I bought the Cook's Illustrated gluten-free cookbook recently. In the ads, they hyped their flour blend recipe as being the best thing since sliced bread. I was a little dubious but their track record is pretty good. Anyway, I made their flour blend, which isn't too obscure or pricy, at least by gluten-free standards. It has brown and white rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch and a little bit of non-fat milk powder. From there, I tested the chocolate chip cookie recipe and the waffle recipe. These are things that I haven't been able to replicate very well. Much to my surprise, they both came out really well. As in, 'I can't believe it's gluten-free!' well, even though I took some liberties with their flour recipe (see below) Even more surprising, the recipes were actually less full of special tricks than the average Cook's Illustrated recipe. So I am going to share the flour blend recipe, but I do recommend buying the book if you're going to be doing a lot of gluten-free baking. It is awesome and I am looking forward to trying more recipes.
For the flour blend, they recommend using Bob's Red Mill rice flours.
Gluten-Free Flour Blend
24 oz white rice flour (4 3/4 cups, or a standard size pack from Bob's Red Mill)
7 1/2 oz brown rice flour (1 2/3 cups)
7 oz (1 1/3 cups) potato starch
3 oz tapioca starch (3/4 cups)
3/4 oz (3 tbsp) non-fat dried milk powder
Whisk all ingredients together well. Store in a ziplock bag.
I have a confession to make - I didn't totally follow their recipe since I was running low on a few things. So I used more like a half and half mix of brown and white rice flour, and a little bit less potato starch and a little bit more tapioca starch. Even so, the recipes came out better than any other gluten-free recipes I've tried, even ones using pricy flour blends. So I'm going to guess that the relative proportion of rice flours to starch is important, but the relative amounts of brown vs white rice flour, or tapioca vs potato starch, are less important. The milk powder is important since it helps with browning and contributes protein.
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Musings on Lego Chemist
Missy and Kadin gave me a little Lego scientist figure.* Her name is Dr. Bodin, which reminds me of the Bohdan automated weighing station I used to use. She has brown hair, glasses, and is wearing a purple shirt underneath her labcoat, and is holding two flasks. In short, she looks a lot like me except she actually is wearing a labcoat and is holding flasks rather than Schlenk tubes or sticking her arms in a glovebox...or at a desk writing proposals and advising students. (Note to self: make a Lego glovebox sometime) Note: I did not mention that Dr. Bodin is a woman. This fact is not that unusual in the world of real life scientists, and it wasn't even all that noteworthy 25 years ago when I first stuck my arms in a glovebox. However, it is extremely unusual in the sausage-fest world of Legos. Dr. Bodin had her debut a few months ago, and it was noteworthy enough that I, a cranky old childless biddy, knew about it from both feminist websites, Facebook, and Chemical and Engineering News. It is 2013. There should've been lots of female Lego figurines doing lots of different occupations, about 30 years ago, or whenever they started selling all the custom Lego pieces.
Today when we were shopping Missy said she would've had trouble dealing with the princessy crap if she had a daughter rather than a son. I agree 1000% on that sentiment, but the toys geared to boys are not free of gender stereotypes, and I told her so. Perhaps I notice it a lot because I do not have kids and only get exposed to it a few times a year, or because I work in what is still a male-dominated field, even though women have been going to grad school in large numbers for at least 30 years. I get cranky about the Lego sets with one or no female characters, and the fact that Dr Bodin is still newsworthy. I get cranky that the token Lego woman in Kadin's new Lego set is a princess locked in the tower, and that when Kadin asked me to play Legos with him he assumed that I would want to be the princess and put up quite a fuss when I said I wanted to be the wizard instead, and gave the princess some agency other than just being rescued (more on that later). I go "WTF?!?!?" when the practically all the cartoon characters in the They Might Be Giants kids science video are boys. I raise my eyebrows at the few female Skylanders characters, who, although they are all badass honey badgers, are all small and cute, whereas all the male and theoretically gender neutral characters can be big or small, ugly or cute, and are always assumed to be male even when they are something like a robot.
