LZ Sunday Paper Newsletter: The "Whiteout" Edition
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Readers,
Two whiteouts this week.
The first is appalling.
The second is fun but then almost immediately a pain-in-the-neck.
To number one: I applaud the swift decision-making of a normally slow-moving board to commit to doubling the diverse membership of the Motion Picture Academy by 2020. But when I look at the actual numbers, I'm not sure that the approximately 6% of 6000 members -- about 350 -- increasing to 700 will have any impact whatsoever in the nomination and voting process. Especially when you consider that the 6% today is the total "non-white" number. Today, about 2% of voters are black, 2% hispanic. Getting to 4% in each category in four years doesn't seem like a fabulous (or difficult) goal.
Today women are approximately 22% of the voting body. Is there a commitment to increase to ~44%? Will that number also have to include all the other minorities combined? Will it have any impact in the nominating and voting process? I ask that question because it certainly seems like it would be hard to exclude women from such categories as Best Actress. But hey, you never know. More men could be nominated and win if, for instance, they bring a whole new category to the ceremony that would be awarded to men playing women. Sensitive and beautiful Eddie Redmayne would then have a fighting chance against bear-eaten, very cold, and left-for-dead Leo DiCaprio. Even better, Dustin Hoffman could come back for a Men-Playing-Women Honorary Oscar from his richly deserved nomination for his portrayal of a woman who had to wear uncomfortable undergarments. All that said, thinking back on last year, it still seems like director Ava DuVernay was bizarrely dissed and it had to have something to do with "two strikes" working against her as a black woman. I hope the Academy changes yield more nominations and wins, but I suspect the focus on parity for women in Hollywood will need to remain more an issue of accessibility to top-notch writing and directing assignments and pay equity in order to feed the Academy voter pipeline.
As regards the second whiteout, attention to blizzards is also cyclical. Noone ignores it when it happens, but people also largely only think, talk, and write about it when it does happen. I, for one, am not ignoring it because it made me miss my (cancelled) flight AND re-booked (and subsequently cancelled) flight to Park City, Utah, home of the Sundance Film Fest.
In the meantime, please enjoy this week's not-all-white list of interesting and important pieces by and about--but not exclusively for-- women in business, politics, digital, media, film, tv, fashion, sports, and pop culture. This week, it's a bit of an odd order, medium on "news" and light on media and heavy on culture. And a New Yorker mini-festival of articles from issues that had been stranded, bedside. All hand-picked. By me. For you.
Please send me any items of interest, questions/comments, or tell me your birthday so I can give you a shoutout: here. I think you can use this link to tweet or share this edition of the newsletter -- but sometimes it's broken. If so, apologies, and I will try to fix it.
Do peruse the back catalogue for the issues you missed, forward the Paper to someone you think would enjoy it, or sign up at LZSundayPaper.com.
Sometimes there's so much interesting stuff out there I can't wait 'til Sunday so I tweet it during the week. Follow me @LZSundayPaper.
Snowily yours and Delta-stranded,
LZ
THE PIC(K) OF THE WEEK:
Ruth Simmons' Presidential Portrait Installed via Brown University
NEWS & INSIGHTS:
'90's Scandals Threaten To Erode Hillary's Strength With Women via The New York Times
The Zika Virus Takes A Frightening Turn, And Raises Many Questions via NPR
When Teamwork Doesn't Work For Women via The New York Times
The Awful Origins Of The Fetishized 'Submissive Asian Woman' Stereotype via Everyday Feminism
Education Not About 'Being Comfortable,' Says Oxford Head via CNN
When Middle School And Menopause Collide via The Today Show
A Domestic Worker Became One Of The World's 'Most Inspiring Women' Through Photography via Quartz
Sexism On The Stage -- Meet The Women Tearing Up The Script via The Guardian
Bills Hire NFL's First Fulltime Female Coach via The Washington Post
16 Bizarre Truths I Learned As A Bikini Fitness Competitor via Mashable
Blood In The Streets: Coping With Menstruation While Homeless via Medium
The Year Of The Toilet via The New York Times
American Historian, Meet American Girl via American Historical Association
100 Years Ago, American Women Competed In Intense Venus De Milo Lookalike Contests via Atlas Obscura
'I Need A Drink:' British Woman Lands In Sydney After 21,000km Flight In Vintage BiPlane via The Guardian
Anita Loos: The Sharp, Shameless Humour Of 'The World's Most Brilliant Woman' via The Guardian
A MINI-NEW YORKER FESTIVAL FROM ALL THOSE ISSUES I MENTIONED PILING UP ON MY NIGHTTABLE:
Ready For Primetime: After 25 Years As A Road Comic, Leslie Jones Becomes A Star
War Of Words: A Woman's Battle To End Stoning And Juvenile Execution In Iran
Sisters In Law: Saudi Women Are Beginning To Know Their Rights
The Wall Dancer: 14-Year Old Ashima Shiraishi's Route To The Top
AND WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE ABOUT:
30 Photos That Prove MakeUp Doesn't Have To Be 'Natural' To Be Beautiful via Buzzfeed
The LZ Sunday Paperâ„¢ (soon to be registered trademarked and copyrighted) launched at the dawn of 2014. We expose and recirculate interesting content that is about, and frequently by, women in business, with a dose of ultra-relevant culture. We think that culture comes in size high, medium, and low. Our audience for this content is vast and not gender-driven. Every week we expect at least one good laugh. Send suggestions, clips, or names of people you think might enjoy this to LZSundayPaper@gmail.com.
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