womenofthe112th:

My new favorite Tumblr blog, brought to you by high school classmate Emily Nemens, who will post a watercolor portrait of each female member of the 112th Congress — roughly 94 — until the elections in November. 

As she puts it:

I want to both honor the breadth and diversity of women in power, but also bring attention to certain disconcerting characteristics that emerge when taken as a whole: the rainbow of power suits, the big hair, the gaudy jewelry and toothy smiles — and the idea that they collectively are only 17% of  Congress. 

Above: Rep Judith Borg Biggert — Republican. 

what does your bow say about your beau? life magazine, 1944. (via)

“I think marriage is insurance for the worst years of your life. During your best years you don’t need a husband. You do need a man of course, and they are often cheaper emotionally and a lot more fun by the dozen.”

RIP Helen Gurley Brown, founder of COSMO

"In the early ’90s, it was grunge, everybody was fully clothed. Alanis Morissette was one of the biggest artists in the world, never wore make up, wearing Doc Marten boots, and then the Spice Girls turn up, and suddenly it all looks a bit burlesque, suddenly they’re the biggest band in the world. … And as you go all the way through the ’90s, the clothes just fall off the women until you get to the year 2000, and Britney Spears is just wearing a snake."

‘How To Be A Woman’: Not A Feminist? Caitlin Moran Asks, Why Not? : NPR (via blogofhorses)

Truth.

Girls to ‘Magic Mike’: Less Heart, More Flesh

By Amanda Hess

(via storyboard)

Nora Ephron’s first job in New York was as a Newsweek “mail girl” in 1962. In her interview, she was asked why she wanted the position. 

— “I want to be a writer,” she told the woman.

— “Women don’t write at Newsweek,” she was told. 

“That was what it meant to be a girl then,” Ephron later told me.

(Photo via the NYT)

"Maybe young women don’t wonder whether they can have it all any longer, but in case any of you are wondering: of course you can have it all. What are you going to do? Everything, is my guess. It will be a little messy, but embrace the mess. It will be complicated, but rejoice in the complications. It will not be anything like what you think it will be like, but surprises are good for you. And don’t be frightened: you can always change your mind. I know: I’ve had four careers and three husbands."

The always brilliant and wry Nora Ephron, in a 1996 Wellesley Commencement Speech, which is worth reading in its entirety.

"I’d been the one telling young women at my lectures that you can have it all and do it all, regardless of what field you are in. Which means I’d been part, albeit unwittingly, of making millions of women feel that they are to blame if they cannot manage to rise up the ladder as fast as men and also have a family and an active home life (and be thin and beautiful to boot)."

WHY WOMEN STILL CAN’T HAVE IT ALL (The Atlantic)

"Men run fast and get praise heaped on them. Women run fast and get derogatory comments about their physiques and question marks raised over their femininity. What we should be celebrating at the London Olympics is great performances by female athletes – their dedication, natural ability, guts and skill. Just as we do their male counterparts."

The Guardian’s Sam Murphy, speaking out in opposition to the International Olympic Committee’s “gender verification” guidelines that would bar women with high testosterone levels from competing.

Is the rule fair?

(via theweekmagazine)

Planned Parenthood is on Tumblr!

barackobama:

plannedparenthood:

Planned Parenthood is excited to be launching our new Tumblr that’s all about sexual and reproductive health – bodies, birth control, relationship issues, “is it normal for this to do this?” type things. In the coming weeks and months we’ll be sharing what we know, answering questions, and just… tumblring. 

We hope you like it! And we hope it helps.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

I love that the Barack Obama tumblr reblogged this.

"Hey girl, go ahead and ask for that raise. You deserve it." --Equal Pay Day Ryan Gosling

Working women like to be spanked, says Katie Roiphe, who did not actually interview a single working woman for her Newsweek cover story. Wait, did I really just write that?

"How can I be anti-woman? I even judged the Miss America pageant."

–Rush Limbaugh’s response to the National Organization for Women’s outrage over his nickname for the group – National Association of Gals, or ‘Nags.’ (via officialssay)

cheatsheet:

Secretary of State Hillary closes the truly wonderful 2012 Women in the World Summit. Visit our site for complete coverage.

(photo via @DontSpkWhinese) 

Hill. Love.

"It is hard for men and women leaders. But it is harder for women leaders. There are so many built in expectations, stereotypes, caricatures."

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking to a packed crowd at Lincoln Center in the closing remarks at Newsweek & The Daily Beast’s Women in the World Summit.