I know that toys are more gendered now so that retailers can sell more stuff, and kids love to self-identify with a group, whether it is by gender, interest, or whatever, and so naturally they want the stuff with the targeted marketing that they have been inundated with since birth. I know that many people view it as mainly harmless. I am not so sure. To me, it's kind of akin to junk food versus somewhat healthy food. Sure, kids are going to prefer the junk food but that doesn't mean they should get a steady diet of it all the time. I don't think it should be forbidden, either, just get a balance. Even if the majority of Lego players are boys, that doesn't mean that every single interesting character should be male. Perhaps if they included some interesting ones more girls would be interested in Legos, or, barring that, Dr. Bodin would not make the news and I would not have to give Kadin lessons on feminism, which he shouldn't need in the first place because of the good example of his awesome mom. I can give similar examples of girls' stuff that is equally cringeworthy. Even if the majority of kids who play with a toy are one gender or another, I don't think the toys, especially the middle of the road ones like soccer balls, Legos, or animals, should be targeted they way they are.
Why do I care about this, you ask. I don't have kids. It's the 21st century. Women have made huge inroads in the workplace, even in the years since I started grad school. Well, it all comes back to Dr. Bodin, the Lego princess, and 25 years of "2nd generation sexism" I've dealt with in the workplace. This is the subtle kind that people deny still exists, but most women experience in the form of some blatant stuff and thousands of microagressions, which are like death by a thousand paper cuts, be they in the form of reduced pay and professional opportunities, a constant stress about one's weight and looks, the second shift of working full time and doing the majority of the housework/childcare, or in countless conservative politicians launching attacks on women's access to birth control and health care. These things make me cranky, and I am worried that all the subtle influences kids are exposed to from birth will continue to set us back.*
Anyway, back to Dr. Bodin and the Lego princess. When Kadin and I were playing with his Lego set, I was the princess and the evil wizard. I forgot to include Dr. Bodin, unfortunately. Kadin was the knight and various other characters. The princess told the knight that she did not want to be rescued, that she was in grad school learning alchemy from the evil wizard. It took a long time to convince the knight to go away. I turned the narrative around a bit and was pleased with myself about that. But, upon reflection later, it would've been even better if I had made Dr. Bodin the professor and the evil wizard a member of the princess's thesis committee. Like everyone else in this country, even the cranky old feminist biddy is sexist at times, and it is humbling to realize that. So that is why we need more Dr. Bodins, so that 40 years from now, the women of Kadin's generation are not fighting the same microbattles that my generation naively assumed were history 25 years ago.
* It's really quite astounding how much sexism persists in chemistry, even though things are a lot better than they were 20 years ago. I've seen the female faculty candidates get subjected to much more critical assessments than the male ones, even though all of the obviously bad ones were male. Over on ChemBark, which is a bit of a chemistry gossip blog, there was a post about who got hired for faculty positions last year. That's not noteworthy in itself, but some of the comments degenerated to a discussion about various female faculty members and how they were so undeserving of the jobs they got, to the point where the commenter suggested that the faculty members got their jobs due to their parents' influence. Seriously. It was just ridiculous that the commenter had tracked down that information and actually believed it. Fortunately, other commenters issued a pretty complete smackdown.
Today when we were shopping Missy said she would've had trouble dealing with the princessy crap if she had a daughter rather than a son. I agree 1000% on that sentiment, but the toys geared to boys are not free of gender stereotypes, and I told her so. Perhaps I notice it a lot because I do not have kids and only get exposed to it a few times a year, or because I work in what is still a male-dominated field, even though women have been going to grad school in large numbers for at least 30 years. I get cranky about the Lego sets with one or no female characters, and the fact that Dr Bodin is still newsworthy. I get cranky that the token Lego woman in Kadin's new Lego set is a princess locked in the tower, and that when Kadin asked me to play Legos with him he assumed that I would want to be the princess and put up quite a fuss when I said I wanted to be the wizard instead, and gave the princess some agency other than just being rescued (more on that later). I go "WTF?!?!?" when the practically all the cartoon characters in the They Might Be Giants kids science video are boys. I raise my eyebrows at the few female Skylanders characters, who, although they are all badass honey badgers, are all small and cute, whereas all the male and theoretically gender neutral characters can be big or small, ugly or cute, and are always assumed to be male even when they are something like a robot.
