I remember reading this. It was a different article though, because they wrote that Suri was in her sneakers within an hour.

I had a thing for high heels when I was little. Having something like this would have sent me over the moon. As it was, I wasn't allowed (nor do I think I could ever find any) heels until I was 12. But I would always try to find the smallest pair of heels in shoe stores and walk around in them.

Funny. Now that I'm big enough, I never wear them.

Well now I feel stupid! I always heard that heels were a good workout for the calves, so I assumed they were healthy! I'll be wearing tennies more often now...

I think they look like the kind that comes in the cardboard thing at the drugstore. You know, with the tiara, the necklace and the fake lipstick. My guess is she was probably just playing and insisted on wearing them outside, much like she probably insisted on carrying the stuffed elephant.

Exactly. I've only ever seen/heard Angela Merkel described as good news for feminists by people outside Germany. To quote feministing's 'Palin doesn't speak for me' T-Shirt: A woman chancellor is not the same as a woman's chancellor.

Meh. Great, warmhearted man, but even boddhisatvas aren't perfect.

Yeah. Its nice to hear a religious leader call HIMself a "feminist", but...

Maybe the quote could be interpreted as: women deserve more respect than we give then in our society, as so many of them tend to carry the responsibilities of birthing and caring for children.

But its not far from saying that women's only worth in society is birthing/nurturing children, and that's all they should do. And that reminds me of the Handmaid's Tale.

Still, I like how he easily claimed the label of "feminist": “Isn’t that what you call someone who fights for women’s rights?” Yes, feminism IS actually that simple.
Going by that definition, why are people in the media so afraid of the term?

In Buddhism we have a whole sutra called The Filial Sutra (You can read it here: http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/filial-sutra.htm ) that talks about how one should be grateful for parents. Looking back it is sexist as it lands women in only one role, but to be fair that was the way it was back then, and The Dalai Lama is an old fashioned guy in many respects so its not surprising to hear.

Still, I'm glad he identified as a feminist, maybe a lot of other Buddhists I know will get over their fear of using the label XD I wish he was sex positive though.

It would have been nice if he'd acknowledged/encouraged compassion in men.

OK, so I haven't read this article, but here's my two cents anyway. Most women I know identify as straight. And most women that I've spoken with about it have been attracted to at least one other woman at some point in their life. And when you're in early adolescence and just beginning to understand your own sexuality, that often times translates as believing yourself to be bisexual. This isn't to disagree that much of it probably has an element of desire to appeal to heterosexual men, but it's also, I think, a bit of solidarity with the gay community and honest attraction to women.

I felt the same way, honestly. There were lots of boys in the article who identified as gay, but not a single girl (that was named or spoken to individually) that identified as a lesbian. Yet vast majority of the studnents in in the gay student support group identified as bisexual girls.

what gives?

I think it's complicated and part of my opinions are formed by recently being a teenage girl, and one who identifies as straight, but was very physcially affectionate with my girl friends in high school. I'm also a girl who has kissed and made out with my girl friends in an exploring/what would this be like? kind of way. I bring it up to say that I know what it's like to be attracted to women I find beautiful, and be curious about some sexual touching with women. But primarily, when I'm horny, I want to fool around with a guy and I wouldn't call myself bi, as I've only ever dated/slept with men.

I can't help but feeling like identifying as bi for girls comes out of other desires beyond actual bisexuality... like being fed images women as beautiful sex objects, or wanting to be "different" or wanting to claim an idenity that isn't subjucated to male sexuality the way women's heterosexuality is almost all the time. I can't say that those aren't valid emotions, or valid reasons to want to date someone of your same gender. But I do feel like there is more going on there for girls sexuality than the article mentions.

I hope this is just the beginning of the trend and that even younger generations stop feeling the need to lable their sexualities at all.

Actually, I wouldnt be surprised if those females really were bisexual. When I was in middle school I identified as bi (still do) and slept with other girls who, though they enjoyed sex (I'm not just talking about kissing, or experimenting, but repeat sex)with females would always say that theyre just 'practicing' for the boys. I think it was a cover for what they were really feeling but didnt want to admit. I dont think they were practicing for the boys, I think they liked it but knew that it wasnt mainstream. Fear of being a lesbian was also probably part of it. So maybe more girls are bisexual since there is less taboo among females for having sexual activity with someone of the same gender. Maybe they can feel more open about it today. The women who I used to have sex with (which continued to high school until we went to college) would all identify as straight today, but I think thats more out of conformism than anything.

While I agree about the degrading aspect of "bi for male attention," I don't think it's anyone's job to draw lines in the sand about who's a "real" bisexual. Maybe it's juvenile sexual experimentation, maybe it's acknowledgement of sexual fluidity before the age when people are encouraged to "pick a side." Maybe those two things aren't mutually exclusive. I do think that once you have your feet firmly planted in either a straight or gay identity, there's a tendency to dismiss and devalue attractions that don't fit into that identity. So in a way it's liberating that a girl who is 90% attracted to men can own up the other 10% instead of dismissing it as a "girl crush."

