DC Metro Moms

Hannah Montana, Miley Cyrus & the Politics of Puberty

Well, a 'tween firestorm has erupted and her name is Hannah Montana.

I'm not talking about the show or the concert or the 3-D movie.

I probably don't have to tell you what I'm talking about -- the Vanity Fair photo shoot that has families abuzz.  As part of an article on the 'tween phenom, Annie Leibowitz took this photo of Miley Cyrus, the 15-year-old who portrays Hannah Montana in the Disney Channel show of the same name.

There are numerous answers to the question, "What's wrong with this picture?"

More pointedly, what's wrong with the adults who allowed this photo to happen.  Acclaimed photographer Annie Leibowitz says she and Miley agreed that the shot was "artistic."  I'm no prude, but I certainly don't find a lot redeeming about a shot of a minor girl with no clothes on, a satin sheet clutched to her naked chest, with tousled hair and come-hither bedroom eyes.

I know some say it was fair game, especially in light of some semi-provocative photos Miley herself has

Forgetting, and remembering

My father has Alzheimers disease.  Over the last several years he has gone from forgetting who is President, to forgetting where he was, to forgetting where he lived, to forgetting who I am.  The last family event at which he was more-or-less himself was my wedding.  He has never known Bunny.  It has been an extremely painful journey for all of us, not the least for him.

One of the first signs I had that my father was losing his memory in a serious way was years ago when he couldn't produce the name of the Secretary of State.  For someone else, that may have seemed like a minor incident of forgetfulness.  Not for my extremely political, extremely partisan Dad.  That meant something was wrong.

I spend a lot of time these days wondering who Dad would support in this year's primary were he to be aware of it.  He would be so happy to see -- in his lifetime, although not his cognizant one -- that there

What Did You Do Today?

...cross posted from our sister site, New York City Moms Blog.

An innocent question. Yes. But, for whatever reason those five words can stir up the most amazing flurry of emotions when asked by my husband.

I work part-time from my home. So, on days when I’m working, I happily rattle off the 30 things that I did to move my business forward, to financially contribute to the family, to boost my sense of independence, etc. But on those days where it’s just me and little T, I falter.

“Um, well…I took T to the park. And um, fed him. And Oh! I went to the post office!” My husband's eyes glaze over and I see him look at me quizzically, and then ask, “did you shower today?” I look down, and reply, barely above a whisper, “no, I didn’t have time.”

Click Here to continue reading this post on New York City Moms Blog.

I Thought We Were Recession-Proof

My daughter, PunditGirl, was reading the Meet Kit book from The American Girl Doll Series, recently.  For the American Girl uninitiated, Kit is the Great Depression-era girl.    (PunditGirl already has plowed through the Colonial girl Felicity series)!

After PunditGirl  read about Kit's dad losing his job, Kit's brother having to give up college and the family having to take in boarders to make ends meet, she was obsessively worried.

"Is that real?  What if that happens to us?"

Her furrowed brow would have rivaled that of George Bush when reporters pound him with questions about the Iraq War.  It took days to convince her not to fret about chipping in the $13 in her Hello Kitty wallet for the grocery budget.

Washington, D.C. is Protesting Today

I generally like anniversaries, but not all anniversaries deserve a celebration.

In terms of days that will live in infamy, today is one of them -- the fifth anniversary of our invasion of Iraq.  We see our share of protests here in the nation's capital, but I was amazed when I saw this list of protests and marches going on today here in D.C.:

• "Blockade the IRS": A march to the IRS headquarters at 1111 Constitution Ave.
• "Disrupt the War Profiteers": Student groups and activists will converge upon the streets throughout the day to rally outside offices of large corporations such as ExxonMobil, Shell, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, Bechtel and the IMF/World Bank.
• "Separate Oil and State": Participants will meet outside the American Petroleun institute.
• "Veterans March for Peace": The march will begin this morning at 7th St., NW on the National Mall between Madison and Jefferson streets.
• "Critical Mass":  Cyclists will travel through downtown possibly riding south onConnecticut        Ave., NWto the White House.
• "Granny Peace Brigade Knit-in": A sit-in is planned for noon outside the Veterans Affairs office.
• "Funk the War": similar to Disrupt the War Profiteers, student groups will converge on the K Streetcorridor.
• "March of the Dead": Dozens of activists will roam the city dressed in black representing those killed in the Iraq war.
• "The World Can't Wait: Anti-torture rally at 1:00 p.m. at Lafayette Square Park.
• "March on DNC": Participants will gather at 5:00 p.m. at the Reflecting Pool on the National Mall and march to the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee at 430 S. Capitol St., SE