I know that toys are more gendered now so that retailers can sell more stuff, and kids love to self-identify with a group, whether it is by gender, interest, or whatever, and so naturally they want the stuff with the targeted marketing that they have been inundated with since birth. I know that many people view it as mainly harmless. I am not so sure. To me, it's kind of akin to junk food versus somewhat healthy food. Sure, kids are going to prefer the junk food but that doesn't mean they should get a steady diet of it all the time. I don't think it should be forbidden, either, just get a balance. Even if the majority of Lego players are boys, that doesn't mean that every single interesting character should be male. Perhaps if they included some interesting ones more girls would be interested in Legos, or, barring that, Dr. Bodin would not make the news and I would not have to give Kadin lessons on feminism, which he shouldn't need in the first place because of the good example of his awesome mom. I can give similar examples of girls' stuff that is equally cringeworthy. Even if the majority of kids who play with a toy are one gender or another, I don't think the toys, especially the middle of the road ones like soccer balls, Legos, or animals, should be targeted they way they are.
Why do I care about this, you ask. I don't have kids. It's the 21st century. Women have made huge inroads in the workplace, even in the years since I started grad school. Well, it all comes back to Dr. Bodin, the Lego princess, and 25 years of "2nd generation sexism" I've dealt with in the workplace. This is the subtle kind that people deny still exists, but most women experience in the form of some blatant stuff and thousands of microagressions, which are like death by a thousand paper cuts, be they in the form of reduced pay and professional opportunities, a constant stress about one's weight and looks, the second shift of working full time and doing the majority of the housework/childcare, or in countless conservative politicians launching attacks on women's access to birth control and health care. These things make me cranky, and I am worried that all the subtle influences kids are exposed to from birth will continue to set us back.*
Anyway, back to Dr. Bodin and the Lego princess. When Kadin and I were playing with his Lego set, I was the princess and the evil wizard. I forgot to include Dr. Bodin, unfortunately. Kadin was the knight and various other characters. The princess told the knight that she did not want to be rescued, that she was in grad school learning alchemy from the evil wizard. It took a long time to convince the knight to go away. I turned the narrative around a bit and was pleased with myself about that. But, upon reflection later, it would've been even better if I had made Dr. Bodin the professor and the evil wizard a member of the princess's thesis committee. Like everyone else in this country, even the cranky old feminist biddy is sexist at times, and it is humbling to realize that. So that is why we need more Dr. Bodins, so that 40 years from now, the women of Kadin's generation are not fighting the same microbattles that my generation naively assumed were history 25 years ago.
* It's really quite astounding how much sexism persists in chemistry, even though things are a lot better than they were 20 years ago. I've seen the female faculty candidates get subjected to much more critical assessments than the male ones, even though all of the obviously bad ones were male. Over on ChemBark, which is a bit of a chemistry gossip blog, there was a post about who got hired for faculty positions last year. That's not noteworthy in itself, but some of the comments degenerated to a discussion about various female faculty members and how they were so undeserving of the jobs they got, to the point where the commenter suggested that the faculty members got their jobs due to their parents' influence. Seriously. It was just ridiculous that the commenter had tracked down that information and actually believed it. Fortunately, other commenters issued a pretty complete smackdown.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Gluten Free Pumpkin Ricotta Cheesecake
I'm on a completely non-ironic pumpkin spice craze, despite the fact that I have not consumed any pumpkin pie or pumpkin spice lattes this year. Although I do enjoy a pumpkin-spice latte once or twice a year, this is sort of a new thing for me. A few weeks ago, I made some pumpkin butter, which really looks more like pumpkin poo. That was my gateway drug. I started putting it in my oatmeal and really liked it, so I made more. Then I used some of it in pancakes, and liked that as well. My neighbors had a fall-themed potluck, so of course I had to make a pumpkin cheesecake. And of course it had to be gluten free...After much perusing of recipes online, I decided to make one with a mix of cream cheese and ricotta. I have sentimental reason for doing this, and I happened to have ricotta.
