If our new President-elect has you reconsidering your stay in the United States, then check out these female friendly countries from around the world.  

Welp, there you have it folks, Donald Trump is officially President-elect. No matter how many times I say it, write it, or hear it, I just can’t help but think it’s still the punchline to a really bad joke. Hillary’s loss has definitely been shocking to a lot of us, and like some celebrities, we’ve probably contemplated fleeing the country and never looking back. Sayonara, Cheeto Face!

While I’d like to argue that there are many reasons for you to stay, donations made to Planned Parenthood in Mike Pence’s name can be done from anywhere in the world. But seriously, we need you. And so does humanity. So what I’m about to share should only be used as a last resort, because, surprise! the United States is not even in the top ten of the world’s most female friendly countries. Instead, we’re number 45, and are gonna need a lot of work if we want to grace the highest rankings.

For the last ten years, the World Economic Forum has been compiling the Global Gender Gap Report, which basically tracks and delivers the extent to which men and women differ in society. The study takes into account the following four areas: health, education, economy, and politics. This year’s report covers 144 different countries from all across the globe. And although it has been a decade since the first report, the World Economic Forum says, “data has revealed that progress is still too slow for realizing the full potential of one half of humanity within our lifetimes.” Touche, data analysts, touche.

1. Iceland

– Iceland has held the number one spot for eight years in a row, and has closed more than 87 percent of its gender gap.

– Political Empowerment is in full force, coming it at number one among all 144 countries.

– Economic Participation and Opportunity is in the top ten and there is said to be promising improvement in the number of female legislators, official, and management.

–  According to its performance on the wage equality for similar work indicator, there is still a noticeable wage gap.

– The country has has completely eliminated the gender gap on Educational Attainment, and has done so since 2009.

– And, since the first report published in 2006, Iceland has closed almost 12 percent of its gender gap, making it one of the fastest-improving countries in the world.

2. Finland

– Finland beat out Norway this year for the number two spot, and has closed more than 84 percent of its overall gender gap.

– Political Empowerment ranks number two in the world, just behind Iceland, with ministerial positions reaching an equilibrium among both sexes.

– Both Educational Attainment and Health and Survival came in at impressive number one rankings.

– The index’s estimated earned income scale shows that Finland also needed improvement where gender wage gaps are concerned.  

3. Norway

– Norway has reportedly dropped a spot and is back in third place, having closed 84 percent of its gender gap.

– Upon review of the estimated earned income scale as set forth by the Index, this country is in the top ten, and has an equally as impressive performance on the wage equality for similar work indicator.

– It takes the third place on the Political Empowerment subindex, has moved up four spots on the Educational Attainment subindex, but has experienced widening in its Health and Survival gender gap.

4. Sweden

– Sweden rounds out the Nordic experience for female friendly countries in the top five, and has maintained its number four spot for eight consecutive years, having closed 81 percent of its overall gender gap.

– Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex is said to take a strong position, thanks in part to its increase in female legislators, senior officials, and managers, which has played a role in being able to move up seven positions from last year.

– It has nearly closed its Educational Attainment gender gap, but has lost a spot on the Political Empowerment subindex, despite its equality within ministerial positions.

5. Rwanda

– Yes, believe it or not, this landlocked country in east Africa has beat out the United States for female friendly countries, not only in the top ten, but in the top five.

– Rwanda has beat out Ireland to take the fifth spot this year, and has impressively closed its gender gap by 80 percent.

– This increase in rank is mostly credited to its improvements on its Economic Participation and Opportunity subindex, where the country has moved up six slots from last year.

– According to the study, it remains the country with the highest share of female parliamentarians in the world at 64 percent, and maintains its eighth spot on the Political Empowerment subindex.

– Its Educational Attainment gender gap, however, could use some improvement since it ranks 112th, along with its Health and Survival gap, which ranks 94th in the world.

And last but not least, we have our honorable mention, Slovenia. With our soon-to-be first lady hailing from Novo Mesto, a city from the number eight country on the top ten list of female-friendly places, we’re slightly perplexed as to why she would want to venture into the misogynistic and sexist, among others, territory that her husband reigns supreme. But, hey, to each their own.

