Showing posts with label Part. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Part. Show all posts
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Working Like a Man or How American Feminism Failed Part 2
As the 1960s dawned, so did the birth of feminism in earnest. Many arguments exist in regards to how the women’s movement gained steam. One theory is that the jobs were there waiting, so the women’s movement was a reaction to market pressure combined with a loss of national focus on families and childbearing (such as Marvin Harris in his book Why Nothing Works). Another theory, associated with Joan Williams in her book Unbending Gender argues that the women’s movement was a reaction to an actual loss of status of women as homemakers toward the end of the 1950s and beginning of the 1960s which was caused by women exiting the home and entering the workforce in increasingly larger numbers. It was at this time that the seeds of what we now refer to as “the mommy wars” was born (Anticipate an extensive exploration on that topic throughout the month of June). As the movement gained steam in the 1960s, American feminists focused more on redefining and redistributing gender relations which involved challenging the roles that women and men performed in the home and at work on both a public and private front. This in turn gave birth to the concept of equal rights, equal pay and being treated as equals in the workforce. Women at this time began challenging their entry into traditionally male professional positions as well. As Sylvia Ann Hewlett wrote in her book, A Lesser Life: the Myth of Women’s Liberation in America;
The slogans of the day were extraordinary: Marriage was hell, sex was political, coitus was killing, married women were prostitutes, babies were traps, intercourse was rape, love was slavery, families were prisons, and men were the enemies.
The problem with this push for equality is that the workplace was not asked to conform to the addition of women, specifically mothers, but that the mothers were asked to conform to the workplace. As a result, women ARE treated equally. They are expected to work 40+ hours, they are expected perform at the same levels with the same time commitments as men. In many ways they achieved their dream of equality: they compete equally in a workplace that still assumes that someone is at home taking care of the children and the home but without the supporting addition of the family wage. Now there is the assumption that most households subsist off of two incomes, unless the family has enough economic advantage (or is disadvantaged enough to secure assistance) to subsist off of one.
At the same time in Europe, in the 1960s, women and feminists were challenging things on a drastically different front. European feminists contrasted with American feminists in that while they experienced a similar shift of mothers into the workforce it has been supported through government benefits while the United States offers less governmental support for child care than does any other industrialized nation. European women focused their movement on the difference rather than equality and reconfiguring what would be considered the public and private spheres (what is considered private responsibility and what is considered public responsibility) rather than the American re-distribution of gender. In other words, they challenged that the family belonged in the public sphere and that instead of assuming that childbearing belonged within the privatized sphere of the family they fought for the idea that child care should be a publicly supported endeavor. As a result most European countries have generous, paid maternity leaves, easily available part-time jobs , subsidized child care and subsidized preschools for all children. The economic costs of these programs are offset by the reduction in turnover and the wider pool of labor looking to remain in the workforce (Ann Crittenden, The Price of Motherhood). In other words, few of the choices that European women make create an undue burden on their long-term financial future, at least not in the way similar choices would affect women in America. For example, when a woman in America chooses to stay home, she does not just lose salary, but a long-term security because she is not paying in to social security, thus becoming economically dependent on her spouse.
In conclusion (just in case you were wondering if I would ever get here) there was American feminism and its focus on re-coding gender stereotypes through “equal rights” and European feminism which focused on providing specific help for women’s unique gender positions. The result for American women was that they are expected to compete “equally” in a work environment that still operates under the assumption that all domestic labor (child care, domestic chores, house cleaning, laundry and other family maintenance) is being performed by someone who is still at home (an extensive subject to be addressed in future posts). So women are supposed to work 40hrs a week and compete equally without any compensation for having to place children in child care, or having to either hire a housecleaner or add a second shift. Meanwhile, in Europe, women are enjoying their “special status” as women and are much less conflicted in their roles as both mother and employee, seamlessly passing between the two.
