Around the Interwebz: Anniversary Edition

Another viewpoint of "Leaning In"

In Lean In, Sandberg admits the privilege her class, education and executive position afford her, but she does not articulate her racial privilege as clearly. It would have been helpful for Sandberg to acknowledge that a Latina or African- American woman in her position would be burdened by gender and race. If, as Sandberg notes, female executives are often deemed hyper-aggressive, what does that mean for women who, thanks to long-held stereotypes, are often viewed as aggressive simply by dint of their race? As Angelica Perez-Litwin notes in a Huffington Post review of Lean In, “An assertive Latina at work risks being seen as ‘difficult’ or ‘opinionated.’ A confident voice level makes her ‘confrontational’ or ‘loud.’”

By acknowledging race, as she did class and education, Sandberg could have made Lean In more accessible to a more diverse group of women. Yet what she has to say is not useful only to white, Ivy League-educated, millionaire executives at Fortune 500 companies.

Urban Exploration

So beautiful. I love exploring abandoned places when I have the chance.

I take issue with the title

Some of what she says, "I’ll also tell her to make time for herself. Unplug from the grid. Carve out space for solitude." makes sense for anyone. But then she ends with this: "Motherhood is not a job. It is a joy."

I will rejoice when this new wave of let's embrace all things motherhood/housewife as the only meaningful paths for women in American culture finally subsides.

le sigh

For the record, that book is already on my wishlist. It sounds awesome. But I second the criticisms of Pollan. I recently read the new illustrated Food Rules and had to put the book down several times.

Happier note, so excited to get my hands on these two books.

And for the sappy,

today is my hubby and I's third wedding anniversary. In other unrelated news, I'm going to go pluck the gray hairs from my head. Can't believe it's been three years already but looking forward to celebrating more with this cutie pie.

Book Review: It Looked Different on the Model

I reserved my copy of Laurie Notaro's latest at my local Barnes and Noble (because RIP Borders) and couldn't get my hot little hands on it fast enough. The first book I ever read of hers was Autobiography of a Fat Bride and I nearly peed my pants with laughter. With her latest, the laughs are still coming.
Essays include "She's a Pill" where Notaro describes her ongoing saga with Ambien.

There is the fart chart. (Yes, really.)

And in the essay, "Instant Karma," she describes going to a cookout in her neighborhood in Oregon and sees a woman getting ready to breastfeed her child; "And you know, I really have to say this: If your baby isn't even in the room and you can't bear to come equipped with a blanket, kindly put your boob away in its rightful compartment. Don't leave it hanging out for ten or fifteen minutes at a barbecue like you're waiting for someone to hang a Christmas ornament on it." Died. Laughing.

Some of the funniest essays involve her mother and in "It's a Bomb," she describes a visit home at her parent's house, where "the parents are parents and the children are still very much children. I have found myself asking if it was 'okay if I had a cookie' before dinner, and I've noticed distinctly that, after being out, I try my hardest to act sober in front of my parents when I'm already sober." Or political conversations with her father, when he starts on a rant about Obama's birth certificate, "Dad,' I said, my eyes still half closed, being that I had been awake for eight minutes. 'I don't even have a bra on yet. Maybe we should save the birther debate for Mid-Morning Snack Time. Give us something live for."

A must read from seizure inducing Laurie Notaro. And I mean that in a good way.

*Photo Credit-Amazon