Gender Fuck Thursday: Break the Tie Edition

Tied! Untied! Tied! Untied! Tied! Untied! OK, you get where I’m going here, right? I’ve discussed my love of a nice tie – bow or neck – in the past. But the question always remains – tied or untied? Which is sexier? Often it’s situational. Start of the date: tied. End of the date: untied. Really, the great thing about a tie is its ability to be either or, whenever you want it. Fine, too much kumbatie for you? Then go ahead and decide for yourself. Tied? Untied? Delightfully loose like Noni? Some choices are just…fun.

Janelle MonaeTied, definitely tied.

Jane LynchWait, untied, definitely untied.

Noomi RapaceDammit. No, I mean it, tied.

Kate WinsletNo! I was so wrong. Untied!

Regina SpektorFine. I give up.

Monica BellucciI said I give up.

Hope SoloNow you’re just hurting me.

Naomi WattsOfficially dead.

Right, so what did you decide? Tied or untied? I know, both.

Super Kate

The world can be a disappointing place. Humans can act inhuman. Leaders can fail to lead. The famous can act infamously. But amid all our disappointments in our fellow man (and woman), it's nice to be reminded that sometimes we can also not suck. Sometimes, we can be down right lovely.

Celebrity is a strange business. Fame does not have to equal goodness. But when the two do happen to converge it makes us feel happily justified. Like we've finally, finally put our adoration in the right place.

Like how Kate Winslet keeps reassuring me that my adoration is in the right place. In her new cover story in V magazine, Kate reminds us that not only can we not suck, we can be fabulous while doing so. Take, for instance, her reasoning for loving city life:

“I like being in the city. I like the diversity that my children are exposed to every day. I love the way their brains work. [My son] Joe turns to me the other day and says ‘One day I will have a girlfriend or a boyfriend, darling. Which would you prefer?’ And I said ‘My love, that would be entirely up to you, and it doesn’t make any difference to me.’ But that he knows! It’s a real privilege. Talk about the best education.”

One could quibble - if one were in a quibbling mood - that country life could be just as progressive, of course. But let us just revel in the wonderfulness of her response to the possibility of having a gay child instead. Because that, that's what makes a difference. All the public speeches and heartfelt PSAs in the world can't make the difference that one parent telling one child that "It's perfectly OK to be gay, and I will love you just the same, always" can. Also, how fabulous is it that Kate's son calls her "darling?" So fabulous.

Oh, Kate, Kate. Thank you for not sucking. And being fucking fabulous.

p.s. Also, did you know Kate’s kind of a superhero? Super Winslet: Rescuing mothers from fires and telling sons it’s OK to be gay in a single bound.

Kate Winslet

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google
Disallow:
Kate Winslet


Full Name : Kate Elizabeth Winslet
Born : 5 October 1975
Reading, Berkshire, England
Occupation : Actress, singer
Years active : 1991–
Spouse : Jim Threapleton (m. 1998–2001) (divorced) 1 child
Sam Mendes (m. 2003–) (separated) 1 child
Relatives : Anna Winslet, Beth Winslet (sisters)

Vacation Vixen: Kate Winslet

Remember when I said how much I loved Kate’s new shorter crop? I was wrong. So, so wrong.

Kate Winslet

User-agent: Mediapartners-Google
Disallow:
Kate Winslet


Full Name : Kate Elizabeth Winslet
Born : 5 October 1975 (1975-10-05)
Reading, Berkshire, England
Occupation : Actress, singer
Years active : 1991–
Spouse : Jim Threapleton (m. 1998–2001)
Sam Mendes (m. 2003–)

Crop me Kate

Usually, there’s not too much one can say about a new haircut. Either it’s good or it’s bad. Either it’s “That looks terrific” or it’s “Don’t worry, darling, it’ll grow out.” But sometimes, just sometimes, a haircut can render you speechless. As in, your hair. It’s…wow. Now, there was absolutely nothing wrong with Kate Winslet’s hair before. It was all blond and lovely and long and luscious (when it wasn’t red and lovely and long and luscious – remember when it was ever so briefly a ginger?) But now, it’s all, wow. Ms. Winslet debuted her new crop in the new UK Vogue. Booking a ticket to London, flying 13 hours, finding a magazine standing, buying UK Vogue and then flying back 13 hours just so I could have my own copy would be too much, right?

