For years, women’s participation in the United States workforce was greatly limited. However, throughout the country’s history, women have made great strides toward equality in the workforce. We even get to run blogs!

So today, in honor of the female CEOs, doctors, teachers, political figures and more, our friends from the CreditScore Blog are helping us celebrate women in the workplace.

On this day in 1920 the 19th Ammendment was added to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. And in honor of that momentous occasion, today has been named Women’s Equality Day. We have come a mighty long way since the days before women’s suffrage. We have women dominating in arenas that formerly were dude-only territory: sports, politics, and even entertainment (remember learning about the times when men played women in Shakespearean plays?).

Despite our amazing advances, there are still those few women who just don’t really seem to be helping the cause. In fact, they might just be ruining it for the rest of us. Let’s face it, society today has become media obsessed and some (not all) of the women dominating the spotlight nowadays may be taking us a few steps back. What happened to the positive female role models of the past?

Here’s what I mean:

Grace Kelly vs. Heidi Montag

Grace Kelly was an American actress turned Princess of Monaco. She was the embodiment of class and style. Today we have Heidi Montag. Not to say there aren’t other celebs who may come close to Grace Kelly’s overall awesomeness, but Mrs. Pratt puts a damper on women today. Aside from Heidi’s lack of talent, I doubt you’d ever see Princess Grace rolling on the beach in a bikini lip syncing to her latest (notsomuch) hit and being filmed by Prince Rainier.

Jackie O vs. Megan Fox

The Kennedy’s were a form of American royalty back in the day. Jacqueline Kennedy was the “it” girl during, and even after, her husband’s time in office. She had timeless style and always handled things with poise and class, be it her husband’s alleged affair or his untimely death. Jackie was an educated woman who was well-spoken and intellectual, not to mention beautiful. She proved once and for all that it was possible to have beauty and brains, but that theory is being challenged by the one and only, Megan Fox.

Jackie O was once quoted saying, ”What is sad for women of my generation is that they weren’t supposed to work if they had families. What were they going to do when the children are grown – watch the raindrops coming down the window pane?”
Megan, however, has said this about women: “I come across as confident and [women] assume that means that I think I’m hot sh*t. And that makes them feel bad about themselves and so they hate me.” Right.

Audrey Hepburn Vs. Miley Cyrus

Audrey Hepburn. Just another style icon in American history whose movies have become classics. The woman is beautiful, well-spoken, and forward thinking. Now there is a true role model. Miley, however, is just annoying. She’s got hits with Hannah Montana and some pretty decent songs. I love “The Climb,” and I sing it out loud in my car, but what does a 16-year-old girl know about moving mountains? And, when your demographic is 9-year-old girls, what kind of message are you sending when you grind up next to a stripper pole?

Princess Diana vs. Paris Hilton

Princess Di is timeless. The poor woman went through hell with the royal family, but held herself together in a sophisticated manner. And if we even try to go into her list of humanitarian work, we’d be here forever. While Paris Hilton has been referred to as “American royalty,” um, she’s not. I know she said she wants to be like Princess Di in that lovely documentary she did for more publicity to get people to know the real her, but, seriously Paris, you don’t even come close.

Not to say I’m a total self-help junkie now, but I am pretty shameless about the fact that I read – and believe in – the healing power of self-help books. (Okay, that sounded unnecessarily cheesy, but you catch my drift.)

So, even if you’ve never snuck a peak at the Self Help section in Barnes & Nobles (or are just too embarrassed to admit it),  here’s some of my faves & some others whose street cred is pretty great, as far as self-help books goes:

1. You Can Heal Your Life – Louise L. Hay. I just recently started reading this one myself and I’m in love. It’s intense and has caused quite a few life-changing epiphanies, and Hay will seriously stop at nothing to help you create your perfect life.

2. The Secret – Rhonda Byrne. The now uber-famous Law of Attraction is explained in this simple, visually appealing, tiny book. And when you don’t exactly have time to sit down & waft through an intense self-help workshop like you’d get from something like You Can Heal Your Life, The Secret will totally suffice. You can easily soak up a chapter between classes or use it as a study distraction. It’s more exciting than King Lear, I promise.

3. Succulent Wild Woman by SARK. Or anything by SARK, actually. Her books are super colorful, easy to read and inspiring. She’s been through it all and has the battle wounds to prove it, but has basically turned out absolutely wonderful, if you ask me.