What did you think of our female -riendly country compilation? Still interested in moving? Share your thoughts with us on the  EcoSalon Facebook page!

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The post The Top 5 Female-Friendly Countries (You Know, in Case You Feel Like Fleeing the U.S.) appeared first on EcoSalon.

This past week, Barack Obama published, via Glamour, a beautiful, tear-jerking essay about his deep love for his daughters and his devotion to the concept of feminism.

Obama discusses the feelings that most any dad who has a daughter leaving for college experiences: immense happiness, bone-shattering nerves, and Earth-shaking pride. The President also expresses the relief he feels knowing his girls will enter the working world at a time when women have more opportunities than ever.

Women can vote, choose if they have a baby or not, can work anywhere they want, and they certainly don’t have to marry to make it through life.

But Obama also knows that there are plenty of people in the United States and around the world who don’t view women equally to men. That depressing reality is why we need feminism more than ever. There are men and women who don’t value feminism–and some who even think it’s an outdated concept. And that’s why it’s so important that President Obama declared that he is, indeed, a feminist.

“As far as we’ve come, all too often we are still boxed in by stereotypes about how men and women should behave,” Obama says.

“One of my heroines is Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm, who was the first African American to run for a major party’s presidential nomination. She once said, ‘The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, it’s a girl.’ We know that these stereotypes affect how girls see themselves starting at a very young age, making them feel that if they don’t look or act a certain way, they are somehow less worthy. In fact, gender stereotypes affect all of us, regardless of our gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.”

Obama gets that it’s going to take a long time for people to look inside themselves and change their opinions regarding women in order for worldwide shifts around women to occur. And while he knows that’s a daunting concept, he’s optimistic that people can make that leap.

“In fact, the most important change may be the toughest of all—and that’s changing ourselves,” he writes.

With any luck, whoever moves into the White House come January 2017, is ready to further the cause for women on our soil, and around the world.

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Image of the president via Shutterstock

The post Barack Obama Shows Us What a Feminist Looks Like appeared first on EcoSalon.

Oh, hey girl. Those sexy feminist Ryan Gosling memes just did, like, the sexiest Ryan Gosling thing ever.

You’ve probably seen at least one by now: those feminist Ryan Gosling memes where a cute pic of the Gos is accompanied by positive messaging like “hey girl, let me get a hammer so I can help you shatter that glass ceiling”, or “hey girl, the post-feminist fetishisation of motherhood is deeply rooted in classism, but I still think we’d make cute babies.” There are also some less serious memes, like “hey girl, I forgot to get you a present but you can unwrap my package. Happy Birthday”, and “hey girl, hold the sugar in my coffee, you’re sweet enough for the both of us.”

We’ve covered the memes here on EcoSalon before, because we’re not above lusting after Ryan Gosling some of the messaging really hit home for us. And it appears it’s not just women who find the feminist Ryan Gosling memes so powerful.

A recent study found that men who view the memes identified as more pro-feminism afterwards. Yes, PhD students actually studied this. For science. Vox reports: “The researchers believe that the memes make feminism seem appealing because they imply that the real Ryan Gosling espouses the views. In other words, Gosling is cool, so feminism suddenly seems cool too.”

The researchers, both women, polled 99 undergrad students (69 women, 30 men). The groups were asked to look at the memes, either just the picture of Gosling, or the pic with the text on it. They were then asked about whether or not they self-identified as feminists and if they had sympathies for specific types of feminism such as radical feminism, socialist feminism, and women of color feminism.

According to Vox, the researchers found that “viewing the memes had no significant effect on women’s test results, and that neither gender showed any changes in how likely they were to self-identify with feminism. But men who viewed the meme were significantly more likely to endorse views associated with radical feminism and socialist feminism.”

So in other words, men may be more likely to succumb to peer pressure to support women’s issues, even if that peer is a celebrity they don’t know and the subject is content written by women. Yay?

