A woman's body shape doesn't define who she is or her worth as a ...

Written by: Adwoa Fosu on October 18, 2012

This article has been read 714 times.

Hollywood?s notion of the perfect female form should not be held up as a goal or requirement

It seems as though, for decades, we have been hounded by the idea that real women have curves. The ideal body shape is supposedly an hourglass with the perfect measurements of 36-24-36 to match. While this killer body seems to be quite rare ? and I say rare because Hollywood has to make a big deal out of anybody who has one ? it has become the epitome of health and sexiness.

To some extent, I can see where society is coming from. As a slender woman, I truly admire those with curves; some clothes just fit better on those with full bosoms and full hips. But, is it fair to say that a woman isn?t a woman unless she has an hourglass figure? For one thing, not all of us were born with such a ?desirable? shape. Women?s body types run the gamut from straight to pear-shaped to inverted triangle, and none of them are more or less feminine than the others.

It is not fair to say that someone has a boyish figure just because they have size A breasts and little curves, just as it is not fair to say that someone is fat because they have double D sized breasts and wide hips. The bodies we have are what we were given; there are some things we can do to improve them, but for the most part we must work with what we?ve got.

Body shape does not determine health, either. One?s physical fitness is determined by many different factors such as muscle tone, level of endurance and strength. It pains me to see so many of my friends embarking on diets just because they wish to be smaller in size. But here?s a newsflash: Skinny people aren?t necessarily healthy people. Just because someone happens to be a size 5 does not mean they would be able to successfully complete a 5k marathon.

That being said, there?s nothing wrong with seeking a little self-improvement. I believe it?s a task that we should all take up at least once in our lives. But as women we need to make sure that we are improving ourselves for the right reasons. We must not get stuck in the mentality that there is something wrong with our bodies.

As a matter of fact, being so diverse is part of what makes being a woman and being a human beautiful. Each of us has a unique aspect about ourselves that we must truly embrace before we can feel comfortable in our own skin. I know that when it comes to self-esteem, things are much easier said than done, but if we make the effort to accept the bodies that we?ve been given it won?t matter what anyone else has to say about them.

So, again, is it true that a real woman has curves? Yes. Christina Hendricks and Beyonce have curves, and they appear to be real women, but a real woman can also have love handles, a six pack or a bald head. Why? Because, while there are many physical features that are consistent with being a woman, it is what we have on the inside that classifies us as a group. Simply put, a real woman has two X chromosomes.

Now, what separates those of us with two X chromosomes from each other is confidence. The women whose bodies we admire carry themselves with an air of confidence that is very strong. They could be wearing twenty pairs of Spanx under their outfits, but we would never know because they are putting out a message that they look good, and we believe them.

We can exert this same kind of confidence by dressing for our body types and believing that we look good. At the end of the day, our bodies are our own; we must be the ones to behold our own beauty.

Source: http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/2012/10/18/a-womans-body-shape-doesnt-define-who-she-is-or-her-worth-as-a-person/

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We are respectable negroes: Would a Member of the Black ...

What does it mean to be a member of the black bourgeoisie? Is this an aspirational title? Is it measured by profession, trade, or economic resources?

I embrace the idea that we should all engage in acts of critical self-reflection when appropriate. Our conversation about Obama's performance in last night's debate where he mercilessly beat upon Mitt Romney, and the latter provided many options for a far more thorough thrashing than he received, prompted the following observation from one of our frequent commenters (the aptly named) Invisible Man:

Our President is the manifestation of Black Bourgeoisie Politics and you are the messenger. White liberals need/ promote Black Bourgeoisie politics because it attacks (and you are a intellectual pit bull at this) Republicans and the right wing who are a direct threat to them and the small Black Bourgeoisie class.

I appreciate this formulation because 1) it strokes my ego and furthers a fiction that my commentaries are read by the gatekeepers and "powers that be" who have yet to send a brother a check; and 2) it suggests that there is a coincidence/coordination of strategy and tactics by critics in the black counter-public of the Right-wing's nefarious political agenda.

