Leigh Raines
wrote on October 07 2008 @ 03:17 pm:

i would say make coffee should be on this list

atlgirl
wrote on October 07 2008 @ 03:25 pm:

Know how to quit/leave something gracefully.

Christiana
wrote on October 07 2008 @ 03:26 pm:

i’d like to suggest having a scary, whirlwind obsessive relationship… it’s worth all the pain that comes after.

Christiana
wrote on October 07 2008 @ 03:28 pm:

reading that over again it sounds fatal attraction-y.... i meant, a HAPPY/scary,whirlwind passionate relationship in which both parties are obsessed with each other. there. that’s better.

abbylyn
wrote on October 07 2008 @ 04:54 pm:

I agree with Leigh, I think making coffee should be on this list.  Which means I should learn how

Fiona
wrote on October 08 2008 @ 03:46 am:

I say replace “boil an egg” with “make coffee” - I’d say a girl can get by fine without boiled eggs, but without coffee, no!

miss dee
wrote on October 08 2008 @ 07:13 am:

Ugh, I’m still having trouble with #2. My 34 year-old sister agrees with me on this one - there is no telling my mother to butt out. No matter what you say, she does not listen. And then comes the Irish guilt. You don’t want me in your life. You never talk to me. I just worry about you.

It is, however, my goal.

Luckily I’ve got quite a few others locked down by my early-mid twenties? An eclectic work experience makes sure that you have diverse yet somewhat useful skills.

Marinka
wrote on October 08 2008 @ 08:46 am:

I can do it all, except I wrap gifts like a four year old. Without hands.

Larry
wrote on October 09 2008 @ 12:04 pm:

About #12...How about changing that up a bit to who gets to go first?

David Rice
wrote on October 09 2008 @ 03:16 pm:

Yes, Leigh, we should all know how to brew coffee!

BTW, how does one place a photo on the comment page?

LoveHugs
wrote on October 09 2008 @ 05:30 pm:

I agree with all who said “Telling a Mom to Butt Out” is basically out of the question.  It is a matter of respect and dignity - for the mother and for the daughter / son.  I choose to give my mother the respect she deserves and diplomatically let her know I don’t need her help with something.  Maybe we both mean the same thing, and maybe the way it is put on this list is sounding just a bit harsh.  Letting a mother keep her dignity and giving her respect doesn’t mean letting her control your life, thank goodness. 
Those of us who have passed the 40 year old mark will tell you that it is much mrre important that your mother knows she is loved and respected than for us to tell her to “Butt Out”..  It’s all done with love and her best interest at heart.  Biting my tongue has gotten easier and easier since I’ve been watching my mother age and her health decline.  The strong woman I knew five years ago has become someone very dependent upon me.
It is my duty to let her butt in and feel as though she still has a part in being a mother to me.  She’s just about lost all the other identities and responsibilities and privileges she once had.  Something as simple as tying her own shoes has become difficult and she’s reduced to allowing me to do it for her. 
Give to your mother from your heart and follow your instincts that you were given at birth.  You’ll know when it’s best to say “not now Mom” or when to let her go on and on while you hold back and bite your tongue so she gets to “butt in” and know she’s still the Mom.

(sorry I rambled.  I am SO not a good writer!)

Ben
wrote on October 09 2008 @ 07:31 pm:

I can’t believe “Know how to take a compliment” isn’t on this list.  I can’t tell you how many women don’t know how to accept a genuine compliment without some sort of random comment that completely shuts down the nice thing you just said.

It’s nothing more than insulting and shows an utter lack of self confidence.

Happy Apple
wrote on October 09 2008 @ 09:29 pm:

Learn how to drive a car with a manual transmission.  You never know when you’ll have to.

And yes, learn how to take a compliment gracefully.

karrie
wrote on October 09 2008 @ 09:49 pm:

Oh here’s one for the modern woman: throw out all the cheap online advise and try not being a slut and learn how to cook and clean to please your man!

Master Psychic Rachel
wrote on October 10 2008 @ 12:16 am:

This is a cute little article…

Don’t Live Life In The Dark…
MasterPsychicOnline.com
Your #1 source for free psychic readings

wendy
wrote on October 10 2008 @ 05:01 am:

Yeah, take a compliment is a great one.

Savannah
wrote on October 10 2008 @ 06:58 am:

Sadly, I accomplished most of these by age 10. Who can’t calculate a tip, cook, balance a checkbook or wrap a gift??? I thought this would be empowering, but really, if a woman can’t do these things by age 18, she’s helpless. By 30 she’s probably gone broke and starved to death by the roadside with a flat tire.

joycielynn
wrote on October 10 2008 @ 12:06 pm:

Here here lovehugs you hit the nail right on the head

mikad
wrote on October 13 2008 @ 08:49 pm:

I thought these were great. How about adding - Eat a meal at a restaurant on your own.

Jennifer Brown
wrote on October 14 2008 @ 08:20 am:

Love this one and agree ... learn how to drive a car with a manual transmission. 

