Weekly News Update
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- Lucky tells you how to spot a designer fake.
- Racked reports that Net-a-Porter and Yoox are merging.
- Byrdie introduces you to the Face Yoga Method.
- NewsWhistle talks to Ann Lawrence of Pink51, a new online marketplace that aims to boost women-owned/women-led businesses by allowing shoppers to find them in one place. (They also donate 10% of their profits to “charities that promote girls’ and women’s economic development and leadership success.”)
- The Wall Street Journal reports on a new website, InHerSight, that gathers information on how companies support women employees. Users have entered several thousand ratings so far.
- The Guardian declares (in response to a recent survey), “It’s not more time that women want, it’s more power” (though the article goes deeper than that).
- Above the Law comments on the Weil Gotshal not-so-funny April Fools' email joke (and the firm's eventual apology for it). And speaking of office pranks, The Bold Italic staff really went all out (er, all off?) for their April Fools' Day joke (NSFW).
- Vanity Fair looks at the career of criminal defense attorney Judith Clarke.
- ScoopWhoop explains the fight between Instagram and Rupi Kaur, an artist and University of Waterloo (Canada) student. Apparently, a couple spots of menstrual blood is offensive, because her photos (part of a school project) kept getting taken down. The Guardian‘s Jessica Valenti says it's yet another instance of social media balking at the natural aspects of women's bodies (breastfeeding, etc.) when they appear in photos that are not presented for men's entertainment.
- Here's your Laugh of the Week, from Jimmy Fallon and Helen Mirren.
On CorporetteMoms Recently…
- We talked about organizing all those family photos.
- Kat shared some picks for moms and non-moms alike.
Did we miss anything? Add 'em here, or send them to news@corporette.com. Thank you! Also: Are you a mom or mom-to-be? Don't miss this week's news update at CorporetteMoms.
I’d add this NYT piece about ClassPass. I’ve been considering joining off and on, and I think it’s finally pushed me into the “no” camp… http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/02/fashion/classpassdeep-discounts-but-some-discontent.html?ref=fashion
There’s also a nice article entitled “Should Grown Men Use Emoji?” (My opinion: NO!)
But tell us how you really feel about that, AIMS. ;o)
im trying to remember who used to use that smiley face all the time even when it was things that should not have smileys on them.
Hi Anonymous Person, it was totally me! Thank you for letting me know that there are important ‘when not to use smiley faces rules’ for the internets, that is super helpful. I will make sure to follow them in the future, Friend. Love You Too!!!!
Oh I didn’t realize it was the same person. You used to use them sarcastically and it really hurt my feelings one time when I shared a problem I was going through. Truly didn’t mean to be trying to put rules or be hurtful or anything, just the sarcastic way you used to use them gave me actual flashbacks when I saw you were back.
Wow, I’m so sorry. I really don’t ever remember using smileys sarcastically and if I ever hurt your feelings I really didn’t intend to. I try to be super supportive to everyone, I don’t think there’s ever a reason to be mean to people here. So if that was me, I am really really sorry and I hope you are okay. And thanks for sharing your problem, I hope people were helpful.
You know, sometimes when we have mean thoughts, we keep them to ourselves. Wait, I’m trying to remember who posts ridiculous mean comments when it’s not necessary…
One quotation in that article really bothered me, from the yoga studio owner: “As a lanky female, I shouldn’t play linebacker. If I am a linebacker, I’ll probably be dragging certain classes down.” I feel like the was basically saying “I’m thin, and I don’t want anyone who isn’t thin in my classes.”
The point about how ClassPass affects regulars is totally valid, I just didn’t like the flavor of that particular take on it.
I can see that. There were also a lot of generally classist undertones in that piece. I get that if you’re paying $30 for a class and someone else is paying $10 that can cause an issue, but there was a certain feeling of “who let these people in? It was so much better when it was only people who could regularly afford to spend $120/week on classes were in here…”
The whole thing made me realize I don’t want another stupid issue in my life to have to deal with.
I’m pretty sure her comment was “I’m not currently in shape to play linebacker, and if I suddenly jump in the game, I’m dragging the defense down.” As in, someone who shows up to an advanced yoga class with no experience is going to either get nothing from the experience or take up so much of the instructor’s focus that it limits what the rest of the class gets, and the instructor may even modify her originally planned sequence.
I used to see this a lot when I went to a specific brand of barre regularly. The Friday morning classes were designated as Advanced and “required” 10 prior classes before taking, but they didn’t enforce that and many people thought Friday morning was a good time to try their first class. The entire pace of the class was affected as the instructor had to take extra time to demonstrate for them, and spent her time adjusting them and running over to stop them from doing the advanced modifications that they weren’t capable of doing without injury.
But isnt that the gyms fault? I have seen that happen at ClassPass places but also at lots of others. They need to enforce that if its important for the flow of the class. To me its similar to when they allow way too many people to register for yoga classes, its about the gym caring more about another class fee than the experience.
Use of the smiley is an issue that I readily admit I’m unfair about. I use them all of the time. (Heck, many of you may even have noticed.) Judge away.
What is weird though is that use by others can very easily rub me the wrong way. A new boss frequently sends me emails with the smiley, and instead of bonding with me like I know he’s trying to do, it has made me lose some respect for him. For some reason, I don’t want to feel like buddies. I want to report to someone who is engaging me in a sophisticated manner. Yes, basically I want to feel like I can send the smiley but I don’t want to receive the smiley. Even I can see the craziness in this.
Another interesting note: Make sure you’re not using the smiley as your tell. A difficult client who shall remain nameless adds them when she’s making what she knows is a ridiculous request. So much so that it has become almost a running joke in the office. “Here’s another email from X. Look out, it’s got a smiley.”
Given the dust up above, I guess I’m not the only one passionate about use. ;)
ITA. I mean, I have a pretty strict business/personal line for smileys, honestly. Exacerbated by my last job where senior staff used smileys exclusively passive aggressively. If there was a “maybe you should change this part. :)” it really meant: “that part sucks.” It drove me crazy. If they actually liked something they never used a smiley. I use them extensively personally (obvi) but I can’t use them at all at work.
This. Smileys are not for work. Just like multiple exclamation points (or frequent exclamation points), abbreviations like “u” or “gr8,” acronyms like “LOL” or, worse, “LMFAO” are not for work. Sometimes you have to give in because of company culture, yes, but they shouldn’t be the norm, esp. in traditional professional settings. And the article was about emojis, which is everything I just said times 2. I have a boss who likes to send emojis, including those giant animated ones, and it makes me cringe inside every time. Sometimes I feel like I am being rude or cold if I don’t send a smiley face back but then I feel like why am I exchanging cartoon drawings with someone that I work with?
I am SO with you on emojis, AIMS. 500%. A couple of my gal friends use them and I just let it go. But if a guy used one, he would be off the dating list immediately. If someone I work with used one, I just don’t even know what I would do.
I have classpass and I LOVE IT. I think in a lot of ways I have become a regular to a lot of classes, and I have experience doing yoga, spinning, boxing, crossfit, and those are the classes I take. However, I don’t have problems getting into classes in New York nor do I notice people “bringing down the class”. Maybe I am the one bringing down the class, but I’m pretty confident I know how to conduct myself at a nice gym. I sort of think the whole article is stuck up. I will admit that I have a somewhat different schedule than a lot of people and like to do super early classes, so I may be having a different experience, but I think classpass is amazing.