It’s 7am. You wake up with chills, body aches and a crazy sinus headache. You’ve been sweating and snotting all over your pillow. Burning sandpaper scrapes down your throat. Meetings are set. Deadlines loom.

Delirious with fever, you see an angel and a devil sitting on your shoulders. One tells you to call in sick and sleep it off. The other tells you to suck it up and go to work.

Which piece of advice did your devil give?

Whether we see calling in sick as smart or slack says a lot about how we value work vs. health. Two competing TV ads for cold and flu medication have me thinking about how illness fits, or doesn’t fit, into the workplace.

First there is the “Take a Benylin Day” ad, in which a woman debates “should I stay or should I go now” after waking up sick. No outfit can sass up how miserable she feels, and she ends up flopping in bed with a book.

Then there is an Advil Cold and Sinus commercial, in which a woman pops pills to clog up her schnoz so she can swim like a prostar and “go go go!” on with her high-impact lifestyle.

Benylin wants you to chillax; Advil wants you to suck it up. (Both of them want you to use drugs.)

Calling in sick is tough. In a culture where work is valued above all else, the stress of asking for a day off can outweigh the symptoms we seek to heal.

(more inside…)

There’s a piece in the New York Times today about “blogs written by fat people:”

Smart, sassy and irreverent, bloggers with names like Big Fat Deal, FatChicksRule and Fatgrrl (“Now with 50 percent more fat!”) buck anti-obesity sentiment. They celebrate their full figures and call on readers to accept their bodies, quit dieting and get on with life.

The message from the fatosphere is not just that big is beautiful. Many of the bloggers dismiss the “obesity epidemic” as hysteria. They argue that Americans are not that much larger than they used to be and that being fat in and of itself is not necessarily bad for you.

Today is the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a United States Supreme Court case that resulted in a landmark decision that abortions are permissible based on a woman’s choice. NARAL Pro-Choice America has asked bloggers to participate in Blog for Choice Day 2008 and answer this year’s question of “Why it’s important to vote pro-choice.” Bloggers across the feminist blogosphere are writing great posts about why they think it’s important to vote pro-choice. In fact, the need to voice the importance of the decision seems greater than ever.

Why do you think it’s important to vote pro-choice? Let us know in the comments section.

Don’t forget, January 28th marks the 20th anniversary of R. v. Morgenthaler, the Canadian Supreme Court decision that declared it unconstitutional to force a woman to carry a fetus to term. There will be events across Canada commemorating the day and we’ll keep you posted.

We’ve already touched on how many media outlets have been playing the Hillary Clinton v. Barack Obama battle for the Democratic presidential nomination as Blacks v. Women, and how that leads to unproductive infighting. So consider this today’s antidote and a sign that not all is lost.

CNN posted a story earlier today about the tough choice black women voters in South Carolina apparently faced as the state primary draws near: “should they vote their race, or should they vote their gender?” Though the story itself says that “most women here say they plan to vote based on the issues,” the message of the story boils down once again to Blacks v. Women.

Not twelve hours later, CNN posted another story, this time about the backlash CNN faced in the wake of that article:

CNN received dozens of e-mails shortly after posting the story, which focuses largely on conversations about Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama that a CNN reporter observed at a hair salon in South Carolina whose customers are predominantly African-American.

(…)

An e-mailer named Tiffany responded sarcastically: “Duh, I’m a black woman and here I am at the voting booth. Duh, since I’m illiterate I’ll pull down the lever for someone. Hm… Well, he black so I may vote for him… oh wait she a woman I may vote for her… What Ise gon’ do? Oh lordy!”

So thanks, Tiffany, for a hearty laugh at the expense of Wolf Blitzer and company, and for reminding everyone that people vote for candidates based on issues, not demographics.

The Shameless Blog has previously touched on “ladies beware of everything,” so here’s a new one - “Too much caffeine during pregnancy may increase the risk of miscarriage, a new study says, and the authors suggest that pregnant women may want to reduce their intake or cut it out entirely.”

Feministe had this to say:

Translation: a poorly-designed study riddled with major methodological problems focusing on women who’ve already miscarried comes to the unsupported conclusion that *the* deciding factor might could possibly have been caffeine, so no more coffee for you, Walking Womb. Thoughts?

Some of you may know I had some long overdue surgery on my wisdom teeth recently and my blogging skills have been more than inhibited by prescription painkillers. Our editor wisely informed me that “percocet is not a harsh editor,” but I admit it’s been killing me, surfing the blogosphere and not being able to write coherently about the issues.

So instead I offer a round-up of links that piqued my interest, without any in-depth commentary I could later regret:

A Toronto Star Blogger responds strongly to a New York Times Story and Photo Essay on Female Cutting.

John Bustrak of the Michigan Tech Lode accuses Feminism of forcing women to go to University.

A muslim teen athlete was disqualified from a track meet because of her modified school uniform.

Prime time television’s Gossip Girl is accused of “retro morality and slut-shaming” in the continuing saga that is hollywood and “shmushmortion.”

In other news, “teen pregnancy is cool?”

Criticisms and accusations of sexism after Stephen Harper’s government fires the country’s top nuclear regulator, Linda Keen, for “not doing her job.”

And to round it all out, some funny:

Hopefully, I’ll heal up soon. Until then, I’ll take my colleagues’ advice and get back to bed.

By the way, don’t forget tomorrow is Blog for Choice 2008 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, so everyone; get bloggin’!

The B Side: Exploring Bisexuality
An 8 week group for people in Toronto who are exploring their attraction to more than one gender or struggling with what bisexuality means to them and their lives.

Mondays 6:30-9:00pm
February 11 – April 7, 2008
Sherbourne Health Centre
333 Sherbourne Street, Toronto

The group will provide:
· Opportunities for self-reflection, personal sharing, connecting with others and learning new skills and information.
· Respect for the diverse possibilities of identity and a wide range of life experiences.
· A safe and supportive environment for exploring each person’s unique relationship to bisexuality, with a focus on group members’ needs and experiences.

Facilitated by:
· Cheryl Dobinson, a bisexual activist who is involved in bi-related education, health research and community development, and
· David Yeh, an LGBTQ community educator and expressive arts therapist.

Registration: Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To register, please contact Geoff MacDonald at (416) 324-5058 or gmacdonald@sherbourne.on.ca

Hosted by A Creative Revolution

Nominations graciously accepted from January 25 to February 8
First voting/elimination round: February 15 - 16
Final Vote: February 22 - 23
Winners announced February 24

For more information, click here.

Antonia Zerbisias, columnist for the Toronto Star’s Living section and blogger at Broadsides, is challenging Canadian Feminist Bloggers to Blog for Choice on January 28th, 2008. Blog for Choice already exists in the US to commemorate the (now 35th) anniversary of Roe v. Wade, so “why not here?” Zerbisias asks:

January 28th marks the 20th anniversary of R. v. Morgenthaler, the Canadian Supreme Court decision, the one that declared it unconstitutional to force a woman to carry a fetus to term. In Toronto, on Saturday January 26th at 7, there will be a tribute at Ryerson University’s Student Centre.

Just so you know, the Morgentaler decision is not a sure thing. It doesn’t guarantee that another court can’t decide against a woman’s right to choose.

Zerbisias reminds us all that there are many people here in Canada who want to take away women’s reproductive rights, and that she and The Star receive correspondance from them all the time.

I agree with Zerbisias - Why not start a Blog for Choice Day in Canada, on January 28?