Savvy Women

Troy Headrick
The American University in Cairo
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
contact@savvy-women-magazine.com

I want to use a lot of video in my blogs. When I’m reading blogs myself (and that’s pretty often), I really enjoy those that are multimedia. That may at least partly be true because I don’t have a TV at home (and haven’t owned one of the contraptions now for about seven years) which means that viewing such vids, on ye ole world wide web, is like my one and only television substitute.

With all that in mind, I want to share my favorite video site with you. It’s called Fora.TV. One of the things I really like about this particular webpage–other than the fabulous videos available there–is the voiceover that says (in a wonderful British accent) “Fora.TV, the world is thinking” whenever a person clicks the play button of any of its offerings.

If asked to provide a pithy description of Fora.TV, I’d call it “YouTube with a brain.” Have a look and you’ll see what I mean.

(By the way, the site has tons of high-quality videos about love and sex and politics and men and war and peace and food and children and women and you name it.)

While I was preparing this piece, I ran across a short, 28-minute talk by Lisa Lillien, bestselling author, founder of the wildly popular Hungry-girl.com site, and self-described “food obsessed” individual. The video is mostly a Q/A session at one of Lillien’s recent book signings in the lovely and talented Denver, Colorado. To be completely honest with you, I’d never heard of Lillien before viewing this, but I found her to be interesting and funny. In fact, bits and pieces of her brief, preliminary talk feel just like stand-up comedy.

I’d also recommend this video as well from the Fora.TV site. It’s a talk by two writers who’ve recently published a book that’s premised on the argument that men are exactly like chimpanzees.

OK, raise your hands if you’re surprised by such a claim.

By my count, not many hands went up.

Troy Headrick
The American University in Cairo
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
contact@savvy-women-magazine.com

This blog is dedicated to Etta Merle Hausenfluck (my grandmother–my “Memaw”) of little Christoval, Texas, a town no one’s ever heard of.  Memaw will turn 93 on her next birthday.

I can safely say that she is one of the strongest women–heck, strongest people–I’ve ever known and that I have learned many things while observing her, including how one goes about aging gracefully.

Speaking of aging, have you seen this?  If you haven’t, you definitely need to.

The article to be found at the above link explains that scientists have discovered what causes hair to turn gray.   I assume this means that at some point in the future we’ll be able to pop a pill or smear on a little ointment, and voilà, our locks, those glorious tresses, will reacquire their normal, youthful color!

Who says that time can’t be made to run in reverse!

Alas, I’ve got gray hair.  For me, though, that’s not the most bothersome sign of aging.  Hair loss is what really upsets me.  Yes, it saddens me to report that the “Male-Pattern Baldness” monster has gotten hold of me (and won’t let go).  You can’t really tell from my picture because it’s so small, but a bigger version would show tell-tale signs of thinning in the front.

Why do our bodies seem so determined to humiliate us as we grow older?

But I’m now wondering about women.  The Internet is filled with articles (like this one) that discuss how women, especially as they move into their forties and then beyond, develop this great hatred for their bodies.  But I am hard pressed to find anything that specifically lists the signs of aging that women most dread.  Is it graying hair?  Wrinkles?  Sagging body parts?  Weight gain?  All the above?  None of the above?

It just occurred to me that when I was growing up there was this craze that lasted for years.  All sorts of products were sold to get rid of cellulite.  I remember them being advertised on TV and in magazines.  The absolute worst flaw a woman could have, it seemed, especially as she got older, was a few dimples on her derrière or the back of her legs.

Now that I’m on the topic of aging, I’m wondering why it is that women seem to age so much more gracefully than men do.  Looking at my own family, I’d have to say that in general the womenfolk (Memaw being a prime example) have an easier time accepting the bodily changes that come with getting older.  By contrast, my “Pawpaw,” Memaw’s husband, got old and then he got depressed.  He spent most of the last few years of his life sitting in his favorite chair and staring off into space.

Is that your experience as well?  Do women, in your family, age better than men do, and if so, why?

What secret do women know that men need to learn?

Troy Headrick
The American University in Cairo
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
contact@savvy-women-magazine.com

Hi, my name is Troy Headrick. I’m the new blogger at Savvy Women’s Magazine. By the way, have you noticed yet? I’m not a woman.

That’s right, I’m XY and not XX. (I’m talking chromosomes here.) I raise this point about my chromosomes, about my “maleness,” because I’m blogging for a women’s magazine. As one who has written for magazines whose primary audience is women, I’m very aware (sometimes painfully aware) that the vast majority of those who write for such publications are women. That’s right. It’s almost always women writing for and about other women in women’s magazines. If you think I’m overstating the case, I challenge you to go online and look at such publications. Look at who’s writing the articles. It’s almost always XX.

That might be a good thing? What do men know about women, anyway, right?

Or that might be a bad thing? I’m just wondering, at what point does women only reading the thoughts of other women become something akin to groupthink?

Here’s an idea. Perhaps women’s magazines should include a category of articles called “What Men Think about Women” and then have only men write those? What do you think? It sounds like a fabulous idea to me. (I wonder if I can patent it???)

The more I think about this, though, the more confused I become. Perhaps men have no right to write about women? Or maybe women don’t want to hear from non-women in their magazines? Perhaps women hear enough of men’s voices when they listen to their grandfathers, fathers, husbands, boyfriends, brothers, sons, uncles, and nephews? Maybe women are up to here (I’m indicating my chin) hearing men pontificate?

I’ll wrap this first one up by telling you a little bit about me (in case you’re interested). I’m 47 years old. I’m a writer. I’m an artist. I’m a world traveler. I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid-90s. I am an academician. I teach writing classes at the American University in Cairo. I love women (enough to have married two of them, but not at the same time!). I have lived in the Middle East for ten years. I’m originally from Texas. I have taught “women’s studies” classes in the past. I currently teach a composition class that has “gender” as its main theme. I have also taught classes on happiness and creativity and heroes and philosophy.

My goal is to make this a fun and interactive and thought-provoking blog about women, women’s lives, women’s loves and hates, women’s concerns, women’s issues, etc. Sometimes, though, I might write about these subjects from a decidedly male point of view. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, though.

Anyway, I hope you’ll participate. (Note: Post something in the “comments” section or send me an email!)

More in about a week…