4. Eat, Pray, Love – Elizabeth Gilbert. Although personally I’m not so sure how I feel about a book with ‘Pray’ in the title, I’ve heard oodles of good things about this one. This book was basically a third appendage when my old roommate was chillin’ in our apartment between lectures.

5. The Red Book – Sera Beak. Recommended by one of my favorite bloggers, Miss Gala Darling over at iCiNG, this book is all about creating your own brand of spirituality.

6. He’s Just Not That Into You – Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo. Okay, this isn’t exactly a “self-help” book, per se, but it’s a pretty practical reminder for women out there that some men really actually do just suck (and there are NO excuses for them!).

7. Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself – Sabrina Ward Harrison. More of a journal than a self-help book, it’s filled with inspiring collages and scrawled messages from Harrison’s own mind alongside space to spill your own deep thoughts. Ch’yeah.

Know a good self help book you want to share with other CC readers? Talk about it in the comments.

[This post is courtesy of our gal pal, Marie Claire.]

With Amy Poehler’s new sitcom, Parks and Recreation,MC premiering this month, and Tina Fey ruling Hollywood from atop a pile of Emmys, funny women are having a moment.  rounds up the pioneers, the visionaries, and the chemically imbalanced to talk about how we got here.

Can a pretty girl be funny?
MARGARET CHO (Lifetime’s upcoming Drop Dead Diva): I remember seeing beautiful girls do stand-up, and it was a disaster every time. Not only were people not gonna listen to you because you’re a woman, if you’re good-looking, people really don’t want to listen to you.

SUSIE ESSMAN (Curb Your Enthusiasm): I’ve had to give some young female comics advice about what they’re wearing. Like, you can’t wear something too provocative — it’s too confusing to the men in the audience. They don’t know if they wanna f**k you or laugh at you.

JOAN RIVERS (comedian): Phyllis Diller used to dress like a fool. Totie Fields was a big fat woman. In the beginning, women comedians were all grotesque in one way or another.

PHYLLIS DILLER (comedian): When I started, I had a broken nose, my teeth were crooked, and I was very skinny. And you know what? It all helped.

ESSMAN: I always wondered if Roseanne would have been accepted by the country, being as strong as she was, if she weren’t fat. Lucy was beautiful. But she played dumb, dumb, dumb.

SUZANNE SOMERS (Three’s Company): [When I was fired from Three’s Company], a producer said to the ABC people, “She’s a blonde. I trained her, I’ll train another one,” like I was some sort of seal … [But] a comedy is musical. It took me two years to understand the rhythm, the beat, the timing, but once I heard the music, oh, my God, I so got it.

Read the rest at Marie Claire.

While breast cancer is uncommon in women under the age of 35, the risk of it increases as a woman grows older. There is also some evidence to suggest that young African American women are at greater risk for breast cancer than young Caucasian women. No matter who you are, you will be affected by breast cancer during the course of your life in one way or another.

Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself now.

Get In Touch Regularly

Mammography screening is the best available method to detect breast cancer, but due to the high levels of radiation, doctors don’t recommend them to people under the age of 40. Your next best bet? Clinical and self examination.

The American Cancer Society urges women in their 20s and 30s to have a clinical breast exam (CBE) as a part of their regular professional health exam. The most common signs of breast cancer are a lump in the breast, abnormal thickening of the breast, or a change in the shape or color of the breast. Keep in mind that finding a lump does not necessarily mean you have breast cancer. If you notice something abnormal, talk to your doctor ASAP.

Other possible signs of breast cancer include:

• Any new, hard lump or thickening in any part of the breast

• Change in breast size or shape

• Dimpling or puckering of the skin

• Swelling, redness or warmth that does not go away

• Pain in one spot that does not vary with your monthly cycle

• Pulling in of the nipple

• Nipple discharge that starts suddenly and appears only in one breast

• An itchy, sore or scaling area on one nipple

Info via NBCAM.com

Know Your Family History

Women with multiple family members with breast cancer may have an increased risk of carrying a breast cancer susceptibility gene. If your mom or sister has suffered from the disease, stay calm and get the facts. It is important to know how old they were at the time they were diagnosed. Depending the situation, you may want to undergo genetic counseling and genetic testing. But, of course, talk to your doctor before making any decisions.

Know Your Body

While research has shown that self breast exams play a small role in finding breast cancer, the real goal is for women to know their bodies. If you take time to know how your breasts look and feel normally, you’ll be quicker noticing any changes.