Now, we could quibble about the color. I’m not really a white platinum kind of gal. But the lovely architectural shape of it and the fact that it’s ever so slightly butch (you know, compared to her old cut) makes me happy for the invention of scissors. Granted, I’m not a fan of Vogue’s continual over Photoshopping of already ridiculously beautiful women (come on, can we give these women skin tones and textures actually found in nature, please?) Also, is it just me or did the Photoshopper make her look too much like Gwen Stefani here? I’m just a girl, who looks like another girl, in the world?

Still, today I just want to talk about the hair. Now, it looks like Kate pulled back from the platinum already. She was at an event earlier this month with her regular blond back. Which, after going nearly white, seems difficult. Which now makes me confused. Was the hair coloring all Photoshop, too?

She also doesn’t seem to be styling it with quite the same, shall we say, flourish. But just knowing that she could, well, that makes all the difference. Like I was saying, wow.

Crack open a good book

Every New Year, I make a resolution to read more. Not that I don’t read, clearly. I read every single day, all the time, non-fucking-stop. Newspapers, magazines, books, The Internets. But I don’t always read the best writing. And I don’t always read as many really great books as I’d like to. So this New Year, once again, I’m making a pledge to be good to myself and my brain and pick up some excellent books. They say print is dead, but you’ll never look as sexy holding a Kindle as you do a book – trust me.

Christina Ricci
Audrey Hepburn
Emily Haines
Marilyn Monroe
Evangeline Lilly
Marion Cotillard
Jessica Stam
Kate Winslet
Winona Ryder
Alyson HanniganWillow is my favorite book nerd, period.

So ladies, let me have it, what should I be reading this year?

A Winslet and a prayer

Hey, you know who we haven’t talked about in a while? Kate Winslet! I know! How is this possible? Did I fall on my head? Possible! But the real reason is that Kate hasn’t really been in the news much lately because she hasn’t had a movie out. Sure, she shot and finished the mini-series “Mildred Pierce” for HBO, set to air next year. But it has been two full years since she was last on the big screen (“The Reader” opened in December 2008). Now in a way this is good, because it means Kate hasn’t fallen victim to the dreaded quickie Oscar follow-up flop that has plagued so many actors and actresses. Think Halle Berry and “Catwoman,” Charlize Theron and “Aeon Flux,” Cuba Gooding Jr. and the entire remainder of his career.

Since her win a lot has happened. She separated from her husband, director Sam Mendes, and was seen about town with a super hottie model and new boyfriend Louis on her arm. Now I will fully admit my double standard about this. When I see such behavior on a man I find it boorish and, you know, boorish. But on Kate? Get it girl!

Of course, seeing Kate out makes me want to see Kate on screen again. “Mildred Pierce” opposite Evan Rachel Wood should be amazing. But I’m more interested in the big screen. She has two films the docket. One is “Contagion,” which as you can guess from the name is about some sort of horrible outbreak of some disease that will kill us all. It also co-stars like all the stars – Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, and more. Though I bet this film seemed a lot more topical and a lot less like a rehash of that 15-year-old movie with Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo in Hazmat suits when we were all convinced we were going to die from the piggy flu at any second. But, still, Steven Soderbergh is directing and that’s usually promising. (cough, “Solaris,” cough, “Full Frontal,” cough, whatever the hell “Bubble” was).