While this model is appealing, we must be very cautious lest the conspiranoid fantasies of conservatives about a black hive mind, and Operation Black Steel, be confirmed in the service of advancing a fiction with does not serve our collective self-interest or the Common Good.

I do wish African-Americans were so organized.

We quite simply ain't.

The reasons are many. These include the systematic targeting and destruction of black indigenous community organizations by the state, for example. An inability to rally behind a common goal--other than that of electing a Black President--is also hobbled by the class divisions within the African American community, the ethnicization of the race, and resource scarcity.

Here is a puzzle. Barack Obama is a president who happens to black. He is the Head of State and Chief Executive of the most powerful country on Earth. However, the political interests of black and brown folks remain marginalized in the public sphere (and mass public too) and our life chances are significantly diminished compared to white Americans regardless of our class backgrounds.

Moreover, there is a broad belief that the politics of black respectability ought to still be leveraged for the purpose of black self-improvement and political empowerment. In short, despite the public protests to the contrary by the black public intellectual set, we all know that Bill Cosby did not say anything about the behavior of the ghetto underclass that is not self-evident to even the most half-opened eye and/or fair observer.

But, the Black Superpublic and the Black Culture Industry makes even the most debased and derogatory representations of black humanity--see Chief Keef for example--a fiction that becomes real for the white gaze and those people of color who have internalized it.

And even if we were able to create a synergy of black political mobilization, respectability, and resources, the crises of a failed economy, social institutions, and infrastructure that decades ago deindustrialized black and brown inner city communities are stubbornly resistant to the types of citizen activism that many in the public would like to pursue. How can one fight anti-democratic institutions with democratic means?

I am not, nor have I even been, a member of the black bourgeoisie. I also do not eat fried chicken or watermelon in either "mixed" company or in public. I also fry chicken wearing only my underwear and have many lurid fantasies of beautiful women in my kitchen similarly attired, cooking, topless, grease splattering on their pert nipples as my hands wander all over their bodies from behind, before the angry lingam makes glorious union with a ready, happy, and hungry yoni.?

Ultimately, I am not a member of the black bourgeoisie for many reasons--first and foremost because I do not think they would have me. Nor, would I want to join any club that would take me as a member.

What says you about all of this black bourgeoisie stuff?

Source: http://wearerespectablenegroes.blogspot.com/2012/10/would-member-of-black-bourgeoisie-fry.html

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Theresa Preston: Mom, Screenwriter, Novelist | Catholic Lane

One of my favorite films in recent months was the wonderful movie October Baby. Today, I?m happy to share my recent interview with Theresa Preston in celebration of the release of?October Baby: A Novel. Enjoy!

Q: Theresa, thank you so much for your time. Would you kindly begin by introducing yourself and your family to our readers?

My name in Theresa Preston. ?I am originally from Newton, Mass., but I now live just outside of Birmingham, Ala., with my incredible and talented husband, Stephen, and our fun-loving 4-year-old, Sarah.? We are thrilled to also have a baby on the way? another sweet girl due sometime in early February!!? I am mostly a stay-at-home Mom, and my time is generally filled with brushing baby doll hair, doing puzzles and answering the many, many questions that our daughter comes up with throughout the day.? I use her mornings at preschool and nap times to write and dream up stories.? It is a busy life, but I wouldn?t have it any other way.

Q: Your personal story of discovering your career sounds a little bit like a ?fairy tale?! How did you come to find yourself in the world of screen writing?

I don?t think I actually found screenwriting.? I think it found me.? My parents and other family tell me that when I was little I did a lot of writing.? They would find papers and notebooks filled with pages of stories that I made up in my free time.? I always loved to write, but never realized that it was something I was particularly good at.? I remember daydreaming in the backseat of the car on long trips with my family as a kid.? It was back in the days before DVD players on the backs of car seats and handheld computer games.? There was nothing else to do but look out the window and think.? I would make up characters and stories in my head to pass the time.? It sounds sort of silly, but I never knew until I started screenwriting, that other people didn?t do that all the time the way I did.

