Vogue

I find it sad that the United States seems to have convinced itself that it stands high above other countries in the area of women's rights. Just check out the latest about Katie Couric as the anchor of the CBS evening news. The big question: is there something wrong with Katie as a news anchor, or are people not ready to see her doing a job that men have done since the invention of television? In truth, Katie has at least 20 years of experience in journalism and she is smart and engaging. Gender simply has to be at the crux of the issue. The CBS producers have had all sorts of trouble figuring out how to "sell" Katie as a serious evening anchor after she left behind the supposedly lightweight genre of morning TV. Why is there this weirdly strict division between morning and evening news? And how can Katie be expected to succeed when people keep picking apart everything about her, from her clothes, makeup, and hair, to her parenting abilities, to her love life? Isn't this beginning to sound a whole lot like the story of a certain senator (whose first name starts with H-i-l-l and ends with a-r-y)?

In slightly more hopeful news, British singer Lily Allen has written several very honest blog postings on her myspace page. She describes feeling hopeless about her appearance, saying she's "fallen victim to the evil machine" of the media, and that she has been researching "gastric bypass surgery, and laser lipo suction." Since Saturday, 1,642 people have left comments on Lily's blog encouraging her to change her image of herself. I think this is a powerful sign that a) celebrities can make an impact by speaking out, and b) something seriously needs to change. Yes, some percentage of women in this country do have a problem with their weight, but I can guarantee that at some point in their lives, 100% of women feel insecure about themeslves because of the thinness shown all around them. There should a massive public forum to talk about the psychological damage that is being done everyday.