This week’s link love features some style tips for wearing white to the gym, awesome news for cyclists in LA and just how many people are vaccinating their children.

What do you wear when working out? Get some tips on how to workout wearing whites. It’s totally possible. [via Well+GoodNYC]

These awesome crowdsourced maps make urban foraging safer and easier. [via Eat Drink Better]

Los Angeles now has a designated bike district. And it’s awesome. [via Treehugger]

This interactive map shows you just how many people aren’t vaccinating their children in your state. [via Mother Jones]

We’re not sure we understand. But we’re sure we love it. Fiona Apple to appear in a French TV show about superheroes. [via Pitchfork]

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Image via Pitchfork

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ColumnWhat do you get for the feminist who has everything? I offer you this guide to holiday gifts for feminists. Of course, they can be gifted year-round, too.

1. For the feisty feminist:

society6 has a series of Feminist As Fuck items, including this red t-shirt. With tops for kids and men, and onesies for babies, the whole family can say, “Hey, I’m feminist as fuck!” loud and proud.

2. For the music loving feminist: 

Beyonce’s new album. Unless you spent the week under a rock, you know that Beyonce stealthy released a “visual album” with 14 songs and 17 videos? WHAT? No matter how you feel about her earlier advice to “put a ring on it,” I’m glad to see that Beyonce sampled Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, an award-winning Nigerian author, and included lots of her own views about feminism.

3. For the feminist activist:

The pen is still mightier than the sword. Mother Jones magazine is an independent, nonprofit publication with the ability—with its solid reporting on politics, the environment, women’s issues and more—to influence everything from the gun-control debate to presidential campaigns. Support the magazine as it makes year-end push to raise the funds to continue bringing real, game-changing journalism into the world.

4. For the little feminist:

If you’re not down with your kid sporting a t-shirt with the F-word on it, there are other options, like this Katniss Everdeen Lego figure. Check out MightyGirl for lots of girl-empowered gifts. I kind of love the Marie Curie finger puppet.

5. For the feminist on the go:

La Bella Figura’s seed-to-skin products are perfect for cold-weather dwelling feminists and for winter travel. The Holiday Essential Mini Set Includes: Daily Elements Defense, Barbary Fig Renewal Serum and Travel Therapy.

6. For the feminist yoga fiend:

These yoga pants by Teeki are eco- and lady-friendly —and a welcome departure from the every popular (and to be avoided at all costs) Lululemon basics. Teeki pants are made from recycled water bottles and produced in U.S. using solar power. Shine on.

7. For the feminist foodie:

Be prepared for lots of “hand in the cookie jar” jokes when you present the Jonathan Adler Georgia cooke jar to the giftee.

8. For the feminist desk-dweller and coffee-drinker:

The cunt mug  says it all. It can serve as a warning to, or a commentary on, co-workers. How handy!

Images: Society6, Beyonce.com, Sean MacEntee, MightyGirl, La Bella Figura, Teeki, Jonathan Adler and Firebox

The post 8 Holiday Gifts for Feminists: That Happened appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Premarital sex isn’t for the impure, it’s actually a choice of morality. [Via The Guardian]

Raw this, raw that; unpasteurized milk is popular, but is it really that good for you? [Via Mother Jones]

Think vegan restaurants are full of carrots and dreadlocks? Think again. In Los Angeles, the clientele is powerful and well-heeled.  [Via New York Times]

The GOP really does understand how women’s bodies work. [Via Feministing]

Take a deep breath and relax: six breathing exercises that will help you de-stress in 10 minutes or less. [Via Greatist]

The fashion question of the day: can you grow a leather jacket in a lab? [Via The Week]

A mobile espresso machine built on a bike? We’ll take a double shot. [Via Treehugger]

Is the internet really making us dumber? Maybe, maybe not. [Via Spiegel]

Vogue pledges not to use models under the age of 16, and then manages to break its own rule. [Via Refinery29]

You know the disappointment that comes from drinking a bad bottle of wine? Be glad you don’t live in the 16th century when wine bottles filled with witch urine was apparently a problem. [Via Mental Floss]

