Jezebel: what it feels like for a girl

We Challenge A Man To Walk A Mile In Our Heels, Part 2

Slut Machine — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Previously, we challenged Street Carnage's Gavin McInnes to walk a mile in a pair of high heels. He quit after about a block. But later that day, we were able to convince him to meet us at a park in Brooklyn to see if he could do four laps—equaling one mile—around the track. And he did! (And he bitched and moaned the entire time.) Check out his victory in the clip above.

(Filmed by the one-armed Alex Goldberg.)

Earlier: We Challenge A Man To Walk A Mile In Our Heels
Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Night Look
Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Day Look

We Challenge A Man To Walk A Mile In Our Heels

Slut Machine — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT

To continue our series of "What it Feels Like for a Girl" — in which we make men do some of the more unpleasant accessories of "femininity" — we decided to challenge a man to walk a mile in our shoes... three-inch heels to be exact. We took Street Carnage's Gavin McInnes — a man known for his unyielding insistence on women wearing stilettos and model for our instructional makeup videos — shopping for shoes and walked around in downtown NYC. So was he able to do the full mile? Check the clip above.

(Filmed by the one-armed Alex Goldberg.)

Earlier: Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Night Look
Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Day Look
Benny The Tech Geek Gets A Bikini Wax

Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Night Look

Slut Machine — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT

So! For Part 2 of our instructional makeup series, we show you how to take your face from a day look to a night look with help from our good-sport model, Street Carnage's Gavin McInnes. Gavin actually welcomed a baby boy into the world this morning (congrats!), and it warms our hearts that his son will grow up with the knowledge and pride that his father knows how to take Lip Venom and eyeliner drawn inside his eye like a man.

Earlier: Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Day Look

Making It With Makeup: How To Get A Great Day Look

Slut Machine — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Whenever I'm asked to give advice on applying makeup, it makes me a bit uncomfortable because 1) I'm not a makeup artist and therefore not necessarily qualified and 2) it just seems like something more appropriate had Condé Nast would've actually bought Jezebel. But we've finally worked out a way to create a series of instructional videos that sits well with our mission as a website. (Cameraman work by the one-armed man, Alex Goldberg.)

Earlier: Benny The Tech Geek Gets A Bikini Wax

Robert M. Baum of the University of Missouri ...

Megan — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:40:00 EDT

Robert M. Baum of the University of Missouri has been conducting research on the Diola people of (what is now) Senegal for nearly 30 years. Despite his many visits and increasing status level within the Diola communities (and his access to male religious leaders and male religious shrines), he continued to be stymied in his efforts to research and understand Diola women's religious traditions — especially when it came to the Ehugna, a fertility shrine accessible only to women who had given birth. Religious leaders refused to be interviewed about it, he was consistently denied access and has finally determined that "...access to women's ritual spaces and esoteric knowledge may be too restricted for male researchers." Yeah, Bob, now you know how women anthropological researchers feel much of the time. Sucks, doesn't it? [Eureka Alert]

How Being A Woman In Politics Can Help, And Hurt

Megan — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:30:00 EDT

Does the smiling bride in this photograph seem ever-so-slightly familiar? That's because this is Margaret Thatcher in 1951, 8 years before she won her first election. In fact, it's before she "prettied" herself up in order to win that election, if the new film Margaret Thatcher — The Long Walk To Finchley and her former Parliamentarian Edwina Currie are to be believed. In her first two races, when she ran like a man would run, she kept losing so, according to the film and Currie, on the advice of her husband "She lightens her hair, modulates her voice from strident to low and sexy, wears tops that show a hint of cleavage and skirts that display a flash of leg," and then goes and cries to the guy in charge of picking candidates that she's being held back because she's a woman. We'd all like to believe that things have changed. But, I think after this primary season, we all know better that they haven't. And since they haven't, are you being smart by playing along, or stupid by giving in?

Most of the criticism thrown at Hillary Clinton was that she was too mannish somehow — similar to the way in which similar criticisms were levied at Margaret Thatcher later in her career. What is it about standing up to men that makes a woman "mannish," and why is that a bad thing? To the contrary, while Clinton may have worn pants the entire campaign, she made it a point to eschew the black pantsuits for which she had become known in Washington for ones in a variety of jewel tones and earthy colors. Her hair was always impeccably colored, it was rarely out of place and a relatively flattering cut. She never forewent make-up or jewelry like certain bloggers I see in the mirror every morning, and I have, more than once, seen her in a pair of cute kitten heels that I coveted. But, still, "mannish" was how she was tarred. If she's mannish, I'd hate to see what women would have to do to be considered womanly.

On the other hand, Thatcher reportedly started her career trying to be like the men in politics and shifted gears to get elected. Would I want to win a political race if it took flirting with old guys all day? And pretending to be just another housewife looking to make a difference? Can you win in politics on your own terms? The lack of single, childless women in Congress and the Administration (with the notable except of Condoleezza Rice), makes me wonder.

Mrs T The Temptress - And A Woman Who Knew All About The Seductive Powers Of Politics And Wasn't Afraid To Use Them [DAily Mail]

Are Men Less Likely To Be Depressed Because They Don't Even Know What It Is?

Dodai — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EDT

The National Alliance on Mental Illness has announced that while 18 million Americans experience depression every year, one in eight women get depressed, which is twice the rate of depression in men. Twice the rate. In addition, depression hits minorities the most: Middle-aged Hispanic women have the highest rate, then middle-aged African-American women. Young Asian-American women have the second highest rate of suicide among those ages 15 to 24. There are many reasons that women are more likely to experience depression: In addition to genetic factors, brain chemistry issues, and psychosocial losses or changes, there are things that women have to deal with that men usually do not. "Some experiences are unique to women," Dr. Ken Duckworth of the NAMI says, "including post-partum changes, infertility and hormonal fluctuations throughout their lives." But one has to wonder: Do men even realize what depression is?

It's been reported time and time again that men are less likely to go to the doctor. Unless they're seriously injured and need stitches, lots of men never deal with health issues. Personally, I've known guys who were clearly depressed and did nothing about it. Friends and boyfriends who had all the symptoms but — as is often the case with men — didn't feel as though they "needed" to see a doctor. That somehow they would "snap out of it." Pair this up with the fact that some dudes love using the word "drama" anytime a woman exhibits emotion, and you've got a recipe for an aversion to dealing with feelings. This might be anecdotal, but surely the National Alliance on Mental Illness gets its statistics from people who actually see a mental health professional? If some dude is walking around depressed but undiagnosed, does he count?

Women depressed at twice the rate of men [UPI]
Women and Depression [NAMI]
Earlier: Boys Who Use The Word Drama: An Investigation
In Defense of Depression
In Post-Industrial Society, Women Are Either "Princess Crazy" Or Her Handmaidens
Related: When booking a doctor's visit, gender plays a role [MSNBC]