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Work Outfits Part 1
Hi! Remember me? I have been terrible at keeping up on here. I do have a semi excuse - I start a new job Monday! New job means outfit making time! Like my usual outfit creations, I had to have inspiration pictures. I have been in a definite winter slump and struggling to make cute outfits! I wear the same clothes year round, just in different layers, so at times it can be difficult to come up with a new and exciting outfit. Inspiration pictures to the rescue!
I save tons of Fashion inspiration on my Pinterest page, so whenever I am in a rut I head here and try and recreate a few of them. I know a lot are quite a big stretch, but anything to get me thinking with what I have. PS - EVERY SINGLE PICTURE from here had a broken link on Pinterest, or went to someone's tumblr page so they weren't the actual owner, etc. Drives me CRAZY when you try and click on a Pinterest picture and the link is broken or it goes to a random site with no information. Grrr! Makes me want to watermark my pics so that never happens with my site!
Let's begin! I can wear jeans at my new job, which is awesome! I absolutely LOVE this inspiration picture - her rocking bod doesn't hurt either. But I love how it is professional yet fun with her leopard shoes and statement necklace.
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| Inspiration |
I attempted to take a couple of these pics with my nice camera. I don't think I am strong enough to hold up the camera and suck it in and attempt to pose.
Blazer: H&M, Necklace: Target (I think?), Tank: Target, Jeans: Citizens of Humanity, Leopard Heels: Guess
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| Reality |
Weird - another blazer look. I have saved this photo for a while, too. I am still dying to get a pale coral blazer. So pretty! I love love love blazers because they look a little fancier, but are usually pretty comfy. And you can usually find cute ones at Forever 21 or inexpensive boutiques.
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| Inspiration |
Again, definitely a stretch but it made me pair these two pieces together that I normally wouldn't!
Blazer: Forever 21, Tank: Express, Jeans: MiH, Flats: Von Maur (sorry about my awkward partial turn out. I swear this is cuter in real life).
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| Reality |
Close up of the earrings! $2! (Heartbreaker - local MN boutique)
Clearly I am dying for color in all of this dreary weather. Can't take much more of it! Love this inspiration pic to keep me happy in brights!
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| Inspiration |
I kind of flip flopped the colors but it works!
Top: Express, Cardigan: Target, Necklace: gift from mom in Key West, Jeans: Alloy, Flats: Steve Madden
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| Reality |
Normally Kim Kardashian's outfits would be hard to remake, but this one is easy!
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| Inspiration |
I still want to find a better pair of black jeggings. These are little stiff and I want a pair that are sleek and comfy! (sorry about the giant camera strap).
Blazer: Forever 21, Tank: Target, Necklace: Francesca's, Skinnies: Alloy, Heels: Jessica Simpson
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| Reality |
Both of these outfits are soooo cute, but I knew I could recreate one of them almost exactly!
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| Inspiration |
My version isn't as cute, but I tried! I wish my sweater was a little looser, then I wouldn't be so judgmental of myself. :)
Sweater: Macy's, Blouse: NY&Co, Necklace: Express, Jeans: Alloy, Boots: Heartbreaker
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| Reality |
I have a large obsession with Courtney Kerr, her show, blog, and most importantly, her style! I stalk her Instagram daily to see her outfits and she ever disappoints. This photo wasn't so much an exact inspiration, but reminded me of one of my favorite shirts.
Source: http://instagram.com/thecourtneykerr
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| Inspiration |
Love this shirt! I wish I had some green skinnies. Then I would really love this outfit.
Top: Old Navy, Necklace: Urban Outfitters, Jeans: MiH, Flats: Steve Madden
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| Reality |
I'm always looking for ways to wear my plum jeans, and when I saw this on Instagram I was in love!
Source: http://instagram.com/mimiikonn
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| Inspiration |
Such a simple but cute look!
Top: Old Navy: Jeans: MiH, Necklace: Urban Outfitters, Shoes: Steve Madden
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| Reality |
And last but not least, I didn't have an inspiration picture, just want to wear it. So sue me!