Image: LeonArts.at

The post Link Love: Premarital Sex is Moral, Growing a Leather Jacket in a Lab and Whether or Not the Internet is Making Us Dumber appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

What is the best endorsement Obama could have? Snoop Dogg of course. [Via Mother Jones]

In what could be the worst news of the week, Pat Robertson tells a man to move to Saudi Arabia so he can beat his wife (legally). [Via Gawker]

11 years later: take a moment today to remember September 11. Here is a photo gallery of the current construction for the memorial. [Via The Atlantic]

Are sea otters the solution to climate change? No, but they sure are helping. [Via National Geographic]

American Diplomacy has a new strategy, and it involves food. [Via TakePart]

The angst, the unease, and the trepidation of the difficulties of a post-9/11 world is making for a talented new group of young artists. [Via NPR]

PETA takes a stand and buys stock in Revlon in the organization’s ongoing attempt to get answers on the nail polish company’s involvement in animal testing. [Via Ethical Ocean]

Are you better off than you were four years ago? Signs point to yes and there’s someone to thank. [Via LearnVest]

A British trade union is proposing more regulations to make sure that models are well fed and paid. [Via High Low]

Image: mikebaird

The post Link Love: Snoop Dogg Loves Obama, Move to Saudia Arabia if You Have a ‘Problem’ Wife, and Sea Otters That Solve Climate Change appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Because you should never be without a to-go cup: now you can make your own from a mason jar. Just make sure you use a reusable straw. [Via Fine and Feathered]

It’s back-to-school season, but what does education look like in the rest of the world? This portrait slideshow takes us into classrooms from around the globe. [Via Brain Pickings]

Summer isn’t over until the fall equinox, and this healthy Mint Mojito Smoothie might just be the afternoon reminder that you need to embrace the late season. [Via Well+Good NYC]

Movies can be educational, which is why someone came up with this list of Lifetime movies for Republicans who don’t understand rape. [Via The Cut]

Minimalism is on trend right now. Even for Kuwaitis. [Via Dezeen]

Your drinking habits depend on the shape of your glass. [Via The Atlantic]

Our new dream house? A converted barn in France. [Via The Style Files]

On average, Americans eat 200 pounds of meat a year. That’s not just bad for our health, it’s also fueling the water crisis. [Via Mother Jones]

Trying to figure out how to live better in small spaces? You need the Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Feng Shui. [Via Greatist]

Image: Fine and Feathered

The post Link Love: How to Turn a Mason Jar Into a To-Go Cup, Kuwaiti Minimalism and Movies for Republicans Who Don’t Understand Rape appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Worried about Todd Akin? Maureen Dowd says we should also be worried about the rest of the Republicans, calling Paul Ryan a “fresh face on a Taliban creed.” [Via New York Times]

Healthy, delicious, easy. Make your own raw nut butter. [Via Small Kitchen College]

To snip or not to snip? Opting for less circumcision could result in higher U.S. healthcare costs. To the tune of an additional $4.4 billion over the next 10 years [Via TakePart]

Does it matter why women get abortions? [Via The Nation]

If you love quinoa, you’ll love Quinoa: The Movie. [Via Huffington Post]

You might be concerned about fitting into your skinny jeans, but you should be more concerned about whether or not those pants are starving the world. [Via Mother Jones]

Sleep is much more important than you would like to think; it underpins almost every moment of our lives. [Via Brain Pickings]

If the internet is killing storytelling, are photos bringing it back? [Via The Daily Muse]

Sure, you might want to eat like your ancestors, but is it good for you? Paleo diet: the pros and cons. [Via Greatist]

Image: bandita

The post Link Love: Paul Ryan and the Taliban, the Cost of Circumcision and How Your Skinny Jeans are Starving the World appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Summery cocktails? Yes please. Here are 12 perfect summer drinks that only require having four different bottles of booze on hand. Easy! [Via LearnVest]

On the Road isn’t the only book you should be reading if you’re road tripping. Here’s a list of the 9 literary essentials. [Via Adventure Journal]

Because it’s Shark Week and you have always wanted to know: do menstruating women attract sharks? [Via Mother Jones]