For me, it's not just getting out of Iraq I'm worried about -- there's the whole Iran thing looming over our heads.  And after yesterday's Iran "slip" of the tongue by John McCain, the hair on the back of my neck is standing up.  In five years, I don't want to see us marching against another war.  But it's obviously on his mind.

Joanne is working on her political indignation over at her place, PunditMom. You can also find her at MOMocrats and BlogHer.

Original DC Metro Moms Blog post.

Some People Never Learn

I think Elliot Spitzer should resign, but not for the obvious reason.

I actually don't care that the Governor of New York solicited prostitutes. Yes, it's illegal, and I believe our elected officials should follow the law. But, I actually think prostitution should be legal. What two consenting adults do in their own time is their own business. And, if you legalize prostitution you have less problems with rape of prostitutes and you can control better for disease.

Eliot Spitzer - Admit It and Get Out

"I have acted in a way that violates my obligations to my family and that violates my, or any, sense of right and wrong."

That's some mighty good parsing by law-and-order New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

May I interpret here for you?  Eliot, were you trying to say, or were you hoping we'd hear, "I did it and it was wrong" without having to say the words prostitution or indictment? I know you're trying to strike some sort of deal with the prosecutors, so your lawyers most likely advised you to make a statement that sort of sounded like you were admitting you did something without really saying the words.

And you wanted us to have the feeling that you are chastened and truly sorry for what happened (or at least for getting caught).  That's why your wife was at your side at the news conference where you were forced to admit you got caught in a prostitution sting, but I'm still scratching my head over how you convinced your amazingly smart and accomplished wife to stand there without grabbing you by throat or giving you a swift kick in the butt on national TV.

Pardon Me, I Apparently Forgot I'm Dumb and Fickle

For some reason, the Washington Post has decided that it's going to try to alienate its women subscribers.

I can't really think of another reason why its editors would decide to run two articles attacking women voters as dumb and fickle in its Sunday Outlook section. Between We Scream, We Swoon.  How Dumb Can We Get?  and For Hillary's Campaign, It's Been a Class Struggle, I found my self shaking my head and wondering, why do we do this to ourselves?

Even if you buy that each article might have  a legitimate point buried somewhere in those paragraphs, I don't see any men penning essays this campaign season suggesting that guys are acting against their political self-interest if they don't vote for the candidate of their gender or that men are somehow irrational in their electoral decisions if they display any emotion about the candidate of their choice.

This Whole Campaign Looks a Lot Different to an Eight-Year-Old

Trying to explain our electoral process to an eight-year-old is like trying to help your child make sense of why the boys who like you in the classroom pick on you during recess.

It's all a bit inscrutable.

What's even harder is trying to help a second-grader grasp that while the election coverage that mommy is addicted to has been going on since before she started this school year, that things won't be over until she's settled into next year's school routine.

"But WHY?" is PunditGirl's continual response when I try to explain why we don't have a new President yet.  We had this discussion after the New Hampshire primary:

PunditGirl: "But who won last night?"

It Looks Like There Are two Elephants in the Room -- Gender & Race

Critics of women bloggers, and mommy bloggers in particular, want the rest of the world to believe we don't want to talk about anything more complicated than potty training, soccer schedules and another new way to make hamburger for dinner. 

It turns out that we are the ones brave enough to take on the political question many are afraid to talk about this political season:

Is this country really ready to elect a woman or a black man to be President?

We all like to think that in the 21st century we're so much more enlightened and that we've moved past old prejudices and ways of thinking.   Even I was hoping that we had.

But what evidence do we have that we're ready?