We got our first snow of the season last night, and woke up to find the backyard a winter wonderland.

I mentioned to Jason this morning how excited I was that we got snow and it’s not even cold here!  He said, “Only someone from Minnesota would think that 23 degrees is warm!” I bet a few of you on both ends of the temperature spectrum would agree with that (hello readers in FL or MN!).  It’s amazing how 23 degrees does not feel THAT cold after surviving a few -15 degree Minnesota winters.

We also agreed that the snow meant that it is officially almost Christmastime.  Because snow is a necessity for Christmas.  I’m sure of it.

The dogs were nervous about it last night, but seem to approve today.  And my carpets are thanking them for that.

My carpets are also thankful for a little package that I received yesterday.  One that I went outside to grab, only to discover that Barley had jumped up on the door, slamming it shut and locking me out.  In my pjs.  With no cell phone.  The Fed Ex man was there, too, and was nice enough to let me borrow his cell to call Jason.  But Jason had left his phone in the bedroom when he left for work yesterday morning.  So I got all MacGyver on it and ended up breaking into my living room window in slippers and a bathrobe.  Thank goodness my neighbors live far enough away that they didn’t have to witness that less-than-glorious sight.  Sigh.

Anyways.  The package.  Black & Decker sent me a vacuum to try out, just in time for some pre-party cleaning.  So if you’re looking for me today, I’ll be singing along to Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas” and getting ready for tomorrow’s holiday party!  Can’t wait!

Lady GaGa is on the January cover of Elle and I’m only half-surprised. She’s toned down her trademark bizarre appearance in her latest TV appearances on Jay Leno and the AMAs and starting to work the sexpot vibe, albeit the 2009 version of sexpot – big blonde bouncy curls, no pants just panties, tattered Balmain-style leather.

I saw the GaGa shots on Jezebel, which continues to fascinate me. They do have a lot of fashion content amid the post-feminist postings, like the thoughtful stories – yesterday’s about Lacroix - from Jenna, formerly Tatiana, the Anonymous Model (long story but basically she quit the runway and dropped her decoy byline). Also frequent red-carpet roundups. And, of course, their famed preoccupation with the airbrushing sins, inflated egos and mundane content (their view, not necessarily mine) of the “ladymags”, the fashion MSM – Bazaar, Elle, and especially Vogue.

So wading into the comments section of their post about the GaGa both bemused me with its youthful (at least I hope it was youthful) enthusiasms and frightened me a little about the future of women as fashion consumers. First there is dismissal of GaGa’s sexy turn, “…she looks like every other sexy-faced-fake-eyelashed-skinny-corset-wearing pop star out there.” Some back and forth follows – is she bi, what does it mean, does it matter?

Then, like the shark approaching in Jaws, comes the comment about the cover image itself: “I hate to be the one to point out an airbrush FAIL…but doesn’t her right arm look freakishly small at the armpit/ shoulder joint area?” Twelve posts follow about whether it really is the dastardly retouching or just foreshortening because of the photographer’s angle. Nothing’s really settled, but moving on, one commenter exclaims, “I hate ladymags, but I am buying the fuck out of this!“

The convo then skips through a few posters comparing notes because their dads like GaGa, her makeup, her poses, and then a discussion of what to wear to a GaGa concert: “The lack of pants is key. We are all wearing redonkulous dresses from Forever 21 with crazy colored leggings.“

Lastly comes the question of her artistic cred, including the touchingly honest, “You win, Lady Gaga. My head hurts whenever you do anything, but I’m okay with that.” Then the possibly naive, “Yes, she puts a lot of it out there for the world to see, but it’s obviously done by her because that is a part of who she is, not because she thinks it will sell records.”

And then, finally, a larger cultural context, “She also does a great job of referencing the fetish community and probably challenging vanilla and middle america more than they quite realize. Rock on Gaga…” What could I possibly I add? Rock on, indeed.

No need to rehash everything that’s wrong about the couple that crashed a party at the White House. If you want a good summary of the horridness of the Salahi folks, check out this post at Jezebel . What exactly is it that makes them the new WORST PEOPLE? Is it the fact that they crashed the party, making it more arduous for future attendees? Is it that they are disgusting, publicity seeking members of that new breed of reality TV wannabees (are you listening, Heene family?)? It is all that and more. Michaele and Tareq Salahi are really bad people.

The best part of the Jezebel piece:

“6. This is “the most devastating thing that has ever happened” to them.