As far-fetched as that logic seems, I say we take it. Not that it’s going to get Hillary elected or anything, but even if it chips away just a little bit at the rampant gender stereotypes and sexism in our culture, it’s still pretty awesome – especially considering, you know, the fact that Ryan Gosling didn’t actually say any of those things. (And many of the memes were actually written by women.)

But hey, men, there’s no shame in aligning yourself with imaginary Gosling comments. So much of our culture is influenced by imaginary content already—from books and television to movies and video games, not to mention the fake sex many men watch on the internet and try to recreate in the real world. It’s life imitating make-believe, be that bona fide art or otherwise. It’s how the world works, right? So what’s the big deal in expanding our opinions on important social issues like gender equality via the unbelievable phenomenon of Ryan Gosling memes?

At a time when rape and violence against women are still issues men have trouble discussing, let alone believing, we can use all the help we can get. And if gender relations get some of that help through something as ridiculous as a shirtless Ryan Gosling, we won’t say no. How about you, Ryan?

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Images via the wonderful world of Ryan Gosling memes

The post Feminist Ryan Gosling Memes Do the Unthinkable: They Make Men More Pro-Women appeared first on EcoSalon.

Barbie may not be the most feminist-friendly toy of modern day, but she sure has come a long way from when she first stepped onto the toy scene. Sure, her looks are still unattainable, but at least the food restriction Barbie accessories are now off the market.

In 1963, Mattel, Barbie’s maker, released Barbie accessories sold under the name, “Slumber Party.” The accessories in this Barbie kit included a pink nightgown and pajamas, and some rollers. Also: A book.

“Nice, a book,” you may be thinking. Well, contain your joy and get ready for it to transform into rage. Deep, dark, rage. The book the Barbie accessories came with was titled, “How to Lose Weight.”

Barbie likes pink and food restriction! How lovely!

And the book’s advice? About as good as its title. The book advises Barbie: “Don’t eat!”

Well, that’s a lovely message. The “gotta lose weight Barbie” also came with another accessory: A pink bathroom scale set at 110 pounds. Messy Nessy Chic reminds us that Barbie is supposed to be about 5 foot 9 inches tall. So, that “weight goal” would make Barbie about 35 pounds underweight. Cool. (You can own this gross bit of toy nostalgia for $125.)

While Barbie has definitely come a long way from selling weight loss accessory kits, the doll is still irking people. Just recently, Pamela Ribon, author and screenwriter, discovered a book called “Barbie: I can be a Computer Engineer,” that was originally published in 2010. The book starts out good: Barbie is designing a game for kids! But then, disaster strikes and Barbie needs the help of her male friends to save her from disaster. The dialogue, reports by NPR, is as follows:

“‘I’m only creating the design ideas,’ Barbie says, laughing. ‘I’ll need Steven’s and Brian’s help to turn it into a real game.’

Barbie then gets a virus on the computer, which then infects another computer, and the boys wind up fixing it for her:

‘After class, Barbie meets with Steven and Brian in the library.

‘Hi, guys,’ says Barbie. ‘I tried to send you my designs, but I ended up crashing my laptop — and Skipper’s, too! I need to get back the lost files and repair both of our laptops.’

‘It will go faster if Brian and I help,’ offers Steven.’”

Barf.

Luckily, Mattel released an apology stating that this portrayal of Barbie doesn’t reflect the Brand’s idea of what Barbie stands for.

Here’s hoping that Barbie evolves more over the next few years.

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ColumnIn last week’s column I introduced you to the thriving (and surprising) feminist porn movement. Since then, we’ve witnessed a violent, gratuitous rape scene on “Game of Thrones” and were exposed to a repugnant stream of frat boy text messages rife with relentless misogyny. Just another day in the cesspool of American culture.

We could all use some sex-positive, uplifting momentum right now, can’t we? If you’re yet to be initiated to the world of Feminist Porn, feel free to review last week’s column. Now, let’s meet some of the movers and shakers in this emerging field, and get acquainted with their work.