When I was a kid, my mom liked to make cheesecake. Once in a great while, if she had to take it to a potluck or something, she pulled out her recipe and made one with all cream cheese and that nice sour cream layer on top. That was awesome. Most of the time, if it was just for us, she would take a bunch of cottage cheese, eggs, sugar, and lemon and put them in the blender and use that as the filling. She didn't use a recipe, but the overall proportions are something like this recipe. Once in a while she would add a brick of cream cheese, but usually she didn't. Sometimes she did this when she got discounted cottage cheese which was nearing its expiration date. Anyway, as a result, these cottage cheese cheesecakes are my point of reference for cheesecake, even though I also love the richer all-cream cheese ones. I found a recipe for a pumpkin ricotta cheesecake online, but then proceeded to make major changes to it.
For the crust
1 1/4 cups ground almond flour
3/4 cup gluten free flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg yolk
Preheat oven to 350F. Melt butter and let cool. Beat in egg yolk and add vanilla and almond extract. Combine dry ingredients and mix. Pour wet ingredients on top and mix. Press into bottom and sides of a 9" or 10" springform pan.* Bake until crust is lightly browned and has started to set.
For the filling
1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups ricotta
5 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
I used both a mixer and a blender here, but you don't have to. I wanted to get the ricotta and pumpkin really smooth. Unfortunately I still had a few small lumps of cream cheese since my mixing bowl is tall and narrow, and some lumps got left on the bottom. Anyway, whip up cream cheese until no lumps remain. Add ricotta, eggs and sugar and dry ingredients and blend well (or puree ricotta and pumpkin in blender with eggs, and then add.to cream cheese mixture). Pour into springform pan. Place springform pan ina large roasting pan and add boiling water up to appx 1/2 the height of the springform pan. Bake at 350F until it is set. I think mine took about 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in fridge.
I really increased the amount of filling relative to the original recipe. If I make this again I will use a 10" crust. As it was I had a little bit of extra filling which I put into a glass loaf pan and baked.
Anyway, it came out well. It was creamy but not grainy or heavy. It was very popular at the potluck. If I make it again I will up the sugar a bit (maybe 25% more) and also increase the spices.
When I was a kid, my mom liked to make cheesecake. Once in a great while, if she had to take it to a potluck or something, she pulled out her recipe and made one with all cream cheese and that nice sour cream layer on top. That was awesome. Most of the time, if it was just for us, she would take a bunch of cottage cheese, eggs, sugar, and lemon and put them in the blender and use that as the filling. She didn't use a recipe, but the overall proportions are something like this recipe. Once in a while she would add a brick of cream cheese, but usually she didn't. Sometimes she did this when she got discounted cottage cheese which was nearing its expiration date. Anyway, as a result, these cottage cheese cheesecakes are my point of reference for cheesecake, even though I also love the richer all-cream cheese ones. I found a recipe for a pumpkin ricotta cheesecake online, but then proceeded to make major changes to it.
For the crust
1 1/4 cups ground almond flour
3/4 cup gluten free flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg yolk
Preheat oven to 350F. Melt butter and let cool. Beat in egg yolk and add vanilla and almond extract. Combine dry ingredients and mix. Pour wet ingredients on top and mix. Press into bottom and sides of a 9" or 10" springform pan.* Bake until crust is lightly browned and has started to set.
For the filling
1 lb cream cheese, room temperature
2 cups ricotta
5 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cloves
I used both a mixer and a blender here, but you don't have to. I wanted to get the ricotta and pumpkin really smooth. Unfortunately I still had a few small lumps of cream cheese since my mixing bowl is tall and narrow, and some lumps got left on the bottom. Anyway, whip up cream cheese until no lumps remain. Add ricotta, eggs and sugar and dry ingredients and blend well (or puree ricotta and pumpkin in blender with eggs, and then add.to cream cheese mixture). Pour into springform pan. Place springform pan ina large roasting pan and add boiling water up to appx 1/2 the height of the springform pan. Bake at 350F until it is set. I think mine took about 1 1/2 hours. Allow to cool to room temperature before putting in fridge.