Tareq Salahi claims the fallout from the crashing has been “the most devastating thing that has ever happened” to his wife, and that “our lives have really been destroyed.” But what about when they were escorted out of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Dinner in September after they were found sitting in someone else’s seats? They seem to have recovered from that mortification enough to crash another party just a few months later. And concerning their general devastation, Lisa de Moraes of the Washington Post says it well:

Michaele is ready for her close-up:

“It’s been really unbearable to go through,” she wailed from the Four Seasons hotel in Georgetown, where she had arrived nearly two hours earlier so people could put on her perfect makeup and dress her spectacular hair.

“Our lives have been destroyed,” she added blondly.”

Right, your life has been “destroyed.” I guess it will take being on “Real Housewives of D.C.” to cobble your poor, pathetic life back together.

The Salahis are truly the WORST PEOPLE.

Thanks for reading!

-WorstPeople

In Part 1 and Part 2 we met:

I. The Pious Patriarch (Naboth)
II. The Pouting Potentate (Ahab)
III. The Poisonous Puppeteer (Jezebel)
IV. The Pestering Prophet (Elijah)

Elijah tells Ahab in I Kings 21:19: “… Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.”

And concerning Jezebel:

The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel.

I Kings 21:23

Here we see an example of the Preeminent Precept. It is a precept that is key to the understanding of the whole Bible. The Preeminent Precept is that God is holy and God is just, and He shall judge righteously. Under this preeminent precept there are 3 principles I want to look at very briefly:

No. 1. God is not mocked.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Galatians 6:7

Don’t be fooled. Don’t let anyone else fool you. And don’t fool yourself. No one “gets away with” sin. Ahab and Jezebel tried to make a mockery of God. They sat on thrones and ruled over men and women – but there was One Who ruled over them – and held them accountable.

Following up on the guarantee that God will not be mocked is the principle of sowing and reaping. We reap what we sow. And the second principle under the Preeminent Precept is:

No 2. Sin contains its own seeds of destruction.

Things done in the Spirit – love, joy, hope – have seeds of life in them. Sin has its own seeds – seeds of death. Drugs and alcohol seem like such harmless fun – but the Bible says at the end they bite like an adder – a poisonous snake. When you take a drink or use drugs, you’ve grown a flower which looks harmless, but it will bloom into deadly poison.

Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

Proverbs 23:31-32

When you decide you are jealous of someone or you want to hurt someone else out of spite, you are taking a bite out of a piece of fruit that may taste sweet, but it will make you as sick as a dog.

Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him.

Proverbs 26:27

He that diggeth a pit shall fall into it; and whoso breaketh an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.

Ecclesiastes 10:8

If you decide to to step outside God’s boundaries of sexual purity, and flirt and fool around and experience a little emotional pleasure or physical pleasure, then you have scattered some seed on that side of the fence, and the branches will grow out into every part of your life, and cause God to have to come and hack them down and throw them into the fire.

Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

I Corinthians 6:9-10

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

James 1:15

1. God is not mocked.
2. Sin contains its own seeds of destruction.
3. God will repay.

… it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.

Romans 12:19

When Cain slew Abel – the first murder – Abel’s blood cried up to God from the ground. All throughout the Bible, the cries of the oppressed, the helpless, the wronged, cry out to God. He hears them and He is just and righteous, and He will make things right. The blood of Naboth and his sons cried up to God from the earth… and God determined to repay.

Be very careful about your actions in this life. You can do wrong to someone in this world in such a way that the earthly powers can not make it right. But you can not wrong someone and cover it up in such a way that God will not find it out and avenge the wronged person. You will have to “get over yourself,” because you can not “get over” on God.

The Preeminent Precept is preeminent because it must be grasped for a proper understanding of the Gospel. We don’t always grasp God’s perfection, and His fairness, and His justice, and His holiness – because we don’t have anything to use for comparison. We ourselves are so tainted with sin that we see “fairness” through a dark and cloudy lens of self-interest. God is light – but we have attempted to reduce the dramatic contrast of the Light by making ourselves seem bright, too. Until we see how black with sin our heart own heart is – until we see the hopelessness of the midnight of our soul – until we realize that we are buried in a pit of sin and unrighteousness – we will never fully realize how bright and shining and gloriously radiant God is.

Ahab had a glimpse of this:

And it came to pass, when Ahab heard those words, that he rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and lay in sackcloth, and went softly. And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he humbleth himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his days: but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.