Young women should also track their menstrual cycles and physical development. Women who begin menstruating before age 12 are at increased risk of developing breast cancer. The more menstrual cycles a woman has over her lifetime, the more likely she is to get the disease. Find out when you had your first period and keep a record of your medical history. Knowledge of small details could be important if a problem develops later in life.

Eat Right

You’ve heard “eat your veggies” a million times, but when it comes to cancer diet really matters. In addition to their fiber content (which is beneficial for your heart and can help prevent other cancers, such as colon cancer), fruits and vegetables have antioxidant properties and micronutrients that may help prevent some cancers. Eat leaner meats and limit red meat. Reducing your fat intake helps prevent other health problems, such as heart disease and stroke, and may reduce your chance of developing breast and colon cancers.

Exercise

The U.S. Surgeon General recently reported many health problems can be prevented by engaging in a moderate amount of physical activity on most days of the week. Strive to maintain the body weight recommended by a health professional, since excess fat may stimulate estrogen production.

For more information on risk factors, visit the American Cancer Society Website, www.cancer.org, Breast Cancer Facts and Figures, 2006.

From my personal experience, here’s how it goes: men are respected off the bat, women (especially young, attractive ones), need to earn it after due course at a company. Men also aren’t afraid to go after what they want; the article states that when men want a raise, they simply ask for it, but with women, we lack the courage and words to get what we want. Why is this?

I have had both male and female bosses and I will say this: women are threatened by other women. Many women, rather than lending a hand to a female colleague, go behind her back and undermine not only her authority, but her professional aptitude and capability. I had a female boss who once told me I only get dressed up for work because I feel like I need to prove something to everyone. Puh-lease woman. I dress nice because I dress nice — in and out of work (Fast forward to me quitting on the spot and telling said boss how unprofessional she was…talk about wanting to knock me down instead of help me rise!  Surprise, surprise, the woman is no longer with that company).

Girl against girl is the nature of the game and, while I feel like I am one of those individuals who is set apart from the social norm, I’m sure I fall victim to some of these behaviors.  But my biggest question is: WHY?!

Why do we go after one another, and why can’t we just be looked at as equals? In her NYT article, Ms. Seligson makes a good point: women don’t have skin as thick as men do.  Case in point: I cried to my male co-worker/boss this past Tuesday at work. Cried. Real legitimate tears. And, I’m no cry baby…I just couldn’t take the pressure and I snapped. So, rather than mutter a “f*ck you” under my breath and go smoke a cigarette like the men do, I had a mini-saga at work, showing my weakness. Stellar, I know. I cringed afterwards thinking about how I let myself be that vulnerable.

Here’s what I have learned: as women, we need to be tougher, pull together as female coworkers instead of push each other away, and learn how to check the drama at the door. When you walk into work, make it about work, and don’t force yourself to be perfect.

Is this a battle I’m facing alone?  Share your experiences with me, CC-ers!

[photo from stmedia.startribune.com]

Let’s just hope this stationary isn’t scratch and sniff….

Once thought a longshot, Republican Alaskan Senator Sarah Palin is now on a plane to potentially stand at McCain’s side. Also leavin’ on a jetplane is Mass’s Mormon Mitt Romney. Ohhhhhhh the tension is killing me, but we have received some great insights from interns that we know who work at some real publications.

If Obama had tapped (politically speaking) Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney would be the VP bid to try and match her fund-raising firepower. Since Joe Biden is in, the Republicans can now pick a female VP and look (and this is a direct quote), “progressive in the ever-changing political landscape where all citizens have equal representation and a global voice.” Gosh, I wish I could write pretty like that.

Who do you want (politically speaking of course)?

Either way, at about noon, we should be hearing who is on the ‘Straight Talk Express’ and who is flying home in coach. I can only wonder where Bill Richardson disappeared to in all of this clamor, but I guess his work in Homeland Security and the fact that 85% of Americans don’t feel any safer kinda’ worked against him. Sorry Bill.

I think the theory has several holes in it, both scientific and moral.

One of the article’s arguments was centered on the findings of paternity tests given to animals: Evidently, even animals that supposedly mate for life have been found to be unfaithful. How do scientists know this? Because paternity tests show the children in the nest don’t always belong to the male.

The biggest flaw I see in this argument is that it says nothing about having followed the animals around for several months prior to the paternity test. If you are going to accuse a female of sleeping around, you have to have some proof other than a failed paternity test, right? I mean, if promiscuity can exist in nature, then what’s to say rape isn’t a possibility as well?

