Something magnificently evil this way comes

Maleficent has always been my favorite Disney villain. There is something so magnificently malevolent about her. She’s regal and terrifying. Plus, there are the horns. And, you know, her dragon. As an adult, it’s a little hard to admit that Sleeping Beauty was one of your favorite Disney princess film. From a feminist perspective it’s possibly the worst on the strong independent heroine scale. I mean, the girl sleeps through basically the whole story. It’s in the damn title. But I attribute my lingering affection to the story all to Maleficent. And now that Angelina Jolie will play her in alive-action retelling of Sleeping Beauty well. It’s OK to cheer for the bag guy sometimes, right? Heck, who needs magical powers to impress when you have cheekbones you can slice deli meat on.



p.s. I know I’m probably getting my hopes up. I was pretty unimpressed with “Snow White,” even though I loved Charlize Theron’s Evil Queen. But, dammit, if I don’t want to believe.

Tank Top Tuesday

Oh, tank tops – I’ve missed you so. So, as you might have noticed, it’s been a little while since our last unrestricted Tank Top Tuesday. So let’s just go for it. Like jump right in. Like, boom, say hello to Kerry Washington and her tank top. Yeah, just like that. Sometimes I forget I don’t have to write as many of these word things to make a good post. But then I remember. You’re welcome.

Anna Silk

Production has started on Season 4. Come back, “Lost Girl,” I’ve missed
Boobs O’Clock all the exciting succubus drama.

Anna Torv

It’s an Annas we miss convention.

Anne Hathaway

Annes, too.

Grace Park

What’s she doing now that she left “Hawaii 5-O?” I hope it’s a show I’ll actually watch.

Scarlett Johansson

She is the main reason I’m going to see the next Captain America movie (besides Chris Evans’ tight little tushy – what, I’m only human).

Angelina Jolie

I find it rather strange and unseemly (cough, Melissa Etheridge, cough) to publically criticize another woman’s personal health choices. Whatever decision a woman makes for herself with fully informed consent is not, in my opinion, “fearful.”

Brandi Carlile

I just got tickets to see Brandi this summer. Excuse me while I go have a Big Gay Squee moment.

Vacation Vixen: Angelina Jolie

So much has been written and gossiped and mythologized about Angelina Jolie over the years it’s hard to remember sometimes that she is a real human person leading a real human life. But yesterday, at midnight, when her essay about getting a preventative double mastectomy posted to The New York Times, it was impossible to think of her as anything but human. A real, honest, brave human.

I have known women who decided to have preventative double mastectomies because they carry the so-called breast cancer gene, BRCA1. And I know it is a very difficult, very personal, very courageous choice. Women should never be judged for wanting to control their own bodies or trying to save their own lives. The sad reality is too few women have the option Angelina had. The test for the gene is expensive and the surgery and breast reconstruction afterward even more so, if your health insurance will even allow it. Or if you have health insurance in the first place. But all women should have the opportunity she had. Shouldn’t a smart health care system want to prevent fires before they start instead of only rushing in after we are engulfed in flames?

What Angelina Jolie did was her choice. Though when you hear that having the procedure made her go from having an 87 percent to an under 5 percent chance of developing breast cancer, it seems like a no brainer. Still she did not have to tell the world of her decision, but did so to raise awareness, create change, express solidarity. So much of our body image as women can be wrapped up in our breasts. But our bodies never define us, only describe us – and even that is just the superficial that the eyes can see. We are, all of us, just humans. Humans who want to stay healthy and be around for the people we love and who love us for as long as we can. Even one of the most beautiful, rich, famous women in the world. Only human, also brave.