I Kings 21:27-29

But Jezebel did not. Three years went by. As she and Ahab sat around the royal dinner table enjoying the herbs from the garden which used to be Naboth’s vineyard, did Ahab jump every time he heard a dog bark?

The preeminent precept is that God is just and holy and righteous, and that He will judge sin. It held true in the case of Ahab and Jezebel. God’s promises always come to pass.

We have seen:

I. The Pious Patriarch
II. The Pouting Potentate
III. The Poisonous Puppeteer
IV. The Pestering Prophet
V. The Preeminent Precept

In part four we will look at:

The Poignant Payment

actually wasn’t so bad. Alot of people don’t know her story and NEVER even question it. I personally was having alot of heated discussions on religion with my mother because of a world religion class I take. It dawned on me that she infamous and I had no idea why. Jezebel was a driven woman. She was just on the “wrong side” I suppose. In the bible she was a woman who believed in all those pagan symbols and worshiped several gods. Basically believed in polytheistic religion. She married a Jewish man…which back in the day was against the law. I blame her husband for this because he knew better. She married him with an agenda of basically eliminating the jewish religion and replacing it with all her pagans gods. Now, that does sound pretty terrible and evil. It honestly makes sense as to why she was so infamous in the bible. BUT my point is that when you study her life, she was simply a woman on a mission. Whether good or evil, she was powerful. A woman on a mission, in my opinion, is more powerful than any man. A woman on a mission is something to fear.

Today’s study looked at two churches with a similar problem.  The churches in Pergamum and Thyatira both struggled with compromise and tolerance of evil.  This message could and does apply to many churches and individuals today as we struggle to be in the world but not of it.  We definitely need to begin asking the Lord where we have compromised in our lives and in the Body of Christ as a whole.  Repentance, Holiness, and the fear of the Lord should be our banner in the coming days.

Pergamum means “Mixed Marriage”.  It is a fitting name considering the church seemed to mix with the culture and other teachings.

Verse 12:  We will see that the church in Pergamum was a compromised church.  It is interesting to me that the description of Christ here is with a two-edged sword.  We know from Ephesians that the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit and Hebrews uses a two-edged sword reference as well.   The answer to compromise and tolerance is of course God’s Word.

Verses 13-14:  In the midst of the activity of Satan (Satan’s throne) this church holds fast to the name of Jesus.  There are, however, some within the church who hold to the teaching of Balaam.  Balaam means, “Swallower or Destroyer of people.”  Balaam was hired by King Balak to curse Israel, but God would not allow him to.  Since he could not curse Israel, he found another way to bring trouble to God’s people by leading them into compromise with Baal and with immorality of a false religion.  Balaam, who’s story can be found in Numbers 22-25, was a prophet who followed all the gods of the land.  This is a strong message for us to avoid compromise and a mixed marriage of culture and false religions.  Today it seems that a lack of discernment plagues the church.  I pray that the Lord will open our eyes to see truth and that we will test the spirits in things which we are involved.

Verse 15:  There are some within this church who also hold to the teachings of the Nicolaitans (Conquerors of people).  Not much is known about this group.  There are some who believe that Nicolas, the deacon of Antioch, began teaching people that the flesh was contemptible.  He would deny his body physical things thinking that he would grow stronger spiritually.  This teaching took two different roads.  One taught that you had to accept Christ and deny your flesh to be saved.  The other took the extreme view that if the flesh was contemptible then anything that we did in the flesh did not matter because they were strong in spirit.  This of course led to immorality and many other problems.  The second perspective on the Nicolaitans took the name “Conquerors of people” to mean that there were people in the church who used the clergy to conquer and imprison the common person.  They see the Catholic Church as progressing down this path.  Both paths have led to many problems.

Verse 16:  This is a call to repentance that needs to be heard even today.  We need to do away with the compromise with the world and with other religions and turn back to the One True God.  The phrase “I am coming quickly” occurs 5 times in Revelation.  Revelation 2:16, 3:11, 22:7, 22:12, 22:20.  Revelation 19 portrays Jesus returning with a two-edged sword in His mouth.

Verse 17:  The overcomer will be given hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it which no one knows but the one who receives it.  A very awesome gift indeed.  Ancient courts used white and black stones to determine the verdict of a person on trial.

Thyatira means “Continual Sacrifice.” 