I really increased the amount of filling relative to the original recipe. If I make this again I will use a 10" crust. As it was I had a little bit of extra filling which I put into a glass loaf pan and baked.
Anyway, it came out well. It was creamy but not grainy or heavy. It was very popular at the potluck. If I make it again I will up the sugar a bit (maybe 25% more) and also increase the spices.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Gluten Free Banana Bread
I don't normally keep large quantities of overripe bananas around, but got a whole bunch of them on sale last week. I'm kind of on a sorghum kick, so I went looking for a gluten free banana bread recipe that uses it. This recipe popped up and sounded interesting, based on the fact that it was relatively light and people gave it good reviews. Also, it got picked up by Southern Living, although they adapted it somewhat and added dates. Anyway, I adapted it somewhat and made two medium sized loaves of banana bread. I took one to the grad students and BikerDude and I ate the other one.
There are prodigious quantities of bananas, applesauce, and eggs in here, and not that much flour. I was worried that the loaves would turn into sodden banana bricks, but that didn't happen. They rose up nicely, and the bread was moist but not overly so, and not too heavy. One of the students said it looked like it would be really heavy but was really light. This may be a result of the fact that the recipe doesn't use much fat (1/4 cup for each loaf). I also decreased the sugar. (The first time I made it I used about half as much, and about 2/3 the second time)
Here's my modified version of the recipe. It makes 2 medium size loaves, or a loaf and 12 medium muffins. You can divide it in half, or 2/3 if you have a big loaf pan.
Old Biddy's Gluten Free Banana Bread
makes 2 medium size loaves or 1 loaf and 12 muffins
Combine flours, salt, and baking soda. Mix well.
In a large bowl, melt butter. Add eggs and beat until blended well. Add in the banana/applesauce mixture and mix, then add in the flour mixture. Stir until blended. Add any additional ingredients (nuts, dried fruit, coconut, or chocolate chips) if you are so inclined. (It tastes fine without them.)
Transfer batter to loaf or muffin pans. Bake until the loaves are no longer wet in the middle (use a toothpick, skewer, or the touch test to tell). Cool and remove bread from pans. It takes about 45-50 minutes for the loaf and 25-30 minutes for muffins.
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There are prodigious quantities of bananas, applesauce, and eggs in here, and not that much flour. I was worried that the loaves would turn into sodden banana bricks, but that didn't happen. They rose up nicely, and the bread was moist but not overly so, and not too heavy. One of the students said it looked like it would be really heavy but was really light. This may be a result of the fact that the recipe doesn't use much fat (1/4 cup for each loaf). I also decreased the sugar. (The first time I made it I used about half as much, and about 2/3 the second time)
Here's my modified version of the recipe. It makes 2 medium size loaves, or a loaf and 12 medium muffins. You can divide it in half, or 2/3 if you have a big loaf pan.
Old Biddy's Gluten Free Banana Bread
makes 2 medium size loaves or 1 loaf and 12 muffins
- 6 eggs
- 6 ripe bananas, mashed
- 1 cup sugar (you can go up or down here if you prefer)
- 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tsp real vanilla extract
- 2 cups brown rice flour
- 1 cup sorghum flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil
Combine flours, salt, and baking soda. Mix well.
In a large bowl, melt butter. Add eggs and beat until blended well. Add in the banana/applesauce mixture and mix, then add in the flour mixture. Stir until blended. Add any additional ingredients (nuts, dried fruit, coconut, or chocolate chips) if you are so inclined. (It tastes fine without them.)
Transfer batter to loaf or muffin pans. Bake until the loaves are no longer wet in the middle (use a toothpick, skewer, or the touch test to tell). Cool and remove bread from pans. It takes about 45-50 minutes for the loaf and 25-30 minutes for muffins.
