Beyoncé: being photographed in your underwear doesn't help feminism

Next month marks the 50th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique, Betty Friedan's hugely influential study that helped to spark that pervasive second wave of feminism that – for all its faults and stuttering incompleteness – shaped the western world as most of us know it today. 

As a book it was – as Friedan was herself – a flawed advocate of women's rights: Friedan had little apparent interest in women who were anything other than white and upper middle-class.Browse Men's authentic Louis Vuitton Shoes Personalized Products. Her homophobia became an embarrassment to the women's movement. Her egotistical paranoia about being ousted as the face of the women's movement was captured with wince-inducing brilliance by Nora Ephron in her 1972 essay, Miami. 

The feminist movement never did and never will run smoothly. But Friedan's book, as Stephanie Coontz writes in her recent book, A Strange Stirring, rescued "a generation of intelligent women, sidelined from the world". Whatever its flaws, the publication of The Feminine Mystique remains as much of a landmark in the history of feminism as Emily Davison's death 50 years earlier at the 1913 Epsom Derby. 

And so, 50 years on from Friedan, it pleases me to announce that we have a new face to the modern-day feminist movement. That face belongs to none other than Beyoncé Knowles. 

Last week the new issue of American GQ came out and it neatly encapsulated where western feminism is today.Find Christian Louboutin Women Shoes deals and save.Find authentic Gucci Shoes in many styles and colors. Inside, Knowles gives an interview that will probably be studied by future generations for lessons in both the loopiness of the 21st-century celebrity world and how hilariously far American magazine interviews have fallen since the days of, say, Gay Talese and Lillian Ross. In this typical piece of puffery, Knowles shows off her "temperature-controlled digital storage facility that contains virtually every photo of her", including one video diary entry in which she informs herself that she is going to listen to one of her own songs before having sex with her husband, which is one way to get in the mood, I guess. 

But there is, the GQ journalist assures the reader, more to Knowles than raging narcissism – she is a powerful woman with a defiant feminist streak. "Equality is a myth, and for some reason everyone accepts that women don't make as much money as men do," she rails. "I truly believe that women should be financially independent from their men. And let's face it, money gives men the power to run the show. It gives men the power to define value. They define what's sexy. And men define what's feminine. It's ridiculous." 

Knowles is right: it is ridiculous that American women earn 77 cents to every dollar earned by men. This is almost as ridiculous as, say, a self-professedly powerful female celebrity ("I'm more powerful than my mind can even digest," announces Knowles) complaining about men defining sexiness in a men's magazine in which she poses nearly naked in seven photos, including one on the cover in which she is wearing a pair of tiny knickers and a man's shirt so cropped that her breasts are visible. These photos, incidentally, were taken by the bafflingly successful American photographer, Terry Richardson, a man with a penchant for highly sexualised photos of women and who has been repeatedly accused of sexual exploitation and misconduct by young female models, which Richardson has denied. 

To complain about the sexualisation of women in men's magazines may seem like complaining about the weather. But as Knowles rightly says in relation to the pay gap, the status quo should not just be shruggingly accepted if it is wrong. I never fail to be amazed at the high profile, often A-list women who celebrate their professional success by posing near naked on the covers of allegedly classy men's magazines, such as Esquire and GQ, and these covers are, to my eyes, becoming increasingly close to porn. In the past four months alone we've had Cameron Diaz bending over in a pair of mesh pants; topless Mila Kunis in leather trousers (while inside she writhes naked on a bed); Rihanna naked save for a mini leather jacket; Lana Del Rey also naked except for some jewellery (that was on GQ's October issue, which had four alternative covers that all featured men. All of these men, funnily enough, were clothed). 

It's one thing to submit to this attention-seeking nonsense if you're a C-list reality TV desperado trying to get on the cover of Nuts; it's another if you are professedly one of the most powerful women in the entertainment business who has no need of such tactics. Knowles rightly hates the fact that women are humiliated by being paid less than their male counterparts. But they are similarly humiliated by being fed the message that it doesn't matter how successful,Offer hermes handbags, fashion birkin handbags and other styles hermes handbags. powerful or smart you are – all that matters is how sexually available you are willing to make yourself look. 

I should feel happy, I guess, that Knowles is even willing to speak up about equality considering how notoriously few young women in the public eye are willing to identify themselves as feminists. That her Dworkin-ish call to arms comes served up with photos of Knowles jumping on a bed in a bikini, well, that's the deal these days, apparently, in which famous women can sing about "independence" and "girl power", as long as they're wearing next to nothing.This is a quick review of authentic Ralph Lauren Polo and FAKE Ralph Lauren Polo. As I said, the feminist movement never did run smoothly. But half a century on from Friedan, it should be running better than this.

On test: Sherpa Lithang jacket and Tsepun baselayer

Sherpa Adventure Gear is fairly new to the UK market. 

What marks it out from other brands is that most of the clothing is made in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu, and the company is Sherpa owned. 

