It had to be something important for Peter to interrupt my early morning stationary bicycle routine on Monday.  “I want you to watch something.  It’s only a few seconds,” he said.

Peter is addicted to “Morning Joe” on MSNBC.  He records it to watch while he’s exercising. He had never asked me to get off my bike to watch anything before, so I followed him to our TV room.

The “few seconds” was a video clip from a panel “What Are We Telling Our Daughters?” at the “Fifth Annual Women in the World Summit” in New York last weekend. 

Rashida Jones (perhaps best known for her role in “Parks and Recreation”), bemoaning the sexualization of young women, criticized our society’s emphasis on good looks.  She repeated advice she got from a friend’s mother when she was very young.

“You can’t really invest in your looks as the only thing because it’s a    depreciating asset. I think this is true…it’s like putting money into a stock that’s going down. Put your money, put your effort, invest in your brain and talent which will appreciate and get better as you get older”

Amen.