French Gov’t to Mandate Healthy Self Esteem

Is there any law that the French won’t pass? This week, fifty French lawmakers proposed a law that would require advertisers to place disclaimers on any retouched (or “photoshopped”) image. The proposal was backed by an expert on adolescent eating disorders. Advertisers who fail to comply would be slapped with a fine of €37,500 (or about $55,000).

While it’s unfortunate that so many women and girls suffer from psychological distress and “body issues,” that’s not a very good reason to get the government involved. Try as they might, the French government will not be able to legislate away sadness, insecurity, or irrational self-loathing.

Yes, images are retouched, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that fashion models are “average” women in the first place. Unfair though it may be, the exclusive fashion and beauty industry favors women born with extraordinary genetic endowments.

(And by the way, aren’t the French already notorious for their beautiful, demure, and seductive women?)

To see the possible unintended consequences of this law, let’s assume it will pass. Most people are well-aware that advertisements and magazine covers are a long way from our natural state. Requiring disclaimers won’t change the game; instead it will likely raise the wage of the most beautiful models and put the second-stringers out of a job entirely, as advertisers will be unwilling to settle for less-than-perfect women who would otherwise be retouched later. As a consequence, women might suffer more “psychological distress” knowing that the beautiful models they see aren’t photoshopped, but are the natural, “true” beauty ideals that they’re “supposed” to live up to.

Things I’ve Learned from Watching House

A certain friend of mine has been continually reminding me of the fun I’m missing without a cable hook-up. Alas, I got to thinking this evening about some of the “life lessons” I’ve learned from watching the medical drama House:

• People lie. This is true regardless of what kind of life-threatening disease they have that could be easily cured if they would come clean about their drug use, infidelity, prior suicide attempts, or affinity for lesbian hookers.
• The answer to any puzzle usually comes while you’re intensely conversing with a close colleague about a completely unrelated topic.
• If you’re really, really good at your job, ethics can go out the window. As can professional courtesy – you can be a complete jerk towards your boss and colleagues, up to and including making several sexually or racially harassing comments every day, without any threat of disciplinary action whatsoever. Heck, you’re boss might even develop a thing for you.
• In fact, being an old curmudgeon will also give you the opportunity to nail any of your pretty ingenue subordinates (assuming they’re, you know, into dudes).
• It’s not at all weird for coworkers to psychologically analyze each other on a regular basis.
• It’s never lupus. If you’re sick, and your doctor tells you it’s lupus, he or she is an idiot and you should get a second opinion immediately, and consider switching primary care providers.
• It’s almost never sarcoidosis, either.

On the flip side, the show contains many nuggets of wisdom that I think are accurate of real life, such as:

• “People don’t change.”
• “Beautiful women don’t go to medical school [or more broadly, seek academic/professional acheivement] unless they’re as damaged as they are beautiful.”
• “Almost dying changes nothing. Dying changes everything.”
• “It’s a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what.”

On the whole, I love the show. I spend a lot of my free time watching and analyzing people, so a character-driven drama with a strong philosophical overtone and a protagonist who upholds reason and science is right up my alley.

Pleasant-sounding words

Attribute it to my long-standing fangirl crush on Patrick Stewart, but for some odd reason, I’ve always really enjoyed hearing Captain Jean-Luc Picard say the phrase “Prepare for emergency saucer separation.”

The Sci-Fi channel has added 3 hours of Star Trek:TNG to its monday night programming schedule. Ooh, commercial break’s over…gotta go!

So much for commitment to a plan

I really thought that publicly posting my tentative post-graduation plans would help me commit to them (yes, I have been changing my mind about everything almost weekly). Now, immediately after announcing my intent to move to the big city to find work, Thoroughly Modern Millie-style, I’m second-guessing my plan. It’s possible that I’ll stay in MN for a few more months.

Why? Well, a few months ago, I registered for two math classes at MSU for spring semester: Probability and Stats, and Differential Equations. My rationale was that I would need some extra math training if I ever wanted to pursue economics at the graduate level. Now as it turns out, America is in the worst recession in decades, and the job market isn’t particularly hot right now (especially in the free-market nonprofit world). Staying put may be the best option right now. Which means I need to invest in a warmer pair of mittens.

I got my degree; now what?

Please forgive the nonexistent posting as of late. I’m not even going to blame the “hustle and bustle of the holiday season” on this – call it pure sloth, mixed with some anxiety. I graduated three weeks ago, and haven’t done much of anything since, save for some “adventures” with friends on the town, and a few job interviews (all of which I feel went really well, but I know not to get my hopes up). In fact, going on the job market in the midst of the worst recession we’ve seen in decades is giving me a healthy dose of pessimism about my immediate future. Sigh… as much as I’ve lamented missing out on the whole Gen-X era (they may not have had cell phones, but the music was superior), I never wanted my life to mirror Reality Bites. Unless there’s a sexy, brooding Ethan Hawke character involved – mmmm.

McJob: The only thing I can get despite paying £11,000 for a university education (Source: Urban Dictionary).

Unfortunately, I paid more than that (even considering the exchange rate) for my unimpressive university education. Due to circumstances concerning my immediate family, I decided freshman year that my original plan of transferring to a larger, more well-known university wasn’t a good option for me. While I don’t regret that choice, it definitely feels like a setback now that I’m competing for jobs. I’d hoped to be able to land a job doing outreach work somewhere in the Washington D.C. libertarian-nonprofit scene, but I’m feeling skeptical that I’ll find anything now. Regardless, I’ve decided to take a chance and move out there in February for a couple of months to see if I have any luck – if not, then it’s back to MN to study for grad school entrance exams, whee!

By this time next month, I should hopefully be in Washington, either unemployed or working at some crappy coffee shop, living off of my dwindling savings, accruing interest on deferred student loans, and whoring out my resume to anyone who’ll accept it. Or maybe I’ll be an intern (yet again).

Postscript: any DC readers in need of a roommate?

Bottom-Shelf Wine Recommendation

Little Penguin. It’s cheap ($5.99 or so), and tasty! I’ve recently tried the Cabernet Sauvignon. Smooth, low in tannin, no vinegary, cheap-red-wine taste. My dad, a wine salesman and connoisseur, told me that Little Penguin is branded as a “fruit forward” wine, marketed towards unsophisticated, “beginner” wine drinkers (like myself).

UPDATE: The Pinot Noir is actually terrible. Avoid that one. -LJ 12.1.08

Typealyze Me

My personality/blog type, according to www.typealyzer.com:

The analysis indicates that the author of http://icecreamheadache.wordpress.com is of the type:

ESTP – The Doers

The active and play-ful type. They are especially attuned to people and things around them and often full of energy, talking, joking and engaging in physical out-door activities.

The Doers are happiest with action-filled work which craves their full attention and focus. They might be very impulsive and more keen on starting something new than following it through. They might have a problem with sitting still or remaining inactive for any period of time.

That avatar is pretty cute, isn’t it? Anyway, I thought this was interesting, considering that my other blog, Technagora, revealed me to be an INTP (a “thinker”).

H/T: Angela

Welcome!

This here’s my new blog. It’s a catch-all for everything that isn’t relevant to my “official” blog, Technagora. Kind of like that tray that goes under your George Foreman grill and catches all the fat and grease. Yes, that’s what this is… a fat and grease tray.

Ciao!