Annie Sprinkle: The Pioneer

Annie Sprinkle is the still-reigning queen of Feminist Porn – she’s the original provocateur, and the reason that the young auteurs you’ll meet below can do what they’re doing today. (Full disclosure: Annie is my friend, so forgive the gushing please – she truly is this awesome.) Annie is a porn star and self-described “sacred prostitute” with a PhD in Human Sexuality. Her breakthrough performance art piece from 1990 was called “A Public Cervix Announcement,” a piece in which she invited theatergoers onstage to examine her vagina with a speculum. That’s when her work became iconic for Women’s Studies students everywhere (and how I first heard her name). Annie’s latest (amazing) projects are in the field of Eco-Sex and Sexecology.

Tristan Taromino

You may know Tristan’s work even if you’ve never watched porn, because she wrote a sex column called “Pucker Up” for the Village Voice from 1999 – 2008. First and foremost, Tristan is an awesome educator – all of her work feels like a super empowering lesson in sex-positive exploration, while simultaneously being fun and hot. This is why she regularly lectures at colleges across the country. Her copious instructional videos are wildly popular, especially for women exploring anal sex for the first time. Although she’s not a porn performer, she definitely belongs in this list because her contributions to the feminist porn canon are iconic. You can listen to her radio show: “Sex Out Loud” every Friday at 8 pm on Voice America.

Madison Young

She’s an award-winning adult film star and director, sex educator, performance artist/founder of the Femina Potens gallery in San Fran, and so much more. Young’s new memoir “Daddy” was first supposed to be a work of erotic fiction, but turned into a story about her life. Her work in the BDSM arena is legendary — explore her oeuvre when you’re ready to graduate from “Fifty Shades of Grey” to something real — and really intellectual.

Courtney Trouble

Trouble’s website describes her as a “queer porn icon” but it’s true – she’s is an icon. She is a porn performer/director and the founder of TROUBLEfilms, IndiePornRevolution.com, and QueerPorn.tv. She has won numerous Feminist Porn Awards.

Erika Lust

The founder of Erika Lust Films, Erika studied political science and feminism at Lund University, and has made her career out of challenging the conventions of the adult film industry. Born in Sweden and living/working in Barcelona, she writes and directs award-winning films that blur the boundaries of gender, sexuality, pleasure and fetish. Lust says: “Porn is a huge part of the culture we’re living in. We cannot just ignore porn, we have to participate and discuss this very influential genre.” Amen.

Got a question for Stefanie? Email stefanie at ecosalon dot com, and she’ll answer it in the next Sexual Healing column.

Keep in touch with Stefanie on Twitter: @ecosexuality

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ColumnRecent Twittersphere flare-ups featuring Rashida Jones and Sinéad O’Conner “slut-shaming” pop-culture irritant Miley Cyrus and others for their fleshy outbursts drew swift backlash from some members of the feminist community and bitter online battles among women. What’s a man to make of all this?

Growing up in a liberal family in the ‘70s got me thinking. I cheered as Billie Jean King thrashed Bobby Riggs on the tennis court, watched in awe as millions jammed Washington to protest anti-women legislation and celebrated the Roe v. Wade triumph. I loved my mother that much more for proudly wearing her ERA bracelet (serendipitous though it was, as those also happened to be her initials) and followed her example when it came to developing my worldview regarding women and politics. All told, my support for feminism was indelibly engrained as far back as I can remember.

As an undergraduate, I read Andrea Dworkin and Betty Friedan, marched in “take back the night” campaigns and volunteered as a campus escort. It wasn’t front and center in my life, but I did my best to keep my testosterone in check in my relationships and outlook, and play by the rules as I saw them regarding the movement and its tenets, and their implications for my thinking and lifestyle.

To be clear, while I called myself a feminist (and still do), I look back with no illusions that my insensitivities didn’t lead to plenty of bad behaviors. I was guilty of my share of objectification (still am), and my ignorance and lack of empathy reared their heads on too many occasions. Yet, by and large, I embraced (accepted, I should say) the vilification of such shortcomings. I even tried to understand how someone could see my penis as a weapon.

