welcome to my blog....Life's Surprises: March 2014

Has anyone else noticed that women news anchors and meteorologists on the network news programs are looking more and more like Barbie Dolls? It is an interesting phenomenon I've been unscientifically cataloging for a while now. Tight, short, sleeveless dinner dresses that are stretched to fit over Spanx-molded figures; sky-high crippling heels, Farrah Fawcett hair (that style is back again?), blackened, sparkled eyes and fat, juicy, nude-today, red-tomorrow lips. They hobble to their seats and tug at their skirts when they sit down and cross their legs. (Yes, without question they cross their legs). Most are very young, very beautiful, flawlessly polished for TV, and all look amazingly identical! One morning recently, a financial analyst reporting from the floor of the stock market distracted me from her story by repeatedly blinking her two inch long false eyelashes and whipping her hair away from her eyes, as she reported on DOW futures. Yes, Barbies are everywhere.

I am not the fashion police, I am not opposed to makeup and dressing up to go out partying. I am only a TV viewer who notices that lately glamour trumps serious news reporting. Well, actually, a lot of things trump serious news reporting these days, but the Barbie phenomenon has caught my eye. I wonder if the women choose their dresses, and hairstyles, and makeup, or if they are told to look this way by their program producers. More to the point, must they have the "Barbie Look" to get the job, to keep the job? It is an observation that sparks my memory – Working Girl, 1968.

Back in the late 60's and early 70's my typical work dress was a short skirt and high heels – it was required and expected. Well, at first the length of my skirt was more about being a just-out-of-high school girl. But I also quickly picked up on the deliberate head to toe gaze I was subject to at every job interview, the check off or note written down on my resume after the creepy appraisal. I knew the short skirt helped, and I needed the job. So I wore flats on the subway and walking the city streets to work, carrying my high-heels in my tote bag, changing into them in the bathroom in the lobby. I would not even ride up on the elevator at 30 Rock in flats as it was frowned upon by... well, by everyone. I remember doing the same with boots and slacks in winter and during snow storms... but still changing in the bathroom because we were not allowed to wear slacks in the office. Did you hear that? “not allowed” Our dress code was a condition of our employment – dress as you were told, or be fired. I needed the job and the paycheck, so I dealt with it.

What I'm saying is, back in the day, women were told what to wear, and how to look and we obliged, much the same as men were expected to have a certain look based on their position and career. Men, however, were expected to look professional, successful, and well-groomed. In 1968, women like myself were expected to look feminine and alluring, and to dress to appeal physically to the men in the office. Today, in 2014, are the women of the prime-time news shows expected, or required to look sexy and alluring to get ratings; to keep their jobs?

This week one of my personal idols and feminist mentor, Gloria Steinem, turned 80 years old. The founder of MS Magazine, feminist, journalist and social and political activist, Steinem demanded, in a calm and thoughtful way, that we take a look at the way women were treated and discriminated against in the workplace. In the 60s and 70s she was instrumental in getting sex-discrimination and sexual harassment legislation passed so women could begin to be viewed as equals. Hard to believe, but that was half century ago!

OK, I admit I have always been your basic feminist nightmare – the family member starting inappropriate arguments at the Thanksgiving table, the employee challenging new hire protocols, the NOW Officer starting trouble in the conservative suburban town where I raised my kids. Though I never had Steinem's finesse or calmly convincing manner, I sure have always shared her passion fighting for women's rights. We fought hard and long so women could compete equally in the workplace, in our role in the family, and yes, in the way we dress. I do not want to challenge a woman's right to self-expression in any way. But in my world, my real world, I find it improbable that the brilliant, capable, creative and outspoken women and girls I know, young and old, would ever want to look like Barbie. In my world, they are authentic. They take their work, their families, their relationships, and their friends seriously. They work hard, they play hard and they like fashion and looking good. They make decisions and they embrace their choices; they exude a confidence and happiness which is beautiful to be around -- they are beautiful.

So, still a hopeful feminist in her third third of life, I hope we (Gloria and I) have in some way made 2014 a better year to be a woman. I hope my granddaughter will be hired for her talents and her integrity, and I hope one of these days I will tune into the nightly news to discover that our news anchors have decided to ditch Barbie. It's just not the 1960s any more.

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If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf

If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.

Virginia Woolf