The Femme Files

Are Powerful Women Funny?

Having been generously given a bucket load of DVD’s from Thailand (need I say more) filled to the brim with the type of trash relegated for lazy Sunday evenings, my boyfriend and I slipped on “Horrible Bosses”.

 What was an initially somewhat funny, became downright ludicrous as we cringed and shrunk in our seats every time scenes between female boss (Jennifer Anniston) and her colleague/mignon (Charlie Day) came onto the screen.  Good comedy is funny because it is based or steeped in elements of truth. Not only was this a stupendously unrealistic situation, which negates the whole point of a good comedy, but in my humble opinion it was downright rude and offensive.

Look, I appreciate that this was a trivial Hollywood film meant for apparently trivial minds, but comedy shouldn’t stoop so low as to suggest that an abusive relationship is something someone has to just deal with. Apparently switching the ‘traditional’ roles of female and male power paradigms made this acceptable. That is, by having Jennifer Aniston’s character function as the obnoxious, sexually explicit boss this whole scenario was meant to be P.C?

On another level does the fact that this even made it onto page and then filmed with millions of dollars behind it suggest that this scenario was just funny because  women don’t have any sexual power and therefore can’t hurt a man? Does it also reinforce that men, contrary to women, are not tainted by negative sexual encounters? Apparently so.

So perhaps, I am being a masculinist (opposite of feminist!?) , but I think that displaying any form of O.T.T abusive relationship in the name of comedy will just be never funny, regardless of the sex of the people involved and the nature of their relationship.

 What do you think? Has anyone else seen this film? Equally shocked as I was? Or am I being a prude?

How to Start off with a Bang!

Breakfast can sometimes be hard to squeeze in…. especially when you sleep in, haven’t worked out what you are wearing for the day, can’t find your socks for the evening gym session and are finding it hard to locate your mascara (and if you can at least get something right in the morning it will be leaving the house looking vaguely presentable)

We are all well aware that skipping breakfast ignites your metabolism and skipping meals in general raises your stress hormone, breaks down muscle and encourages your body to store fat rather than burn it. Furthermore, you might be eating healthy foods but your body doesn’t think they are healthy for you. When you eat foods that your body is allergic to your body has an inflammatory reaction making it easy for you to hold onto weight. Common inflammatory items are soy, eggs and dairy. Try cutting these out for a month and see how your body fares. You might be surprised.  

For those rushing to find the perfect breakfast bite, this is where I find breakfast smoothies an excellent option for the time poor superwoman. Don’t worry about investing in a whizz bang blender, a little hand held stab mixer should suffice and is so much easier to clean up after!

So what would a smoothie that delivers more than the average Up and Go include?

1. Protein: A high quality, clean protein powder is an excellent supplement of choice for our hectic work schedules. Protein powders should not be relegated to the likes of body builders and gym bunnies as they are  a wonderful source of essential amino acids and definitely an economically sound option for the frugal and money savvy in us all. There are so many choices to choose from ranging from Pea, Rice and Whey Protein to name but a few. My choice would be one WITHOUT artificial sweeteners and less than 5g of sugar per 100g serve. There should be at least 20g of protein in each serving too. I tend to rotate these protein powders each time to give my body variety and ensure my body doesn’t become overly sensitive to one if I go O.T.T
2. High Fibre, Low G.I Carbohydrates: This is as simple as chucking in a handful of berries. Your best bet for these would be to buy the berries when they are in season and prices are low then chuck them in the freezer. The berries then double as ice which thickens your shake and delivers a nice cold hit of goodness in the morning! Nutritionally the berries provide a slow and sustained release of energy and stabilise blood sugar levels so you aren’t reaching for the ‘low fat muffin’ come 10AM.
3. FIBRE: Pile the stuff in please! I like to whizz up some flax or chia seeds and grind it to a meal first before adding it into my smoothie. I hesitate to buy pre-ground Flax seeds as the oils in the seeds are so delicate, they invariably go rancid after one hour. Now of you think of how long that bag of ‘Organic Flax Meal’ has been standing on your stores shelf you know that’s a recipe for gut disaster. And just imagine what rancid oils do for your skin. Fibre is wonderful for maintaining our satiety levels and should keep you fuller for longer.
4. Healthy Fat: For me this comes in the form of coconut milk mixed with water. Coconut Milk is wonderfully rich in lauric acid, which is known for its wonderful antiviral properties and therefore excellent for good gut health! Plus the excellent fat source does wonders for glowing skin from face to derriere. As an aside, I am often asked about Almond Milk. While I LOVE the stuff, I consider it to be a carb source with one cup having 10 grams of carbohydrates. For me, coconut is a far superior option and cheaper too!
5. Spice: That’s right; make your morning glass of nutrients aromatic by adding cloves or cinnamon to the mix. Interestingly both these herbs top the ORAC scale in antioxidant level, far surpassing the mass marketed Amazonian berries. My conclusion, stop looking for that elixir found in a dehydrated, freeze dried ‘superfoods’ and haunt the spice aisle. More often than not they are drenched in antioxidant goodness and as we know deliver much more bang for your buck!

So that’s it….add all ingredients to a tall glass, grab your stab mixture and blend away. You will have breakfast in a flash without all the hidden nasties that cereal killers continually offend.

Plan the Man?

Working in an all female office it can be hard to gear the conversation away from the inevitable tirades we start to outpour regarding the inability for partner to do x,y and z.

As a rule of thumb, I really do hate making broad sweeping statements about gender, as I honestly feel that gender assumptions should be abolished in the name of equality. That being said, given that all of us here at Hypoxi HQ manage to gravitate to the same uncanny findings regarding men, perhaps I should admit defeat with some aspects of the guys in our lives (I dunno….perhaps we know the wrong ones!?)

The most common complaint I here among women is that the men in their lives don’t make plans. That there partner is indifferent. Conversations go like this: “What do you want to do Friday night?” He shrugs and says, “Whatever.” Women get annoyed by this, express said frustration, and are immediately dismissed as “nags.” Which is a term I hate. Because we aren’t nagging, we are simply trying to ensure that our partner is able to think of us even when we’re not in the flesh….wait that might be asking them to multitask.  

Gifts for the Sake of it….

Having done my fair share of typical part time retail jobs to get me through study, I can say I am a qualified veteran of the peak consumer season oft referred to as Christmas.

When I worked in retail, my job was to up sell as much useless clothing as possible in the name of Christmas, not to berate customers about the wonders of giving.