Jezebel 
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New York, 7:17 PM
Mon Nov 9
52 posts in the last 24 hours
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Dodai Stewart
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10/26/09
10/26/09
As a teenager, I spent so much time and energy trying to prove that I was as cool as the boys, that I could drink like them, laugh like them, talk like them, so that I wouldn't be seen as a sexual object, or weak, which at the time seemed synonymous with feminine. Now I know I deserve respect for my feminine qualities as well as my masculine ones. I like to say that if it's difficult to be vulnerable or communicate, it is braver and more admirable than sucking it up... and so on.
10/26/09
Thank you! #joannelipman
10/26/09
Guess I'll never rise to the top. #joannelipman
10/26/09
This problem has haunted me a lot this past weekend. I played in a War Hammer tournament (yes, I am a nerd), in which I was the only woman. The other players ignored me, took my rule book without asking then refused to return it, complained about my presence/playing and refused to shake my hand at the end of the match.
I think men are the ones that need to change. They berate women for being too different or for not competing in the same spheres as men, but then when we do, they turn a blind eye or exclude us.
This article and my experience have taught me something at least: the problem isn't that women don't seek promotions or live outside gender norms, it's that men (aka the ones with the power) ignore us when we do. #joannelipman
10/26/09
I love Anna for her classy assumption that Lipman is trying to "genuinely trying to address the problems women face," but having read the piece I'm left wondering how genuine her attempt really was. There is a little too much blame-shifting for Portfolio's failure, and a bit too much emphasis on her own "legginess" (at least one mention of which seems now to have been invented). Like this idiot [jezebel.com] she seems a little too eager to make it clear to the reader that she has the man-stamp of approval, while kvetching about double standards and a lack of progress. If this is what she means by not being afraid to be a girl... no thanks. #joannelipman
10/26/09
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10/26/09
Advising women on what they can do to improve their situation is NOT THE SAME as blaming them for their situation. I can say to you, "Don't accept a drink from a stranger, it's not safe" without blaming or criticizing the rape victims who've been drugged that way. It's not just about telling society to improve, to look out for us. We can be active participants. We HAVE to be. #joannelipman
10/26/09
The best advice I've read since I became "politically conscious" was an article called something like "notes to an activist," and #1 on the list was "have a sense of humor." It doesn't mean "laugh at sexist jokes," or "excuse bad behavior," but the gist is that being an activist is hard, long-term, and the victories are few and far between. It means "learn to laugh off things when getting wound up about them won't do any good." There's a lot of terrible sexist (racist, classist, ablist, etc) shit going on in the world, and if you're going to avoid burnout, cynicism, or sheer panic, you have to accept your limitations, pick your battles, and find a way to not let yourself be dragged down by things you can't change. The easiest way to do that it to have a sense of humor.
I didn't get the Martha Stewart thing, either. But that lesson has made all the difference for me, not just as a feminist, but as a semi-neurotic human being. #joannelipman
10/26/09
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10/26/09
"Lipman, 47 years old, who’d spent her entire career at The Wall Street Journal, is a serious journalist with a serious mien, and long legs, which she likes to show off with short-skirted power suits. Lipman is "attractive," in Newhouse’s vernacular..."
Things you wouldn't read in a piece about a man. It's kind of worse than I'd guessed, actually: "she likes to show off" implies that she uses her legs for some manipulative purpose, and the whole thing implies that it's hard to believe that a serious female journalist might be attractive. #joannelipman
10/26/09
For example? The NYTPicker post you linked to calls the piece "whiny," and uses a lot of tokenism to undermine Lipman's point. (A woman won a Pulitzer so women in journalism got respect since the 80s!)
It's also interesting to hear from a woman in, I believe, her 40s. When we talk about feminists we tend to think of the Second Wavers in their 60s and the Third Wavers in their 20s-30s. Lipman's in between. Maybe that's affected the way she talks about sexism?
10/26/09
Anna, this is amazing. #joannelipman
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10/26/09
If you need a goddamn bulletpoint list on how you need to be to achieve a particular subset of people's dreams, we have a long way of liberation to go. #joannelipman
10/26/09
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10/26/09
I'll tell you. Exactly...zero. #joannelipman
10/26/09
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