word about the brown stuff. Her next event, the so-called “Single Malt Speakeasy,” is tomorrow, November 16, at 8 p.m. 1534 bar in Soho. (RSVP here if you'd like to attend.) We sat down with Greene to talk about why women should love whisky and her favorite places to drink it in the city.
Just A Little Alcohol Might Lead To Breast Cancer
For a while there, it looked like drinkers had Science on their side: there were reports saying that wine blocks sunburns and older women should drink every day. But now, Science has seemingly turned its back on alcohol and the ladies who love it: a new study shows that women who consume as little as three drinks a week have an elevated risk of breast cancer.
Lingerie Football League Wants To Launch Pee Wee Division
Are you still lamenting the stadium-less plight of the New York Majesty? Are you convinced that the Los Angeles Temptations are forming an unstoppable dynasty? Do you love women in underwear playing football? Then you are probably already a fan of the Lingerie Football League, the premiere American woman's tackle football league—whose barely-there uniforms include panties, bras and pads. Three years since its inception, the LFL has announced its intentions to launch a youth football division to give girls with pigtails a chance to throw around pigskins.
Vitamins Might Be Killing Women, Says Science
Nothing is safe! Stop trying to be healthy! Women, even your vitamins are out to kill you, so you might as well just go out and stick your head in a trough full of Ranch dressing while there's still time.
Women Eat Less In The Company Of Men, Study Shows
Some saddening, if unsurprising, news from Science today: apparently women eat less when they're dining with men than they do when in the company of fellow women, according to new research. Ladies, get it together!
Yiddish Signs Order Women In Williamsburg To Step Aside When Men Pass
A series of colorful street signs directed at women walking on Bedford Avenue are creating controversy in the predominantly Orthodox Hasidic neighborhood of South Williamsburg. Now, it's been a while since we brushed up on our Yiddish, but we think the signs roughly translate to, "Move, bitch, get out the way." Or, as the blog Failed Messiah translates it, "Precious Jewish Daughter: Please move to the side when a man approaches!"
New Study: Ladies Love To Booze
In a country that celebrates holidays like National Wine Day and National Drink Wine Day, it is just shocking that U.S. citizens would have any sort of dependency upon alcohol. It's even more shocking that this problem is gender-blind! That's right, according to a new study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, women are drinking alcoholic beverages. A lot of them. And pretty much all the time. (We uncorked the first bottle of Chardonnay about an hour ago.)
Sexist Milk/PMS Campaign Comes To An Abrupt End
Remember that ad campaign called "Everything I Do Is Wrong?" The one that promised exasperated men that they could soothe their PMS-ing banshee women with milk? The one that got a whole lot of people really pissed off? Don't worry about it, because now it's shutting down early.
Group Fighting To Landmark The Barbizon Hotel
The Barbizon Hotel for Women, currently known as Barbizon 63, was known for giving women a safe (and chaste!) retreat right in the big, bad Big Apple (at 140 East 63rd Street, to be exact). The building was constructed in 1927, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and now word comes out that it may be given landmark status.
Men: Calm Your Crazy PMSing Girlfriend With...Milk?
Earlier today we were alerted to the existence of a new dairy-centric ad campaign from the same folks who brought you "Got Milk?", only this time, they're tackling the touchy topic of women. Specifically, women and their periods. Thirsty yet?
Study Says Women Really Are Bad Drivers
Did you hear the one about the woman and the busted minivan? A new study of car crashes implies that women are actually worse drivers than men, with the numbers to back it up.
Do Nice Apartments Make Ladies Want To Have Sex With You?
Granted, very few women enjoy walking up six flights of stairs, or enjoy feeling the subway rumble through every 10 minutes, and most prefer not to see mice on their way to the closet-sized bathroom (uh, not speaking from experience or anything). But does having a fancy apartment assure the city's bachelors that they're getting laid? The Post sure seems to think so, and they visited the swank flats of a few bachelors and determined that in this economy, "trophy apartments" are a surefire way to nab a lady.
Research: Women Cry, Like, All The Time
You shouldn't get so annoyed at your girlfriend for crying about everything, because it turns out there's a biological reason behind those tears. And no, it's not ladies' wombs making them all sympathetic to that Lifetime special. New research is delving into the difference between how men and women cry, and part of the reason women tear up faster is because their tear ducts are too small. How long until men start comparing the size of their tear ducts in the locker room?
Sarah Palin is "Al Sharpton, Alaska Edition"
In today's "Sarah Palin will never win the 2012 nomination" Politico story, blue jeans-hating WaPo columnist George Will refers to Palin's brand of Facebook realpolitik as "a disease," and colleague Charles Krauthammer agrees that "when populism becomes purely anti-intellectual, it can become unhealthy and destructive." But Weekly Standard writer Matt Labash deals the unkindest cut of all in reference to her knee jerk counter attacks to all slights, real and imagined: "She's becoming Al Sharpton, Alaska edition." Labash elaborates:
Knock Knock: It's Lady Porn Day!
It's so hard to keep up with all the holidays lately. Today is Margarita Day and Spay Day... and we went through most of the day not even knowing it's also Lady Porn Day!
Bloomberg "Trippin'" About Street Safety For Women
While in Queens last night, Bloomberg bragged, "Today, a woman could walk in virtually every neighborhood in this city during the day and not look over her shoulder, and most neighborhoods at night." But many of the city's women question how a middle aged man living on the UES (and Bermuda) could know that. Carla Banks of Kingsbridge Heights said, "Bloomberg's trippin'. This isn't the upper East Side. He's definitely out of touch with what women deal with in the Bronx." Please let him get back in touch with the people by pulling a Bulworth.
Should Pregnant Ladies Get Parking Privileges?
Pregnant ladies already get to eat just about any crazy ol' thing they want, but one politician wants to make sure they can park wherever they want to as well. Councilman David Greenfield plans to introduce legislation next week that would grant special parking placards to pregnant women whose doctors say they have physical or mobility challenges. "If I'm on a train and a pregnant woman walks in, I stand up and offer her my seat. I consider this legislation to be the same thing - standing up on the City Council for women who have difficult pregnancies," said Greenfield.
Broadway Shows Beloved By Tourists, Women And Geeks
Who loves Theater more: nerds or tourists? According to Broadway League's 13th annual demographics report, it is decidedly more frequented by tourists! They make up 63 percent of the 11.89 million people who visited Broadway this past year. And one-out-of-four of those tourists were from abroad, so they probably couldn't even understand the rich subtext of Mamma Mia!
New Study Brings Good Cheer To Cheaters Everywhere
Great news for Tiger Woods, Jesse James and Eliot Spitzer: a new study suggests that cheating may have more to do with your biology than your greedy penis. Justin Garcia, a researcher from SUNY Binghamton, recently took DNA samples from 181 college students for his study. He examined the DRD4 gene, and found a variable of a person’s D4 gene makes them prone to one-night stands, infidelity and uncommitted sex. Garcia plans on doing a larger study to back up the research, but he doesn't think this lets cheaters off the hook: “It is not an excuse. There is never an excuse for bad behavior in terms of relying on our biology." Pshaw, the First Wives Club may agree with that, but they're fictional. Try telling that to the Cheaters' Club.
Study: It Pays To Be Thin (If You're A Woman)
Well, this is disturbing, but not all that shocking. A new study has found that skinny women bring home more bacon than those of average weight, and much more than those who are overweight. The NY Post reports that the Journal of Applied Psychology's research discovered being 30 pounds below the average American female weight of 164 pounds can garner you around $10,719 more than the average woman's pay of $40,000 a year. Make that 60 pounds less and you can make around $22,300 more per year!
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