I went on to study other things in college, never really thinking of writing as being something I should consider.?? God had a plan all along, however, and He was working behind the scenes to merge things together in His perfect timing.? When I met my husband, Stephen, we had no idea that a few days after our wedding He would move us to Alabama so that Stephen could be a Sound Designer for a budding film company.? We had no idea that spending a ton of time on a film set with my husband would reinvigorate the story telling part of me, and we certainly had no idea that I would be inspired to write movies.? But God did.

I started having ideas for what I thought would be good stories for film and I started to write them down.? My husband encouraged me to write out an entire story from start to finish and email it on to Jon Erwin, one of the owners of the film company Stephen worked for (and later co-writer and co-director of October Baby).? I did what Stephen suggested and it was my first official ?film treatment,? and I didn?t even know that was what it was called in the industry.? I was actually surprised when Jon liked my writing and even more surprised when he liked it enough to ask me to co-write with him.? Working with Jon Erwin and his brother, Andrew, has helped me to develop my skills for writing for the screen.? It takes discipline to write a film.? You have to convey a lot of emotion without a lot of words.? You have to let the camera do its work by showing what you aren?t always able to use words to convey, and you have to make every word that you do use count to drive the story forward.? I studied screenwriting, read books, and Jon and I worked together on a couple of projects and my skills started to refine.? It wasn?t much later that Jon came to me with the idea for October Baby and asked me to write it with him, and although I was still ?new? to writing, I was eager to jump into story telling again.

I have no doubt in my mind that God was preparing me to write my entire life.? My step-father, George, illustrated it best after he watched October Baby for the first time.? He called me and asked, ?Theresa, how do you go from studying education in college, to working at a coffee shop, to being an at-home-mom, to a screenwriting career?? ?It didn?t take long to reply. ?You don?t.? God does that.? It?s the only explanation.?

Q: With the release of October Baby in book form, you are now a novelist and the author of an accompanying Bible study. How was it to make the transition from writing for film to writing in the longer formats??

While we were in the process of developing October Baby?the novelization, I joked with Eric Wilson about how freeing it is to be able to use more words!? There is a great deal of discipline involved in novel writing, but the beauty is that you can use words as the medium to paint a picture.? You can describe what is happening inside the character?s head.? In screenwriting you have to show it with facial expressions, body language.? In film, sometimes what the character does not say is more powerful than what they do say.

It was such a great experience to be able to let the readers of the novelization get more from each character about their inner dialogue and background.?? I really enjoyed working with Eric to think outside the 2-hour film-time-limit box and imagine more about where each of these characters came from.

Q: Why was it important that the film version of October Baby be followed up with a book?

The film left the viewers wanting to know more. They fell in love with Hannah and Jason and their relationship.? They grieved with Cindy Hastings, the birth mother, and rejoiced with her in forgiveness.? They went through the ups and downs of the story with Jacob and Grace as adoptive parents.?? They celebrated in the healing of Mary Rutledge, the nurse.? There was so much emotion in the film that our viewers related to, that it was important to expand and give them more.? The story is impactful, and somehow, God has enabled people from all different life experiences to relate to it.? We can all understand the need to forgive and be forgiven.? Expanding the story, I think, was an opportunity to highlight the beauty of the story even more and give viewers and readers what they crave ? a deeper look into the hearts and lives of the characters.

Q: What parts of yourself are present in your depiction of the characters in October Baby?

I think the analytic and reflective parts of Hannah are a lot like me.? I can relate to her journey of trying to find out who she really is and what His plan is for her life. I think I was somewhat like her as a teen as well ? a little bit awkward sometimes, trying to figure out how to fit into a circle of friends.? I think a lot of teenage girls have gone through that journey of learning how to truly be yourself and comfortable with exactly who you are with your peers.

I think I can relate to both Mary Rutledge, the nurse, and Cindy Hastings, the birth mother. I think most of us can.? They both struggle with accepting grace and knowing that whatever wrong they have done in the past is just that ? in the past.? God?s love and mercy are big enough to cover us and it?s okay to forgive ourselves because we have been forgiven.

Q: You must have been overjoyed by the tremendous response to the film. Please describe your expectations, and then what type of feedback you received from people who were so personally touched by October Baby.