Air fresheners can be full of chemicals and super toxic. Try these natural alternatives, as simple as taking out the trash and opening a window. [Via Organic Authority]

Vintage mascara looked a little different than it does today. 9 photos of the beauty product from when it didn’t come in a tube but was a brush in a box. [Via Buzzfeed]

A new solution to pollution in cities? An artist in Italy paints a mural that is able to clean the air of photochemicals, like smog. [Via PSFK]

Renaissance women were more feminist than you might think. [Via Science 2.0]

Don’t put an egg on it; eating eggs can be as bad for you as smoking according to a new report. [Via Ecorazzi]

Cities are great and all, but they are making natural disasters deadlier. [Via Atlantic Cities]

Here’s a shocker: kids who don’t get junk food in school don’t gain as much weight. Now proven by science. [Via Food Politics]

Image: zaqi

The post Link Love: A Mural That Cleans the Air, Why Eating Eggs is Worse Than Smoking and Whether or Not Menstruating Women Attract Sharks appeared first on EcoSalon.

A round-up of what we’re reading right now. 

Running red lights on a bicycle is illegal, but is it ethical? Here’s someone that says yes. [Via New York Times]

What century are we living in? A new study reveals that U.S. doctors are using non-FDA approved steroids to prevent lesbianism in fetuses. [Via Queerty]

Self-doubt, worry and fear, all things you don’t need in life. [Via Elephant Journal]

Can we blame our brain for our food cravings? Maybe a little bit. [Via Greatist]

Go to this school in Louisiana and you might get kicked out for being pregnant. [Via Mother Jones]

If only Nancy Drew had a cell phone in her day, she would have been texting up a storm. [Via The Hairpin]

In the Los Angeles area, 10 women are truly changing things up. [Via Forbes]

Carla Bruni is getting her own statue… as a working woman. [Via The Frisky]

Image: Jeffrey Beall

The post Link Love: Steroids to Prevent Lesbianism, Getting Kicked Out of School for Being Pregnant and Running Red Lights on a Bike appeared first on EcoSalon.

Don’t make this about working mothers – we need a workplace change for everyone.

When Anne-Marie Slaughter’s The Atlantic cover story appeared, it sparked a firestorm of criticism ranging from accusations of setting women in business back by telling her story of leaving her dream job in the high ranks of government to step back in her career to be there for her children; to stomping on feminism; to boohooing about her elitist stature and the choices she’s made when many women have none. Although it’s not surprising that her story caused so much backlash, thankfully it has also generated great discussion around some important issues. And, despite the furor, they aren’t just about working mothers, or even just women – but the need for our work culture to change for everyone.

The story, “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,” is poorly titled, but still spoke to many who appreciated that Slaughter had the courage to tell her story of stepping back and wanting to be home for her children. Many women are used to feeling inadequate after reading stories of other women who made it to the top of their demanding professions, raised exceptional children and saved the world.

A Focus on Women
I first saw Sheryl Sandberg speak at the 2011 Women in the World Summit and she wowed the audience. We are contemporaries, and she is clearly a superwoman. Afterward I followed many of her talks and speeches and while I admired her mission to motivate and support women in business in their quest to be leaders, she also made me feel a bit resentful (something Slaughter alludes to in her article). As she motivates, she also expresses disappointment in our (hers and mine) generation in our failure to become leaders and places the blame squarely on our shoulders.

I was not alone in wishing she also championed the large number of women who occupy the middle ground – who don’t necessarily want to lead multinational corporations but want to sit at the table, who want to be heard, be recognized, and be equally compensated, but who still think it’s important to spend a significant amount of time with their families or pursue interests outside the office. These are the women, and a growing number of men, who are leaning back or on the fence about opting out of the workforce or into another career (if they have that choice) because that situation is so hard to find.

Does much of the blame falls on our American work culture? To hear Slaughter put exactly those feelings into words is tremendously satisfying. Can women be both leaders and great moms? Absolutely, but as Sandberg points out, you don’t see many of them, and it’s not completely due to a lack of ambition, but some very real workplace barriers.