Of course, it wasn’t always easy staying oriented in this sociopolitical context. One example of weird crossfire was in my studies. I was a lit guy, more or less, and clearly remember the icy stare of the prof who refused to read my thesis on Kerouac because the writer was a “pig.” Another one threw (as in slammed) a copy of Homer’s Odyssey to the floor during class, saying the work was “full of male crap” and that the canon was “rigged.” As the editor of a campus literary magazine, I witnessed and was dragged into numerous battles between the sexes—and I didn’t dare publish any of my own erotica as I was sure my take was poisoned by my pen (or sword, as it were).

Most of this kind of thing was anecdotal to my experience, not pervasive, and all told I manned up and surfed the Second Wave as best I could, learning life lessons along the way. But as the end of the century drew nearer, things began to change. The Feminist Sex Wars heated up, Madonna showed up as the anti-virgin and Chrissie Hynde began shooting her mouth off. The feminist tent grew bigger and the women I knew were no longer playing by the hard and fast rules I grew up with, as liberation took on a new, more inclusive and individualized sensibility. Relations between the sexes were suddenly less clear and, just as my fathers before me must have struggled to keep pace with change, I found myself tripping and bumbling and trying to understand, rethink and act accordingly.

The questions came fast: What, exactly, did all these changes mean and what, exactly, was becoming “okay” in this shifting paradigm? Could I flip on the porn? Did I dare admit that I secretly thought objectification was at times underrated? And why is that chick hitting on me? Does her T-shirt really say that? Did she just say that?! Part of me, of course, was delighted by this turn of events. Another part, seasoned in old-school sexual politics, had no idea what to do. Understandable, I guess, when seeing the world through the eyes of what is or isn’t politically correct.

To the “it’s a not about you” voices out there, fair enough, but I should say that it’s not just the fact that I’m a guy that made me attempt to see this evolution through my own lens. It’s human nature to ask what does this mean to me, particularly when it’s not about you and in many ways empathy cannot be part of the equation. Besides, I had women friends and lovers, and processing how those relationships were affected by such changes was at the very least polite, and at best simply the right thing to do.

This is now…

Today, Third-Wave Feminism has come of age (with a fourth purportedly taking shape), and it’s largely credited with invigorating and in many ways saving the movement. In terms of sexual expression, the footprint is everywhere—from the Suicide Girls to Yes Means Yes, there are countless articulations of the sex-positive moment. Just the other week, in fact, a woman friend and I were discussing how the word cunt is being happily retrieved for delightful usage by many of its owners. On the (more) popular front, we have Miley Cyrus merrily swinging along on her wrecking ball (spoiler: bad art alert), and Rihanna crooning, “come here rude boy/boy can you get it up?”

Not everyone is of the same mind though, as evidenced by recent online flames when Rashida Jones and Sinéad O’Conner weighed in negatively on Miley et al. Watching the slut-shaming and “what is feminism?” debate erupt, I thought about how much the world has changed since I was young—and about all those old struggles on the okay vs. not okay front. To her credit, Jones, addressing the issue in a Glamour article, asked men to weigh in: “Men: WHERE ARE YOU??? Please talk to us about how all this makes you feel. You are 49 percent of the population; don’t sit around and let women beat one another up while you intermittently and guiltily enjoy the show. Speak up! We care what you think!”

So okay, Rashida, here it goes:

Looking back, many of the questions I used to ask myself about how to react to women (and female expression) were off the mark. The fact of the matter is that too often we see the world and our fellow inhabitants through a social or political lens, leaving out one critical fact—people are people first, and men, women and the trans community are each a subset of that. Forget the relationship with the movement—we’re at our best when we treat humans with humanity, not when we try to define, limit and sometimes even understand others.

What does this mean? Well, call it trial and error, but I’ve come to realize that my most successful relationships—and best behaviors—happen when I drop the perceived definitions and flailing, biased judgments. Not to diminish my own, personal politics (to which I remain deeply committed), but what was most important about how I was raised was not how to be a feminist, but rather why to be feminist. Compassion and respect come first, said and modeled my mother. It’s not about gender—and being politically correct isn’t the core issue. The real question we must ask ourselves is, are we humane? To my boys (now interesting and respectable men), my mantra was always “be nice to everyone you meet and watch out for cars.” Be kind and be safe. That’s really all you need to know—at least that’s where it’s best to begin.

