Let's get 'graphic'

And some "women's advocates" in my country are stubbornly pushing for a law that ignores all these.

I sure hope my faith -- and that of many others -- in the Supreme Court of the Philippines to do the right thing and uphold the Constitution will be justified. April 8 -- the crucial date.

No jackets required

Top hats and walking sticks are remnants of the past and may be considered costumes. But the disposition and actions of a gentleman are timeless and belong in any era. Plus, they're constant and not worn or removed like hats and jackets.

If you fancy some materials that explore the topic further, this previous post titled Knights without the shining armor should be interesting.

And I'll bet some of these ideas have never occurred to you shows three short videos that partly explain why masculinity and femininity seem to have become confusing concepts the past decades.

Despicable me? Wonderful us!

Well, here's one way to spread your angst if you're angry at the world and want to pull everyone else on a downward spiral with you. Do what you can to warp young minds with self-focused ideas in the hopes of ingraining in them a "me, me and totally me-first" mindset. In other words, have them believe that the world owes them, that the world revolves around them, that everything unfortunate that happens to them is other people's fault, and that life is about them, their wants and needs -- which is what this woman seems to believe based on the keynote address she gave to an audience of teens.

An excerpt from the article:

In her disjointed keynote address, she set out to illustrate how “reproductive justice” must be couched in terms of human rights. She said that the LGBTQ movement is a civil rights movement, while adding that the fight for marriage by lesbians and gays is one she questions, because “I’m not quite sure why we are fighting for the right to be equally miserable. Seems like a crazy demand to me.” She continued, “It ain’t all it’s cracked up to be, trust me. But, you know, you’ve got a right to be as messed up as the rest of us.”

Taking the use of base vernacular to a new level while addressing teens, she let the teens know in no uncertain terms that she is a pissed off black woman, a pissed off feminist, she was a pissed off teen, and she is still so pissed off about what happened to her when she was 15 that she will fight the rest of her life to rectify it. In fact, she is pissed off “to the heights of pissivity,” she said. And if you are not pissed off, you are not paying attention, she told the youth.

Read Abstinence impossible, abortion a right: 'pissed feminist' to teens at Planned Parenthood-led event

Fortunately, most women are not out to infect their surroundings with ideas that would throw the world into chaos. And while some members of the fairer sex do have reason to treat men as enemies -- owing probably to traumatic experiences that are yet to be processed -- and tend to be noisy about this adversarial regard of men, the rest live in harmony with them, or at least with the quiet assurance that the sexes are meant to complement one another.

Never mind that men and women are sometimes pitted against each other. Anyway, how we go about relating with one another is up to us. The following may help; it's an excerpt from a booklet (Scepter Publishers, 1991) by the late Dr. Jutta Burggraf  which I acquired years ago:

 Whether man or woman, if we are honest, we feel not only advantages but also certain shortcomings within ourselves. Men may pride themselves in generally thinking more matter-of-factly and judging more objectively than women. But how often does mere reason misguide them towards heartlessness and rigidity! And women might well enjoy being guided by feelings and intuition, but very often relying on these alone leads women into confusion and injustice. Male and female nature both need a strong touch of the other sex's characteristics to enhance harmony and balance within a single human person.

Window-washing superheroes plus some more

For a bit of light reading, here's a mix of news and features, starting with an interesting idea that was carried out somewhere in the United States and which made quite a number of kids gleeful. It's not fresh news (it took place in October last year), but a retweet led to its resurfacing.


Superhero window washers at children's hospital

Mexican artists turns guns into musical instruments

More Beyonce, less Sasha Fierce

Ash Wednesday kicks off 40 Days for Life in record-breaking 261 locations around the world

Beyond the call of duty
 

Basketball pros to become Catholic campus missionaries

The world's top 10 bike rides

Don't you sometimes feel...

... like men and women are always being turned against each other? In my native Tagalog, parang palagi na lang pinag-aaway. Men are better than women; women can do everything that men can, only better. Blah blah blah. The concept of men and women being created equal but different is brushed off or scoffed at many times, so sometimes you may think, "What's the point in insisting on this basic principle for those who believe in the all-loving and all-powerful God who knows what's best and who wills only the good?"

