Girls in Government
While doing some research recently, I came across a site called Girls in Government, which encourages girls to take leadership roles and participate in political movements. The site has a great look and feel to it and features both high-profile women as well as young girls who are bringing about positive changes in their communities through leadership. This is a great resource for anyone interested in this field.
Meet Scientist Kathleen Hardy
I received an email from Michael Hardy who suggested I check out his wife Kathy’s adventures as a research scientist at sea. Kathy has been blogging about her work and posting photos whenever their Internet signal become available. Here is some info from her about page:
Kathleen Hardy grew up in Waldoboro, graduated from Medomak Valley High School and the University of Maine. She conducts oceanographic research at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole and on the high seas. She will be boarding the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson in Seattle on Saturday, May 12 and embarking on a month long research cruise along the Washington, British Columbian and Alaskan coasts and then out to the mid North Pacific. Check out her blog for her observations on life at sea, the research, the wildlife, the scenery and the people crazy enough to make their living spending weeks at a time on a rolling ship.
The geeky among us will find her commentary and experiments fascinating, but for the non-geeky Kathy does share her observations about the wildlife she sees both in and out of the water. Cool stuff!
Women in Poker
Ask any woman who plays poker about her first time playing a live game. Ask her what she was feeling the very first time she stepped toward the poker room in a live casino. Ask her what was going through her head at the very sound of “Shuffle up and deal.” In all likelihood the hair on the back of her neck was standing up on end and she felt like she was going to vomit. I know that sounds silly but entering a poker room as a woman is not the easiest thing to do. In online poker rooms women make up about half the players. But in a live poker room it is more like 6-10%. So for every 100 people only 10 might be women. And for some poker rooms that number is generous.
Since the beginning of time poker has been considered a man’s game. It was played in smoke filled back rooms of the elite and in dusty cellars of underground card rooms. Not many women dared to make even the slightest attempt at entering the room unless they were scantily dressed and prepared to serve drinks. It was a gentlemen’s game and has remained that way for centuries. Even in the 1980’s women at the tables were frowned upon and not taken very seriously. Not until Barbara Enright showed them otherwise when she became the only woman to make a World Series of Poker Championship final table. Even twenty years later women are still not taken as seriously as we should be. But we are working on it.
I’m worth just as much as HE is!
I wanted to follow up on my Twice as Good or Four Times as Hard post from last week with a little story from my wild and crazy past. I say “wild and crazy” because when I look back on it I think things like “that was wild” and “was I crazy?” This post is the saga of my radio station career and how I got the shaft not once, not twice, but three times because I wasn’t a guy.
When I started college at Millikin University in the early 1990’s (1991 to be exact), digital recording techniques were just beginning to get noticed. Most recording studios and radio stations were still using good old-fashioned reel-to-reel tape for their broadcasts and audio media. During my senior year of college I landed a rather coveted job at a local radio station, DJ-ing on the weekends and splicing “jock shows” together for their new automated radio broadcasts.
A few weeks prior to my arrival at the station, the manager had purchased some computers and audio software to use in their production studio. I was like a kid in a candy store when I first laid eyes on it. The other employees were rather intimidated by the strange new box in the studio and clueless as to how the software even worked. Several folks continued to work from reels and then hand over the reel to be dubbed into the computer for the broadcast. Not me. I think I spliced one tape before I thought “to heck with this” and fired up the computer. After familiarizing myself with the new software, I recorded my first commercial.
Would you vote for a woman?
Alec from Prose Before Hos sent me a link to this great article about disproportional representation in politics which discusses various groups, including women:
Women of voting age represent 51.6 percent of the voting age population yet are 16.3% of the Congress, putting America below the global average of 17% female representation at parliamentary level. As of 2007, the US ranks 68th in terms of women holding office in the legislature — this puts the US just above Turkmenistan, and just below El Salvador and Panama.
Eeek! That’s not so good. In a country where women supposedly have equal rights, we are sorely underrepresented. Why do you think the numbers look so bad here? Do Americans put less faith in women as politicians or are there just not enough women running for office?
