Mayim Bialik

[chonies]

I complained about the visual aesthetic of Frozen, too, but I didn't infer the same message she did. And I didn't like Frozen, either. Of course, I am not supplementing my income with blogging about my family. She also doesn't like musicals, and I do, and I still didn't think it worked. I would agree with her about a few things, but she's trying. I want to think it's just for writing, but then I remember she's a celebrity and don't really care.

Her "confused yet?" reminds me of everyone I know on Facebook who starts posts with dumb things like, "unlike most people..." or "obviously..." or similar. Ugh, NO! I

[Deleted]

Sept 16, 2014 21:44:12 GMT -4 twistedangel said:

I was following that thread for a bit, but stopped reading when the soup stuff came up. My main point in mentioning that was she was being credited with saying something she didn't actually say ("Soup cures Polio"), just like Mayim has been accused of having children that do not have/use good manners based on the fact she said she's not on them every time about saying "thank you", which she said in the same article they do. I just feel it's not an accurate representation of the points the actresses were making and what they said about these issues.

BTW... I'm not saying Alicia is right or wrong on the things mentioned in the article you shared (haven't researched most of those topics at all and never discussed them with a doctor), but I will say I feel like there is a lot of projecting and adding things in by the author. Quite a few parts sounded odd, but I can't help but feel a sense of empathy for her on the last point there. Anecdotal evidence involving personal friends must be tough to forget, no matter what the issue may be. We tend to be shaped by and see the world through our own personal experiences and of the people we're closest to.

By the way.... the two episodes start in about twenty minutes. The channel on 294 (DirecTV) here. I about geeked out over the episode where Blossom and her family go to watch Nick at Disney. It featured a performance by an old favorite group called The Party. Last night, they played an episode where aliens were observing the family committing the seven deadly sins that I thought was hilarious.

ETA: Oops. Actually about 5 minutes now. LOL

I have been in enough online vaccine convos to last me a lifetime so I am only here to say that I LOVED The Party in junior high. I wonder whatever happened to them ... *heads off to Google*

[Ninja Bunny]

She's complaining about Frozen now? A little late to the party?

I loved the movie. 1) The one with the superpower is a woman. 2) It was one sister's love that saved the other, she didn't need to be saved by some "handsome prince." 3) Don't rush off to marry some guy just because he seems like a dreamboat. Take time to get to know him first.

Whatever problems it had, it had a strong Girl Power message that I really liked.

"I know, you're confused by me," she writes, "Yeah, take a number."

Translation: "You're just too dumb to understand me because I'm so much smarter than you."

Hey, Mayim, you have a PhD in neuroscience yet you're still too stupid to understand the biology 101 that explains how vaccinations work and why they're necessary. You also promote other kinds of quackery that has been soundly and repeatedly debunked. You're a terrible ambassador for science and for women in science.

She needs to take basic courses in microbiology and immunology or keep her trap shut.

[Deleted]

Oh dear Lord, the Party has reunited! And they released a new single and video in 2013! It is ... no words. Let's just say, thru the video, my only thoughts were - You are 40. The part where they are making out with groupies in some random bedrooms - wow.

Sorry to derail, I just haven't thought about this group in over two decades. They were part of the rebooting of the Mickey Mouse Club with PAB, Brit, Ryan G., Xtina and that whole bunch.

[narm]

I loooooooooove Frozen so much! So much more than I really have a right to, at this age. I thought it was a great story in a lot of ways, and I loved Idina Menzel and Kristin Bell's work in it. I guess my bar is set low for Disney appearances- if they are more covered up than Ariel (don't EVEN get me started on Little Mermaid-haaaaaate), then I'm good. My son even likes it, and sees positive things in the story.

I may have to unfollow Kveller and Mayim. It just seems like she really likes being kind of contrary. And as I've touched on before, I flirted with the whole attachment parenting when I first became a mom, and watching her and others, I'm so glad I backed off from it as my basis. I was super lost when I became a mom with no real figures or influences around, and I ate the attachment stuff up. Then...I started reading opinions, blogs like hers and it just all became so exhausting. I let lots of styles/theories/methods inform me now, including good old gut feelings. Anyway...me Me ME and all that.

But that kind of leads to my next point...while a lot of folks are searching for the right parenting style for them, I think that some of these trends can lead to parents just plain feeling "right" and special. She has kind of crossed that extra super *speshul* line for me. No, I'm not that butthurt about her Frozen critique! It's been coming on for a while. I'm just tired of her particular brand. I just don't need much in the way of judgey business when it comes to reading for fun. Mothering is hard enough. Hell, life is hard enough!

[twistedangel]

Sept 17, 2014 0:46:12 GMT -4 @borokat said:

Oh dear Lord, the Party has reunited! And they released a new single and video in 2013! It is ... no words. Let's just say, thru the video, my only thoughts were - You are 40. The part where they are making out with groupies in some random bedrooms - wow.

Sorry to derail, I just haven't thought about this group in over two decades. They were part of the rebooting of the Mickey Mouse Club with PAB, Brit, Ryan G., Xtina and that whole bunch.

The "Salute to Summer" one right? I kind of like that song, but there was another they gave away as a free download that I couldn't stand. I was hoping their comeback music would be more along the lines of their "The Party's Over, Thanks For Coming" album.

As far as Mayim goes.... was I the only one that saw similarities between Blossom and Clarissa of Clarissa Explains it All? I used to want their clothes and rooms. I thought they were cool.

[discoprincess]

FWIW, on a superficial note, I liked Mayim's hair best when it was shoulder length, like this.

[kostgard]

Sept 17, 2014 0:32:11 GMT -4 Ninja Bunny said:

She's complaining about Frozen now? A little late to the party?

I loved the movie. 1) The one with the superpower is a woman. 2) It was one sister's love that saved the other, she didn't need to be saved by some "handsome prince." 3) Don't rush off to marry some guy just because he seems like a dreamboat. Take time to get to know him first.

Whatever problems it had, it had a strong Girl Power message that I really liked.

"I know, you're confused by me," she writes, "Yeah, take a number."

Translation: "You're just too dumb to understand me because I'm so much smarter than you."

Hey, Mayim, you have a PhD in neuroscience yet you're still too stupid to understand the biology 101 that explains how vaccinations work and why they're necessary. You also promote other kinds of quackery that has been soundly and repeatedly debunked. You're a terrible ambassador for science and for women in science.

She needs to take basic courses in microbiology and immunology or keep her trap shut.

Yeah, the "confused by me" bit comes a little too close to "Well, you just don't/can't understand it."

I get her argument about the look of the female characters (which is absolutely nothing new in animation - and not just Disney) and if you don't like musicals you won't dig Frozen - where I thought the characters broke into song a little too frequently (and I really like musicals). But the rest of it is ridiculous hyperbole. There was no message about chasing/needing a man, or that men are all evil and untrustworthy.

As pointed out above, the sisters were the result of well-intended but shitty parenting. They taught Elsa to be afraid and ashamed of her powers instead of helping her deal with them. They isolated Ana in addition to Elsa, and kept her in the dark about what was happening in her family, making her feel rejected and lonely.

Elsa told Ana not to marry the evil prince not because he was evil and all men are untrustworthy (she had no idea he was evil) but because marrying someone you've known for an hour is really stupid. Ana latched onto him in the first place not because she was chasing men, but because all that isolation made her desperate for connection. And after that, there was zero man-chasing in the movie. Elsa wasn't looking for a man, she was dealing with her own shit. These Disney princess movies usually end in a wedding or the promise of a wedding, this ends with Elsa still on her own, no future king/prince regent/whatever in sight. Ana and Kristof are clearly dating, but no wedding bells in sight. I thought that was all something the movie got right, more or less.


I'm all for having a strong opinion, but when you are looking so hard for something offensive you practically have to make stuff up to find it is just annoying and you may want to take a step back.

[Deleted]

From the link a couple of pages back:

I’m not going to beat around the bush here. By current conventional standards both of my sons qualified for speech, occupational and physical therapy and I gave them none. Both walked at a ripe 17 months, my older son did not speak sentences until well after 3, my younger son, age 2, communicates exceedingly well with signs and gestures but has not uttered a two-word phrase or even an “appropriately” formed word. My boys were physically very cautious, shunning jumping, running, and even climbing long after their peers mastered them; and my younger son did not roll over unassisted until, wait for it: the day he turned one. He apparently has a weak set of core muscles that he now compensates for beautifully, without anyone noticing but me and my husband.

So why didn’t I send my children for assessment and therapy? For the same reason that I don’t tell them to say “please” or “thank you.” Confused yet? Don’t be. Barring outstanding medical concerns, I believe in letting children progress in their own way and pace, modeling behavior while respecting the innate development of a child as an autonomous and purposeful creature. I believe that children, like adults (and perhaps better than most adults?), generally know what works for them.

Although the “delays” my sons displayed can be markers for autism, autism-spectrum disorders or developmental delays, I trust my intuition and I trust our pediatrician.

When I read things like this, I can't help but wonder what would happen to a low or middle income mother who didn't have the option of doctor-shopping. Would that mother be able to refuse speech, occupational and physical therapy for their child without a huge battle and even the threat of CPS being contacted? There's an unintentional class divide between certain parenting styles that furthers the "mommy wars" that people like Mayim (and Alicia and Gwyneth) seem to be oblivious to when they dole out their advice and opinions. I wish they'd acknowledge the fact that there are parents out there who literally can't follow all of their advice and that that's okay. 

When I clicked the link to Mayim's blog the first post that came up was one from last year about her 4-year-old getting off the teet.

That day, though, he was distracted by his older brother shouting something, laughing, playing in the next room. His big blue eyes with the impossibly long tapered lashes darted around and settled on the next room, the source of the voice, his beloved older brother who himself had nursed two years and change. The world beyond my breast was calling, and he hopped off of my lap and ran to the world waiting for him.

That was the last time Fred nursed. I wanted to shout after him, “Choo-Choo, you forgot the other side!” But I didn’t. I held my tongue and watched him go. My big boy. In jeans. With a big boy haircut, finally, after years of golden locks begging for either an upsheren (ritual first haircut at age 3) or a Farrah Fawcett photo shoot. Fred was done nursing. Fred weaned. Sweet baby Fred who cared for me as I cared for him: we made it.

Is a Farrah Fawcett photo shoot a thing? And if it is, is it something kids want to do? You got me Mayim. I'm confused. Just like you knew I would be. I loved my kids when they were little as much as the next mom, but the flowery language makes me cringe. I don't think I ever thought of them this way, let alone say things like this out loud. The world beyond my breast, impossibly long tapered lashes, and gold locks. Is this her son she's talking about or Fabio? Or Farrah Fawcett?? Yeah, that must be it. So! Confused!!

[Wol]

Sept 16, 2014 21:03:03 GMT -4 Hamatron said:

ETA: I've mentioned this in other threads, but there seems to be a subdivision of celebrity rising up of stars who dole out advice to moms. They tend to be pretty inexperienced new moms themselves. Or mothers of toddlers. Mayim definitely falls into the category. Has there been any celebs who managed to trod into this territory that didn't end up sounding like a crazy ass? Or totally oblivious to individual needs and things like actual science?

Several years ago Amanda Peet called non-vaccers "parasites" for taking advantage of herd immunity. People jumped down her throat and she had to backtrack. Now, in hindsight, she looks pretty smart. Go figure.