I was astonished by how the film was received. It?s hard to know exactly what to expect with a movie.? You hope that people can understand your heart for the story and can relate to the characters and see something of themselves in the journey of the story, but you don?t know what will happen until it hits the box office.? The night before the movie released in the theater I sat down and reminded myself that however successful it became was okay because I truly believed in what we put on that screen.? We had put out whole hearts into it.? I felt good about how we portrayed God?s message of forgiveness and I felt like it was a story that needed to be told.? After that moment, I just laid it at God?s feet and trusted He would do with the film what He wanted.

I was just amazed at how people responded to October Baby.? People really connected to the story of forgiveness.? We heard from people who had survived abortions and were telling their stories for the first time.? We heard from women who were post-abortive and were coming to terms with it and finding forgiveness at last.? We heard from adoptive parents and children who were blessed by the relationship between Hannah and her adoptive parents.? It was overwhelming and humbling and I feel so blessed that God allowed me to be part of something that still continues to touch people in a deep and sometimes life changing way.

Q: What?s next? Do you have another project underway?

I am still writing.? I have story ideas, some on paper already, and some that haven?t made their way there yet.?? I think the journey of writing has just begun for me and I look forward to where God may take it.? I trust Him completely to guide the way.

Q: Are there any additional thoughts you?d like to share with our readers?

Thank you!? Thank you for your support for the film and for the novel and for getting the word out there.? God had plans for this story all along.? It was evident in every step as the film was being made.? He used me, a new writer, and Jon and Andrew Erwin, new directors.? He used Rachel Hendrix to play Hannah.? It was her first feature film and she was amazing.? He called Shari Rigby to be in the film as the birth mother and her personal story of God?s grace in her life as a post-abortive woman is strengthening and empowering women all over the country to claim that grace in their own lives.? He brought Gianna Jessen on board, an abortion survivor herself, to share her incredible gift of music to sing on the October Baby soundtrack.? He gave Eric Wilson a strong connection and love for the story that enabled him to know the characters well and it shows in the way the October Baby novelization has so much heart.?? Partnering with him was a pure joy as he loved October Baby as much as I did.

God?s plan all along for this story was to help change lives and to open up a dialogue about the power of God?s grace.? I am so grateful that so many of you have allowed God to use you by sharing the story with others.? I hope and pray that you have been blessed by October Baby as much as being part of it has blessed me.

Source: http://catholiclane.com/theresa-preston-mom-screenwriter-novelist/

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SmartThings wins Spark of Genius start-up contest at Dublin Web ...

SmartThings wins Spark of Genius start-up contest at Dublin Web Summit (video)

Pictured receiving the Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Award 2012 was Jeff Hagins, Andrew Brooks, Ben Edwards and Alex Hawkinson from SmartThings with Margaret Colton, ESB Electric and Paddy Cosgrave, founder of Dublin Web Summit

Since yesterday over 100 international start-ups have been pitching their ideas at the Dublin Web Summit to compete for a prize fund worth more than ?100,000. The winner of the 2012 Spark of Genius award is the US start-up SmartThings.

The Washington-based SmartThings, which has raised over US$1.2m on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter, garnering 5,694 backers, is aiming to add a sprinkling of intelligence to everyday objects, transforming them into smart objects, byconnecting the things in the physical world to the internet via smartphone.?

The platform consists of a hub that connects to the internet and devices that communicate with this hub while also sensing and controlling everyday things. It?s aiming to let youmonitor, control and automate physical objects. For example, SmartThings can control things such as air conditioning, lights, fans and heaters from their mobile phone.

Before the winner was announced this afternoon, Paddy Cosgrave, organiser of the Dublin Web Summit, had previous winners on stage, including Redeem & Get, which won the Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Award in 2011, and the Irish relationship management start-up Datahug, which won the competition in 2010.

?This is the first year we?ve had entries to the competition from overseas,? said Cosgrave.

Then Margaret Colton, head of marketing at Electric Ireland, took to the podium to announce the winning start-up.

Firstly, she said that the award recognises the creativity and courage of true entrepreneurial spirit.

Colton said that the panel of judges had picked the winning start-up (SmartThings) because it had ?clearly identified a product that addresses a real business need in a high-growth market".