So, Rashida, what do I think? Well, my penchant for naked aside, I think Miley pretty much sucks. (Let’s just say her work is not to my taste.) Rihanna’s talent is, in a word, overwhelming (and Chris Brown is a criminal), and you, Rashida, are a brilliant actress. Sinead? Two things: that voice changed me back in the day and, sorry, but she turned me on something fierce. As for how each of you influence our culture—and younger women in particular—I’ll just say keep doing what you think is best. Your audiences (and perhaps their parents) can take it from there.

In the end it’s on us men to check ourselves, not on women to censor how they express themselves. I recently saw a powerful photograph of an attractive topless woman at a protest event with this scrawled across her naked breasts: “It’s still not okay to rape me.” I admit that I lingered over the image for a few extra seconds for prurient reasons, but what truly resonated for me is the truth of those words. And how, person-to-person feminism aside, and no matter what we believe about anything else in this world, she’s right. And that’s all we really need to know—or at least that’s where it’s best to begin.

Scott Adelson is EcoSalon’s Senior Editor of HyperKulture, a monthly column that explores opening cultural doors to initiate personal change. He is also the author of InPRINT, which reviews and discusses books, new and old. You can reach him at scott at adelson dot org and follow him @scottadelson on Twitter.

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The post Yes Means Yes Means What? – Miley, Rihanna and Me: HyperKulture appeared first on EcoSalon.

I am woman. 

Throughout history, women have had plenty of reasons to be upset. From being denied the right to vote, to being robbed of basic civil liberties, to being told what they can and can’t do with their bodies, female oppression has long existed, and it was only relatively recently that women gained the courage to speak up. We’ve come a long way, but as Rush Limbaugh showed us just last week, we still have a ways to go. In honor of International Women’s Day, we take a look back in photos at the issues that have ignited outrage among women over the past century.

(above) 1909: Girls march against child labor at a labor parade in New York City.

1913: Suffrage parade.

1917: Throngs of women charge New York’s City Hall to protest the soaring cost of food.

1917: Woman’s suffrage protest in Washington, D.C.

1917: Suffragists picket the White House in Washington, D.C.

1938: Hosiery workers protest the Japanese Silk boycott in Washington, D.C.

1938: Spanish-born women protest the arms embargo on Spain in Washington, D.C.

1939: Jewish and-Palestine White Paper demonstrations in Washington D.C.

1956: Rosa Parks sits in the front of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, after the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation.

1962: Women strike for peace at the UN building during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

1963: Woman participating in the Civil Rights March on Washington D.C.

1968: Anti-war demonstrators in support of Eartha Kitt.

1976: Anti-abortion demonstration at the Democratic National Convention in New York City.

2008: Pro-choice Walk for Life in San Francisco.

2008: Save the Seals protest in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

2009: Proposition 8 same-sex marriage protest in Fresno, California.

2010: G-20 Toronto Summit protests.

2011: Slutwalk protest against excusing rape because of appearance.

2011: Occupy Wall Street riles up the 99 percent.

2011: Women across the country stand with Planned Parenthood as funding is cut.

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40 Gorgeous Photos of Europe

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The post 20 Photos of Female Activists Throughout History appeared first on EcoSalon.

A collection of inspiring, controversial, and downright outrageous quotes on feminism.

