2004-11-24 - 5:31 p.m.
I went to B@rnes and N0ble last night, something I almost never do, but I wanted to get Gwen’s book. There was no way I was going to find it myself in that giant store, so I went up to the information kiosk, where I was startled by the sight of the man behind the computer. He was older, maybe in his late ‘50s, and he was wearing some kind of long white robe, that looked to me like something a member of the clergy might wear. Being a bit of a heathen, I couldn’t specify which clergy, exactly, but it was a long white robe with a wide hood, a cross between a monks robe and the getup that Catholic priests sometimes wear as they’re swinging that..um, smoking incense thingy.. up the aisle. I was put off by this general air of religion, as I was now in the position of having to ask him the location of “ To The Last Jerk I Slept With”…and once I finally got it out, stammering, he told me that they didn’t have it in the store, but did I want him to order it for me? And I said, No, thank you, Fath..uh, Sir…uh, no I’ll just order it online, thanks…” and then I hightailed it out of there. Heh. I may not be down with the Church, but it’s some of those old ingrained reactions are hard to shake.
I also was surprised to see, on the way out, that J@mes G@ndolfini is GQ magazine’s Man of The Year. Not because I don’t think he’s great, but GQ is sort of the Cosmo for men, isn’t it? And of course I started to think… can you imagine any magazine, anywhere, awarding a big-bellied, unkempt woman with lank hair Woman of The Year? HELL, no. Even magazines for WOMEN try to “makeover” women on the covers, even if they've landed there based on intellect or accomplishment and not, say, perfect plastic surgery or mastery of eye shadow. If the woman of the year was named such because of her acting on a hit show, you can be damn sure she’d be styled and airbrushed to the nines. It’s just amazing to me how blatant the double standard is, still, in this day and age. And I’m sorry to say, we women sit still for it. Myself included.
I left work early today, with plans to go to NJ on the train to help my mother cook, but it’s raining and raw and miserable out, and the train station was teeming with people, and I just couldn’t face it. So I’ll drive out early with M instead, and am currently on the couch in my sweatpants, watching Ange1a’s Ashes on TV and drinking tea. Much better than fighting the commuter crowds at rush hour. I might even motivate myself to go see R@y tonight – everyone should be out of the city by movie time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
» older
» guestbook
» notes
» profile
» design
» host
last five entries:
damn kids - 2005-03-17
done? - 2005-03-16
need for speed - 2005-02-19
nothing exciting - 2005-02-17
letdown - 2005-01-23