About Me
Before I tell you a bit about myself, I want to congratulate Gretchen on a job well done! The site is a great outlet for women who are trying to compete in what used to be a “mans’ world.” I hope you all get all you can out of it and put into it what you can.
My name is Amy Zupko on most forums and sites I go by the name Zupko2001. I am a wife and mother of three. Two boys ages 18 and 15 and one girl who is just turning 7 and truly believes that she is a princess. I can tell you from experience that my mother got even.
I work at a local retail establishment as a “third key” in other words I do the same job as the management but don’t get the pay that goes with it. I enjoy my job though. I work with several departments that I order, market and merchandise. Only thing I am not crazy about is the hours. With my daughter so young it can be tough to work nights.
My other job is probably the most satisfying and rewarding job of all. I am a writer/publishing assistant for Woman Poker Player Magazineas well as a moderator for Womens Poker Club. I also co host a show on Hold’em Radio about women in poker.
I’m sure you have heard some horror stories about women in poker. I can easily tell you that most of us are not gambling addicts, we do not spend our mortgage money on poker, and we don’t neglect our kids due to online poker. We are women trying to make it in what has always been considered a man’s game. We are no different from the musicians, career women and athletes trying to break through the glass ceiling and just want to be treated equally and taken seriously.
Youngest Person to Top Mount Everest is a Girl
Last week, Samantha Larson became the youngest person on record to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. Samantha, who climbed the peak with her father as part of the “Seven summits challenge” has now officially beat the challenge record set last year by 20 year old Rhys Miles Jones.
Samantha has been climbing since she was a kid and has reached the peaks of mountains such as Aconcagua in South America at the age of 13 and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa at the age of 14.
Driven to excellence in everything she does, Samanatha has been known to practice her oboe in the snow on climbing treks as well as study to keep her grades up. It has obviously paid off as Samantha graduated near the top of her high school class and is planning to attend Stanford University in the fall. You can read about her climbing adventures on her blog at http://www.samanthalarson.blogspot.com/
Girls Can’t WHAT? salutes Samanatha Larson for a job well done! Guess I need to work on a Girls Can’t WHAT? climbing design. 
Thanks to Kel1 for the heads up on this one.
BarlowGirl Sneak Preview - Today Only!
For the BarlowGirl fans out there (including me), Alyssa, Lauren and Rebecca have a new album called How Can We Be Silent which is due in stores on July 24th. Every Monday until the release date, you can hear a sneak preview of one of their new songs from HaveYouHeardThe Word.com. The listening event is available on MONDAYS ONLY. Today’s track is titled “Song for the Broken”. It’s pretty cool. 
American Idol Votes for Pop Culture
This may be the last season I tune in to American Idol. Not because I am disgruntled in any way, but the musician in me can’t take much more of it. Apparently America is tone-deaf.
Long before we got to the final three, my friends and I had a “Girls Night Out” at my house where we watched the American Idol auditions. When Melinda Doolittle sang, I turned to Kelli and said “she will make it to the top 10 but she won’t win.” (Do you remember that Kel?). I don’t know if gave any reasons, but my immediate thought was that she has a fabulous voice but America will vote her off because she doesn’t have the “It Factor”. Wednesday night, my prediction came true. If you are not familiar with the “It Factor”, I suggest reading this article submitted to me by Lissa which defines the “It Factor” and explains why “Plain Janes” need not apply in Hollywood.
Let me summarize for those of you that don’t watch AI. Melinda has been a vocal dream since her audition. I don’t think she has yet to crack a note or even sing off pitch. She is an amazing singer. The judges all tell her she is giving a “vocal master class” every time she performs. A “master class” is when the students all gather with the teacher and the cream of the crop perform in front of everyone while the teacher critiques and the students learn from the performance. Being a music major in college I have spent my fair share of time in master classes and believe me, Melinda is a vocal master.
One important fact outside of how the musician sounds is stage presence. Melinda has that nailed, too. Her heart shows when she sings - that’s what is supposed to happen. It’s not about whether you got the audience to stand up and clap or whether you danced well or how you dressed. Stage presence is about your connection with the music. If you connect with the music, your audience will see that and then they will connect with you. Focus on the music and the rest will come. It really is that simple.
