ColumnJill Abramson, The New York Times’ top dog, and first female executive editor, was fired.

We should have seen this coming. Jill ABRAmson. Bra is right there in her name!

As the scandal started to unfold, it seemed like a clear case of sexism at work. The New Yorker reported that the trouble for Abramson may have escalated when she found out that her pay and her pension benefits as both executive editor and, before that, as managing editor, were less what her male predecessor received.

An associate told the magazine that when she spoke up, it reinforced her reputation as “pushy,” a term used almost exclusively to talk about women.

Issues surrounding “significant” pay discrepancy have been widely disputed by the Times, and the New Yorker has since updated its report. But, what we’re left with is another “pushy” broad pushed out of the C-suite. And, so far, that seems to be a story that’s sticking.

The Times reportedly wanted her departure to be less dramatic than it has been, but Abramson insisted they fire her — because that’s what was happening. It was the truth and she wanted the truth to be out there. Pushy indeed! Now, because of social media and Abramson’s daughter, #pushy is now a hashtag, joining the ranks of #BanBossy.

As the scheduled keynote speaker at Wake Forest University’s graduation this week, Abramson had to do something all editors are familiar with: a rewrite. According to the Washington Post, a Wake Forest official said the original draft of her speech focused on the importance of media freedom.

While I imagine she wasn’t conceptualizing her topic in this way, it’s interesting to think about media freedom in terms of her right as a woman leading her field to run her newsroom — hard-assed news guys are legendary — as she saw fit.

All of this has gotten me thinking about my own experience in various editorial settings. So, in solidarity with Jill Abramson and women everywhere, I offer you this list of four anecdotes from my professional life between 2000 and today to illustrate that shit like this happens to the Jills of the world, and also to the Libbys.

1. As the Editor-In-Chief of a magazine, I worked directly for the publisher. He referred to me exclusively as “Girl.” When we disagreed about something, he would say, “Girl, you’re a cunt.” Sweet, right?

2. I once received this unsolicited performance review from a superior at an office party: “It’s not you I don’t like, it’s your face.” My read on this was that it was a version of, “Why don’t you smile?” which is something I hate. I was part of an opinionated, smart leadership team — consisting mainly of men — and many of us were quick with an eyeroll. As far as I know, I was the only one made to justify my physical reactions to conflict.

3. A publisher I worked for owed me three months’ pay. When I finally refused to stop working until I received said payment, he pointed out that the company wasn’t doing well and he had a wife and family to support. He kind of trailed off waiting for me, I think, to put my right to get paid to the side to support him in his plight as a big manly provider. This illustrates one of my favorite recurring sexism at work themes: the idea that women work for fun, not for money.

4. I worked for one media company where drinking heavily was just kind of what we all did on group outings. One night, I overheard a middle-aged male VP say this to a group of 20-something female employees: “I’m feeling kind of hand-jobby.”

What I learned from all of these experiences is that even when you’re working with primarily good people — which most of these guys actually were — gender bias sneaks in. In some cases, it punches you in the gut.

As leaders, we can’t laugh it off when we’re called a bitch for disagreeing with something, when we’re labeled as pushy or reprimanded for being too difficult.

When we are hired to lead, we must be allowed to be leaders.

I’m not an insider in the Jill Abramson scandal, and I am not saying that she was fired because she is a woman. I don’t know. But I do know that in her speech to the new graduates, her first public comment on her departure from the Times, she said to, “Show what you’re made of.”

Maybe her speech was actually about media freedom after all.

That Happened is Libby Lowe’s weekly column for EcoSalon analyzing media, news and pop culture through a feminist lens. Keep in touch with Libby @LibbyLowe.

Related on EcoSalon

Feminism According to Sheryl Sandberg

Working Girl to Work-Wife: Sexism at Work

Equality and Your Paycheck: That Hasn’t Happened

Image: Alexander Torrenegra Creative Commons 

The post The NYT Fired Jill Abramson: 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. 

A fancy men’s-only golf club finally opens to females, here is why that is important and why you should care.  [Via LearnVest]

Animals and natural environments are clear victims of climate change, but talking about that in zoos and aquariums takes tact. [Via New York Times]

A sheriff candidate in New Hampshire says he would be willing to use deadly force to stop an abortion. Because that makes sense. [Via The Frisky]

Tiny houses really do make us swoon. [Via Tiny House Swoon]

Can creativity be taught? A Stanford professor weighs in on what it takes to unleash your creative potential. [Via 99u]

We’ve been told a lot as women, especially when it comes to beauty. But a lot of those things are completely and utterly irrational. Here are 20 of then. [Via The Hairpin]

Want to be all awesome all the time? You can, if you power up your brain. [Via Lifehacker]

90 Days, 90 Reasons: in case you needed a reminder of who to vote for this election cycle. [Via 90 Days 90 Reasons]

A desktop garden? This should certainly make you more productive. [Via Gardenista]

Women in Afghanistan have gotten far in the last decade, but as the international community pulls out, those gains are at serious risk. [Via NPR]

Image: me and the sysop

The post Link Love: Stopping Abortion With Deadly Force, Teaching Creativity and 20 Irrational Fears About Beauty 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 life without love is like a year without summer.”  -Swedish Proverb

It’s hard to say precisely how, but summer—with its sunshine, extended days, and slower pace—changes us in some small way. Whether we’re traveling the world or exploring the backyard, the carefree days of summer seem to foment some of the most memorable romances.

