Is Cheerleading A Thing of The Past?
I attended a local high school football game this past Friday and sat down a with a few neighbors to chat while we watched the game. (Ok I never really watched it - I don’t like football). About midway through the second quarter, my husband commented on how few cheerleaders we had. Granted, our school district is rather small, but there were only 5 girls on the squad. I looked across the field at the opposing team from a larger school (who were slaughtering us at the time) and they had about 16 girls lined up in front of the crowd.
Being relatively new to public school, I asked my neighbor (who works at the school) if it was normal for our team to only have 5 cheerleaders. She said they actually used to have a lot more members of the cheerleading squad back when girls sports were less popular. Now that sports have opened up girls teams for golf, volleyball, soccer and basketball, more girls are concentrating on sports than cheerleading. (This is the part where someone jumps in and says “cheerleading IS a sport!” - have fun with that.) She said it seems now that cheerleading is just an activity anyone can do if they want. They don’t even hold tryouts! Wow - that is so not the way things were when I was in high school. I knew girls who would kill for those coveted pom-poms. (Not me. I was too busy making the boys basketball team. 
)
So is anyone else noticing this trend? Are girls choosing to play the game rather than cheer for it?
Say Hi To LornaJane!
Just wanted to give a shout out to my online pal LornaJane in the UK. Lorna is a php geek and has been very gracious in answering my nerdy php questions from time to time. She has a fantastic blog site at LornaJane.net. Notice the lovely angel logo in the corner of the header. Yup - that’s my artwork. 
Drop by and say hi to Lorna…tell her Girls Can’t WHAT? sent ya.
Jennifer Garner Gets It
It’s always nice to see Hollywood stars who seem to have a firm grip on reality. Kelli sent me this interesting article about Jennifer Garner and her experiences with motherhood. I especially like her comments on fitting into a dress after giving birth:
“I usually feel like, `No matter how many girdles you put me in, you will not be able to zip this.’ They always say to you — as though it’s something that should make you happy — `This is fresh from the runway.’
“But what I think is, `That was made for some 14-year-old girl from Russia! It was not made to go on my body.’”
Girls Can’t Be Football Referees
Ok, I debuted a new referee design last week, but I had several people inform me that my design was more of a basketball referee than a football referee. After having the uniform differences pointed out to me (thanks, Clay), I revised it a little and have now added the football referee design to the Girls Can’t WHAT? Shop.
And yes, Sarah Thomas will still be getting a freebie. 
Yeah, that’s my band!
I’ve been asked to post music from my band when it’s available. We are almost finished with our demo album, so we’ve posted a couple of tracks on our myspace. They need a few minor tweaks still, but these two tracks are mostly done. Feedback is much appreciated.
How much do you know about women’s suffrage history?
I ran across this great women’s suffrage quiz at about.com. I challenge you to test your knowledge and see how well you score. I will admit I didn’t do so well and I think I am pretty well-versed in women’s history! 
Take the quiz and tell us how you did.
Business and Professional Women’s Foundation
Recently I was invited to attend a meeting for the Business and Professional Women’s Foundation at my alma mater, Millikin University. Knowing absolutely nothing about the BPW organization, I was pleasantly surprised at what I learned about their mission and the activities they pursue. The purpose of the meeting I attended was to determine the feasibility of starting a branch of the BPW here in my area. The response from the women in attendance was, from what I could see, overwhelmingly unanimous to get it rolling.
I am looking forward to learning more about BPW and how Girls Can’t WHAT? can contribute. I would be interested in hearing from any BPW members on their experiences with this foundation. What did you enjoy most and did you find it worthwhile?
National Talk Like A Pirate Day
Today is National “Talk Like A Pirate” Day. If ye think I’m joking, take a look at the official web site. We’re all prepared here at Girls Can’t WHAT? because we know girls can be pirates, too. In fact, some of the most ferocious pirates in history were female. I don’t make this stuff up. Arrrrg.
Special thanks to Amy Stephen at opensourcecommunity.org for the reminder.
Girls Can’t Be Referees
Last Saturday, Sarah Thomas became the first woman referee in recorded history to ever to call the plays in a major college football game. Her day job is a pharmaceutical saleswoman and she has 11 years experience at officiating high school football games.
The conference’s coordinator of officials, Gerry Austin, had this to say about Sarah:
“She came highly recommended by two NFL scouts. She has a good presence and demeanor. I feel like she has the ability and courage to make a call, and the guts to not make one, too.
I think it’s like any other time you are the first one, if she does a good job, I think she will have a very positive effect. If she messes up, some people might say females aren’t ready.”
Ironically, the day before I heard about Sarah’s debut on the college football field, I was drafting a Girls Can’t WHAT? referee design. I finished it up this morning and I’m pleased to announce it’s availability in the Girls Can’t WHAT? shop.
If anyone can get me in touch with Sarah Thomas, I’d like to send her one.