So why did America vote Melinda off? Read more
Movie “Gracie” to open June 1st
Last year I posted information about the open auditions for the lead role in “Gracie,” a movie about a girl on a boys soccer team. That role was filled by actress Carly Schroeder and the film is scheduled to be in theaters on June 1st. Here is the scoop:
Living in South Orange New Jersey, 15 year old Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder) is the only girl in a family of three brothers. Their family life revolves almost entirely around soccer: her father (Dermot Mulroney) and brothers are obsessed with the sport, practicing in the backyard’s makeshift field every day from morning ‘til night. Tragedy unexpectedly strikes when Gracie’s older brother Johnny (Jesse Lee Soffer), star of the high school varsity soccer team and Gracie’s only protector, is killed in a car accident. Struggling with grief over her family’s loss, Gracie decides to fill the void left on her brother’s team by petitioning the school board to allow her to play on the boy’s high school varsity soccer team in his place.
For a sneak preview of this fantastic movie, check out the Gracie trailer on apple.com. There were some great action shots and some pretty cool quotes about girls playing sports like when the soccer coach said “if you’re gonna be the first girl on my team then you’ve gotta be better than good.” Hmmm…that sounds familiar!
A big thanks to kel1 for sending me the link. 
Girls Can’t WHAT? News Clip
As promised to the friends and family who didn’t get to see the news clip on Girls Can’t WHAT? that aired on my local station a couple of weeks ago, here is the video. Special thanks to Trevor for ripping it from his Tivo. 
In My Daughter’s Eyes
I can’t think of a better song to celebrate Mother’s Day than”In My Daughter’s Eyes” by Martina McBride. Thankfully, YouTube delivers with this fantastic video of Martina singing this song live. Break out the tissues.
Future Astronaut
Check out this future astronaut staring out at the stars, planning her first trip into outer space. Perhaps Catherine (aka “Little CAT”) will be the first to discover a new planet or prove that alien life exists. Maybe she’s contemplating the age of the sun or calculating the return of Haley’s comet.
Whatever her quest may be, Girls Can’t WHAT? wishes her all the best in her explorations.
Special thanks to Little CAT’s mom for capturing this adorable photo!
Twice As Good or Four Times As Hard?
One of my all time favorite quotes is this:
“Whatever women must do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”
~ Charlotte Whitton
How true this statement has been in my lifetime. There is some interesting math involved here, though, depending on how you interpret the quote. If we have to work twice as hard to get half the credit, wouldn’t we have to work four times as hard in order to be equal? No wonder we women are so exhausted all the time!
Now on to the part that says “Luckily, this is not difficult.” I am not so sure that is true. Any time a woman takes on the challenge of a “man’s job,” there is usually an instant barrier set in place that she must somehow get over. I have honestly never yet met a woman who walked into a particular job or field of expertise and was just accepted and never once felt an ounce of discrimination. If you have ever experienced total acceptance, please share your story. Unfortunately, this site is full of stories where “acceptance” is not the norm.
So what do we do about this “norm”? It seems that every time we make some progress, something happens and we slide backward a few notches. Take the field of technology for instance. Women were making great strides in this area just a couple of years ago. Today, the number of women pursuing careers in the computer sciences is on a serious decline. Why? Are there less females interested in technology now or are they just tired of working four times as hard to get the same results as the males?
What is your profession? Do you feel like you are working four times as hard?
Born To Fly by Sara Evans
Here’s a great Monday-morning-pick-me-up by Sara Evans called “Born to Fly” to get your week started off on the right foot - or should I say wing? Love this song.
Lyrics to Born To Fly By Sara Evans Read more
Where’s my check?
With Mother’s day on the horizon, I thought it would be appropriate to take a look at what Moms are really worth. Salary.com does a great job of highlighting the various duties of the typical mother and what those jobs are worth in real American dollars.