The Lithang waterproof is pitched at the hillwalker or climber who doesn't want a bells and whistles jacket with tons of features, but does want to keep dry on the hill. 

The first thing to say is it's a good-looking jacket. Our red sample, supplied by Sherpa, had darker contrasting panels on the high-wear areas from elbows to shoulders, and around the main ‘handwarmer' pockets. 

The material, polyester rather than the more common nylon, is stiffer than many jackets in its class and it has a rugged feel to it. There's a PTFE membrane which Sherpa rates at 20,000mm waterproofing and 20,000g breathability, a match for many of the ‘own-brand' waterproofing systems found in similar garments, though not quite up to the top-performing membranes. 

In practice, this didn't seem to manifest itself, as the Lithang kept out the rain admirably. 

The cut of the Lithang is fairly short,Cheap christian louboutin boots on sale in our shop christian louboutin. with the rear of the jacket a little longer. The main water-resistant zip is protected at the rear by a storm flap to make sure the rain stays out. 

The fabric has a slight stretchiness, and the jacket is clearly aimed at active users,Offer hermes handbags, fashion birkin handbags and other styles hermes handbags. with mobility good thanks to good sleeve articulation. 

There are two upper Napoleon pockets, big enough for items such as a GPS, compass, or mobile phone. Curiously, pictures of the women's version, which we didn't test, show only one upper pocket. On our men's jacket, the left-hand upper pocket had a port to accommodate headphone cables. 

The two lower handwarmer pockets are each big enough to take a laminated OS map,Offer prada bags, handbags, factory directly, More buy more discount. but are positioned in the hipbelt region, so if you're wearing a rucksack, which most people will be on their outdoor trips, the belt will have to be unfastened to gain full access to the bottom pockets. 

All the pockets have water-resistant zips and are fully lined not with mesh. 

And that's it for pockets: none inside; no quirky little ones on the sleeve for who knows what esoteric item. And that's fine by me. There's enough space for the essentials you're likely to need to hand: compass, map, gloves, hat. The rest can go in the rucksack. 

The Lithang's design is deliberately simple and this helps keep the weight, and cost, within reason. For 200 you're getting a fully technical waterproof that compares very well with a lot of rivals on price. 

The hood is plenty large enough to accommodate a helmet and the sleeves have hook and loop fasteners. There is a thinnish tricot chin guard. 

The jacket has pit zips for venting, which have two-way sliders.Can any one tell if this is a authentic north face jackets? 

In use, the Lithang performed well, keeping out the rain and wind. Its fabric feels robust and it was showing no signs of wear after our tests. 

The only signs of wear were on the loop holding captive the rear hood adjuster, which had started to fray. This is possibly because, in common with most modern hoods,Online shopping for cheap buy christian louboutin with the lowest prices, buy Cheap Louboutin shoes online now! the cords are thin and fiddly and on the mountain top and with gloves on, there's a tendency to be ham-fisted in pulling the adjuster tight. 

Once tightened properly the hood was good and turned fairly well with the head, though not as well as the best around.

E Tautz To Launch Womenswear

PATRICK GRANT's E Tautz menswear label will launch its first foray into womenswear for spring/summer 2013. We first hinted at news that the move was in the pipeline in June last year, when the designer's girlfriend and accessories extraordinaire,He is most popularly known for authentic Christian Louboutin Pumps, commonly referred to as "sammy red-bottoms." Katie Hillier told us that stylish stars including Alexa Chung and Laura Bailey had asked for women's versions of his brand's shirts. However, Grant says that the launch was prompted by a visit from a Japanese stockist. 

"We just started a very small line of women's shirts, which kicked off at the request of one of the stores in Japan - who came to our men's show and asked if they could have small versions of our men's shirts," he said. "It's a unique take for womenswear, it's a man's shirt, it's a man's instruction, it's the same fabrics." 

"Now that we've started the shirts,Register to enjoy the benefits of christian louboutin platform pumps Online Boutique. we've had a few people asking if we can do a bit of tailoring," said Grant. "We've done a bunch of tailoring for other people and it'd be nice to do some of our own, so we'll see." 

E Tautz showed its latest menswear offering this afternoon as part of London Collections: Men - which was inspired by the culture that surrounds traditional Scottish churches and a vintage Fifties jacket found on eBay. Grant predicts that the capital's menswear arena will continue to grow in the next coming seasons. 

"This is just the start," he said during a film promoting eBay's support of the British Fashion Council's Fashion Forward talent initiative, of which E Tautz is part of. "We need the international exposure on our menswear in the same way we do our womenswear. Over the next two or three years, I think LC: M will have a significant effect on the businesses of everyone in London." 

Retail Theft at Fry's Electronics 

Kevin C. Vazquez,Free Shipping And No Tax on All Ralph Lauren Sweater Online. 20, of the 0-50 block of Yorkshire Woods in Oak Brook, was arrested around 11:38 a.m. at Fry's Electronics, 3300 Finley Road in Downers Grove, police said. 