The article also argues that certain species have mating rituals equivalent to paying for sex. It then goes on to cite a type of male bird that gives females (other than his mate) treats, apparently in the hopes of getting laid: The bigger his offering, the more likely he’ll get some. Another example was macaque (a type of primate) culture: Although all macaques groom one another, it was once again assumed that the males are looking for sex, whereas the females are doing it for social and maternal reasons.

Good grief. Does the macaque theory sound to anyone else like exactly the type of attitude that feminists tried to do away with in the 70s? I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time we had some younger, female scientists running this show!

All feminist rants aside, this argument also seems to me like a stretch of the imagination (or simply another bastardization by the media — they are awfully good at reporting studies inaccurately and making generalizations that the research doesn’t support). As intriguing as these cases may be, they don’t sound like prostitution. The first case — with the birds and the food offerings — sounds more like the notion that if your date buys you dinner, you are expected to put out.

The second case — the male monkeys grooming the females — reminds me of how backrubs seem to usually lead to sex. Maybe macaques have similar jokes in their culture as we do in ours:

First macaque: Do you know what 90 percent of grooming sessions lead to?

Second macaque: Sex!

First macaque: No…cleaner fur.

I could go on. But the biggest reason that this entire theory pisses me off is because most of the time, people are trying to justify why we’re not like animals! The arguments are many:

• We use tools. (Not true — many primates and other species also fashion tools from their surroundings.)
• We are capable of language. (So are other animals. A Colorado college professor has identified more than 100 different sounds that prairie dogs use in various combinations to mean different things.)
• We create civilizations. (We’re hardly the only ones. Prairie dogs, wolves, primates, and tons of other animals build very complex societies.)
• We are capable of love. (I don’t think that emotions and love are exclusive to humans, but how exactly do you prove this one, either way?)
• We are capable of thinking about our surroundings. (Anyone who has ever worked with or owned a rescued animal knows this isn’t necessarily unique to us, either.)
• It says so in the Bible. (This argument might work if you’re Christian, but I’m not and this is my blog post, so I say it doesn’t.)

I find it amazing that as soon as being just like animals suits us (“Nature made me do it, honey”), suddenly the media forgets all about the supposed “proof” that we’re better than animals. However, I can’t help but wonder why people don’t see this as a perfect opportunity to highlight a possible difference between us and animals: the ability to perceive the difference between right and wrong.

It was dark out and I was using my booklight to read my newest purchase “Letters to Judy Blume.” It was the moment I finally understood that these shameful feelings, these urges, well they weren’t bad at all. I kept looking at the reflection in the mirror, thinking someone could tell what I had discovered.

There were a lot of things I wouldn’t have learned without Judy Blume: that young girls sometimes explore each other, that masturbation is normal, that getting your period is something worth praying for and that sex between young lovers doesn’t always end with horrible consequences.

So why, WHY are people still trying to censor the women that taught our generation so much? Why are people so skeptical of letting their children learn about menstruation, masturbation and sex from books?

My parents never really talked to me about sex. And the things I didn’t learn from Judy Blume I learned on the back of the school bus. Based on the fact that for a good year of my life I thought that “giving head” was when a guy stuck his face in between girls’ boobs, I’d say that Blume is a much more reliable source.

If anything, parents today are more prudish than their children. Girls are more open to sex of all kinds even before parents are thinking to discuss the birds and the bees, let alone contraception.

The great thing about Judy Blume is that at 69, she’s still kicking ass. I commend a woman who writes for her readers instead of the public opinion. Maybe Forever, Summer Sisters and Are You There God, It’ Me Margaret aren’t the ground breaking, earth shattering works of literature they were when they were first published. But even at her age, she’s still speaking out against the priggish parents trying to keep her prose under wraps.

Banned Books to Read:

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: Banned from school in

Canada for being “filthy and immoral.” (Sweet.)

Eve’s Diary by Mark Twain: Banned from a library in

Massachusetts for having “pornographic illustrations” of Eve. (And we all know ladies like porn!)

Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence: Scandalous for its explicit sex scenes including many previously banned four-letter words. (You mean my vocabulary?)

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger: Banned for “sexual situations” and immorality. (aka life in college.)

Other illicit lit to check out:

Women on Top by Nancy Friday

The House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende

Go AskAlice by Anonymous

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Carrie by Steven King

Sex by Madonna

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice

The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll edited by Jim Miller

The Education of Harriet Hatfield by May Sarton

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatly Snyder

A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben