Come on Oprah, when tell-it-like-it-is Suze Orman can be more compassionate to a woman whose addiction is spending, can't you dig deep and do the same? Oprah basically told her guest flat-out that she was a selfish mother. Now, don't get me wrong, I totally don't advocate the way Felice behaved, but I do think she deserved some gratitude for opening herself up to ridicule by coming on Oprah's show. Plus, as Oprah has been publicly chastised for her own food addiction, I wish she would show empathy and senstivity to another woman whose character defects manifest themselves through spending, rather than eating. Anyway, that's my thought for the day. People in glass houses and all that...
I bought the diapers that Oprah told us to buy on the show with Salma Hayek. The Pampers/UNICEF "1 Pack = 1 Vaccine" program gives a tetanus inoculation to women and their newborns in developing countries. Anyway, I wanted to say WOWZA - to all you gals out there with kids in diapers, I had no idea how crazy expensive they are! My goodness, that was an eye opener.
I now truly believe there is no way I'd be able to do the Living Oprah project if I had to support one or more kids. First of all, there wouldn't be enough hours in the day, second of all, as financially rough on us as this has been, I can't imagine how we'd swing it if we were also raising children. So, when Oprah says things off the cuff like, "So, treat yourself to a weekend getaway...", I'm really going to reflect on what that advice would mean to a woman with kids.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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12 comments:
So true. I'm one of those mommies that despite my love for Oprah grumbles my way through that advice.
Once, though she decided to take care of her own dogs for the weekend (instead of paying people to walk them and feed them and stuff) and on the next show (don't remember what it was about) she made this statement where she corrected the way she had just thrown out advice to moms like "just make time for yourself"..she said she wasn't comparing caring for dogs w/ caring for children,but that that weekend was the first time she herself had that ah-ha moment about a mom's life. She said she could actually see how a mom could barely find time to brush her teeth. And she apologized for not truly understanding that before.
It was a great moment for me and Oprah (lol bff's that we are). I felt great validation and understanding from her.
I read the profile of this project at the Chicago Reader. Just wanted to say I appreciate the way you are approaching this in a non-snarky, practical way and still clearly making your point. It bugs me no end when purchasing power is held out as a proxy for solving personal issues and I appreciate someone at least partially calling BS - even if that's not your intent it has this effect. Your post about the inability to empathize with Oprah's 30-something panel was dead on. Good luck!
that_girl! HAHA! i'm so glad Oprah was able to redeem herself in your eyes. actually, it's good to hear that she can be self-refective and apologize for her misconceptions. i've often wondered how stubborn she is on such matters. thanks for the story.
although, the thought that it was a big deal for a person to take care of her own pets for a whole weekend made me giggle a bit.
joelb, great! glad you found me thru the reader article. i appreciate your observation that i am attempting to be snark-free (sometimes i'm more successful than others). thank you very much for taking time to write, joining the conversation, and sharing your opinions. it's much appreciated.
best,
LO
Hi, I found you through Candy Minx, who did a blog post featuring your site today.
I'm not surprised about your realization that Oprah's lifestyle suggestions are pricey and time consuming.
I used to be a big Oprah fan, but in the past few years I believe she's turned fluffy - away from journalism-based stuff and more towards catering to upper-middle class white women with too much money and too much time on their hands. What broke the straw on the camel's back was the demise of the original book club, which she halted because she thought there weren't any new books worth reading being published anymore (or something to that effect). I thought that was a terrible, lazy, elitist thing to say - and after that, I called it quits. I had enjoyed most of the Oprah picks from her original book club but now I tend to boycott anything O-related.
Anyway, that's my 2 cents, for what it's worth! Sorry to be so long-winded. I'll add you to my feed reader so I can keep up with your posts.
wandering coyote,
i remember that about the book club. her comments about not seeing anything worth her promotion made me so angry. as i'm a writer and many of my friends are as well, we took so much offense at that.
i was also a boycotter before this project. what a difference a day makes...
thanks for writing. keep in touch. best, LO
Hey, you should check out the book Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me). Besides being an amazing book, it talks about Oprah's courage in admitting she was wrong about James Frey.
andrea, that's a great recommendation. i've never picked it up and would love to read more about that topic. MUCH appreciated! best, LO
HI
I just heard a little of your interview this evening on NPR - I'm so glad you are doing this. I am now just reading your site. I agree that I respect Oprah in all that she has achieved and she has had some good shows, but there have always been issues that have bothered me. The clincher and the "cringe"moment for me was some kind of show on redecorating, probably with Nate? I think that is his name. When they got to the bathroom, she made some remark about how horrible it was for people not to use all the same color towels in their linen closet. Mismatched towels REALLY bother Oprah it turns out ...Huh...how many people in this world really care if their towels in their linen closet all match? How many people have as much money as she does to make sure that all the towels match in every linen closet?? I know it's a small thing but her snootiness was my "aha" moment and she defintiely fell far from grace for me then. (not to mention the flagrant star infatuation...total turnoff.) And then to see every month in her magazine all the things she loves which to me just seem really out of reach for most people and a reflection of how out of touch she is with who I think or thought her "everywoman" audience was. Keep on going LO!
anon, i remember that show very well about the towel color. oy. i am so grateful you took the time to share your thoughts...i look forward to you chiming in in the future. do you still watch the show, even though she can make you crazy? best, LO
Did she really recommend that people buy diapers? Because that kind of goes against the small footprint to help your planet idea. Why not say, "if you're going to buy diapers, buy these, but here's an organization you can donate to to buy vaccines without having to buy the diapers"?
Anon, I had the same reaction. Plus, most of my friends with kids in diapers are in cloth...so I keep getting turned down. I finally found someone to give them to (and will donate a pack). Thanks for writing! Best, LO
I'm glad to hear that your friends actually use cloth diapers and I hope you will do the same when you have children. In my family it was the norm so I never gave it a second thought, I even inherited diapers from one of my aunt's so I didn't have to buy anything at the beginning and only had to buy a dozen now and then when the old ones fell apart. Old ones make great dust rags by the way. My friends all thought I was crazy for using cloth but one trip down the disposable aisle at the grocery store was enough to convince me that I was only crazy like a fox. Cloth diapers save money, save the planet, are better for the baby and make potty training easier too!
Okay, I'm off my soapbox now!
:)
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