Jezebel: smug marrieds

The Seinfelds have had un petit tiff! Jessica,...

Jennifer — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:30:00 EST

The Seinfelds have had un petit tiff! Jessica, it seems, has other talents other than, um, steaming, pureeing, and self-promoting: She also can't stop talking. On Barbara Walters' Sirius radio show, Jessica admitted that she hated Jerry making Bee Movie because it meant too many hours away from her and the kids, and that it will be his last foray into feature film ever. All of this is unfortunate because Jerry apparently is in talks with several studios about several projects and had explicitly asked his wife to not discuss his career, ever, with the media. [Chicago Sun-Times]

What Do You Say To 'Smug Marrieds'?

dodai — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST

Ah, the holidays. Time to see family, and, if you're single, hear those words that may cause you to feel, as we say, stabby: "Why aren't you married yet?" But it's not just meddling mothers who ask — friends who've tied the knot can be even worse. Reports the San Jose Mercury News, the "smug marrieds" are just one of the many hazards to be faced at the holidays. Alesandra Valenzuela, of San Jose, CA, is 34 and single. She says her married friends got back from their honeymoon and were "all proud of themselves." She laments, "They acted like they had all of their pieces together and I was stuck eating frozen pizza and living in a house with laundry on the floor. Something changed." Stacy Kaiser, an L.A. psychotherapist, says that women who have put their careers ahead of getting married are not off the hook. "There is almost a pity there [from married women]... they look down at the single woman as they think, 'I'm tired of that and I don't have to do that anymore.'"

It's been ten years since Helen Fielding wrote about the "smug marrieds" in Bridget Jones's Diary, but they haven't gone away. Says 27-year-old Tara Sanders of El Cerrito, CA: "There is this feeling that they know better than you because they've managed to get married. But if I really wanted to, I could just go to Vegas and get drunk and find someone. It's not that hard."

So, how should one respond to well-meaning friends who question our marital status — er, lack thereof? We'd really like a great, definitive answer. When someone says "When are you getting married," should we laugh and say, "Hell if I know!" Change the subject? Shake our head and sigh, "I'm just so busy right now"? Reply, "I'm on the market, know any single hotties?"

Married Yet? [San Jose Mercury News, via Star Tribune]

What It's Like To Be A (Fat) Girl

Anna — Fri, 11 May 2007 16:20:13 EDT

Everyone loves YouTube's "A Fat Rant". [NYTimes]
Three formerly-overweight British women describe the traumas that finally got them to diet. [DailyMirror]
Speaking of Brits: Two-thirds of British women fantasize about having group sex but only one-third like to get spanked? Something's rotten in the state of Denmark. [TheSun]
Another reason to hate your smug married friends. Family Studies professor Stephanie Coontz says that married couples are "less likely to visit, call, and offer practical help to neighbors, parents and other relatives." [HuffingtonPost]

Is it called rape if a man pretending to be your boyfriend climbs into your bed and has sex with you in the dark? Apparently not, according to the state of Massachusetts. [Feministing]
We knew it! Milk does not necessarily do a body good. [NYTimes]
Ugh. A midwife has been jailed after pulling a new mother's umbilical cord so hard that the woman began hemorrhaging. [GuardianUK]