Jezebel: ny observer

'Us Weekly' Editor: Shunning Kids Makes You A Communist

Jessica — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Any faithful reader of Us Weekly can tell you that America is in the throes of babymania. Last week's cover beamed "Growing Up Suri!" and detailed the littlest Cruise's diet, wardrobe, and schedule. (She drinks barley water instead of formula! Riveting!) Today's New York Observer wonders when joining the cult of motherhood became "the most beautiful thing in the world." US editor-in-chief Janice Min tells Observer scribe Lizzy Ratner, "It's almost un-American at this point to say you don't want children, especially from an image perspective. It's almost like saying you're a communist."

Ratner also interviews French psychoanalyst and writer Corinne Maier, the brains behind the book No Kid: 40 Reasons Not to Have Children. Of motherhood, she says: "For women it's compulsory, you have to be delighted. We have to work hard, be perfect and be ready to sacrifice everything to raise the perfect child."

Great. Another unreasonable cultural expectation for women to live up to. The entire motherhood fetishization is even more ridiculous on the heels of the study we mentioned that showed "men tend to experience pretty strong economic and social rewards from being a dad, whereas women experience more of the pressures and more of the demands of the immediate day-to-day reality of parenting and juggling work."

As Gloria Steinem points out, ""We're certainly not in an O.K. place. Whether women can decide for themselves whether to have children or not is the single biggest component of our health, our economic status, our education, our ability to control our own lives." Damn skippy! And frankly, any woman who thinks motherhood equals perfection is off her nut. Babies shit all over everything. Literally and figuratively!

Epater Le Bébé! [NY Observer]

Today's New York Observer runs an interview...

Tracie — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:45:00 EDT

Today's New York Observer runs an interview with our favorite reality TV underminer, Bridget Helene, the Seventh House PR assistant from The Fashionista Diaries. Bridget discusses her career goals (she wants to work at Vogue), public urination, and even mentions Cunt Face! ("Mandie Erickson, she, like, loves me.") Bridget also expresses how much she enjoyed her stint as a reality star, saying, "I thought it was much more fun than having a real job. It was like being babied, it was like being pampered all the time. It was like, 'I want an iced coffee,' and one appears." [NY Observer]

NY Observer columnist and Barneys New York...

Jennifer — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 18:45:00 EDT

NY Observer columnist and Barneys New York creative director Simon Doonan on the designers showing at NY Fashion Week and the fashion editors who loved them: "They've all lost their minds. Last week all the Patsys and Edinas came charging out of the tents of Bryant Park shrieking about the return of COLOR for spring. They are still clinging to the notion that it is possible to identify clear directions and specific trends. They are in denial about the fact that fashion—from Cavalli to K-Mart—has become a giant free-for-all, and that cheeky upbeat gals who want color will wear it, just as they did last spring, and gloomy existentialist gals who wear black will continue to do so... you are the one with all the influence. The designers are just playing 'pin the tail on the donkey.' They have no power over you. The fashion world changes when you get bored with a particular notion or trend, and not before." [NYO]