Accepting the award Alex Hawkinson from SmartThings said that the company would definitely consider Dublin for an international office when it expands in the future. So watch this space!

Check out our video interview with Hawkinson who speaks about the start-up that is aiming to become the remote control for everything in our daily lives.

?Dublin Web Summit | Spark Of Genius Award Winner SmartThings'

Carmel Doyle | |

Source: http://www.siliconrepublic.com/start-ups/item/29785-smartthings-wins-spark-of-g

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Billie Joe Armstrong's Rehab is 'Killing Everyone,' Green Day Bassist Says

Mike Dirnt tells Kerrang! magazine his friend is battling demons in a rehab stint.
By Gil Kaufman

Billie Joe Armstrong
Photo: Redferns

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1695817/green-day-billie-joe-armstrong-rehab-dirnt-kerrang.jhtml

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Housing starts surge in positive sign for economy

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Groundbreaking on new U.S. homes surged in September to its fastest pace in more than four years, a sign the housing sector's budding recovery is gaining traction and supporting the wider economic recovery.

Housing starts increased 15 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 872,000 units, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

That was the quickest pace since July 2008, though data on starts is volatile and subject to substantial revisions.

America's economy has shown signs of faster growth in recent months as the jobless rate has fallen and retail sales data has pointed to stronger consumer spending.

Wednesday's data showed that housing, which was battered by the 2007-09 recession, is increasingly one of the brighter spots in the economy.

"One of the big headwinds for the economy has been the weak housing market and this indicates that headwind has dissipated," said Gary Thayer, an economic strategist at Wells Fargo Advisors in St. Louis, Missouri.

Home building could add to growth this year for the first time since 2005 and the brighter economic signal is likely to be welcomed at the White House, where a sluggish economy is weighing on President Barack Obama's chances of re-election next month.

Economists estimate that for every new house built, at least three new jobs are created.

More home building could help compensate for some of the weakness recently in factory output, which is seen as due to sluggish export demand and cooling investment in capital goods.

NOT YET NORMAL

U.S. stocks were mixed, with the solid housing data outweighed by weakness in technology stocks after disappointing results from IBM and Intel. Yields on U.S. government debt rose.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast residential construction rising to a 770,000-unit rate. August's starts were revised to show a 758,000-unit pace instead of the previously reported 750,000.

Housing remains hampered by a glut of unsold homes, and the housing starts rate is still about 60 percent below its January 2006 peak.

September groundbreaking for single-family homes, the largest segment of the market, rose 11 percent to a 603,000-unit pace - the highest level since August 2008. Starts for multi-family homes climbed 25.1 percent.

Building permits grew 11.6 percent to a 894,000-unit pace in September. August's permits were unrevised at 801,000 units.

Economists had expected permits to rise to a 810,000-unit pace last month.

"Things are lining up for housing," said John Canally, an economist at LPL Financial in Boston. "It's another step in the right direction, but you still have a long, long way to get back to 'normal' in housing."

U.S. home sales have been creeping up and the steep decline in prices since 2006 appears to have bottomed. That has helped home-builder sentiment, which this month rose to a fresh six-year high.

In a bid to help the economy by encouraging people to buy homes, the Fed said last month it would buy $40 billion in mortgage-backed securities every month until the jobs outlook improves substantially.

The Fed's efforts to lower borrowing costs have pushed interest rates on 30-year mortgages to all-time lows. Last week, fixed 30-year mortgage rates rose 1 basis point to average 3.57 percent, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.

Applications for U.S. home mortgages fell last week, but demand for purchase loans, a leading indicator of home sales, reached the highest level since June, the association said.

"It seems as though low interest rates and stable prices are starting to stir the interest of potential buyers," said Michael Moran, an economist at Daiwa Securities America in New York.

(Additional reporting by Atossa Abrahamian, Leah Schnurr and Ellen Freilich in New York; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/housing-starts-surge-fastest-pace-since-2008-123107329--business.html

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Repeated confrontations define spirited second presidential debate (CNN)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/256079678?client_source=feed&format=rss

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