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  • Features

    Time Out New York / Issue 645 : Feb 6–12, 2008
    Singles '08

    Not buying Julia(TM)

    Another perspective

    By Ashlea Halpern

    I’ve never met Julia Allison—or Julia™—but I think I speak for a lot of people when I say: Gimme a freakin’ break.

    Beneath her chipper You Go, Girl–isms, Julia’s central message is a tired old tap dance: Embrace your fat, sloppy, unlovable self! Make it work, girlfriend! If you don’t love you, why would anyone else?!?

    That’s fine advice—if you happen to look like Julia Allison.

    Her TM is the American Dream: perky, easily excitable and whitewashed to a fault. She works the camera. She giggles when stupid men say stupid things. And while she’s probably an okay chick deep down, it’s her brand that ruins it for the rest of us. How do you sell to your niche sector when the Julia Allisons of the world have an oligopoly on the market expectations?

    When I go out with friends, Ashlea™ branding in full effect, I’m still the designated Purse Guard: I sit by myself at a table full of handbags and watch men swarm the Julia Allison™ types like rats in a Chinatown Dumpster. Mother says I’m “intimidating,” but isn’t that what mothers say when their kids are too unsightly for even an arranged marriage? I couldn’t turn a suit’s head on the subway if I were selling stock-market tips, and I’ve all but given up on indie boys who purport to like indie girls but, offered the chance, would take a toned, vanilla goddess any day. I’m no longer on the market, but past campaigns have netted predictable results: I’ve got it made only if I’m pining for a geriatric and/or homeless man.

    My advice: Some folks have it and some folks don’t. If you don’t, find somebody else whose mom calls them intimidating, and call it a day.

    Ashlea's response refers to a dating approach espoused by our somewhat notorious columnist Julia Allison. See the original essay and vote on which woman is telling it like it is.




    • Comments
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    • 573 Bob Tue, Mar 11, at 03:52pm
      I got attitude can take one a long way, you may need to address yours.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3932 boo Mon, Feb 25, at 09:08pm
      BITTER!!!! i totally agree with julia. i have a girlfriend who is 6'1 built like a football player, has a huge schnoz, slightly plump, has a lesbo short hair cut, AND get this is STILLLL a virgin @ age 28!!! but the boys keep rolling in!! i mean she has a good personality, but DAMN!!! its too shocking for words!!! it just goes to show that the inside is what counts.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3520 Kayla G. Mon, Feb 11, at 07:10am
      Well... it sure sounds like someone's been eating pickle sandwiches and washing it down with lemonade... can we say BITTER! omg... you're basically saying that women shouldn't have confidence, and that if you're not 'textbook' gorgeous then you have to settle for anyone who'll take you???... that's rediculous. Maybe you just have confidence/self image issues. You do have to put yourself out there, because if you're the girl who's willing to sit down and hold the handbags... then why would any guy ask you to dance or offer to buy you a drink???... maybe you should get out on the dance floor and stop comparing yourself to other woman. It's all about you and how you feel about yourself. If you don't think you're attractive then no one else will. But if it makes you happy, oh ye of little confidence... then by all means... continue to settle for the 'intimidating' types... meanwhile, I'll be on the dance floor with the beautiful people... not only because we look good, but because we feel good about ourselves!... Kudos to Julia!

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3497 michael lamb Sat, Feb 09, at 01:08pm
      @Geoff PuhLeeze. Julia is gorgeous and your remarks are condescending to any woman who has to compete against someone who looks liker her! Plus she's pretty dippy and relativly shallow.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3485 otis Fri, Feb 08, at 11:19pm
      wow, for the longest time i thought that there was no way that women in NYC had become so uninteresting. but if SITC is all you aspire to, then you have succeeded. this article and counterpoint both sadly point out how homogenized, corporate and sterile this city has become. where have all the real women gone or ....are they no longer coming to new york? ladies i bid you both bon chance!

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3479 nyc123 Fri, Feb 08, at 08:48pm
      they both sound like whiney new yorkers - kinda like sex and the city whiney - it's new york - guys have it made here and just want to get laid

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3476 Julia Is Not That Bad Fri, Feb 08, at 04:54pm
      Ashlea, it's so lame, uncreative, and shallow to hate on someone because you think they're prettier than you or your readers. Seems like you think you are representing the "everywoman" POV, but in reality, you are bashing Julia's girl-power attitude just because of the way she looks. I am an average-looking girl in an average-sized town that is a big fan of Julia because she actually says what she wants to, even when there are 100 Julia-haters for every Julia-liker. Tell me that doesn't represent every woman.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3472 tm Fri, Feb 08, at 03:48pm
      Look, I think Julia is beautiful but if you stop and think about it she is NOT the conventional image of beauty. Part of her appeal is her confidence and her upbeat personality.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3473 tm Fri, Feb 08, at 02:51pm
      I see her as a regular girl who is just as insecure as the rest of us but who knows how to play up her best features, dress, use makeup, and act like someone you'd want to be around. Who men might want to date and women want to be friends with.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3466 sa Fri, Feb 08, at 02:07pm
      I think I speak for a lot people when I say: Give me a fricken break with the Julia Allison Hate Parade.. You waste so much time paying attention to her that you add to the so called marketing of julia allison. People should be able to be light and cheery and love thier life like her. This world is filled with callous and malicious people such as yourself that actually take time out of thier day to HATE on such beautiful people. Give it up.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3467 Marcus Fri, Feb 08, at 01:19pm
      Julia Allison has more failed relationships then succeful ones.. who's she to suggest she knows anything about the topic?