But more importantly ... come up with your own list of things to do before you turn 30 or 40 or 50. Things that challenge your thinking and ability, and stretch you outside your comfort zone.

SP
wrote on October 14 2008 @ 09:26 pm:

How about self defense against dangerous predators? It actually surprises me that this was excluded while hard boiling and egg is #1. Priorities people.

lady lazarus
wrote on October 14 2008 @ 11:55 pm:

This is such bullshit. you couldn’t think of anything better than learn how to take off your bra without removing your shirt or apply lip gloss in the dark? yes we should all also learn how to hold a baby and cook a great meal. what the #### is it still the 50s? i guess learning to “ask a man out” is empowering. but gee golly be sure not to make the first move.

i wouldn’t be so annoyed if i hadn’t stumbled upon this. serves me right for checking off “women’s issues”

lilo
wrote on October 15 2008 @ 05:09 am:

Okay, this can sound hokey, but here’s one: “create a life plan.” Doesn’t mean you have to follow it and it definitely won’t turn out like you planned anyway, but it helps to envision what you want and when you want it. Can be both the important things like whether/when you want marriage and children and a house and the kind of relationship you want with your family, as well as the smaller things like “I’ve always wanted to have a dinner party” or “I want a convertible.” That way you can make decisions based upon your own goals and the kind of life you want to leave vs just reacting. It goes by fast!

lilo
wrote on October 15 2008 @ 05:10 am:

oops, i meant “life you want to lead” not “leave”

wendy
wrote on October 15 2008 @ 06:17 am:

SP and Lady Lazarus and everyone else without a sense of humor, I did leave something of my list: By 30, should learn to stop taking EVERYTHING so goddamn seriously. It’s just a silly list, not, like, the constitution of womanhood.

Tegs
wrote on October 17 2008 @ 08:14 am:

“This is such bullshit. you couldn’t think of anything better than learn how to take off your bra without removing your shirt or apply lip gloss in the dark? yes we should all also learn how to hold a baby and cook a great meal. what the #### is it still the 50s? i guess learning to “ask a man out” is empowering. but gee golly be sure not to make the first move.”

Totally agreed. This is just so… bad. Sorry. I didn’t realise there were still people out there living in the dark ages.

Erice
wrote on October 20 2008 @ 10:17 pm:

why does everyone think that women have to work now, put off child bearing until later?  Later your body won’t work the same way!  higher risk pregnancies, infertility… why not have your babies now and work then!  it makes no sense to put off child-bearing until later.

Cattie
wrote on October 20 2008 @ 10:40 pm:

I agree with all of them except #4, which is just personal preference. I don’t think it’s a weak thing to never ask a man out - in fact, I think it puts more of the power into the woman’s hands. He’s the one that has to fret about the asking, and we get to make him freak out about whether or not we’ll agree. And if he never gets up the courage to ask, in my opinion, he’s not someone I’d want to date.

Gretchen
wrote on October 21 2008 @ 03:23 pm:

Make stereotypical assertions about what she should learn by 30 so that she ends up getting devalued by men and is alone and bitter by 40.

This is why women fail at life.

Amelia
wrote on October 21 2008 @ 03:35 pm:

#31 Learn how to have a sense of humor.

Rob
wrote on October 21 2008 @ 06:20 pm:

So i think a male opinion on the whole “ask a man out” would be fun.

I think although having the guy ask you out may be JUST as empowering to the woman as asking the man out, From my point of view, a woman asking out a man shows she has the confidence to go out and get what she wants.  Obviously, it should be the same for males as well. But I just wanted to show that confidence is attractive to some of us males as well.

Tulpen
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 10:20 am:

Your clichés make one sick.

lilo
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 10:45 am:

@tulpen: i rather enjoyed the article. getting older is about learning to pick up what you need, discard what you don’t, and really create your own lists. You must not be over 30.

chromee
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 01:16 pm:

OMFG - what has happened to females in the last 20 years? We are regressing back to the 50’s! How ‘bout some practical skills like: learn a trade / profession / skill that enables you to earn money without relying on a man; hold your own in an intellectual debate; learn how to protect yourself in any situation; have a good go at fixing something yourself before automatically calling on a man to do it.

Start empowering yourselves, please. This homespun - housewifey nonsense has got to stop. You need to realise there is a whole generation of girls looking to women in their 30’s as role models. What do you think they are going to get out of tips like “learn how to apply lip gloss in the dark”? It’s frankly quite embarrassing.

Wendy
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 01:46 pm:

I’m astonished at what a visceral chord this list seems to have struck with people. Women can be strong, empowered, and know all sorts of practical skills in addition to applying lipgloss expertly in the dark. The great thing about being a woman and a feminist of this generation is that we really CAN have it all — we can embrace every bit of our femininity AND kick major ass in our stiletto heels. So get over yourselves and your pathetically antiquated ideas of female empowerment.

Bing
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 02:15 pm:

I like this list and am happy to say I can do most of this...at 25.