Verse 19:  Once again Jesus lets the church know that He is aware of their deeds.  He sees their love, faith, and service and that they are doing more now than they used to.

Verse 20:  This church tolerates the teachings of Jezebel.  The woman here personifies the Jezebel in 1 Kings 16:31 who was evil and influenced Ahab, King of Israel, to worship Canaanite gods.  It seems that while many in the church do not follow their teachings, the very fact that they tolerate some within the church to hold these teachings is a serious matter to God.  I know that God hates division in the church, but sometimes we need watchmen in the church to stand up and say, “this is wrong!”  It isn’t a pleasant thing to do, but if something has crept into the church that should not be there it is our duty to deal with it.  Tolerance is not an option.  Now there certainly is a way to go about it and we are to go to that person in love, and with the proper authority of the church involved,but something must be done.

Verses 21-22:  These acts are not out of ignorance, but out of rebellion.  She refuses to repent even though she has been warned by God.  God shows how strongly he views false teaching within the church based on His strong rebuke here.

Verse 23-24:  One thing to remember here is that God is the only one who can search minds, hearts, and motives.  There is a fine line between defending the faith and being the church policeman looking for anyone who slips up.  There is a big difference between someone who teaches or believes something out of ignorance and someone who is deliberately trying to stir up trouble or lead astray like Jezebel was.

Verse 25:  This seems to be a clear reference to the second coming of Christ.

Verses 26-29:  “He who keeps my deeds until the end”  defines who the overcomer is.  The Overcomer will be given authority over the nations.  This in my opinion is the millenium, the 1,000 year reign of Christ upon the earth.  The morning star is also given to those who overcome.

Our discussion today centered around compromise and tolerance.  We looked at how we compromise today both individually and as churches.  We first looked at compromise on an individual basis.  Entertainment is one of the big areas.  In 1949 Gone With The Wind was the first movie to have any profanity in it.  It was just one word that didn’t even seem that bad to many, yet it opened the door for the filth that we see today.  As Christians, many of us have become  desynthesized to things on tv, movies, books, etc.  Perhaps we need to take another look at our lifestyle and see if we look like the world around us.  Other things that were mentioned were modesty and dress, friends, spouses, and the message of what we communicate to others.  Someone said today that it seemed like these two churches (Pergamum and Thyatira) were trying to do just enough to be “not as bad as them.”  They were just a little bit better than the culture around them, but tolerated many of the teachings and practices going on around them.

Finally, we looked at compromise in the church.  The infiltration of the New Age into the church was the biggest area we looked at.  This is particularly troubling to me and it frightens me that so many are either not aware, don’t care, or are accepting of this deception.  Here are just a few of the things I see of the New Age moving into the church:

• Christian Trance Dancing (similar to a rave that reeks of the drug culture as they try to reach a higher consciousness and the ecstasy of God.
• Visualization techniques
• Teachings on alignments and trying to reach the frequency of God.  I’ve heard teachings on how we can communicate with animals if we know their frequency.  I’ve also heard teachings on hearing God through the frequency of the planets.
• Animal manifestations in church.  If I see this happen at our church I’m going to cast a demon out of the person.
• Fascination with angels
• The use of crystals
• The pursuit of signs and wonders and experiences as opposed to signs and wonders accompanying or following a believer and being a product of a Christian’s life as opposed to the goal.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, but just a few of the disturbing things that are going on in many churches today.

I’ll leave you today with a challenge to ask God where you have compromised in your life.   May Repentance, Holiness and the Word of God wake the church up from its slumber today.  I pray that we will not be tolerant of evil or compromise with our culture or other religions.  There is only one way to God and to heaven and that way is Jesus.  Be blessed.

I just buried a friend. I watched her suffer, and die, for over 10 years, until she took her last breath.

Click here for more

Well, it doesn’t seem to take too much to entertain some folks these days. Their latest “next big thing” seems to be more of a carnal fetish and wishful thinking than reality. Truly America has been dumbed down by the obsession of someone who couldn’t even write her own book! Lynn Vincent it seems, is the actual author of the quasi “Going Rogue” that mind numbed and dumbed down people are salivating over currently. Al Neuharth in his weekly USA Today column posits that this title is misleading. Neuharth says, “She is no “rogue.” Webster’s dictionary has these definitions of a rogue:

1. “Vagrant, tramp.

2. “A dishonest or worthless person.

3. “Scoundrel.

4. “A mischievous person.”