But then the really interesting, and by interesting I mean perplexing, thing is her other project. Again, read the cast and think – I want to go to there. Kate, Jodie Foster, John C. Reilly, Christopher Waltz, Matt Dillon (I still have a soft spot for him from “The Outsiders”). But then you get to the director: Roman Polanski. Oh, fuck wank bugger shitting arse head and hole! I’ve already made my feelings on this subject very clear. And I’ve already lamented this decision from Jodie’s perspective. But, Kate, oh Kate. I realize that agreeing to work professionally with someone is not the same as agreeing with their personal views or actions. And I can separate the art from the artist. “The Pianist” was a great movie. “Rosemary’s Baby” was a great movie. But now, in light of everything that has both come out and happened in his case, it seems like a tacit pardoning of his crimes. In short, I’m disappointed. And, once again I’ll let my double standards show, I’m more disappointed in the women who choose to work with him than the men. Deep, deep sigh.

But through it all, I still love Kate. I’ll still see (most) of her movies. I’ll still love her wit and her propensity to swear. I’ll still love her style and her smarts. I’ll l still love her expertly arched eyebrows and fuck-you-I-will-eat-dessert attitude. I still love her, period. I miss her. Come back to the big screen soon in something we can all feel good about soon, dear.

The safety of objects

Women. They are gorgeous, certainly. But just as gorgeous can be their capacity for good. And when they bring their gorgeousness and their goodness together for one project, well, that’s when you have to sit back and admire the view. Now right now I bet you’re looking for a for instance. And boy do I ever have one. The amazing Emma Thompson has proven even more amazing by launching the new website Safe for her upcoming book by the same name. The project shows famous, and in the future unfamous, women photographed in the places they feel most safe. It is a benefit for the Helen Bamber Foundation, a UK human rights group dedicated to helping victims and survivors of human trafficking. Emma has long been an advocate for the group and spoken out against sex trafficking. All sales of the book will go toward the foundation and, as Emma writes, “will help those for whom no safe place exists.”

The pictures are pretty, but the purpose is beautiful. A sneak peek.

The preview also features Vanessa Paradis, Keira Knightley, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Uma Thurman, Julie Christie, Sharon Stone, Minnie Driver, Emily Blunt, Charlotte Rampling, Rosamund Pike, Demi Moore and the entire Richardson clan (including, touchingly, Natasha). Also included in the book will be such heavy hitters as Angelina Jolie, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Oprah, Catherine Deneuve, Gong Li, Tilda Swinton, Queen Latifah…I could go on and on (check the “see who else is invited” link in the credits). And she wants you. The site solicits submissions from us about the places we feel the safest. To make it into the book, which publishes in the spring, they must be sent by October.

Really, you should just click through the preview and experience it yourself. It is lovely, moving, brilliant. Just be sure to click all the way through past the end of the credits. There’s one last surprise that, while NSFW, is well worth the wait. Now that’s a grand finale. Like I was saying, gorgeous.

UPDATE: The site appears to be temporarily down. So be sure to check back later. (OK, I think it is back up, but if it goes down again, patience. It is worth it.)

Trench Coat Tuesday

So, clearly, it’s a Tuesday. And, yes, Tuesdays are for tank tops. But sometimes a gal needs to mix things up a bit. I figure other articles of clothing should be allowed to stop by every now and then for a visit. Like a timeshare of hotness. So today, the humble tank top makes way for the elegant trench coat. The iconic piece of clothing is as practical as it is promising. That great promise, of course, is simple: That there will be only smooth skin and sin waiting underneath. For example, on Naomi Watts the trench says both a) I’m wearing a jacket in case things get nippy on our car ride and b) I’m wearing nothing underneath to ensure things get nipply after our ride. See, change can be good, or bad – in the someone has been a very, very bad girl sense.

Emily DeschanelMy what nice, um, “Bones” structure you have. I know – groan.

Mariska HargitayIf you get flashed by a cop, who do you call? If it’s Mariska, everyone.

Kate WinsletCold outside, hot everywhere else.

Anna Torv

Just ignore Joshua Jackson, I do on “Fringe” anyway.

Megan FoxEver since she got canned from “Transformers 3,” I’ve liked her a lot more. A lot.

Jessica CapshawDear Shonda Rhimes: Next year, please consider incorporating a trench coat into next season’s mandatory Calzona make-up sex scenes. Just a thought.

Jodie Foster

See, you’ve forgotten all about dumb old tank tops already.