Top: Target, Skinnies: Alloy, Boots: Heartbreaker, Necklace: Francesca's
I will post on Instagram what I actually end up wearing. I am going to start up the #30dayclosetremix like I did last year. Force myself to be accountable and try to keep this up!
I also had Nate order an outlet protector since my goal is to actually do my hair more often for work. The biggest problem - I worry I leave my flat iron plugged in and have anxiety all day long that I left it on. Problem solved!
Are you in a winter fashion rut? What tips do you have to get out of it??
Thursday, August 3, 2017
Cecelias First Birthday Party Projects part 2
Well, CC's party has come and gone and I'm sitting here with a major post-party hangover. Not from drinking too much...although our beverages were pretty fantastic at the party---ever hear of a Milwaukee Margarita with beer, tequila, lemon/lime mixer, and Squirt? Amazing. I'm sure there is a more official name for them but Nate was the one who wanted to make these bad boys and we went through four pitchers if that tells you anything. So good. I want another right now.
But I digress.
Her party was Saturday and it was SO awesome. And I'm sad that it's over after all of the planning and over-thinking and anticipating. But it was fab and therefore I must pull it together and blog about it.
I posted a few of my decorations/craft projects for Cecelia's party in this post, but now I have a lot more completed projects to share. And then I will give you a break before I bombard you with more pictures of the party itself in a different post. My poor camera has not seen this much action in the past few months combined compared to the past week! Love it.
Mantel decor:
When I was brainstorming this party, I wasn't sure what I would do for our fireplace and mantel area. Then Pear Tree Greetings contacted me and offered to let me try out some of their kids party decorations. Um, YES! I spent way too much time going through their website going over my options and then finally decided on a set of the 'Crown Me Princess' giant table confetti. I loved the round shape of the cards and knew I could come up with something fun for our wooden box on the mantel. Then I found this 'Colliding Collage' set and was obsessed with the ability to include lots of different pictures, so that was my second pick. I uploaded my pictures, customized my colors and fonts, and got really pumped when they arrived in the mail. So many possibilities, so little time!
I decided to tape the round cards to straws (classy, I know!), then put a bunch of plastic grocery bags in our wooden box, and covered them with strips of leftover nursery fabric. I stuck the straws in the folds of the bags and voila! A little 'garden' of sorts full of pinks, oranges, sweet sayings, and my baby girl.
And then I used the square cards to create banners---just hot glued the cards to some twine. I'm obsessed with all of the pictures on these cards and am considering hanging one in her bedroom for awhile. Love how it all turned out!
close up:
I pulled a few frames from the nursery and bought a few tiny ones from Michaels (which are still empty in these pictures, but were filled by the party).
I used a few of the square cards for decor on the light fixture above our table, too. I liked how they would spin around and could be visible from lots of spots in the dining room. I made a small pennant banner and hung it all up together on our lights--haven't taken this down yet either.
I had another long banner hung above our buffet, too.
And I attempted to use the panoramic function on my iPhone to get a feel for the whole room though, which was really fun (time waster) and you can kind of see it here, I guess. Who loves banners? This girl!
Monthly Banners:
After sweating my butt off taking these dreaded monthly shots on the quilt and on the chair, I knew I had to make banners to properly appreciate the effort;) I ended up just printing the images at Walgreens, and they were pretty inconsistent and horrible for a few of the shots---so I reprinted a few on our Canon photo printer downstairs, too. Annoying, but whatever. I found this pack of scalloped papers at Michaels on sale and just put one photo on each paper, hot glued the twine to the backs and was done!
Chalkboard print and menu board:
I think I'm most proud of my chalkboard print I designed in Photoshop for CC's party. These are all over Pinterest, of course, and it was fun to play around with different chalkboard fonts. I had it printed in a 16x20 size and mounted on double weight backboard through my photographer friend's printing company. It turned out so nice and I'm absolutely going to put this in her room or hang onto it for the future. And then there is our menu board we use each week---just a regular frame with scrapbooking paper behind the glass, writing on it with dry erase markers. Big menu for a little girl!