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Sunday, September 22, 2013
Green Tomato Chutney
I managed to salvage some green tomatoes off the plants before I pulled them out due to the blight. Sadly, it wasn't very many since most of the fruits were also blighted. Some went in to the freezer for salsa and I made green tomato chutney with the rest. I got this recipe off the internet and made only slight modifications based on what I have in house. I also added fewer onions (the recipe below reflects what I actually did).
GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY
(Makes 4 lbs)
3 lb green tomatoes (chopped)
4 oz onions (chopped)
1 lb cooking apples (peeled & chopped)
8 oz yellow raisins
8 oz brown sugar
1 pint vinegar
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard (you could use mustard seed too)
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or use fresh or crystallized)
1 cinnamon sticks (or use 2 tsp cinnamon)
1. Put all ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer uncovered until reduced to a thick mix. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. It should take 2 3/4 to 3 hours. Test by scraping a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan. If the pan bottom shows clear for a while before the chutney slowly fills the gap then it is ready. (In other words there should be very little thin liquid sloshing around). Remove cinnamon stick if necessary.
3. If you're canning, put into hot sterilised jars and seal. If you're lazy, put it in clean jars and store in the fridge, or freeze in smaller portions. (Not sure if it will freeze well but I'm going to try.)
4. Label when cool. Chutneys improve in flavour if kept for at least a couple of weeks before use.
Anyway, I've never made a chutney before and I was pleasantly surprised. It smells delicious and the onion flavor doesn't dominate. I think it will taste good with chicken or pork.
GREEN TOMATO CHUTNEY
(Makes 4 lbs)
3 lb green tomatoes (chopped)
4 oz onions (chopped)
1 lb cooking apples (peeled & chopped)
8 oz yellow raisins
8 oz brown sugar
1 pint vinegar
2 tablespoons whole grain mustard (you could use mustard seed too)
2 teaspoons ground ginger (or use fresh or crystallized)
1 cinnamon sticks (or use 2 tsp cinnamon)
1. Put all ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil.
2. Simmer uncovered until reduced to a thick mix. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking. It should take 2 3/4 to 3 hours. Test by scraping a wooden spoon across the bottom of the pan. If the pan bottom shows clear for a while before the chutney slowly fills the gap then it is ready. (In other words there should be very little thin liquid sloshing around). Remove cinnamon stick if necessary.
3. If you're canning, put into hot sterilised jars and seal. If you're lazy, put it in clean jars and store in the fridge, or freeze in smaller portions. (Not sure if it will freeze well but I'm going to try.)
4. Label when cool. Chutneys improve in flavour if kept for at least a couple of weeks before use.
Anyway, I've never made a chutney before and I was pleasantly surprised. It smells delicious and the onion flavor doesn't dominate. I think it will taste good with chicken or pork.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Requiem for my tomato plants
My tomato plants grew like gangbusters during our cool, wet summer. They had a ton of fruit on them, but due to the weather the tomatoes were slow to ripen. About a week ago, I noticed they were starting to look funny. They were dying and covered with big black splotches. It turns out they have late blight, which I didn't know about but is a big problem on the east coast. It affects tomatoes and potatoes, and caused the Irish Potato Famine. It is very virulent, and although it usually dies off during the winter up north, it can survive in warmer climates, which leads to its spread.
Unbeknownst to me, it was spread by some tomato plants sold at Lowes. I bought one plant there a few weeks before. I have no way of knowing if I got one of the infected ones or if it just got spread by the wind- it's that contagious.
So I am left with a big empty space in my garden and some green tomatoes. Those of you who live in the Northeast, I recommend starting your own tomatoes from seed or buying them from local growers.
Unbeknownst to me, it was spread by some tomato plants sold at Lowes. I bought one plant there a few weeks before. I have no way of knowing if I got one of the infected ones or if it just got spread by the wind- it's that contagious.