Here's something to ponder:

Make a point this week to affirm the men in your life–father, brother, friend, boyfriend, husband–in their uniqueness, in the things that make them uniquely different from you. Not better, nor worse, but a complement to who we are as women. I have found that when they are able to be all that they were made to be as good men, it is then that we are free to be everything it means to be a good woman.

Came across this at Verily. Read the rest here.

I'll bet some of these ideas have never occurred to you

Here's a topic that has never been boring, judging from the raised eyebrows, animated discussions, and thought-provoking viewpoints it often elicits -- especially nowadays. For now, I'm leaving the people in these videos to explore the subject. The first shows a 21-year-old lady who presents ideas that I'd say are wonderfully counter-cultural given the kind of environment Western nations have become.

The second is just as counter-cultural and she expresses her ideas as part of a women's panel during a discussion on one of the most contentious issues in America today.

And the third, well... just watch it.

"Scout's honor"... sounds silly now

Excerpt from Feminine Genius:

Sit-upons and camp fire songs are so last century:

(NEW YORK – C-FAM) The World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides hosted a no-adults-welcome panel at the United Nations this week where Planned Parenthood was allowed to distribute a brochure entitled “Healthy, Happy and Hot.” The event was part of the annual United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) which concludes this week.

The brochure, aimed at young people living with HIV, contains explicit and graphic details on sex, as well as the promotion of casual sex in many forms. The brochure claims, “Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse… But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!”

Really can't add anything to this as I am still speechless regarding the whole matter. Read the rest at Feminine Genius (yes, there's more)

You've come a long way, baby?

Social theorist and media critic Jean Kilbourne has said that when it comes to portrayals of women in advertising, sex sells.

Whether or not this is true is -- at the moment -- beside the point as far as I'm concerned. What I've been thinking about is the degree to which even 'tween girls nowadays are heavily influenced by the sexualized content of media (advertising included). Then a while ago I read that Kilbourne said something along those lines:

"We’ve been conditioned from birth to think our sex appeal and physical attractiveness is the most important thing about us."

Judging from the material and the underlying messages the ad industry has been coming out with the past decade or so, that statement above seems to be fairly accurate (I just don't know about the "from birth" part). Whether or not that kind of conditioning reached you by way of excessive exposure to media during your childhood till the teen years, what ultimately matters is your acceptance or rejection of such kind of conditioning.





I wonder -- how would the proponents of the original Women's Liberation Movement regard all this if they were still around to witness the transformation? And, is the current manner of portraying women in media what the first feminists had in mind when they relentlessly fought for "women's rights"?






Do women who go about with an attitude of "I have the right to do anything I want" feel truly free?






In relinquishing a lady's natural power to turn even fools into gentlemen, does a woman who puts her "anatomical sexuality" on display really feel empowered? And confident?

Do women actually fall for the message put forth by advertising that sex appeal and physical attractiveness should be among those on top on the list of priorities?

Interesting questions to ponder. And I found a previous blog entry I posted some four years ago which I still find interesting. An excerpt:

And here I go again, attributing much of the societal damage to mass media. First of all, it's true -- media in this day and age is largely responsible for the perpetuation of ideas (both constructive and destructive) especially when the idea is deftly presented as something that will make you feel happy, free, strong, fabulously independent and/or desirable. The result: girls imitating what they see, whether it's a baby tee with "Porn star" flashed across the chest, the monthly boyfriend roulette, the spirit of abandon guiding underwear ads, or the whole attitude behind the "Sex Bomb Dancers" trend. An example:

Mothers who come into my office frequently express doubt about their own judgment, not knowing where to draw the line when their daughters dress provocatively. Girls, meanwhile, freely admit that they are only aping what they see in the media. One young woman told me, "I love 'Sex and the City,' but I know it's contributed" to the problem. " Desperate Housewives" does, too.

Believe me, people behind magazines, ads and TV programming know how to make practically anything -- even the trashiest, most indecent fashion styles and intrinsically wicked ideas -- look good and spend tons of money to do research to get better at it!

Read the whole thing, which includes links to two insightful reads from The Washington Post and Modestly Zone, here


* First photo is from a Benson & Hedges ad.

It's all about ME

Always, there's lots of food for thought over at Feminine Genius. Here's a serving:

Any culture that successfully peddles magazines called Allure, Self, Glamour, Ms, O, and Lucky doesn't seem to have any esteem problems. Add to that all the self-help columns, sex advice, and beauty items (cashing in $billion$ monthly) and we seem to detect a society that is already all about "happy!"