Had to show more pictures of just the chalkboard print;)
Nate's artsy Aunt made Cecelia this giant tissue paper flower, and brought it to the party. SO cute, right? Fits in perfectly in her nursery, too.
Outside:
We hung the wreath outside of our front door and then went with pink helium balloons. Super windy day and those poor balloons got beat up more than I expected, but oh well! They were also a lot more expensive than I expected so we had to make them work....and the kids had a fun time playing with them the day after the party, too.
Crown and hair bow:
GoGo saves the day with a few special crafts of her own! She made Cecelia a felt crown with removable numbers, so that she can wear it for years to come. You can kind of see the high chair banner I made from the Pear Tree Greetings round cards, too;)
And her hair bow? Obsessed. More felt and she even made little felt balls somehow. That GoGo!
Bulletin board and monthly heads:
I posted about both of these before, but here they are totally finished!
Desserts:
Yes, I know that food is not really a craft or 'project' but I'm including them here because they were on my list of things to complete (instead of Nate's, or my in-laws') .
I wanted to make Cecelia a smash cake like you see on Pinterest---sort of smallish, on a pretty cake plate, with fun topper. Lois had a vintage cake plate, so that part was easy. I wanted the icing to be pink so we bought strawberry frosting in a can, and made a yellow cake from a box (fancy!). Then I got creative with round cookie cutters and SHOULD have paid attention to where I cut the big cake. Because obviously, it was a little wonky and uneven. Also, my canned icing was WAY too thick and I almost threw it all away in a fit of rage. But Memaw saved the cake by adding a tiny bit of milk to the frosting can. Much smoother and easier to spread compared to the original stuff that totally shredded the cake. Funny stuff looking back---not at the moment. This is why I don't love projects in the kitchen!
I used this pink doilie (how in the heck do you spell it?) that Nate's patient made for us randomly, simply because it was round the right colors. I had to put the cake down on something anyway, so it worked! Then I made the little pennant banner out of fabric scraps and we had ourselves a smash cake.
And with the cake on the pretty pink table runner that Lois sewed from nursery fabric scraps? This die hard pink fan is in love.
We did cupcakes for the rest of our guests and I made royal icing cookies---putting all of the desserts on the main table was a fun idea in theory but it only meant that kids went nuts on the cookies from the first minute of the party. Whatever goes at a birthday party!
Re: the royal icing cookies--I've gotten a lot of questions about these on Instagram, so I'll talk about them here, too. This was my fourth time ever making these cookies and it definitely gets easier each time. But it's tedious and putsy---which is something right up my alley when it comes to 'projects', so I don't mind the whole process. I'm a total newbie and really have no clue what I'm doing, so it's laughable that I'm even sharing my 'technique' here. But I just like to play around with bright colors and designs on cookies, so this is a fun one for me.
It takes about three days for me to make these cookies: one day to bake the cut out sugar cookies and let them cool; one day to mix up the icing and do the base layer; and one day to do the top layer of decorating. My friend Hannah is really good at these and she taught me her method, which she got from Annie's Eats. Again, I am NOT an expert and it's a learning process but it just takes practice, it seems.
I went with heart-shaped cut out cookies because of our loose theme of 'heartbreaker' for Cecelia's party. Then I used hot pink, made a golden-yellow shade, I tried to make a turquoise but it was a lot daker than expected, and somehow made a periwinkle color, too. Four colors, about 36 cookies and lots of time;)
First step versus second step:
Oh, it's so much fun and so many photo ops with these pretties.
I bagged about half of these and put them in a new pink and orange storage box that I got. I thought about making all of these cookies into favors that were bagged up, but then I decided that I kind of wanted to show them off during the party, too. Didn't even get one myself!
I think that's it as far as projects and decorations. Now onto writing the post about the party itself....because it wasn't ONLY about decorations and crafts;)
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