A Random Assortment

 
~ I recently discovered Advanced Style, a style blog that focuses on the style of women of a certain age. I love it--it makes me excited about getting older and dressing crazier.

~ It seems like The Atlantic has to put out some article about elite women every couple of months. This time it's, "Why Women Still Can't Have It All." What annoys me about this is that the point isn't just that women can't have it all, but that no one can have it all: the author writes about the difficulties of pursuing a career with no reservations when she has teenage boys.Mothers don't necessarily have to do a whole lot more for teenage boys than fathers do--I mean, mothers might make dinner for them, but so might fathers. Goodness gracious, by that point, the teenage boys could cook the dinner for the family. So the problem that the author, Anne-Marie Slaughter, is discussing is not necessarily gendered--fathers, too, oughtn't spend infinite time on their careers, to the detriment of their families. She admits this near the end of the article: "Seeking out a more balanced life is not a women’s issue; balance would be better for us all."

Sr. Margarita Aloysius responds:

This Atlantic story hasn't really changed (or even challenged) my opinions on women, work, and family in any way.  Basically, she has the nerve to say what everyone with a lick of common sense already knows. ... I think it's her facile presumption of the malleability of gender roles that got her into this in the first place. ...

The cover photo, however, does make me want to carry a baby around in a briefcase.  How cute is that?"

~ I always love the Modern Love column of the NYTimes. This one, "Missing the Love Boat: A Case for Marriage," is interesting--it's a repudiation of the author's former, "I Don't: The Case Against Marriage," although it's not an argument, just her story.