You have to figure that among the many roles that women play, the role of mother has more responsibilities than all others combined. After all, Mom is the cook, housekeeper, taxi driver, babysitter, nurse, teacher, accountant, CEO, etc. So if mom is holding down all of these jobs simultaneously, what is she really worth? If you narrow the hours down to say a 90-hour work week, Salary.com guesses that Mom should be pulling in about $90,000 per year. If overtime were paid on top of that, it would be an additional $25,000. These numbers are for a stay-at-home mom, but I really think this applies to all moms. Just because you have a day job doesn’t mean you are exempt from doing laundry, shuttling the kids and cooking dinner. How well I know!
Here is a breakdown of Mom’s job title and the annual salary for that profession: Read more
Blogging Chicks Mother’s Day Carnival
Girls Can’t WHAT? is hosting the Blogging Chicks Mother’s Day Carnival for this week. Check out these fantastic writings about motherhood from some amazing women bloggers:
Meet Ashley: Slam Dunking for CFS and Fibromyalgia
Ashley is not your typical kid. At the age of 12, she has already started her own successful online business called Slam Dunks Apparel. The Massachusetts sixth grader enjoys booting up her computer and creating designs with funny quotes and sayings, girl power designs, sports themes, monkey t-shirts, and other cute characters which are displayed on apparel and gift items such as T-shirts, hoodies, bibs, bags, hats, mugs, stickers, magnets and more. Ashley is more than just an entrepreneur. She is also raising money to find a cure for a condition that affects millions of people around the world, the majority of which are women.
My business began as a way to promote awareness for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and to raise money for research. My aunt has been living with CFS for 6 years, and I want to do whatever I can to help find a cure. My original designs were focused on CFS, and then Fibromyalgia was added. In order to help the business grow, I started to create fun t-shirts for all ages. I will donate a minimum of 10% of all profits to the CFIDS Association of America.
Ashley and her artwork are making waves. Kimberly McCleary, the president of the CFIDS Association of America, has invited Ashley to fly to Washington, DC, with her aunt and uncle where she will attend the CFIDS Association’s Lobby Day on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, May 15. They are planning to meet with leaders to explain to what is needed for CFIDS research and treatment.
When she is not designing new items for Slam Dunks, Ashley can be found playing baseball, babysitting, working on the computer, and investing.
Check out these designs by Ashley: Read more
Girls Can’t Mow Lawns
This design was a special request by a friend, who’s daughter started a lawn care business this spring. Her daughter Catie and another girl friend are raking in some extra cash by mowing lawns and doing general lawn care. So Catie (and whatever your friend’s name is 
), this one’s for you. I’m calling it the “lawn care specialist” and I have just added it to the Girls Can’t WHAT? Shop. Read more
Nichole Nordeman Comes Clean
Continuing the topic of self-image, I invite you to read this confession by Nichole Nordeman called “Coming Clean” in which Nichole talks about her feelings of guilt and duplicity after a magazine cover photo shoot. I highly recommend you take 10 or so minutes to read and fully digest this article. Not only does Nichole talk about her personal experience, but she interviews 13 other artists about how they view themselves and their industry.
If you are not familiar with Nichole Nordeman, check out her video called “Legacy”. It’s a powerful video about real people doing extraordinary things through their daily lives. Worth seeing at least once. Lyrics are posted below. Read more
Meet Sax Player Elizabeth
I just received this lovely photo of Elizabeth from California who loves her new sax player T-shirt from Girls Can’t WHAT? Elizabeth is 18 and has just been accepted into Innerspark, a 4-week intensive music program involving theory, private lessons, and improvisation. Way to go, girl! 
Bon Appétit
It seems that women have known how to cook since the dawn of time. Remember the caveman cartoons in history class where the man goes out and kills something while the woman waits in the cave until he returns and then she cooks it? Yeah - so why is it that there are more male chefs than female chefs in the culinary arts?
I happen to think that women naturally make better chefs than men do. I am not knocking the men who choose this profession, but women have intuitive giftings such as organizational skills and a knack for details that are a huge advantage in this field. However, just because women know how to cook doesn’t exempt them from discrimination and harassment on the job. Many female chefs will tell you that men do not like to work for them because they are female. So I’m adding the Girls Can’t WHAT? Chef design to the shop. It is available on a variety of products, including an apron.
Here are a few women who are considered to be some of the top female chefs in the world: Read more
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