December 2005 Notebook Entries

Notebook entry, December 10th, 2005

Just a quick note to let you know that I'm still here. I'm doing some DVD script writing for some political ideas that I'm brewing. Nothing new in my world....just same ol' stuff, different day. My kids in California have decided to "tuff it out" and avoid bankruptcy by working 80 hours a week..My son-in-law is working way too many hours and is separated from my daughter for too many nights. I have misgivings about the survival of their marriage, but applaud their efforts.

On the feminist circle, Maureen Dowd just chided in with an great editorial piece in The New York Times this morning. Her title: Can Mommy Know Best? It is about the placement of Peter Jennings on the ABC nightly news with Elizabeth Vargas and "pretty-boy android Bob Woodruff."

Ms Dowd asks the following questions: Can the network nightly news anchor evolve from the Daddy chair to the Mommy chair? Will Americans ever trust a petite, pretty woman in jewel tones to deliver the news as much as they trusted tall men with dark suits and deep voices, like Edward R. Murrow. Walter Cronkite and Tom Brokaw? Can high heels match the venerable trench coat?

A very interesting piece because it goes to the core of evolutionary feminism and how our species perceived both gendered functions.