Thousands arrived at the National Building Museum in DC to hear her bid farewell as she ended her historic presidential campaign. Like Clinton, many were profoundly, visibly disappointed but ever-defiant. Many recognized the symbolic distance she had travelled. In her words:

As we gather here today, the 50th woman to leave this Earth is orbiting overhead. If we can blast 50 women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House.

Perhaps the American patriarchy isn’t ready. But her campaign has undoubtedly blazed a trail upon which other women might build more substantial byways. She has certainly found her voice and we hope to hear its echo in years to come:

Although we weren’t able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it’s got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time.

Clinton is asking her supporters to back Obama. Will or should we/they play ball?

Slate’s Fraywatch cites one woman’s insight:

Obama is not the candidate they are looking for. In fact he is their recurring nightmare; Obama represents the guy who was promoted over them because he was smooth, cool, etc. not because he did the hard work, paid his dues, and yes, waited his turn.

A lot of women had to live through that and, rightly or wrongly, they actually empathize with Clinton and feel what she is going through. These women did the work for their daughters, they don’t need Obama to do it for them.

Another responder writes:

The media was so focused on the idea that Hillary Clinton acted as if the nomination was hers by right, that they failed to see the arrogance and obnoxiousness of her opponent’s campaign. That elitism (for lack of a better word) was not lost on the rest of us. In the 40 years I have followed American politics, never have I seen a candidate (and her supporters) treated with such disrespect by the media.

What’s a woman to do? As Clinton said, there’s a lot at stake and we’ve come a long, long way. Is it time to just hold your nose and get the Republicans out? Or is there a higher principle at stake here?

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Over the course of his 50-year career, he revolutionized women’s clothing by breaking down the distinction between masculine and feminine.

Perhaps best known for introducing the “Le Smoking”, a tuxedo for women, in 1966, Saint Laurent considered himself an advocate for women’s power. In 1968, this caused a scandal in Manhattan when New York socialite Nan Kempner wore the tuxedo to dinner at La Cote Basque restaurant. The maitre d’ told her she couldn’t dine in a pair of trousers and Kempner promptly dropped the pants and proceeded to dine in the jacket, which had instantly become a very short dress.

He would later open his pret-a-porter or ready-to-wear line which brought pantsuits and gender-neutral jackets and pants to everyday lives of women. This major shift in fashion coincided significantly with the changing socioeconomic role of women as millions began entering the workforce in the late 1960s and 70s. The change was so revolutionary that most women in Western cultures today don’t even think twice about wearing jackets and pants.

A full retrospective of his work opened at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts just last Thursday. It will be on view through September 28.

A farewell tip of the hat to a magical man.

Posted by Blixity

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Featuring a solar panel around the stomach area, the simply-named “Solar Energy Bra” can generate enough electricity to power up your mobile phone or iPod. The drawback: it needs light to generate electricity. In other words, it won’t work with clothes on. So, in the same breath, Triumph has also announced that the bra is NOT likely to hit stores soon. Okay, that makes total sense.

The real question is: Must women do all the work, including power up the world — with our bras? Enough is enough!

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A couple days ago, Arianna Huffington wrote a memorably lucid post, shockingly supportive of Clinton’s run for president and its monumental implications:

“[Clinton] has…forever demolished the question mark hovering over the issue many (wrongly, in my opinion) have felt would be a woman candidate’s biggest weakness: the ability to be seen as a plausible commander-in-chief.

It is to her great credit that very shortly into the ’08 race, when you saw Clinton on television, you didn’t think, “Oh, there’s the woman running for president.” That is no small feat for a woman trying to break into a male-dominated arena. So the next time a woman — or two or three — runs for president, it won’t be seen as a novelty act. Because Hillary certainly wasn’t.

Personally, I’d love to see a presidential race in November that allows us to choose between Clinton, Obama, McCain, and Paul. That is not going to happen. But it will. As Arianna writes, the rules of the game have changed:

“Campaigning in Pennsylvania in early April, Clinton compared herself to Philadelphia icon Rocky Balboa. “Let me tell you something,” she said. “When it comes to finishing the fight, Rocky and I have a lot in common. I never quit. I never give up.”

The comparison was meant to reinforce her image as a tireless warrior — but it was more accurate and prescient than she intended. Because Rocky actually lost his initial fight with Apollo Creed. After 15 punishing and bloody rounds, he was satisfied just to have gone the distance.

…Even though Rocky didn’t win, he was ultimately seen as a triumphant figure. And that’s how Hillary will be seen too…Hers will have been a game-changing defeat.”

Unlike Arianna (and while we still face a two-party race), I’m not ready to submit to Obama as the democratic nominee. Clinton is still in the ring. So I’m holding out for change.

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Now wait a second. Before mobile operators do to TV or movies what the ipod did to music and video (which is shift from collective listening/viewing to individualized on-demand listening/viewing), please watch this absolute gem of a video with filmmaker David Lynch, one of the best American directors working today. (I’m not sure when this was recorded, but it’s arguably one of my most favorite finds on YouTube.)

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From Gawker:

“Maybe it’s a plot by the Obama campaign to win back the gay community, which has something of a taste for the youth clothing retailer and, especially, its catalogs, but whose vote is basically owned by Hillary Clinton… Perhaps, instead, this is some kind of bizarre attempt at product placement by Abercrombie, trying to latch on to some of Obama’s rock-star appeal.”

Have a laugh! Happy Monday, ladies.

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Born on April 16, 1927 and declared pope on April 19, 2005, Ratzinger could be headed towards another life-changing April. So we thought we’d preempt the situation and look to the stars for clues. For the astrologically-inclined, here’s a screenshot of his natal chart from Astrology Weekly.

And a horoscope for Ratzinger on his birthday, from our favorite astrology site astro.com:

A fleeting depression

Weak, transient effect: This influence can indicate a period of fleeting depression. This morning you are inclined to feel lonely and out of touch with others. Sometimes you have a pronounced sense that no one loves you, whether or not it is true. It is very important to realize that your moods and sensations under this influence often do not reflect reality, even though they seem to. One area where you can have real trouble is in relationships. You will find it unusually difficult to relate emotionally to another person during this time. Either you are caught up in internal negativism, or you feel so cold and insensitive that you do not register signals from other people very well. This in turn leads to failures of communication and genuine misunderstandings. Obviously this is not a good time to become involved in an emotionally delicate situation.

Considering Ratzinger will be spending his birthday morning with Bush, this TOTALLY makes sense.

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The demonstrations have been sparked by China’s security crackdown in Tibet following a series of protests against Chinese rule which swept the region last month.

Tibetan exile groups say Chinese security forces killed dozens of protesters. Beijing says about 19 people were killed in rioting.

The torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, on 24 March and will go through 20 countries before being carried into the opening ceremony at the Beijing Games on 8 August.

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