Maybe I should have asked Meghan McCain about dating after all.
A day after I interviewed McCain, I stumbled upon a discussion about her newest Daily Beast column. The forum? A popular women's website geared largely toward dating and relationships.
The column is about restoring Las Vegas' economic stability. The part that made the aforementioned website, however, is McCain's confession that after a breakup she canceled a speaking engagement to have a girls' weekend in Vegas.
In some readers' minds, the anecdote will likely reinforce a belief that women don't have the emotional fortitude to hold leadership positions.
You can argue McCain's Vegas story hurts women -- maybe it supports a fear that we'll back out of our professional commitments when our romantic lives get complicated.
But there's also the argument that McCain is simply demonstrating a basic humanness that's often absent from the professional sphere. We often walk around like these stoic career robots, intent on avoiding any behaviors that might remotely resemble emotion.
I would never bow out of a major assignment amid a breakup, but that doesn't mean my way is the right way.
Where do you stand?
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Need Wednesday plans?
Check out Sips and Strokes tonight with the Columbus Contemporaries. The event starts at 6 p.m. and includes St. Patrick's Day themed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails sponsored by Locos Grill & Pub.
From 7 to 8 p.m., there's an art class.
The cocktail hour is free for members, $10 for non-members. The art class is $20. Reservations for the class are required. Call 706-748-2562, ext 542.
The event is at the Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road. Learn more here.
From 7 to 8 p.m., there's an art class.
The cocktail hour is free for members, $10 for non-members. The art class is $20. Reservations for the class are required. Call 706-748-2562, ext 542.
The event is at the Columbus Museum, 1251 Wynnton Road. Learn more here.
Schoolgirl fantasies
If you haven't already heard, I went to an all-girls high school.
Cue the fantasies of short skirts, pillow fights and ponytails.
Sadly, that's a distant stretch from reality.
My time at an all-girls high school was the most emotionally challenging period of my life. I was bullied. I struggled with my weight, sense of self and appearance on a level that was far beyond the realm of typical teenage growing pains.
I'm still haunted by images of arriving at school with my parents and crying in the car, begging to stay home for just one more day.
I hated high school, and I think the emotional strain would have been less severe if we had boys at our school.
Which is why I can't immediately embrace this idea of all-girl preschools.
I won't argue with claims that single-sex classrooms boost test scores. My high school had a rigorous academic curriculum that laid the foundation for skills that dominate my career.
But at the same time, I developed a certain social ineptitude -- treating men as rare endangered species and approaching women with the assumption they'd eventually become my social and academic rivals.
Naturally, it all evened out. I matured, befriended my former high school rivals on Facebook and watched my sister attend the same high school and love it.
And as much as I complain about my high school experience, I now navigate professional life as a 29-year-old woman who's not intimidated by talk of gender disparities in the workplace.
Maybe those pillow fights paid off after all.
Cue the fantasies of short skirts, pillow fights and ponytails.
Sadly, that's a distant stretch from reality.
My time at an all-girls high school was the most emotionally challenging period of my life. I was bullied. I struggled with my weight, sense of self and appearance on a level that was far beyond the realm of typical teenage growing pains.
I'm still haunted by images of arriving at school with my parents and crying in the car, begging to stay home for just one more day.
I hated high school, and I think the emotional strain would have been less severe if we had boys at our school.
Which is why I can't immediately embrace this idea of all-girl preschools.
I won't argue with claims that single-sex classrooms boost test scores. My high school had a rigorous academic curriculum that laid the foundation for skills that dominate my career.
But at the same time, I developed a certain social ineptitude -- treating men as rare endangered species and approaching women with the assumption they'd eventually become my social and academic rivals.
Naturally, it all evened out. I matured, befriended my former high school rivals on Facebook and watched my sister attend the same high school and love it.
And as much as I complain about my high school experience, I now navigate professional life as a 29-year-old woman who's not intimidated by talk of gender disparities in the workplace.
Maybe those pillow fights paid off after all.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Meghan McCain in Columbus
I spent most of Tuesday covering Meghan McCain's speech at Columbus State University's seventh annual Women's Leadership Conference.
Did I ask a bunch of dating questions? No way. I didn't want to be "that reporter."
But you should still watch my interview with McCain, a prominent blogger and daughter of U.S. Sen. John McCain.
Our conversation covers Newt Gingrich, social media, Gilbert Gottfried and much more.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Exes at your wedding?
Sorry, but I'm pretty inflexible in the debate over whether you should invite an ex to your wedding.
My answer? NO.
Go ahead, say that you're "just really good friends." Or that he or she was "just a really big part of your life."
I don't care. Your wedding is supposed to celebrate your current relationship, not pay homage to your past ones.
Apparently, I was never destined to become British royalty.
The New York Times reports Prince William and Kate Middleton have invited exes to their wedding. The invitations are consistent with the British royal family's etiquette rules, the article notes.
Maybe the practice has become more common, regardless of whether or not you're royalty. Consider this excerpt from the article:
Most people have more romantic ghosts in their lives today than ever before. People stay single longer, and fall in and out of love more often. And breakups have become like cellphones — smaller and lighter, less complicated and more familiar. So maybe it’s time to befriend our romantic ghosts, or find them less haunting anyway.
Yeah. Thanks but no thanks.
(via Jezebel)
My answer? NO.
Go ahead, say that you're "just really good friends." Or that he or she was "just a really big part of your life."
I don't care. Your wedding is supposed to celebrate your current relationship, not pay homage to your past ones.
Apparently, I was never destined to become British royalty.
The New York Times reports Prince William and Kate Middleton have invited exes to their wedding. The invitations are consistent with the British royal family's etiquette rules, the article notes.
Maybe the practice has become more common, regardless of whether or not you're royalty. Consider this excerpt from the article:
Most people have more romantic ghosts in their lives today than ever before. People stay single longer, and fall in and out of love more often. And breakups have become like cellphones — smaller and lighter, less complicated and more familiar. So maybe it’s time to befriend our romantic ghosts, or find them less haunting anyway.
Yeah. Thanks but no thanks.
(via Jezebel)
Monday power anthem
Did anyone else become a bigger Meat Loaf fan after watching him cry on "Celebrity Apprentice" Sunday night?
Hmm, maybe I'm alone here.
Either way, I'm busting out some Meat Loaf for today's power anthem. Enjoy and seize the day!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Justin Timberlake is single
Dear Justin Timberlake,
I'm sorry about your recent breakup with Jessica Biel. I'm sure you must be very confused right now.
I doubt dating is the No. 1 thing on your mind. However, I'd like to remind you that 29-year-old journalists often make the best romantic partners.
Conveniently, I'm a 29-year-old journalist. Have I mentioned I own all your CDs and I used to listen to "Girlfriend" as a personal power anthem during college?
I also have a special fondness for your thick-rimmed glasses and if necessary, I'm fully prepared to pretend you're intellectual.
Thanks in advance for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you shortly.
Love,
Sonya
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