Perhaps a better message would be to indicate that those who've been blinded by "It's all about me!" life-styles are chasing waterfalls and not terribly happy in the end. There's something to be said for authentic love which places God and others in the queue ahead of facials and retail therapy. And oddly enough, when God is first, sometimes He indulges us in unforseen ways.

Read her take on an interview with US First Lady Michelle Obama for Prevention here

* Girl at the Mirror (1954) by Norman Rockwell

She

A Real Woman...
Appreciates God's design of men
and women
Likes being a girl
Behaves like a lady
Cherishes her femininity
Knows that she is special.

A Real Woman...
Recognizes goodness
Delights in truth and beauty
Respects herself and other people
Stands up for what is right
Gives compliments and praise
Is concerned about others
Knows how to listen and be a friend.

---------------------------------------------

I had posted this in one of my now-defunct other blogs a few years ago. I wish I could recall where I first read this or that I knew who wrote it.

Discrimination against women?

It's a program which works to help men become more responsible fathers, and the National Organization for Women is crying foul, saying the program is illegal because it's only about men.

Read "NOW demands access to program geared to fathers" at The Washington Post

The comments that follow the article are quite interesting too.

The other side of the story

Glorifying an act of violence -- that's how I see the "We Had Abortions" campaign of Ms. magazine.

When editors at this magazine called on women who have had abortions to submit their testimonies, they were bent on not presenting the whole truth about abortion. That much can be said.

To: Everyone at Ms. Magazine

It is my intent to very well publicize that fact that when your magazine solicited testimonies from people that had an abortion, that you explicitly asked women who had been emotionally and/or physically devastated by their abortion experience NOT to send in their testimony. It seems that your responsibility to print the entire truth about the abortion issue is enormous considering the great impact and influence your opinion has on the lives and the decisions of young girls in this country. You should not only be morally obligated, but desire and require that the whole truth and all the facts be equally represented when addressing such a serious life changing decision as abortion. This cannot be accomplished by asking for testimonies that are self fulfilling for your article.

Asking for an only one-sided testimony is in itself a clear admittance on your part that women have experienced devastation from their choice to abort their baby.

Read the rest here, as well as other testimonies from women who have had abortions and who are not supporting the Ms. magazine's petition and whose side of the story have been refused by the magazine. The Dawn Patrol has put down her thoughts on the matter, and The Dana Files has started a counter-petition. So if you're proud to be pro-life, let it be known!

Frankly, the comments I've read from a growing number of increasingly outspoken people who support life are very encouraging. No wonder anti-life advocates are feeling the crunch.


* Cartoon by Faithmouse

I like what she said

From Independent Women's Forum:

Women’s Mag Watch

If you needed a reason to like Kate Hudson, the August issue of Allure is happy to provide one (from page 212):

(This is in response to Kate’s controversial statement in a men’s magazine that “men have to feel like men”)

‘“I actually had some woman come up to me while I was getting a coffee, and I guess she was kind of upset that I’d said it. I was really shocked by her forwardness, but I appreciated her honesty. She said, ‘I’d think, given the generation your mother comes from, that you’d be way more feminist.’ So I said, ‘There’s nothing more feminine than knowing how to allow a man to feel like a man.’”

This sure reminds me of the commencement address titled "New Feminism" by Dr. Harvey Mansfield, professor of government at Harvard University, part of which I posted here not long ago.

Has it Dawned on you?

You've probably come across The Dawn Patrol by now if you've been roaming the blogosphere for quite a while. Dawn Eden is one blog queen to visit regularly, and now she's got a book worth checking out. She's no neophyte to the publishing world, though, having been a rock journalist for years even before "surfing" began to refer to the Web. Now she's an editor at a New York daily.

Her book, The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding fullfillment while keeping your clothes on, will be released in a few months. From its editorial review:

Among inspirational books for single women, The Thrill of the Chaste is a pair of hip Ray-Bans in a field of rose-colored glasses. This isn't a book for dainty damsels in lacy white dresses patiently awaiting their handsome prince. This is for real women who need strong, motivational, and deeply moral messages to counter the ones they receive from a superficial, sex-obsessed world.