Bull Riders. Men or Women
When you think of bull riding you think of strong, athletic men. Well men aren’t just the only ones that bull ride. I know a few girl bull riders. Being a BULL RIDER you have to be strong. When my parents told me when I get on a bull it’ll put a new meaning cowboy/girl in my vocabulary. It’s true. But you have to have a strong heart also, most of the bull riders think that guys are the only ones that can. but thats not true at all. I am better than some of the guys and that apparently doesn’t look good for some of the guys because they don’t want to be known as the guy who got beat by a girl at bull riding! I love it, it is soooo much fun!
Please Play By The Rules
Just another contest reminder…please play by the rules. Posts are supposed to be inspirational and center around the theme of this site which is “Girls Can’t WHAT?”. Links to your web site or organization are fine as long as they are RELEVANT to the theme. If you are selling viagra, please don’t post. It’s really that simple.
If you need an example of how to promote your business, try explaining that you are a female business owner and share a story that ties that into your business. Perhaps you struggled and overcame a male-dominated industry or your business donates to a women’s charity. Interview or write about a female employee that inspires you. This way you contribute to the theme of the site and you get to promote your business.
I’ve had to pull several articles over the weekend due to spamming and off-topic posts. I have moved back to moderating posts to avoid surprises and complaints by regular readers. The contest is still on, however, there may be a slight delay before your post appears. Thank you for your cooperation.
It’s Not Miley’s Fault
Ok - I started something. I ranted a little to let off some steam and it turned into something huge. My post on the Miley Cyrus Hannah Montana ticket scalping has risen to the top of the Hot Topic stack in just a matter of days. The article has been getting hit like crazy from angry parents across the US who bought into the Miley world fan club in order to get pre-sale tickets to the tour only to be told the shows were sold out just minutes. At this moment, the comments are about to top 100, so I just wanna add one little, tiny addendum to all this hoopla…
Meet Glenda Watson Hyatt
I found a great inspirational interview for this lovely Monday morning over on Successful-Blog.com. Blogger Liz Strauss has a four-part interview with a remarkable author, Glenda Watson Hyatt. Glenda has cerebral palsey, but that has not stopped her from accomplishing some fantastic goals in her life, including writing a new book called “I’ll Do It Myself”. Liz does a wonderful job of interviewing Glenda. Her outlook on life is truly inspirational. Don’t skip this one. Read it now!
my shocking moment on the field
The soccer game was intense but as a goalie/defense i was on it but as I was in goal a little boy came behind the gaol box and shouted “girls cant play soccer” it took me back .Then his mom came up and said “oh yes they can! “that whole comment that a 5 year old said took me back
cause it made me think that some little boys and grown men still think that.Which is a shame.
Women Can’t Be Police Officers
Last Friday night, my family and I went out to dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant down the street. Pulling into the parking lot, we saw two women police officers stepping out of their squad car. My girls were both excited and said “Mom, look at the police officers!” My husband made a short comment about it being unusual to see a female police officer and even more rare to see two of them together. I frequently notice female officers around our city, so I didn’t see what the big deal was. My girls didn’t care that they were women either. They just think it’s cool to see people in uniforms.
As we entered the front doors, the two female police officers walked in right behind us. I chatted with them a for a few minutes while we waited for our table, mentioning my web site and that the Girls Can’t WHAT? Police Officer was the hottest selling design which they thought was cool. A few moments later my family was seated at the booth nearest the cash register and the two officers at a booth about 20 feet away.
I thought nothing more about them until later during our meal as I watched two young men come around the corner and do a double take at the two women in full uniform. Neither woman noticed the men staring at them as they made their way to the register. Just as the men were about to pass by our booth, I overheard one of them say “Wow, female cops. You don’t see those very often.” The other guy leaned in to his friend and said “Yeah, they could arrest me any time. Dang.”
Amusing as that was to me, I still kept thinking it was odd that neither my kids nor I thought it unusual to see women in uniform, but the two men and my husband both acted like that was the strangest thing they had seen all day. Why is that?
Contest Reminder
Just wanted to post a heads-up about the Girls Can’t WHAT? September contest. I’m giving away free T-shirts to five winners based on the best blog entries for the month of September. For more information on the contest and the rules, read the original announcement.
Why there are no ads on this site
I get requests almost daily from organizations and marketing companies that want me to place ads around my site so I thought I’d give a little explanation as to why I will not post ads on here. First of all, let me say that I tried a few ads on my site about a year ago. The ads were distracting and didn’t always fit the “look” of my site. Sure, I can make them blend in and look pretty but I can’t control the content or images that pop up. And if I can’t control it, then I don’t want it on here. Imagine the shock of opening up a page on my site about modesty, only to find an ad image of a scantily clad girl inviting us to visit a web site for a “dating” service. Not cool. The text-based ads were just as bad. I had complaints from users about some of the text that was showing up and the products that were being advertised based off of keywords in an article. Again, not cool. So I pulled them ALL off.
This does not mean that every advertisement is bad. There were some good ones along with with the bad ones. Some organizations that want to advertise with me are actually very reputable or they are non-profits just wanting to trade links with me. My policy on those types of ads is this: Sign up for an account here, sign in and post a short write-up for your organization. If you want more, come back and give us an update, tell us what your organization is doing to benefit women or what events you are hosting. I’m ok with that kind of promotion as long as it fits the theme of this site, which is to encourage women.
