Back When Breasts Were Pointed, Not Round
A too-rare treat -- my friend Hillary Johnson on, among other things, the lunkheadedness of women who think aping men is the path to power:
In a bizarre form of appeasement, women with aspirations in the male-dominated worlds of business and politics have sacrificed the power of beauty in order to share in the power of brains. They have colluded in the corruption of beauty as a path to power, consenting to its denigration and trivialization. Today you won’t see women in positions of political power using the full spectrum of their physical being. Feminine magnetism is taboo in politics, and women who rise to political power, like Senators Clinton, Feinstein and Boxer, cleave to the uxorious uniform—the pastel suit, the pearls, the helmet of curls, a stiff body language that screams “Take me seriously!”Yet if you look outside of politics, at the prominent women of power—those who have a public profile to go with their economic clout, they are often women who have taken a distinctly feminine path to power. Martha Stewart has built an empire upon the power of beauty—not her own personal beauty, but her mighty aesthetic. When it comes to the beauty instinct, you could liken Martha Stewart’s nose for the powerful to Warren Buffet’s investing acumen (unfortunately, she didn’t turn out to be as talented in Warren’s turf as she should have been—but then I hear his home décor is less than stunning). Oprah Winfrey parlayed a more spiritually-branded sense of beauty into an even more dominant empire. She has even used her own body as a tool, elevating the yo-yo diet into an iconic piece of performance art, hypnotizing and enthralling millions of women and men around the world with the power of her raw feminine physicality; who but Oprah could be so breathtakingly open and so mighty all at once? Given the run of personal debacles we’ve seen in politics since the downfall of presidential candidate Gary Hart, it would seem that the next class of politicians to enter the arena would do well to manifest some of Oprah’s fearless, magisterial vulnerability. Her achievement in doing so is nothing less than a form of feminine, physical genius.
Great details in this piece about the great inventor and screen beauty Heddy Lamar.
Link not working...
deja pseu at November 27, 2005 7:49 AM
Will fix now!
Amy Alkon at November 27, 2005 8:09 AM
Works now, merci beaucoup!
deja pseu at November 27, 2005 8:59 AM
I'm always amused when I read about another woman praising Orca Winfrey. Of course now she's a genius. Genius in the feeble minds of non-genius women.
Now that i'm done laughing, orca is rich and powerful and important, not because of any real or objective achievement in anything, but simply becasue she has herds numbering in the millions of her fellow brainless cow women. She is feel good, pop psychology, Dr. Ass, spiritual, new age, all jokes in the real world away from entertainment tonight mentality. only because of her high ratings among brainless, mindless, sheep-like women has she achieved anything. But what again is that achievement objectively? popular yes...but so are preachers and priests, who, while popular, are simply exploiting the simple minds of their adherents. Meet fat clown Orca, popular, yes, the goal it seems of all women, popularity, but what aside from that has this thing achieved? Nothing other than taking dumb ass women further down the road of pop psychology, Dr. Ass, new age nonsense, feel good garbage, and love love love silliness,and so-called spirituality which is simply more self-delusion. Orca For President.
everybody hates chris at November 27, 2005 10:01 AM
> Today you won’t see women in positions
> of political power using the full
> spectrum of their physical being.
Do not fuck with the Secretary of State. She's Republican, and she will kick your ass:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A51640-2005Feb24.html
> She has even used her own body as a
> tool, elevating the yo-yo diet into
> an iconic piece of performance art,
> hypnotizing and enthralling...
Let's not get all psychedelic. A fundament of her success is that she's a runaway chatterbox who isn't a white guy like TV's Donahue: Despite having impeccably compassionate emotional responses and a resume bubbling with innovation and exploitation, Phil was a man merely serving an audience of women... Of course he was never actually in the club. In the fifties, young Elvis got the rock and roll fans and aging Sinatra didn't. Sometimes , especially in showbiz, your place in history leaves you open to marauding newcomers.
Crid at November 27, 2005 10:37 AM
Also, you'll never believe who's on the cover of Oprah magazine THIS month!
Crid at November 27, 2005 10:41 AM
I've noticed that Caroline Kepcher seems to have become more "feminized," at least on this season's, "The Apprentice."
Her hair is longer, still very blonde, and she is wearing more feminine clothes...
Claire at November 27, 2005 1:01 PM
Leave a comment