I do find it interesting how quickly things have shifted in the eight to ten years since I've been in middle school. For my part, as soon as I identified my attraction to women and general lack of interest in men, I jumped onto the "lesbian" label and clung to it. I didn't know anyone in middle school who identified as bi. It was only later that I realized yes, there are some men I'm attracted to, and being bisexual doesn't mean I have to be equally attracted to men and women.

Yeah, that part of the article made me think of the recent article about female sexuality in the....I forget which morning NY newspaper.

Basically, the study they talked about asserted that male sexuality (whether homo or hetero) is less fluid than female sexuality. (i.e. women react to all kinds of sexual images where as the men do not)

I also read in another study in the book Forbidden Fruit, which also reports that a significant amount of girls report being bi in their teens (and same-sex attraction), but as they hit their twenties, they no longer identify as such.

That is exactly what I thought when I was reading. the whole time i was thinking, i wonder if this is going to make people worry that women will have too much sex too. however, once it comes out it will probably be aimed towards men and women, which could help. I thought part of the problem with the HPV vaccine is that it was only aimed at girls and women.

that's actually pretty awesome

I saw these pictures earlier today on some other site with no accompanying text, and I honestly didn't notice anything "wrong". My first thought was "It's the boy? No, the boy is younger, it is Shiloh.", yes, but I didn't realize it's because of how she's dressed. Maybe it's because they're so confident about it, or because I've always been a tomboy. Either way it's awesome. :D

Yeah, I was definitely into the dress-up thing when I was little, mostly the enormous '80s beaded clip-on earrings. Ha. And I loved ballet leotards and was obsessed with pointe shoes. I know the ballet thing is very girly, but dance truly was my passion and I eventually went on to study it in college - including its sexist history. So while the heels are annoying, I'm aware that people could have said the same things about me and my goddamn leotards and clip-on earrings.

I realize that this is a place where you can voice your opinion, but I find your comment ironic.

You're stating that he's the "pompous religious asshole", but it seems your own ego-driven hatred of anyone religious is quite pompous and asshole-ish to me, since you think you're as right as anyone religious thinks they themselves are right in what they believe. I know that not all of the women here are atheists, so you might want to tone down your extremist opinions in the future.

For the record, I'm agnostic.

Uhhhh.....

What? Are you kidding me?

You clearly know absolutely nothing about Buddhism, and especially Tibetan Buddhism.

Some argue that Buddhism isn't even a religion because of it's focus on the condition of life. Maybe you could try learning a bit about something before bashing it and claiming it has nothing worthwhile? Instead, your self-righteousness is what comes off as pompous.

I am a Buddhist, and I am INCREDIBLY offended by your comment.

I strongly recommend reading some of the Dalai Lama's books before jumping to the conclusion you have reached here.

I am an atheist and the Dalai Lama is one of my personal role models.

The Dalai Lama actively studies other religions to gain insight into the universality of the human condition and the various ways in which humanity copes with, overcomes and accepts that condition. I saw His Holiness speak when he came to my area and he blatantly said that any path you choose to find your peace with the world -- whether you become Buddhist, Christian, Jainist, Muslim or any other religion -- then it is the Right Path.

The Buddha actively challenged his followers to question everything to find their right path out of life's suffering. They told them to challenge him, too.

I'm a bit at a loss to understand how can you can what you've said knowing anything about Buddhism at all. Or maybe that's it?

RIGHT ON!! I wrote a research paper on Tibet, and come to find out: before China took control over the region in 1950>> *IT WAS UNDER A MEDIEVAL FEUDAL SYSTEM WHERE 95% OF LAND WAS CONTROLLED BY THE CHURCH!!! CAN YOU SAY SLAVERY??? IF YOU BELIEVE IN A FREE TIBET, YOU BELIEVE IN SLAVERY. children are systematically molested in temples. debts and taxes on serfs are handed down to great-grandchildren. people are glad to have a modernized economic system. "Free tibet" is propaganda.

Bah. *Heels

I think you may be reading more into the Dalai Lama's statement than is there. I don't think he was using "responsibility" in the sense that each woman is required to bear children.

I think he was saying that, when children are born, it is always done by women, and that bearing children is a practice that can tend to increase compassion (obviously in particular, towards the newborn!). I'm not a Buddhist, but I believe a meditative practice for developing compassion is to imagine everyone you know as though they were your mother, and to develop a sense of connectedness and gratefulness towards them. Building up compassion towards others by practices is a central part of Buddhism, and I can see why the Dalai Lama might think childbirth would be a practice that would do that.

I can absolutely see why the comment would rub you the wrong way, but I think, from my understanding of his writings and descriptions of his way of thinking, that the Dalai Lama meant to imply only what I describe in the above paragraph.

I think this might be the curse of English being one of his second languages. I think "responsibility" in the sense of "can only be done by" not in the raising and parenting sense.