I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a door mat or a prostitute. -Rebecca West

Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, “She doesn’t have what it takes.” They will say, “Women don’t have what it takes.” -Clare Boothe Luce

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, “It’s a girl.” –Shirley Chisholm

Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels. -Faith Whittlesey

No one should have to dance backward all of their lives. -Jill Ruckelshaus

The thing women have yet to learn is nobody gives you power. You just take it. -Roseanne Barr

I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want. If that makes me a bitch, okay. -Madonna

[Feminism is] a socialist, anti-family, political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians. -Pat Robertson

Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women access to the mainstream of society. -Rush Limbaugh

You don’t have to be anti-man to be pro-woman. -Jane Galvin Lewis

You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation. -Brigham Young

Some of us are becoming the men we wanted to marry. -Gloria Steinem 

It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union … Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less. -Susan B. Anthony

One of the things about equality is not just that you be treated equally to a man, but that you treat yourself equally to the way you treat a man. -Marlo Thomas

I’ve yet to be on a campus where most women weren’t worrying about some aspect of combining marriage, children, and a career. I’ve yet to find one where many men were worrying about the same thing. -Gloria Steinem

The only jobs for which no man is qualified are human incubators and wet nurse. Likewise, the only job for which no woman is or can be qualified is sperm donor. -Wilma Scott Heide

My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it’s very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do. -Ani DiFranco

When a woman behaves like a man, why doesn’t she behave like a nice man? -Edith Evans

People have accepted the media’s idea of what feminism is, but that doesn’t mean that it’s right or true or real. Feminism is not monolithic. Within feminism, there is an array of opinions. –Judy Chicago

What, do you think that feminism means you hate men? –Cyndi Lauper

Feminism’s agenda is basic: It asks that women not be forced to “choose” between public justice and private happiness. It asks that women be free to define themselves – instead of having their identity defined for them, time and again, by their culture and their men. -Susan Faludi

People think at the end of the day that a man is the only answer [to fulfillment]. Actually a job is better for me. –Princess Diana

The word, and the concept of feminism, was a gift because it gave me a sense of identity and a way of defining how I wished to live my life. –Betty Buckley

Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent. –Eleanor Roosevelt

Women get more unhappy the more they try to liberate themselves. -Brigitte Bardot

No man is as anti-feminist as a really feminine woman. -Frank O’Connor

Does feminist mean large unpleasant person who’ll shout at you or someone who believes women are human beings? To me it’s the latter, so I sign up. -Margaret Atwood

Until women learn to want economic independence, and until they work out a way to get this independence without denying themselves the joys of love and motherhood, it seems to me feminism has no roots. –Crystal Eastman

Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition. -Timothy Leary 

Feminism is dated? Yes, for privileged women like my daughter and all of us here today, but not for most of our sisters in the rest of the world who are still forced into premature marriage, prostitution, forced labor – they have children that they don’t want or they cannot feed. -Isabel Allende

Male supremacy has kept woman down. It has not knocked her out. -Clare Boothe Luce

The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race. –Susan B. Anthony

I believe that women have a capacity for understanding and compassion which man structurally does not have, does not have it because he cannot have it. He’s just incapable of it. -Barbara Jordan

The modern woman is the curse of the universe. A disaster, that’s what. She thinks that before her arrival on the scene no woman ever did anything worthwhile before, no woman was ever liberated until her time, no woman really ever amounted to anything. -Adela Rogers St. Johns

A good part – and definitely the most fun part – of being a feminist is about frightening men. -Julie Burchill

Nobody will ever win the Battle of the Sexes. There’s just too much fraternizing with the enemy. -Henry Kissinger

Instead of getting hard on ourselves and trying to compete, women should try and give their best qualities to men – bring them softness, teach them how to cry. -Joan Baez

My advice to the women’s clubs of America is to raise more hell and fewer dahlias. -James McNeill Whistler

When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she’s a bitch. -Bette Davis

Why do people say “grow some balls?” Balls are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina. Those things can take a pounding. -Betty White

Image: Karen Horton, James Vaughan, The U.S. National Archives, David Shankbone.

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Women on Film: Thelma and Louise helped us fully visualize the best way to deter street harassment.

Having someone leer at you on the street is like mixing a martini with olives and forgetting to put in the gin. It’s taking your sexuality and mucking it up with a sad, heavy aftertaste. Because isn’t getting leered at on the street really just a fundamental move of disrespect that leaves a bitter taste in your mouth?

