Omss Fashion: Hot On BlogHer: Catherine Zeta-Jones + What Do You Mean, Women Aren't Funny?

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April 21, 2011

Hi everyone,

Meet Australian BlogHer Norma Booth (in the red), who stopped by the office this week to say hi and school me on the ways of BlogHers in Oz. I loved meeting Norma because she's such a straight shooter. "In your newsletter--you do know you write and send one right?" Norma kidded me. "Really, do you write it?"

"Yes," I said, aghast. "I think the team would rip it from my hands if someone else wrote the intro and I pretended it was me." At that, Polly Pagenhart, Lesbian Dad, grinned and nodded at Norma. 'Nuff said.

Go Norma for asking, I say. I shared with her the whole story of why and how Elisa, Jory and I started BlogHer, and how we grew to reach 26 million uniques each month across our publishing network, and care so much about creating a media company to help women network, write and get paid. I love this work -- yet I really miss writing. Hence the newsletter. :)

So welcome to the Get Real edition. Catherine Zeta-Jones really has bipolar II, and has ripped away the celebrity veil, sans drama, to own it, blogs Morgan Shanahan. Suzy Soros is really kind of pissed off about how hard it is for women to break into comedy, and Professor Kim has a real lecture on why and how parents and teachers need to talk with kids about slavery. Editor Melissa Ford blogged how 99 percent of American families have an opportunity to support the sacrifice of the tiny one percent whose loved ones serve in the military. And Karen Ballum handed Pulitzer Winner Jennifer Egan a beautifully typed comeuppance for writerly snobbery in her post "Jennifer Egan Wins Pulitzer Prize, Commits Girl-On-Girl Crime."

Happy sigh. I love this community. For real.

Enjoy!

Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mental Health, and ... Me

Entertainment Section Editor Morgan Shanahan on the actress' announcement that she had checked herself into a facility for treatment of bipolar II disorder:

"Like so many, I used to take news of others' mental illness with a grain of salt. Neither here nor there. But no longer an innocent to the ways of mood disorders I literally sat down on my couch to take a second and wish her a speedy recovery because I felt like I had just learned that this woman, who I don't know, who I've never met, and who I have virtually nothing in common with, was in some way my soul sister."

Read more.

The Not-So-Funny Side of Women in Comedy

Comedian and blogger Suzy Soro of Hollywood: Where Hot Comes to Die weighs in on Jane Curtin's recent revelation to Oprah of sexism on "Saturday Night Live" in the '70s:

"I started doing comedy back in the 80's when there were about twenty-five women doing standup in New York. As we tried to join the men who had traded in city clubs for the more lucrative road work, we faced a rejection that couldn't be defended: 'We had a woman here once and she died so we're not using any more women.' ... Having never seen this mythical, unnamed woman we could only wonder if every guy who played their club had done a good job. Had no man ever died there? Hello, is this thing on only for men?"

Read more.

How Parents and Teachers Should Teach Kids About Slavery

After learning of a fifth-grade teacher who had her students pretend to be part of a slave auction, Contributing Editor Kim Pearson talked to education expert Dr. Alicia Moore about better ways to approach the subject.

Moore: First of all, I have to remind myself that the institution of slavery endured 250 years and our country is only 234 years old. Slavery lasted longer than our country has been established!! Wow! What an opportunity for families, educators and communities and community leaders to talk openly and honestly about our nation's history - an opportunity to proclaim, like the old Virginia Slims commercials, "We've come a long way, baby!" And, in the same breath, recoil and decree, "Yet, we have a long, long way to go!"

Read more.

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We hope you have a wonderful week! If you have a question or idea, email me at lisa@blogher.com.

Best,