What about the money I can get from ads? Simply put, I don’t need the money. The revenue from my own shop is more than enough to sustain this site and all the expenses that go with it. Carry on.
Bump, Set, Spike!
After about a zillion requests, I finally buckled down and drew a Girls Can’t WHAT? volleyball design. This has got to be THE most requested design I have had so far, so I hope it meets expectations. The volleyball player comes in red, green and blue uniforms but I can easily create a custom uniform color or add a team name to the back of the shirt. Just contact me and tell me what you need. No extra charge. This design is now available in the Girls Can’t WHAT? Shop.
I’d like to share some interesting thoughts I had while working on the volleyball player. The “Girls Can’t Play Football” thread has continued to draw a crowd and there is a raging debate over whether girl should play on boy teams just because there aren’t any girls football teams. I was thinking that volleyball is kind of the reverse of that. There aren’t very many (if any) boys volleyball teams at the high school level. So what if a guy wants to play volleyball? We should let him play, right? How is that any different than denying a girl the opportunity to play football when there are no girl teams available?
And another random thought…why is volleyball considered a “girl sport” anyway? *shrug*
Stop Saying “I wish…”
Besides the word “can’t,” there are two other words that I just don’t like. The words “I wish”. To me, the words “I wish” are equivalent to the words “I can’t”. It drives me nuts when people sit around and say “I wish this would happen” or “I wish I could do this…” I literally scratch my head and think why aren’t they making that happen? If you find yourself saying “I wish” then something in your world isn’t quite they way you want it to be. Change it. And don’t tell me you “can’t”.
She’s Such a Geek: Women Write about Science, Technology, and Other Nerdy Stuff
I ran across this book recently and although I haven’t picked up a copy yet, I thought it looked good enough to mention. She’s Such a Geek: Women Write about Science, Technology, and Other Nerdy Stuff
by Annalee Newitz and Charlie Anders is a set of 24 essays from female geeks discussing their experiences in their male-dominated fields. Discrimination appears to be a recurring theme, with one programmer recalling her professor’s compliment of “you’re really, really good, for a girl.”
The book also seems to have a bit of a following, with other women stepping forward and posting their stories on the She’s Such a Geek web site and youtube.
I can’t wait to dive into this one…
Girls Can’t Be X-ray Technicians
I have just finished another custom design - an X-ray Technician - requested by Tarah (by the way Tarah, your email is bouncing, please contact me again about your other request). I’ve had so many requests for medical characters…doctors, nurses, emts, surgeons, etc. that perhaps they need their own category now. Hmm… Anyway, the X-Ray Technician has been added to the Girls Can’t WHAT? shop on the usual items…hoodies, t-shirts, hats, mugs, stickers, tote bags and the increasingly popular pillow. Visit the Girls Can’t WHAT? shop to see the full listing of products.
Princess Bubble is No Ordinary Fairy Tale
Here’s an interesting new series of books that break the “Princess” mold of having to find Prince Charming in order to feel fulfilled. Created by Susan Johnston and Kimberly Webb with some fantastic illustrations by artist Maria Tonelli, Princess Bubble is a refreshing re-write of the traditional fairy tale. I was going to do a complete write-up about the series, but the “Our Message” page explains it so well:
What is Princess Bubble?
Princess Bubble is a 35-page, modern-day fairy tale starring a well-employed, globe-trotting, good-friend, good-date, helpful-neighbor princess who is confused by the traditional fairy tale message that implies she must find her “prince” before she can live “happily ever after.”Princess Bubble is the first in a series of books specifically designed to encourage gals ages 6 to 60 to pursue their own dream—the foundation for a uniquely enriched and fulfilled life. In the series of books, Princess Bubble—like her flight attendant creators—will travel to distant lands learning about new cultures and how our unique differences make each of us special.
Hey Batter Batter - Swing!
My youngest daughter has just expressed an interest in baseball, so I took her outside this weekend and handed her my old Little League glove. I think she is a natural. It was her eighth birthday and the first time I think she has actually touched a real baseball. After a couple of quick pointers from me, she was throwing me the ball with remarkable accuracy and she wasn’t afraid to get right in front of it to catch. We will definitely sign up for the local team next season.
As if my daughter’s enthusiasm and display of natural talent wasn’t enough, I found this in my inbox this morning - an invitation to visit www.girlsbaseballleague
Halo Friendlies - Me against the World
Be Positive
IMPORTANT RULE TO BE FOLLOWED AT ALL TIMES
Don’t ever try to be someone you’re not. People will see through you right away. To have the best attitude, be true to yourself.
That’s right, the secret to having a great attitude is to be yourself and be happy with who you are.It doesn’t matter what you look like or where your strengths lie.
Do you remember that Christina Aguilera song?The one that goes, “I am beautiful, no matter what they say,no words can bring me down”? Well, our Christina may not always be number one in fashion , but when it comes to attitude, she’s right on.
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