(Deliberately) Out of touch with women's health

From Feb. 27-March 10, women took centerstage at the United Nations headquarters in New York. It was the 50th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) , attended by representatives from around the world including Wendy Wright -- president of Concerned Women for America (CWA) -- and Dr. Janice Crouse -- president of the Beverly LaHaye Institute (CWA's think tank).

Here are excerpts from "Reproductive Rights Gone Wrong," Dr. Crouse's report on what transpired:

Pro-life advocates have avoided using the term “reproductive services” because in U.N.-speak the phrase includes abortion; instead, we have used the term “reproductive health” care. Now, we find that “reproductive health” has been essentially re-defined by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The rabbit trail goes like this: At the U.N.’s Cairo convention in 1994, the term “reproductive health” included “regulation of fertility.”

So far, so good.

Then, along comes the WHO to define “fertility regulation” to include “interrupting unwanted pregnancies” (abortion). Oops, now there are problems; the left has, once again, usurped language for its purposes so that documents already agreed upon have new and different meanings, and an unwary step is taken into a carefully laid trap during the discussion of current documents.

Every single paragraph in the section on health is about reproductive health. Further and amazingly, reproductive health is separated from maternal and child health. In fact, there is a distinct hostility toward public health that focuses on maternal and child health. One would think that the only health problems women face concern reproduction.

Nothing –– NOTHING –– is mentioned about any of the top diseases that kill women. Heart disease and stroke are the #1 and #3 killers of women, and they kill more than the next seven causes of death combined—including all forms of cancer. Neither is mentioned.

Nothing –– NOTHING –– is mentioned about diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, which kill millions of poor people every year. Preventable diseases like measles and diarrhea stem from the lack of essential health services, money for medical treatment and adequate sanitation. One would think these basic health necessities would be the top priorities in advancing women’s health, well-being and development.

Yet, the health section of the document from the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women mentions none of the diseases that cause so many tragic deaths. Instead, the document mentions only reproductive health (meaning abortion).

Read the rest at the Beverly LaHaye Institute

Bar-hopping, 4 a.m., alone...

Rights and "freedoms" are loudly proclaimed in this day and age, and we are fortunate for the many rights we now enjoy, thanks to the courage and determination of those who came before us.

Now, another incident brings home the point that along with the rights that we have, come responsibilities.

"Just because a person has a “right” to do something doesn’t mean that it is “wise” to exercise that right," summarizes a writer. Read about what happened to a young woman on the streets of New York in this excerpt:

She Had Every Right, but Now She is Dead 3/7/2006
By Janice Shaw Crouse, Ph.D.

Having a right doesn’t mean it’s always wise to use it.

In late February, a beautiful graduate student at John Jay College of Criminal Justice was found murdered in lower Manhattan. The crime was so grisly that it shocked even jaded New Yorkers.

The victim and a close girlfriend had been bar hopping. After a brief argument about whether to go home, the friend left around 3 a.m., but Imette St. Guillen went on to another bar and didn’t leave until after 4 a.m. We don’t yet know who she saw after leaving the bar.

Read the rest at Concerned Women for America

Freedom & license

To some people, what ought to be kept behind closed doors, what deserves to be kept intimate, what such words as "discretion," "prudence," "license," "tact," "freedom" and "common respect" mean, remain clear. To others, however, the boundaries have become blurry in this age of tell-all talk shows, "reality" TV, "open relationships," instant anything (think instant noodles, instant messenger) and a general culture where the pleasure-seeking, comfort-loving climate is more pronounced.

Earlier this week, I saw the following at Feminine Genius. On the way home today, I was reminded of it when my eyes rested on a piece of bond paper taped behind the front seat of the jeepney I boarded. On it was an announcement of auditions being held for a forthcoming performance on campus. The title was in English and in the Filipino translation. I can imagine now the feeling of "courage," "liberation" and "freedom" the audition winners would experience when they deliver their lines come performance night.

Read on.

Some people feel passionately that the college ought to sponsor a V-Day production of The Vagina Monologues, and I have often been queried about my position on this matter. To prepare a response, I have carefully read and studied the play. I have met with some of the student leaders of Women’s Will, the main sponsoring group, to listen to their perspective and share some of my concerns. I have pondered their position, discussed the matter with many people, educated myself about what other Catholic schools have done, and prayed to God for guidance. I have come to the conclusion that a V-Day presentation of The Vagina Monologues is not appropriate for a school with our mission. Let me explain why.