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3459 al Fri, Feb 08, at 11:07am
      I agree with Dani, I know gorgeous women who are just as insecure as you are. I also know physically attractive women who don't take care of themselves. P.S. Insecure men are intimidated by beautiful women. I just don't want to talk to a girl who looks like a downer.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3457 Dani Fri, Feb 08, at 10:39am
      Ashlea looks like a younger, cooler Jennifer Tilly in her pictures. If she was a purse guard, it's because maybe she let herself become that. I mean, it doesn't take that much to strike up a convo with a man in a bar. But you sure won't have that chance if you don't step away from the purses and look halfway interested in being in the room. There are plenty of gorgeous women who don't know how to just relax and chat to with dudes. And they don't fare so well either. I think it's important to just be able to meet people with pressuring yourself to get digits. It's when I was able to just seem men as potential friends and nothing more that I could really be myself and relaxed. That's how I met my fiance.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3445 Geoff Thu, Feb 07, at 10:34pm
      I have to say that I can't get on board the Anti-Julia train. In fact, I think that Julia makes a lot of sense, and her advice is not just applicable to dating, but to other aspects of life as well. The difference between an Ashlea and a Julia at the bar/office/on the subway has less to do with innate god-given beauty, and more to do with confidence. Sure, someone who is born with what is considered conventional good looks has a leg up in the world of attention, but they don't have a corner on the market. I think everyone has had an experience of being incredibly attracted to someone, while at the same time being totally aware that they are not going to be confused with a model anytime soon. People want to be with people who act as if they don't need them. Just the same, it is much easier to find a job if you have one. Someone who is "applying" for a position, be it professionally, socially, or sexually, needs to present the potential "employer(for lack of a better metaphor)" with the appearance of being capable, willing, experienced, and competent at doing the job. If you dress like you haven't worked in weeks, expect not to get the job, and resent the fact that they even bothered to "interview" you, you stand a pretty crap chance of getting hired. It isn't about being aloof, nor is it about being delusional, but more about a feeling of groundedness and contentment with being you. When you present the feeling that you need someone else's approval/interest there is a subtle amount of pressure put upon the other person to deliver those things. That is repellent. That is not appealing. In casual social situations, people want to be lightly invited in, not grabbed at/tackled/latched onto. And they want people who know they are wanted. That is what is attractive. Looking at someone who is open and personable, and completely self-assured. If you can find a way to feel like a million bucks(working out/new wardrobe/haircut, for me it helped to just stand up straight), other people are going to notice and want a cut of the money (very forced inuendo).

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3418 KittieKat Thu, Feb 07, at 12:01pm
      I don't know what Ashlea looks like but I can say that her article is more on the level verses the prancing queen in the front cover. It's all about sales folks and guess what? TONY was going to sell more w/ a sassy Allison on it's cover than a true single girl who lives an everyday lifestyle. Note Ashlea's more grounded article got less text space and there was no sassy photos. I absolutely agree that advice like be yourself is a lot easier to take if a happy girl who would pose for weight watchers happened say it than a size 2 perky Allison said it.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3396 Margie Wed, Feb 06, at 06:05pm
      Ashlea, I can't even process your point because I find you completely disingenuous. It's not hard to find pictures of you on the internet--you're hot. Your boyfriend is hot. What's more, you know it. No girl who thinks she's too homely for anyone non-homeless posts sexy pictures of herself touching her lips in bed. Maybe you're the pursewatcher because you're happily coupled and your girlfriends--whatever they look like--deserve a chance to look for what you already have. Cry me a river, skinny.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3389 LG Wed, Feb 06, at 03:54pm
      I agree with Ashlea in that no, not everyone looks like Julia Allison. But I think that Julia has an excellent point-- you shouldn't pretend to be someone you're not, because it won't get you anywhere. Julia's packaging of that sentiment may be irritating (personally, the idea of "marketing" myself rubs me the wrong way), but too many people try and turn themselves into what they think other people want, and it backfires.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3388 njtx71 Wed, Feb 06, at 03:45pm
      FINALLY! ashlea, thanks for bravely stating what every woman thinks when they see julia allison - if you look like julia allison, the world is your oyster. if you don't look like julia allison, and have no desire to, then the world is more like a soggy, cold, fried clam. i believe in empowerment and self-esteem for women with a heavy dose of reality. julia's reality ain't mine...not by a long shot.

      Flag as inappropriate


    • 3385 alisays Wed, Feb 06, at 03:04pm
      thanks for saying exactly what I was thinking, Ashlea! This woman is beyond annoying and clearly not at peace with herself -- but who's gonna care when she looks like that?

      Flag as inappropriate




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