A Fry's employee told police he noticed Vazquez enter the store and recognized him from a store bulletin as someone who had possibly stolen merchandise in the past, according to reports. The employee followed Vazquez, and saw him take a small Apple TV box and walk around the store with it, police said. 

At some point, Vazquez removed the plastic shrink wrap from the box and placed the Apple TV and remote in his jacket pockets,Offer hermes handbags, hermes kelly and many other styles. police said. He was stopped by employees as he tried to leave the store. 

Vazquez was charged with retail theft and was released on an I-Bond. 

FRIDAY, JAN. 4 
Retail Theft at Kohl's 

Letitia M. DiAndrea, 44, of Glen Ellyn, was arrested around 5 p.Shop women's authentic Ralph Lauren Polo.m. at Kohl's, 2920 Finley Road in Downers Grove, police said. 

Kohl's employees detained DiAndrea after she tried to leave the store without paying for a pair of Sonoma women's boots valued at $32.97, police said. 

She was charged with one count of retail theft and was released on an I-Bond. 

Police Blotter information is provided by local law enforcement agencies. Charges are not evidence of guilt. They are a record of police actions taken on a given day, and persons charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court. If you or a family member are charged or cited and the case is subsequently adjudicated, we encourage you to notify the editor. We will verify and report the outcome.

Helping women starts with the heart at Windfall

Want to support the causes women love by fighting poverty, advancing healthcare and supporting education? All you have to do is wear your heart on your sleeve. 

Launched by Windfall Basics, an Etobicoke-based charity that distributes $28 million worth of new, brand name clothing items each year to those in need, this year's inaugural Wear White 4 Women campaign is centered around the heart – in particular, a white heart pin that can be purchased for $5 by texting HEART to 45678,Looking for Christian Louboutin Women Shoes? then picked up at any H&M store.Professional authentic Louis Vuitton Shoes manufacturer online shop. 

“At its core, the Wear White 4 Women campaign is all about heart – the white heart itself symbolizing purity and harmony,” said Gotstyle co-founder Seamus Clarke, who has volunteered his time and expertise to the project for Windfall. “Everybody's got heart, and if we start there, we can spread that message out.” 

By purchasing and wearing a Wear White 4 Windfall white heart pin, supporters will, in turn, gain access to online discounts of 50 to 80 per cent off select brands, as well as exclusive access to retail and entertainment events, Clarke added – a win-win-win situation for Windfall, its supporters and the participating brands. 

“The idea being that every time you make a transaction, a percentage goes back to Windfall, which supports poverty, health and education initiatives...Browse Men's authentic Gucci Shoes Personalized Products.When people and brands connect with causes, you give back to community and you've got the ability to reach millions of people and do good, but at the same time what you're doing is you're building brand equity,Most people only dream of owning a prada bags.” Clarke explained of Wear White 4 Women's “social commerce” concept. “People will start to see these brands have heart.” 

The heart doesn't end there, though. All proceeds from this year's inaugural campaign, added Windfall's Executive Director Helen Harakas, go to supporting the very heart of the community – women. 

“The money raised will go to support Windfall in its effort to provide 64,000 people with the basic necessities they need for their life to be lived in dignity,” she said, noting that a full two-thirds of Windfall's clients are women. “The public often donates their used clothing to those in need, but it's not the same. When you're in that position that you've never owned anything brand new, ever, it's magic what happens when you put on that brand new jacket and your thoughts start to shift – it's huge. You just start to feel like you deserve something.” 

As the only organization in the country that takes donations of exclusively new clothing items – from jeans from Levi's, to winter coats from The Gap, sheets and towels from Winners, suits from Moores, and clothing items from H&M – Windfall partners with more than 100 other social service agencies in the Greater Toronto Area, distributing their clothing to more than 64,000 people living in shelters for abused women and children and for homeless men, and to new Canadians in job training programs and settlement services. 

Windfall also runs a program called Suitable Impressions, an onsite program whereby participants in search of employment spend a morning at Windfall's Connell Court offices learning interview skills and how to make a good first impression. 

“Then in the afternoon they actually go and try on clothes and get to take six brand new pieces home,” Harakas said, noting that every participant goes home with a business suit, a gift bag from Revlon with shampoo, deodorant, and shaving supplies, and a free haircut from Donato Academy in Etobicoke. “That kind of job training is important, because not having a job is a core cause of poverty – and research shows that if people don't have proper clothing and personal care items, they won't get the job. It's that important that you present yourself properly at an interview – almost as important as your skills and education.” 

Wear White 4 Women officially launches Thursday, Jan. 10 with a TTC poster campaign featuring a veritable who's who of local celebrity supporters – Tracy Moore (CityLine), Dina Pugliese (Breakfast Television), Jennifer Valentyne (Breakfast Television), Traci Melchor (eTalk), Roger Petersen and Kathryn Humphreys (CityNews), Maurie Sherman (KISS 92.5),Sofia Vergara wearing Christian louboutin high heel shoes. and Mike Chalut (Pride FM), among many others.