Street catcalls usually arrive as a whistle or a shout or a kissing sound flung at you across the street. If you react, you risk more harassment. If you ignore it, you feel like you’re condoning the behavior. If you get upset, then you’re an uptight prude who doesn’t understand that it’s really just a compliment. Because romance is all about a sucking, shrill kissy noise thrown at you by a teenager leering at you from a car before speeding off into oblivion. Right? Don’t overthink it.

And to the leerers of the world, we ask the truth. In your experiences of throwing aforementioned kissy sounds, has a woman ever turned on her heel and rushed into your arms? When you’ve asked a woman to fellate your genitals while speeding down Sunset Boulevard, has she ever lept after your car? When you startle a woman off her iPod with shouts about her derriere, have you ever gotten more than a middle finger thrust in your direction?

Street harassers of the world, please imprint this on your brains. If we’re decked out in short skirts and platform shoes, that doesn’t mean we have a flashing sign over our heads pointing that our breasts are open for comment.

Or maybe you should just know that this is how some of us would like to respond to your endless collective windpipe of harassment.

In 1991, “Thelma and Louise” showed us perhaps the best way to lean hard into street harassment. We salute you, Sassy Thelma and Dame Louise. We salute you.

Image: “An American Girl in Italy” c. 1952. Photo by Ruth Orkin

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We’ve been waxing on women’s issues more frequently lately, so you’d be forgiven the impression that team ES is sitting around a conference table cooking up angry gal content. The truth is that we are working from all over the world, leading varied lifestyles, individually coming to our own conclusions about troubling things that are absolutely not sustainable for women – or for anyone. And that’s the scary thing. A conference table and some headline goosing would be nice for a change.

Why the abundance of news material to work with? Perhaps women have grown lax, accepting too much from our male counterparts (and possibly alpha women) as just joking, just teasing and just, you know, being anything but serious – so that we’ve forgotten to ask point blank questions like, “Excuse me. Why is this okay?”

Case in point: I track trend sites daily and one of my kitschy favorites, Trendhunter, is adding fuel to an already blazing feminist fire roaring out of kitchens and minivans worldwide. Based on their “trends” from correspondents that send in their finds, apparently, we women (including children) are spreading our legs for every Jim, Jack and Johnnie – that is, when we’re not busy plowing through the vodka and Valium.

Kindergarten Couture? Give me a break.

Trendhunter says of former French Vogue editor, Carine Roitfeld: “Carine Roitfeld has been known for being an editor to run controversial material during her time at French Vogue. Her final stint at the magazine was her last chance to go out in style, and she made sure that happened.”

That means gathering a group of 6-year-olds and smothering them in tons of toxic makeup and sky high stilettos.

Even Gawker’s Maureen O’ Connor calls it “prima facie disgusting.” Carine certainly knows how to go out with a bang.

French Vogue, Cadeaux

Trendhunter thinks that in addition to involving sexy grade schoolers posing with exotic animal pelts, deranged housewives precariously lighting butts by stove top is a trend we should be watching. Really? Is Trendhunter really saying this is something we will see more of? (I’m pulling my fork out of the toaster.)

We all understand – and most of us adore – the fantasy of fashion, but some fantasies are best left in the box.

You’ll notice the little girl in the corner is walking in on Mother having her domestic breakdown.

Vogue Italia, ‘Home Works’ by Miles Aldridge

Cue the Talking Heads Song, “How did I get here?”

The “Boozer Babe Spreads” are a hot trend I can see really blossoming into future editorials including, “Addicted to heroin and all my veins have collapsed” spreads, “I lost all my children because I’m a full-force alcoholic” spread and let’s not forget, “Hey, where’s the cartilage in my nose, I snorted too much coke” spread.

Simon Powell photographs

If fashion magazines are a barometer for what’s stylishly happening to women, I’d like to scrub them all out with a good bar of organic vegetable soap. Taste, class, consciousness: that’s an ecology that sustains (and is sexy). Booze, babes and cigarette butts? Hardly. But of course, I should probably just lighten up.

From bad green design to ridiculous marketing campaigns, find out what peeves the writers and editors of EcoSalon in our team column, The Beige Report.

The post The Beige Report: Lifestyles of the Fried and Fabulous appeared first on EcoSalon.