Since Slaughter’s article came out, a large body of work has sprung up debating the issues that she raised. You might say that she isn’t covering any new ground as a “we all need balance” piece, but she has started an important discussion. Framing her argument around working mothers got many people’s backs up, but once you step back from that (as she does late in the article and in subsequent discussions), her argument and proposed changes should apply to everyone – meaning fathers, single parents and childfree women and men.

Toxic environment
It’s no secret that our work culture is, frankly, unsustainable and unhealthy. The U.S. has been a workaholic society for years, but the recession has exacerbated the weaknesses in our work culture. CNN calls the U.S. the no-vacation nation, highlighting the fact that most companies give employees only a few weeks off a year, and most expect employees to keep in touch with the office while on vacation. The U.S. lags far behind many European nations that employ liberal vacation policies and encourage their employees to use their time off.

Mother Jones reported that many businesses are posting double-digit profit growth while continuing the current employee workload and declining to hire more workers. “Americans now put in an average of 122 more hours per year than Brits, and 378 hours (nearly 10 weeks!) more than Germans.”

A full-time job used to require around 50 hours a week (allowing for lunch and a moderate commute). Now, for most, that number is low since we put more hours in at the office and can, and do, remain connected to the office nearly every waking moment with mobile technology. As our work culture continues to wring more and more work out of us, is there really time for much else?

In Glass Ceilings and 100 Hour Couples – What the Opt-Out Phenomenon Can Teach Us About Work and Family, authors Karine Moe and Dianna Shandy dissect the growing trend of highly educated women who are turning their backs on leadership and leaving the workplace – the same trend that Sandberg is lobbying against. Moe and Shandy report that dual-income families (the 100+ hour couples), show the most stress and damage from our current work climate. They conclude that an ideal arrangement involves one parent working part-time, yet meaningful part-time work is extremely hard to find.

However, concessions just for working parents can breed resentment in childfree women and men who might have their own, less recognized commitments outside of work like elder care, volunteering, hobbies or a sick spouse. That’s why change should apply to all employees, beginning with a fundamental shift in our work culture veering away from constant work obsession.

Flexibility Plays a Role
Slaughter admits that her regular full-time job as a professor is flexible and it was a shock when she entered government service to have to be on someone else’s timetable. This is where many who have spent their entire professional lives at someone else’s beck and call booed and hissed at her “complaining” which really came off more like a realization of what other professionals deal with. She quotes Mary Matalin, who spent two years as an assistant to Bush and the counselor to Vice President Dick Cheney before stepping down to spend more time with her daughters, as saying, “Having control over your schedule is the only way that women who want to have a career and a family can make it work.” I would amend that to say that flexibility is the only way to accommodate the myriad of personal situations people have outside of work, and children is just one of them.

Slaughter talks about being open about being a parent and having to tend to parental duties outside of work – not to bore her co-workers, but to set the tone of her work environment as family-flexible. Many women know this to be a potential minefield. When I worked in corporate America, I saw family commitments and subsequent time away from work used as a club in both salary raise negotiations and promotion discussions for several coworkers. Supervisors couched it as the employee being “not available” and “missing meetings,” and so on. It’s easy to point to other employees who have not missed work for these reasons as examples of promotion, so there is a reason many parents feel penalized when trying to balance both. It’s also something Sandberg fails to realize when telling women it’s entirely within their control to become leaders, despite having children.

What About the Men?
Slaughter writes, “Men are still socialized to believe that their primary family obligation is to be the breadwinner; women, to believe that their primary family obligation is to be the caregiver.” Men believe they have to be the primary breadwinner, because most workplaces refuse to see them as anything else. When men leave work or miss a meeting to tend to one of their children, more often than not, they feel the need to offer up an explanation, because the underlying thought is, “Why doesn’t their mother go?” (This is not necessarily true for single dads, of course.)

In this work climate, job stability often hinges on a worker appearing to be constantly available for every meeting and task. Where women bend or step back in their careers to care for children, men become more rigid to ensure their job security. I know a man who lost his job of seven years last week, one where he worked partly at home and commuted a long distance to work since his wife worked in another town, because the company terminated all flexible work arrangements. Other employees had asked to also have flex arrangements, and rather than accommodate them, they told all current flex workers they had to be in the office daily or find another job.

