I am Woman (well our Prime Minister is)

In honour of Australia’s first female Prime Minister Julia Gillard, pictured at her swearing-in ceremony today, the Song of the Week has to be I am Woman, the powerful, emotive feminist anthem written and performed by another successful Australian woman, Helen Reddy.

2010 has been a big year for the song, written in 1971. The song featured in Sex and the City 2 (it was sung by the cast members when visiting a culture with questionable women's rights) and was also played during the Oscars Ceremony when Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win Best Director.

With I am Woman Helen Reddy was the first Australian to have a #1 single in the United States and the first Australian to win a Grammy Award.

I am Woman
By Helen Reddy

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back an' pretend
'cause I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

CHORUS
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

CHORUS

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything

I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

FADE
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

---

It is such an empowering song that I almost wish I was a woman so I could sing it without getting my gender confused.

Coveting Coverture aka Chocolate and U

Just last week I was reading a cooking with chocolate discussion forum in preparation for a clutch of chocolate Easter Eggs I was attempting to create. One lady, a serial poster on this forum, was becoming increasingly vehement each time she posted her comments about the utmost importance of using couveture chocolate for glossy frosting/icing on cakes. She exclusively spelled this word without the first ‘u’ (as many Americans do) i.e. ‘coverture’ which is another word entirely meaning the out-dated legal doctrine that states that the very being or legal existence of a woman is suspended during a marriage, or at least incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband: under whose wing, protection, and cover, she performs everything. Ha! There is proof I did pay attention in Law School!

So considering those two words have very different meanings imagine the pedant's smile that spread across my face when reading the following post from the same woman in response to fellow poster BoBaker27’s decision to not use couverture;

“BoBaker27 you MUST use Belgian Coverture Chocolate. It is the BEST!! My husband is just like you and says it does not really matter but what would he know I say! He does not control me!! HAHA I love Coverture”

Insert wry smile here.

Working Girl

When I started my new job I began receiving emails from the Women in Management Association. This occurred due to an administrative error and not because they discovered I cried during Beaches. What follows is a series of email conversations I had with Cindy from the Women in Management Association.


From: Cindy

Sent: Monday, 16 November 2009 12:08 PM

To: Women in Management Email list

Subject: Are you interested in supporting young women gain success in work and life?

Hi Everyone
I hope you all enjoyed the Women in Management meeting last week!

Please see below an email from YWCA, seeking female mentors for young women.

If you are interested, please contact me.

Regards
Cindy
_____________________________________________-
From: David

Sent: Monday, 16 November 2009 12:11 PM

To: Cindy

Subject: RE: Are you interested in supporting young women gain success in work and life?

Hello Cindy

I just noticed that I am on the Working Women email list (I presume Admin or IT copied a female colleague’s email lists when setting my email up when I began work recently).

As I am not a woman, and I am not currently considering a change to become one, I should probably not be on this list.

Can you remove me from this list?

Regards

David

_____________________________________________

From: Cindy

Sent: Monday, 16 November 2009 12:13 PM

To: David

Subject: RE: Are you interested in supporting young women gain success in work and life?

Hi David
Thanks for the notification – will take you off the list.
You are always welcome to come and join the ‘better’ gender!
Cindy

A week later however I was evidently still on the list...
_____________________________________________

From: Cindy
Sent: Tuesday, 24 November 2009 6:08 PM

To: Women in Management Email list

Subject: Women in Management Lunch


Hi Everyone


I still have some seats left if people would like to go the Women in Management Lunch – Please let me know by COB tomorrow if you would like to go.

Cindy
_____________________________________________
From: David

Sent: Thursday, 26 November 2009 9:41 AM

To: Cindy
Subject: RE: Women in Management


Cindy...

Have you left me on the Women in Management email list to tempt me to join the better gender?

It will not work I tell you!


_____________________________________________
From: Cindy
Sent: Thursday, 26 November 2009 10:58 AM

To: David

Subject: RE: A few things


Man!!!! (no pun intended)….I have taken your name off about 6 times, and it keeps reappearing!!!!

I think its you – you really want to come to the other side don’t you……you keep adding your name back onto the list…..

Sorry!!!! I will see what I can do, but maybe you should just give up and come along!

Cindy

Perhaps I should Cindy, perhaps I should. Another email sent to Women in Management arrived in my inbox just before Christmas.

From: Cindy

Sent: Tuesday, 22 December 2009 8:40 PM

To: Women in Management Email list

Subject: Last email from me this year....


Hi Everyone
Just a quick email before I go on leave…woo hoo!

Thank you to those that responded to the survey on the Women in Leadership Action Plan. We are well on our way in developing the next action plan, and we have some really exciting and innovative ideas!

Merry Christmas!
Cindy

_____________________________________________
From: David

Sent: Wednesday, 23 December 2009 9:10 AM

To: Cindy

Subject: RE: Last email from me this year....

Merry Christmas Cindy!
_____________________________________________
From: Cindy

Sent: Wednesday, 23 December 2009 10:23 AM

To: David

Subject: RE: Last email from me this year....

You know, I checked the list again, your name was on it again, so I deleted it again....and you still got it again.....

My female intuition tells me you should be a special honorary member of the Women in Management Association!

Merry Christmas to you too David!

Show us your slits...

Some of my female friends have prominent toe cleavage.

Toe cleavage, for the blessedly unaware, is the partial exposure of a woman's toes in shoes. Low cut shoes reveal toe cleavage similar in the same way low cut tops reveal breast cleavage.

Despite the fact your piggies are on show toe cleavage can, apparently, be stylish and indeed sexy. To quote Carrie Bradshaw's idol, show designer Manolo Blahnik, "the secret of toe cleavage, a very important part of the sexuality of the shoe" is that "you must only show the first two cracks."

Hilarious.