Palin has some qualities of the last. But the other definitions of “rogue” simply do not fit her… As is often the case, the title for Palin’s book was concocted by publicity seekers. They do not care whether a title describes a book or its author, as long as it sells.” I concur with Neuharth on this one, because I personally believe that she is a poser and disingenuous overall. There are still some outstanding personal issues that she needs to address and it seems that she is hoping they will just go away. The major issue of concern for me and any other moralist is; her extramarital activities with her current husband Todd’s former business partner Brad Hanson. Well, perhaps you don’t believe me on this? I say; do your homework and find out what really happened. Although you may not agree with the reporting source for this story, the National Inquirer, it is the same paper that reported the adulterous affair of once presidential candidate, John Edwards.

So, if we follow the evidence we can arrive at a conclusion as to this story’s veracity. The threat of a lawsuit was initially threatened against the National Inquirer however, that never materialized. Brad Hanson had his divorce papers sealed because of this revelation. Wonder why? If one did not commit adultery then they have nothing to hide, do they? If someone accuses you or I of committing adultery and we are innocent, what would be our course of action? Can we say lawsuit? So you see, actions or lack thereof are very revealing. So Palin needs to come clean. Besides, do we really need a vacuous ex-beauty queen and her dysfunctional family leading anything in this country?

Another issue can be seen in her photo shoot for a recent Runner’s World story; Sarah Palin appears to have committed an act that could shock Republican supporters: breaking the American “flag code.” The magazine features a picture of Palin leaning on a flag draped over a chair—apparently violating rules against “bunching up” the flag and using it as “drapery,” notes Katy Kelleher for Jezebel. Should Palin wrap herself in the American flag or lean on it as she has done for her quasi patriotic photo ops? No, because the Flag Code states that the flag should never be worn. (Section 8d): “The flag should never be used as wearing apparel.” Another point of disgust is the photo for the “Runner’s World” magazine that was co-opted by “Newsweek” magazine for their cover also. This depiction is what many men really like her for, because you can be sure it’s not her brain they are seeking or staring at! The little head is moving these weak minded men, if you can call them that. There should be some outrage over this because so many quasi conservative people are supposed to be family oriented and they should stand against these displays. And she condemns Levi Johnson for his Playgirl photo op!

Based on the Webster’s definition of this so-called, “Rogue” does America really want this type of person anywhere near public office? If so, how have we fallen! The constant parade of amoral people for electoral considerations for high office and thereafter a cushy pension is nothing short of obscene, as are the candidates. Are there not in America some good wholesome ethical and moral people without the adultery baggage that will run for office? Personally, I am aroused because of this candidate garbage dump on the American people as if to say to us, this is your choice and it’s the only one you get. Besides, Palin is only eye candy (with her makeup on) for the depraved of mind, not really viable in the intellectual circles. But who knows, maybe that is what America now deserves at this point in time for the multitude of transgression committed within it!

Maybe a snapshot of artfully painted woman isn’t the same thing as the Huffington Post’s publishing linkbait pics of nekkid ladies, but Jezebel might do well to avoid putting it next to a critique of HuffPo for that very action.

Jezebel writers keep reading my mind and our WRAC staff keep sending me the links! This article is a brief piece about feminism and the equality for men.  Anna North attempts to find a middle ground between men’s right groups and feminists who proclaim “who cares about men?” in under 800 words. A lofty goal. Nice conversation starter.

The biggest problem is when the most radical of any group is held up to represent everyone in the group. In an interview yesterday, Richard Dawkins made the following statements “Evolution is almost universally accepted among those who understand it, almost universally rejected by those who don’t” and he quoted molecular biologist Jacques Monod ”The trouble with natural selection is that everybody THINKS they understand it.” Evolution and religion aside. I see a lot of similarities with people and their views on feminism. Many people endorse the principles of feminism but do not label themselves feminists. It’s interesting how the ideals of a movement can be sidetracked based on the stigma associated with a label. Take a look at the article and feel free to leave your thoughts below.

I can’t remember where I first spotted Belsante, but she sometimes appears among rare medieval variants for Isobel.  I’d venture to guess she started out as a diminutive, though I’ve also stumbled across Belsante as a surname.

She’s certainly elegant, even dramatic, isn’t she?  And yet, Belle and Bella are accessible – and overwhelmingly popular – nicknames.