All Talk and No Change?
Now that a high-profile figure has raised the issue in such a public forum and it has clearly struck a chord – will anything change? Immediately and on a large scale, probably not. But companies that are ripe to consider flexible work arrangements might be persuaded by this discussion, and those that already offer it can see how important it is for employee attraction, retention and overall happiness. And, as long as we keep the discussion open, we might make progress not just for parents, but for everyone.

Images: Victor1558, Victor1558, Ed Yourdon, Mirimcfly

The post Not a Mommy War – This is About Our Unsustainable Workaholic Culture appeared first on EcoSalon.

10 news outlets you should read daily.

Depending on who you ask, the internet is either the best or worst thing that’s ever happened to the news. Back in the day, when space limitations of print publications and the discriminating eyes of editors remained barriers to entry, there were a lot of ideas and writing that readers simply didn’t get to see. Now, anyone can get in the game. While that does mean more content, it also spawns an endless cycle of regurgitation, blogs, and news that’s not really news.

It is the reader’s task of course, to separate the noise from the signal. And while platforms like citizen journalism and crowd-sourced content do have a place on the web, the content they produce is simply not held to the same rigor as stories that have been reported, edited, and fact-checked, making them a different product entirely. Fortunately there are a variety of publications out there, both print and online-only, that bridge the gap between old media and new.

Here are 10 sources we’re reading:

• Longform.org– If you’re short on time, don’t go to longform.org. However, if you are looking to browse one of the best collections of long-form feature writing, investigative journalism, and profiles of public figures, this website is a gold mine. The site allows you to search by author, publications, topic, and allows you to save articles to read later on a mobile device or e-reader.

• Mother Jones– MoJo’s tagline—”smart, fearless journalism”—isn’t just talk. Focusing on human rights, the environment, politics and culture, the magazine does lean to the left, but their priority remains getting the facts right.

• Al Jazeera English– For reporting and coverage that’s less focused on the U.S. and western world in general, try Al Jazeera English. The Arabic news outlet offers in-depth coverage of Middle East and African affairs from a different perspective, and was the only news outlet to cover the war in Afghanistan from its own offices in the country.

• ProPublica– A non-proft organization committed to producing investigative journalism in the public interest, ProPublica was the first web publication to win a Pulitzer Prize in 2010. Their staff reporters frequently partner with journalists from other major media organizations such as NPR, New York Times, and This American Life.

• The Nation– Founded in 1865, The Nation is the oldest continuously published news magazine in the U.S. Like most print publications, The Nation has seen its circulation drop, but its commitment to reverse the “violence, exaggeration, and misrepresentation” of mainstream political reporting remains intact. 

• Democracy Now– Investigative journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzales run this nationally syndicated radio program and accompanying website, which is centered on progressive topics. The independent media company is run entirely from listener contributions and grants, and doesn’t accept any corporate underwriting or advertisements.

• The Economist– This British magazine doesn’t list authors’ names for any of its articles, owing to its belief that “what is written is more important than who writes it.” While the distinct tone of the magazine can verge on almost academic, if you want fact-heavy, tireless reporting on the state of the world, as well as helpful graphics and lengthy special reports, the Economist is a sure bet.

• The Browser– This website bills itself as a 21st century library, collecting “writing worth reading” from all around the web. Their frequent “Best of the Moment” post is a good go-to when you want a taste of quality from a diverse array of sources.

• Byliner- Often, finding a journalist whose work you trust and respect can be better than following a specific publication. Byliner allows you to follow specific writers across all the publications that their work appears in. The site also offers original content that you can pay for on an individual basis.

• Ode– Ode magazine and its accompanying website, OdeWire, bills itself as “news for intelligent optimists.” The website has a mix of curated content from elsewhere on the web and original content from the magazine.

Image: NS newsflash

The post 10 Sources for Real Journalism to Keep Bookmarked appeared first on EcoSalon.