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Cross-posted from Art of the Possible .

In light of the fact that Christmas and New Years are over and it is now time to move on to the next corporate holiday (Valentine's) we have this fun little article care of Frisky via CNN (via Salon Broadsheet ). Headline, "Why women shouldn't say 'I love you' first ". Was your first thought, as a woman "well, if I don't say it, who will?" Well, you're naive.

"...but at the risk of having my feminist card revoked, I think it's naïve for a woman to utter those three little words before a man does."

Why is that, Wendy?

"And the truth is, it often takes men longer to get there than it does for women. Men process their emotions more slowly, they're usually more cautious about taking their feelings and relationships to the next level."

Ooooooh. Now, aside from the broad stereotyping (well, and the gent stereotyping), what is wrong with this sentence? Elsewhere in the article, Wendy goes on about how it's okay to be rejected when you ask a guy out or make a move on him (she even green-lights women to  propose to their man -- which, I don't see as being all that different circumstantially than saying the L-word first), but somehow it's not so okay to risk rejection by expressing your emotions to a guy you're getting serious with. Er?

I recently found a new blog through the other physics blogs I read:  On Becoming a Domestic and Laboratory Goddess . 

I often stay away from blogs by women in science and academia because they fill me with regret.  I declined going to grad school in favor of becoming a volunteer teacher, and then got my masters degree in education instead of physics.  When I did my thesis on gender and science education I realized I was now one of THOSE women, who left a male dominated field (physics) for a more female-friendly field (education). These blogs often make me feel like I am less because I didn't soldier on in academia.

I just read Dr. Isis's latest entry Ask Dr. Isis , and it was still painful to read but it also filled me with feelings of solidarity.  We (women in any science field) all struggle with this, and it's not just the impossibly tough and perfect ones who survive in academia.  Thank you Dr. Isis for giving us a glimpse of your confusion.  It helps other women with their own confusion, too.

First of all, a shameless plug: feminist students at Old Dominion University now have a Feminism is for Everyone page (UVA also has one) - with frequent contributors. Our intent is to make it a community blog, where feminists from the area and our school can blog with us.

If you could, share the link with everyone, as we need more visitors.

Also, from now on, I will be posting both on here and on the page. Check it out and do whatever you can to help us promote this, please. Below is the link and my first post. There will be more features and developments to come!

Recently, with the nomination of Sarah Palin as the GOP's vice-presidential candidate and the historic run by Hillary Clinton, I've been confronted by many people who beg the question: why do we need feminism anymore, now that women have achieved equal rights and can do all that men can do?

I have a postcard posted on PostSecret this week, and that kind of makes me giggle, but this one just makes me sad. It's hard to read the handwriting behind the image, but it seems like it just unfairly blames a lot of things on feminism, like the alleged rise in popularity of the one-night stand. Depressing.

So a bunch of girls on my myspace keep posting this stupid survey.. you have to mark your "x"s then talley them up and calculate how much you are a girl.

MY BOY SIDE:
[] you love hoodies
[] you love jeans
[ ] dogs are better then cats
[ ] its hilarious when people get hurt
[ ] you've played with/against boys on a team
[ ] shopping is torture
[ ] sad movies suck
[ ] you own a XBOX
[]you played with Hot Wheels as a little kid
[ ]at some point in life you wanted to be a firefighter
[ ] you owned a DS PS2 or Sega
[] you used to be obsessed with Power Rangers
[ ]you watch sports on TV
[ ] gory movies are cool
[ ] you go to your dad for advice
[ ] you own like a trillion baseball hats
[] you used to/do collect baseball/football collector cards
[] baggy sweatpants are nice to wear
[ ]its kind of weird to have sleepovers with a bunch of people
[] green, black, red, blue, or silver are one of your favorite colors
[] sports are fun all the time / some times
[] you sometimes talk with food in your mouth
[ ] you sleep at night with your socks on
[] you have fished at least once
TOTAL=

MY GIRL SIDE
[] you like to shop
[] you wear eyeliner
[] you love the color pink
[] you go to your mom for advice
[ ] you consider cheerleading a sport
[] you hate wearing all black
[] you like going to the mall
[] you like getting manicures and/or pedicures
[] you like wearing jewelry
[] you cried watching The Notebook
[ ] skirts are a big parts of your wardrobe
[] shopping is one of your favorite hobbies
[] you don't like the movie Star Wars
[] you are/were in gymnastics
[] it takes you around one hour to shower and get dressed
[] you smile alot more than you should
[] you have more than 10 pairs of shoes
[] you care about what you look like majority of the time
[ ] you like wearing dresses when ever you can
[] you like wearing body spray/deodorant
[ ] you like high heel shoes
[] you used to play with dolls as a kid
[] you like putting makeup on others
[] you like being the star of almost everything
[] pink is one of your favorite colors
total=

FUCKING STUPID. I honestly can't believe girls do this and don't see that it is completely sexist.

Undoubtably you will, at some point, read something on a blog that you disagree with in a serious manner. It goes with the territory of being in a community, online or in person. When you disagree with your grandmother, however, you generally take a moment to think about how you will react. Perhaps you won't say anything, maybe you'll gently let her know that you don't agree with her. Maybe it's your best friend, or significant other that you find yourself on the brink of an argument with, seconds away from saying something you'll regret- but you manage to not blow up.

Dear Greg,

I just read your post comparing Barack Obama to a "really hot chick". I must say that I am dismayed and disgusted at your allegories. Must have been a slow news day eh? I have heard some pretty obscure arguments, but you my friend, take the cake. First, as an Obama supporter, I am outraged that you would belittle a prominent figure to that extent. I myself, critical of Palin, was disgusted at the repeated references to her as a VPILF, because I felt it belittled what talent she may have. To belittle a man who has taken himself from nothing to being inches away from the White House, who has inspired more Americans to be good to others and hopeful for the future, and put that on a stripper pole? Who the hell do you think you are? You blog for Fox? Wow, impressive.

I've recently been thinking about a lot of the sites I view through links on feministing and things I link to in my own life.  If I'm using a link to "monitor the enemy" I don't want to give them hits that improve Google's results status.  The teen breaks site linked to on the main page claims to appear on Google before any abortion clinic when you search for "teenage pregnancy."  (I tried. And went through four pages.  And didn't see it.  But this is neither here nor there...)

I've been thinking about this because I use threaded discussions that are exactly like blog commenting sections in an online class I teach. In my experience when the topic is a controversial or emotionally engaging one (as it often is in Contemporary Moral Issues, and here on Feministing), the comments and responses can get pretty heated and snarky. I often find that, in this kind of situation, people will say things to and about each other that they would never say if that person was physically present. So this semester we brainstormed and arrived at a new rule which the class named Thumper's Rule for Blogs. It goes like this: If you wouldn't say that to my face, then don't say it at all.

I'm a bit of a pop culture junkie, and clearly I'm also a feminist.  Therefore, I was interested to read a post on Entertainment Weekly's popwatch blog from a writer debating the merits of showing her niece Sleeping Beauty.  She asks "How do you handle Sleeping Beauty?" and while there are some intelligent comments, the rest bring to mind the article in this issue of Bitch entitled Lowest Comment Denominator.  Confession: I haven't read the article yet.  I skimmed it while waiting in line at the book store. However, my point is that we at Feministing are so fortunate to have such honest, insightful discussions (excluding the occasional Troll) and I wanted to thank you all for that.  Yay us!