With parents seeking an alternative to mega-hit Isabella, choices like Annabel and Arabella are on the rise.  So are rarities like Maribel – a family name JLo used her daughter Emme’s middle – and Mirabel, as well as surname spins like Bellamy.

Worrisome suggestions abound on discussion boards: Harry Potter villain Bellatrix, Biblical bad girl Jezebel and Disney Tinkerbell.  (For the record, JM Barrie’s character is actually Tinker Bell.  And I’m fairly certain that suggestion came from someone not really naming a baby.  I hope.)

So what say you to Belsante – yea or nay?

Head over to Jezebel to read an article about the content and strategies used in college rape prevention programs. MAC’s focus is broader than rape prevention, but we were initially created with Department of Justice funding just like many of the groups in the article. The Jezebel article, cites the Chronicle of Higher Education article published last week regarding measuring the effectiveness of rape prevention programs. Both are interesting reads. They both bring up important topics to keep in mind when we are attempting to assess the impact of our work.

Though my curiosity wanes in the face of an intellectual plight
It’s certainly something I’ve wondered for a couple of night -
But, alas, I won’t fret
For I simply don’t get
What exactly it is that sparks everyone’s love for Twilight.

This is too good. Thanks to Jezebel for being fucking awesome.

I can’t figure out a way to embed this video, but there’s probably a way. Until then, check out the link. In the immortal words of my cape-wearing, vestalicious sister A-space, “the more times you watch it you would think it gets less funny but it really doesn’t.”

So true, so wise.

Since I can’t find a clip of Tracy Jordan-as-Oprah, or figure out how to embed this effing video, here’s the next best thing.

Reader discretion is advised, for my pen may prick

Jezebel eyes

dilate a silent orgasm

to come in the stutter of her eyes

resurrected like Christ

hail western mongers

to her virgin linx

No need for sexual monopolization

rather

a communist bloodbath

in an unpoliced realm

 the karma police ousted

a sexual cout d’etat. 

we can all sip wine from her fluted cup

a sexual Eucharist!

Sardonic cries

Oh what a symbiotic relationship—Parasitism!

Marcus Buckingham has done it again. In this week’s HuffPo installment, Buckingham gets started by citing Time magazine’s special on the State of Women as saying that the gender war is over, and it was a tie. But Buckingham takes it one step further:

I’m not so sure. In a war, no matter the outcome of a certain skirmish or battle, the winner is the party whose attitudes, behaviors and preoccupations come to dominate the postwar landscape. By this measure, the outcome of the gender wars, if wars they were, is clear: women won.

He makes his case by saying that “men’s attitudes more and more resemble women’s attitudes”, citing the fact that fewer men now believe that men should be the breadwinners, women the caretakers, than did in 1977. He says that “men’s behaviors are becoming more and more like women’s”, using the fact that men now do more housework than they did in 1977 as evidence. He even cites popular culture:

Even our entertainment heroes have lost their masculine muscle. Arnold, Bruce, and Stallone are long gone from the screen, but even the flirty, flaky, funny adolescents–Tom, Brad, Jim, and Will–no longer charm us quite as much as they once did. Instead our leading men are the likes of Zac Efron who, though he can still “Michael Jordan” it on the court, now has to sing and dance charmingly to earn our affection.

Um, okayyyy. But here’s where it gets interesting:

The war is over. Women won. And, as ever, to the victor go the spoils.

And what are the spoils of this particular war?

The spoils are choice. Women have more choice than ever before in their work, home, and lifestyles. And yes, men are becoming more like women, and so men are starting to face the same multitude of choices that women tackle.

Today, with many companies offering paternal leave, men now have the choice to stay at home after the birth of their newborn… But they also have the choice to take advantage of this leave and stay at home wondering whether or not this absence will hurt their careers.

Men have the choice to stay at home even longer and assume the chief caregiver role… But they have to face the fact that, in making this choice, their skills might become obsolete and their wages, when they re-enter the workforce, will wind up reflecting their out-of-date proficiency.

Men have the choice to arrange their schedules so they can pick up the kids from school twice a week. And they have the choice not to, and then to feel guilty about this choice.

The choice-filled world that women have bestowed on men is a tough world. Tough on women; even tougher on men. At least that’s what the data reveal. In 1977, 41 percent of women reported feeling some level of work/life conflict, whereas only 35% of men did. Today, about the same percentage of women report work/life conflict, but 59 percent of men are now similarly torn.