Splendid as it is, summer love often ends as quickly as it begins—if it ever manages to get off the ground in the first place—but no matter what, it’s impossible to forget. From surf dens and summer camps, to pools in Thailand and boardwalks in New Jersey, here are ten accounts of that sometimes tragic, sometimes sweet phenomenon: summer love.

I Like You More Than Friends, The Awl

My Platonic Sweetheart, Harpers

In Which We Endure Days in the Summer, This Recording

The Night that Sex Saved Our Lives, Matador Network

What I Didn’t Do on my Summer Vacation, This American Life

I Flipped For a Surfer, LA Times Magazine

Navigating in a Long Distance Affair, New York Times

Tourist Snapshots, Design Observer

A Love For the Ages, but Which One? New York Times

Suddenly That Summer, Vanity Fair

Image: Tumblr

The post 10 Reads of Sweet Summer Love 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.

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

When it comes to getting a raise, are women bad at negotiating or are the cards stacked against them even before that? [Via LearnVest]

Addicted to a little something called “lifestyle pornography”? The problem with Pinterest, Tumblr and online curation. [Via New York Times]

Yahoo’s new CEO Marissa Mayer has the opportunity to do lots of things when it comes to marketing to women, let’s just make sure it’s not pink. [Via Forbes Woman]

Deep fried Coca-Cola and beer? Have fair foods gone to far? That’s an easy answer. [Via TakePart]

Just what is an apartment that’s listed as “Bohemian”? [Via Curbed]

Vintage sport posters that embody the spirit of the Olympic Games. We’ll take three. [Via CasaSugar]

Networking and making friends is not the same thing, learn the difference. [Via The Daily Muse]

Image: out of ideas

The post Link Love: The Economic Gender Gap, The Problem With Lifestyle Pornography and Deep Fried Foods Gone Too Far appeared first on EcoSalon.

Added to the list of human accomplishments: DIY pandemics.

Next time someone suggests that human beings are masters of their ecological niches, tell them this: last year, two million people worldwide were killed by wild and domestic animal diseases. Nearly two-thirds of all emerging diseases originate in animals. Mention the victims of the 1999 Nipah virus outbreak in Malaysia which killed 100 people. Mention AIDS. Mention malaria. Mention the Justinian Plague and the Black Death. Mention SARS, Lyme disease and Ebola.

Tell them we’re only as healthy as our environment – and that this isn’t a figure of speech.

It’s becoming clear that the medical well-being of our species is deeply dependent on that of the creatures around us, but the United States Agency for International Development wants to understand exactly how that relationships works. It has a project called PREDICT, a coalition of experts searching the globe for hotspots for emerging infectious disease in order to understand the underlying mechanisms. The aim? Raising awareness of the dangers of disrupting ecosystems and eroding biodiversity, trying to develop an “early warning system” for the outbreak of pandemics, and creating a powerful argument for sustainable ecology.

“It’s not about keeping pristine forest pristine and free of people,” says Simon Anthony, a molecular virologist at EcoHealth. “It’s learning how to do things sustainably. If you can get a handle on what it is that drives the emergence of a disease, then you can learn to modify environments sustainably.”

Further reading: The Ecology Of Disease – Jim Robbins, New York Times (quoted above).

Image: James Cridland

The post Why The Environment Makes Us Sick appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

Save some money and make your lunch instead of going out. Here are 35 quick, easy and healthy ideas. [Via Greatist]

Oh you pesky summer mosquitoes, you don’t have anything on us and our seven natural repellents. [Via Organic Authority]

Why are other countries so much better at science? Here are some lessons from teachers whose countries excel at the subject. [Via Slate]

And the BP Gulf oil spill disaster continues. [Via TakePart]

Are we addicted to being busy? It looks like it.  [Via New York Times]

Sick of hearing the “why aren’t you two hitched yet?” Come back with one of these edgy responses. [Via How About We]

Image: James Jordan

The post Link Love: Quick Lunches, Natural Mosquito Repellent and Why We’re Addicted to Being Busy appeared first on EcoSalon.

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

Eating consciously does not have to be expensive. As it turns out, you can eat like a vegan and be on food stamps. [Via Ecorazzi]

Looking to decorate? This line of reclaimed lumber can be used on walls, on floors and even on your ceiling. [Via CasaSugar]

You can stop looking for the perfect summer project; DIY lighting it is! [Via Curbly]

$500.50 for a pound of coffee beans? Sure, that seems reasonable. [Via New York Times]

It’s good to have daily reminders of happiness. Some of the best? Children. [Via Elephant Journal]

Mixed drinks do add up; for every $100 the average American spends, about $1 of it goes to alcohol. [Via NPR]

There are things in life you should worry about, like courage. Then there’s a lot of other stuff that you really should just let go of. [Via Lists of Note]

Just imagine what you could accomplish if you were just a little more anxious. [Via Jezebel]

Image: puuikibeach

The post Link Love: Being a Vegan on Food Stamps, $500.50 for a Pound of Coffee, and Things You Shouldn’t Worry About appeared first on EcoSalon.