The back cover of my paperback edition of The Vagina Monologues asserts (1) that its principal aim is to be “a celebration of female sexuality in all its complexity and mystery” and (2) that it has been “hailed as a bible for a new generation of women.” I would argue that both of these claims are false. First, far from celebrating the complexity and mystery of female sexuality, The Vagina Monologues simplifies and demystifies it by reducing it to the vagina. In contrast, Roman Catholic teaching sees female sexuality as ordered toward a loving giving of self to another in a union of body, mind, and soul that is ordered to the procreation of new life. The deeper complexity and mystery lies in the capacity of human sexuality, both male and female, to sacramentalize the love of God in marriage. Any depiction of female sexuality that neglects its unitive and procreative dimensions diminishes its complexity, its mystery, and its dignity. Moreover, to explore fully the dignity of woman requires not only a consideration of female sexuality, but also of the capacity of women for intellectual, artistic, moral, and spiritual activity; none of these dimensions are featured in The Vagina Monologues.

Read more here

Delightfully counter-cultural

Modestly Yours has become one of my favorite stopovers in the blogosphere since discovering it late last year. The materials are well-written, interesting and, above all, counter-cultural (particularly if you grew up and live in the west -- or in a heavily "westernized" culture). Definitely not the kind of material that fills the mainstream media.

The girl in the photo is Taylor Moore, who's part of the blog team (the youngest, I believe) and whose posts I always look forward to reading. Here's a short bio:

Taylor Moore is a 16-year-old student at Kenwood Academy High School in Hyde Park. Many people know her as an inspirational speaker who travels across the country spreading a message of excellence, non-violence and abstinence for young people. But Taylor is also a certified cable television producer, a gifted percussionist, rapper, and recording artist. She has also been honored by the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition and the Governor of Illinois, among others.

Her posts at Modestly Yours: "My Peers' Reaction (you're gonna be surprised)," "Keeping Busy," and "Beyond Beyonce")

And while we're on the subject, I'm giving you links to other interesting posts from the same blog written by others on the team. Modestly Yours came about only two months ago, but having 20 authors, it's always got fresh posts daily. Topics are diverse, comments are aplenty.

Take your pick from some of my favorites:

Thrill me and then go away?

Has Jenn learned her own lesson?

Carrie Bradshaw vs. the Suburban Mother

Let's help the youngest generation out!

Modesty and Maternity

Poor Selma

Gossip Folks?

There's another one I wanted to put here. It's titled "Cookie Monster" and it's a funny piece that relates the cookie-loving author's experience with a date who's apparently less-than-genteel in his behavior. I got lost in the archives that I had trouble finding the post to include here. Needless to say, it's worth the read.

We've come a long way, baby?

I like being a woman.

But not when other members of the fairer sex dress as if fabric were nearing extinction, or make like creatures that have only one thing in mind (clue: it's not food, clothing or shelter, or even shopping). Okay, maybe they don't have that exactly in mind, but the way they cavort in front of the cameras, they put only one thing in the minds of the guys around them (and it's not cars, sports or food, or even gadgets).

One thing's for sure: if we don't want to bring out the best in men, these are the girls to imitate. And if we want to see just how much the original women's movement has regressed over the past decades, this is the way to do it.

We’re a long winter away from spring break, but the infomercials promoting “Girls Gone Wild” (GGW) have already begun. The newest rage for the week-long spring-break beach party for high school and college students is soft-core-porn videos showing girls at vacation destinations flashing the cameras or making out with each other.

The wild girls get nothing out of the exposure except, perhaps, a GGW hat, while the mostly male film crew, production staff and management are living well at the resorts and getting rich off the profits from the low-rent productions. Yet, ironically, the crews don’t have to search for girls; they have girls begging to be on-camera. The girls claim that they are having fun, that it is sexy to show off their cute little clothes and tan, buff bodies.

So this is where feminism has taken women? This type of “sexual liberation” replaces objectification? These girls grab the chance to engage in sexual games where they are just “a piece of meat”?

Sadly, guys are the ones selling the “wild girls” idea. Justin Timberlake sports one of the GGW ball caps. Brad Pitt distributed DVDs about GGW as gifts to fellow actors in a recent movie. Rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg hosted one of the GGW videos. But the girls (most of whom are drunk) are piling on (often, literally begging for the opportunity to pile onto the floor to gyrate with each other for the cameras).