Buckingham, Buckingham, Buckingham. Welcome to our world. While what he has to say about our choices is interesting (as is his use of self-reported statistics to back up his points), what’s more interesting is what he doesn’t say. Like this:

A study in the current issue of The Academy of Management Journal reveals that bosses generally perceive women workers to have more family-work conflict than men, even though this isn’t the case. And this belief, mistaken though it is, leads supervisors to take a negative view of women employees’ suitability for promotion.

Or this, from the Economix blog at the New York Times‘ web site:

In most jobs, the gap between men’s and women’s earnings narrows greatly when you adjust for factors like career path and experience. But at the top of the income scale–jobs paying more than $100,000–the salary gap between equally qualified men and women is still vast.

Or this, which Laura Liswood, co-founder of the Council of Women World Leaders, wrote yesterday:

In its annual measurement of global progress in the lives of women and girls, released October 27, 2009, the World Economic Forum reported some major improvements in surprising places. The 2009 Global Gender Gap Report–which, country by country, examines data indicating the resources and status of women compared to men–ranks Lesotho, for example, in the top 10, a marked improvement from its place at 16 last year and 43 in 2006. By contrast, the United States moved down three slots last year and now ranks 31st.

In terms of why you might be a little irritated by that, feel free to pick your poison: that the U.S. is ranked 31st, or that we moved down three slots last year. I myself am having a little of both. Liswood spells out the characteristics of our grouping thus:

Group III Gaps in these countries (including the United States and United Kingdom) have been almost completely closed in education and health; progress is occurring on economic and political participation. What is lagging is women’s presence at the highest levels of power be it management of a business or head of state or government or parliament. Countries that adopt quotas for business or politics often see an immediate jump in their standing once these mechanisms kick in.

Ooh, quotas. Scary. But why should we be so opposed? As Latoya Peterson notes in her Jezebel piece about the report:

Norway has legislation that demands all public institutions “promote gender equity, and these efforts are to be documented each year.” The top ranking country, Iceland, passed this type of legislation back in 2000 as the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women. Finland employs an “Ombudsman for Equality, the Gender Equality Unit, and the Council for Equality” in its pursuit of gender parity. And in Sweden, there is an Ombudsman on Discrimination, as well as measures taken in schools and workplaces to ensure women do not face bias.

Why should we care what goes on in Iceland, Finland, Norway, and Sweden? They hold the top four spots in that report. The one where the U.S. ranks 31st.

Let’s read just a little more from Liswood:

Data are a necessary component to start the process of resource allocation and policy shift. Data collection alone can’t make the sea level rise, but many political and business leaders hide behind the excuse that women must ‘make the case’ for change. The case can rarely be made without information that proves what women may intuitively already know. And looking at a gender gap that has been indexed should give leaders pause if they are not fully utilizing 50 percent of their talent.

It certainly should. The thing is, if we were to proactively address the measurable inequities, like Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, then–if Buckingham’s right–everyone would stand to benefit. But where Buckingham–where the very United States–has fallen short, is in viewing it as a personal issue, an issue of behavior, or attitude, or whether Zac Ephron is cashing in at the box office… In choosing to look at such heavy decisions merely as personal dilemmas, left to each of us to handle on our own, in our own way, we are missing the point. Yes, we have choices in our lives, and it stands on each of us to make them. But they’re made harder by the lack of institutional support. The war may be over, but the battle has just begun.

This has nothing to do with our home, and I’m not really going to write much, other than:  aren’t these two cute?  Sometimes I can barely stand how cute the two of them are together!  They are totally doggy BFFs, and when they’re both sitting there, flashing the same cute doggy expression at you, it’s hard for your heart not to completely melt out of your chest.  Or maybe that’s just me.

Barley is falling asleep with his head up in this one.  He’s doing the head bob like a college kid in an 8am class.

I think this one is my favorite.  It looks like they’re having a little heart to heart in the leaves.

The dogs sporting their matching please hunters don’t shoot us orange bandannas.

Barley heard a shot and freaked out a little.

This week’s I *heart* faces theme is autumn beauty, and I thought I’d join in.

Over the weekend, I made Jason and the dogs let me take photos of them in their matching orange hunters, please don’t shoot me gear.  Of course, the puppy was crazy and silly, and Jason likes to make strange faces at the camera, so of the 200 or so photos I took, this happens to be the best one with a face in it.  If it was I *heart* dogs, though, I’d have a million cute entries.