There are a few things I would like to add:  by 30 everyone should have basic knowledge of how to grill and cook, look put together and professional by knowing how to apply make up and style hair, and do laundry.  It’s scary how many people (men and women) do not know how to wash their clothes.  It’s sad.

christylee
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 08:38 pm:

I have to learn how to sew in the next 2 years? Not happening.

eileen
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 09:01 pm:

I was expecting something a lot cooler from this list given the buzz from the 100 things list and that it was linked on kottke.

Balance my checkbook?  A bit dated.  Any girl under 30 doesn’t write checks and tracks it online anyways.

And boil an egg?  Another one that missed the mark.

I agree with the ones about being able to do things with grace and aplomb the 20s seem to include a lot of opportunities royally goof these. (You don’t say!)

Amelia
wrote on October 22 2008 @ 09:17 pm:

@christylee You could definitely learn how to sew a button in 2 minutes.

Jess
wrote on October 23 2008 @ 07:59 am:

@Wendy

...or not feel the need to wear stiletto heels at all. I know the whole point of lists is to create discussion by homogenising people into men, women, teenagers, the under 30s, people who drink cocktails, people who exercise, people who travel etc. but I’m pretty sure this list was written by Bridget Jones and all of her friends/Cosmogirl about ten years ago. And repeated in the June issue every year since. really? Is that still the debate we’re having? Yeah! Come on ladies! It’s OK to wear lipgloss AND be able to read a map without sacrificing either your integrity or your femininity! It’s ok to know how to sew on a button AND tell your man what to do in bed! You can now, unbelievably, actually wear stilettos and be taken seriously at work! We truly live in extraordinary times. JUST THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES…

It’s just all so horribly binary, so with that in mind, I would like to add to the list the following. Everybody regardless of age should be able to ignore anything as prescriptive as a list of things they should or shouldn’t be able to do, and revel in their status as an individual. Particularly when the list aspires to include a larger audience (all women) than its actual target (Grazia readers. That’s all I’m saying.)

Eileen, I too am slightly disappointed that this was linked to in kottke.

P.S. How to hail a cab? Is standing on a street corner now something of an achievement?

Steve
wrote on October 24 2008 @ 01:52 pm:

Wow, my girlfriend would find that list so offensive, and she’s incredibly… Girly.  I don’t think the list really represents what women should be… Nor what men should be… The list more or less represents someones idea of what they think women should be in their world.  It’s not like that, haha.

Paul Hubinsky
wrote on October 24 2008 @ 02:56 pm:

You dope you forgot blowjob (that should be number 1) and shutting the hell up.  Forget pleasing a man?  Who do you think you are?  Go live alone you neo-feminist ####.

Ravi
wrote on October 25 2008 @ 01:12 pm:

At 35 I can’t negotiate a salary raise. And I am a man.

Chris
wrote on October 26 2008 @ 06:32 pm:

Why should you have to know how to take off your bra without removing your shirt?  How often does that come up?

stephanie
wrote on October 29 2008 @ 10:40 am:

these are the few i can’t do:

14. Mix a kick-ass cocktail
15. Take off her bra without removing her shirt
18. Create a budget
20. Negotiate a salary and/or pay raise
29. Know what to tip on a $25 dinner bill

will get to it in the next 11 years before i’m 30:)

ab
wrote on October 29 2008 @ 02:26 pm:

you should have most of these skills by the time you are 18. if you have not “listened to a friend in need,” “apologized when you are wrong,” or “balanced a checkbook” before you turn 30, something is wrong. very wrong.

Ashley
wrote on November 02 2008 @ 09:09 am:

Here are 4 to add
1. Know how to pick yourself back up and move on after failing at something.
2. Know how to work a fire extinguisher and administer CPR
3. Make a baby bottle one handed.
4. Know how to act at a business party.  And at a bachelorette party.  There is a difference.

zman
wrote on November 14 2008 @ 01:00 pm:

Is this list written by the same women that authored “The Rules” it is as if the author could not really think of anything to put on the list and is rehashing the 1950’s or some 18 y/o woman. I am a man and personally I like strong empowered women who have their own ideas and opinions, can take charge when need be while at the same time maintain their femininity and girliness. Another question I have for the author is why the womens list is so short compared to the man’s list of 100 things. I know quite a few women that can do all the things on both lists. I agree that self defense for women is a BIG one. I have yet to meet a fellow homebrewer that is a female but I know that there are some women HB’ers on the HB message boards that I belong to. Also I agree with the other poster about the ability of a woman to ask a man out. I think that is very sexy as it tell me that this woman is not some helpless waif waiting to be saved, but, rather a strong confident sexy woman that knows what she wants and is not afraid to go after it....kind like my present gf…

zman
wrote on November 14 2008 @ 01:06 pm:

on the tipping thing...wasn’t this not covered in 3rd grade math. 20% of x =y
ie: a $50 dinner bill x .20 =$10. That is to assume you are a generous tipper…