"GIRL AFRAID"

Ugh. I just was enjoying a relaxing Saturday afternoon and sat down to read a magazine. I opened it up and saw this ad that irritated the crap out of me. In the ad, a father and son are at the table, eating pasta. The father has a full plate and the boy has already finished his smaller plate. "Mom" is standing in the background with her hands folded, smiling and not eating a bite.

That might have been okay in, say, 1945, but in 2006 are we (women) still unwilling to admit that we eat? And is it still okay with us tht advertisers tell us that we should take care of everyone else at the expense of not taking care of ourselves? I'm a busy person and if I don't eat on time, I get headachey and unfocused and totally unproductive.

But, it made me think about being in a restaurant recently. I sat next to a table of women and everyone one of them justified their orders! "Oh, I've been good all day, so I can order fries" and "I'll order a dessert if someone else will split it with me", etc.

It's just a shame, is all, you know? Dining out is and should be an enjoyable experience, and these little things are just little blips on the radar that certainly don't add to a self-acceptance culture, you know?

It just wouldn't kill anyone to have more supportive advertising, especially in one of the only highly educated countries that doesn't teach its youth anything even close to media literacy.

Blah.

That's all I got. More later. I'm signing my friend's ketubah (Hebrew for "marriage contract") tomorrow (two or more Jews not related to the bride or groom must sign this document in along with them) and I have to make sure my Hebrew penmanship is still up to snuff. I don't, after all, write in Hebrew everyday, so my first few letters each time look pretty wonky.