In other instances, crowds at the beach apply merciless pressure as guys taunt the girls into a teasing, simulated bedroom romp. Gangs surround girls like they are a tourist attraction –– begging them to strip off their tops . . . or bottoms … or both! Ultimately, the girls who refuse are accused of being “too uptight” and encouraged to “just let go.”

Christie Hefner, daughter of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and Chairman/CEO of Playboy Enterprises, talks about today’s women feeling a “bit rebellious” and “in-your-face” about their sexuality. She thinks that contemporary women view sex “more in line” with the guys, “but in a fun way, frisky is a good word.” So, the Playboy philosophy continues its indoctrination –– women have to behave like the bad guys; otherwise, they are uptight prudes. The girls are fed the myth that impersonal promiscuity is “fun” and being “frisky” is expected and acceptable behavior (in contrast to the horror of being considered uptight or prudish).

The real story, though, is what happens to those girls who give in.

Read the rest.

Girls gone wild
By Janice Shaw Crouse

Can you say 'modesty' without the smirk and rolling eyes?

I've been coming across the word "modesty" more often during the past few months, and I tend to think it's due to the apparent backlash of feminism that has people looking at just what has happened to our society, especially when you look at the women. I'm not even referring to manner of dressing yet, but more of the values that are guiding their action, their speech and, yes, their choice of clothes and the way they carry these. Saying that modesty has been lacking is, I believe, not an inaccurate statement in this case.

Lately, feminism has been taking a beating and this is hugely because the spread of feminist ideas has resulted in the very opposite of women's liberation, which is what so many misguided proponents said and still say feminism has achieved and continues to advance.

And here I go again, attributing much of the societal damage to mass media. First of all, it's true -- media in this day and age is largely responsible for the perpetuation of ideas (both constructive and destructive) especially when the idea is deftly presented as something that will make you feel happy, free, strong, fabulously independent and/or desirable. The result: girls imitating what they see, whether it's a baby tee with "Porn star" flashed across the chest, the monthly boyfriend roulette, the spirit of abandon guiding underwear ads, or the whole attitude behind the "Sex Bomb Dancers" trend. An example:

Mothers who come into my office frequently express doubt about their own judgment, not knowing where to draw the line when their daughters dress provocatively. Girls, meanwhile, freely admit that they are only aping what they see in the media. One young woman told me, "I love 'Sex and the City,' but I know it's contributed" to the problem. " Desperate Housewives" does, too.

Believe me, people behind magazines, ads and TV programming know how to make practically anything -- even the trashiest, most indecent fashion styles and intrinsically wicked ideas -- look good and spend tons of money to do research to get better at it! Is this the part where someone interjects, "Decency is subjective, and one's choices from clothes to lifestyle are a personal matter"? True, and if this subjectivity is what's guiding you to believe that wearing that cleavage-baring top is a sign of strength and real girl power, um...invest in a shawl first and then read the rest of this post.

Here's something from a fabulous article titled "Deconstructing Dowd" which I love and came across at a website called The Modesty Zone but which, unfortunately, I can't find anywhere anymore (I should have saved the entire piece):

It is not a career that will make a woman feel good enough about herself so that she won't feel the need to put her body on display in vulgar and boorish ways, nor is it picking up the tab on a date. Neither one will make a man—or another woman—respect her more, as a person. Neither will make her a more desirable partner or mate. The only thing that is really going to make a difference in the day-to-day gender politics we all face, is when women decide that their true worth is inside of them, not outside, and then behave and dress accordingly.

But this is the clincher for me:

What Dowd and other writers fail to realize is that there is an assertiveness that comes with modesty—but it is a quiet self confidence that allows women to stand firm with who she is. That's more attractive and powerful than any Maxim cover, but it is also something that most modern feminists have ignored.

Oh, that paragraph up there that mentioned "Sex and the City" didn't come from the same article but another one, published in The Washington Post. I must warn you though -- it's hard not to keep reading paragraph after paragraph. The writer, Patricia Dalton, is a clinical psychologist, and I sure would love to have her in my neighborhood when I start raising daughters of my own. If you're a mom, you'll be reassured -- and given witty ideas -- by her article, What's wrong with this outfit, Mom? But even if you're the daughter, the son, the dad, the grandma, grandpa, best friend, boyfriend...check it out if you want something that's not the typical read.