So I am left with a big empty space in my garden and some green tomatoes. Those of you who live in the Northeast, I recommend starting your own tomatoes from seed or buying them from local growers.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Dear Modesty Movement Assholes: Please STFU!
I've been hearing about conservative Christian types who appoint themselves the modesty police for young women. This is nothing new, of course, except that now there is a venue for it on the internet, with all the advantages and disadvantages. Anyway, someone recently posted a blog post ostensibly addressed to the girls on her sons' Facebook feeds. I'm not going to post the link, but you can view the epic Jezebel smackdown here. Basically, she went on and on about how the girls were being horrible temptresses corrupting her boys by posting cute selfies on FB, but at the same time she posted lots of shirtless pictures of of her sons flexing their muscles. Uh, WTF?!?! Anyway, for some reason this really pissed me off, and judging by the amount of response it's gotten, I am not the only one.
I'm a cranky old biddy now and none of my selfies will make anyone get tempted, but there was a time about 30 years ago when I was one of those evil slutty teenage girls tempting the boys. It was the 80's and I spent lots of time wearing nothing more than short running shorts and running singlets which were mostly mesh with a nylon panel over the breasts. With no bra. The modesty police would hate that and certainly call me a slutty slut for that. Fortunately, there was no internet back then, and not very many conservatives out in Northern California. My mother had spent her adolescence getting lectured by the nuns about her clothing tempting the boys (the baggy cardigan story was the funniest - it was verboten simply because it was a sweater. Oh the horrors!!!) To her everlasting credit, she never said one word about either my fashion sense or the amount of skin I was showing, and let me make my own decisions about what I wore. She knew that I was wearing it because it was trendy and I liked it (and I did run a lot back then) and not because I was trying to tempt the guys. For the record, she did warn me about creepers and didn't let me run by myself and would follow me on her bike. But it was very clearly described as a matter of there being some bad older guys out there, not that I was luring everyone with my outfit or doing anything wrong. As a result, I came of age with the shocking opinion that people should wear what they want, and if other people didn't approve, it wasn't my problem. I still feel that way. All this slut shaming and puritanism is really making me cranky.
Now that I'm older, I do have my old biddy moments. Sometimes I catch myself disapproving of someone's outfits, but then I remember my itty bitty Dolfin shorts* and my mom not saying a word, and I STFU.
* There are pictures of me in my shorty shorts somewhere, but nothing is digital, so I will spare you the pictures of me as a dorky braless 14 year old.
I'm a cranky old biddy now and none of my selfies will make anyone get tempted, but there was a time about 30 years ago when I was one of those evil slutty teenage girls tempting the boys. It was the 80's and I spent lots of time wearing nothing more than short running shorts and running singlets which were mostly mesh with a nylon panel over the breasts. With no bra. The modesty police would hate that and certainly call me a slutty slut for that. Fortunately, there was no internet back then, and not very many conservatives out in Northern California. My mother had spent her adolescence getting lectured by the nuns about her clothing tempting the boys (the baggy cardigan story was the funniest - it was verboten simply because it was a sweater. Oh the horrors!!!) To her everlasting credit, she never said one word about either my fashion sense or the amount of skin I was showing, and let me make my own decisions about what I wore. She knew that I was wearing it because it was trendy and I liked it (and I did run a lot back then) and not because I was trying to tempt the guys. For the record, she did warn me about creepers and didn't let me run by myself and would follow me on her bike. But it was very clearly described as a matter of there being some bad older guys out there, not that I was luring everyone with my outfit or doing anything wrong. As a result, I came of age with the shocking opinion that people should wear what they want, and if other people didn't approve, it wasn't my problem. I still feel that way. All this slut shaming and puritanism is really making me cranky.
Now that I'm older, I do have my old biddy moments. Sometimes I catch myself disapproving of someone's outfits, but then I remember my itty bitty Dolfin shorts* and my mom not saying a word, and I STFU.
* There are pictures of me in my shorty shorts somewhere, but nothing is digital, so I will spare you the pictures of me as a dorky braless 14 year old.
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