Arika (left) and Danika take action in Denver, CO.
There’s nothing we like to see more than About-Face supporters take action!
Check out 16-year-old cousins Danika and Arika making good use of our Covert Dressing Room Action Kit at a mall near Denver, CO. The girls told us a bit about what motivated them to act, and we hope you find their words as inspiring as we do.
“I wanted to positively influence others to feel good about themselves. The media has negatively influenced people’s body image and self-esteem. I am hopeful that the decals will inspire others, help someone feel good about themselves or influence someone to compliment someone else.” — Arika, age 16.
Danika thinks you look pretty phat.
“We put the decals on dressing room mirrors with self-esteem-boosting quotes to help other women and teens feel good about themselves. I think it is important because there are a lot of people who feel that they aren’t equal with others—maybe because of their looks or weight—and we wanted to help them know that everyone is beautiful in their own way, no matter what size, shape, or color they are” — Danika, age 16.
Have you formed your own Take Action group? We want to know about it! Send your pics, videos, and stories to submissions@about-face.org and you might see your own beautiful face on our blog!
A few t-shirt designs from the PinkStinks online store.
Majora Carter. Janine Benyus. Maggie Aderin-Pocock. Ever heard of them?
Probably not. But besides embodying change and breaking down gender barriers, these women all have one thing in common: they’ve been featured as role models by PinkStinks, a British organization that provides young girls with alternatives to media messages.
By promoting real role models, Ema and Abi Moore–the sisters and founders of PinkStinks–encourage girls to feel good about themselves without needing to being rich, famous, beautiful, and fake. To the Moore siblings, the culture of “pink” is more than the color: it is a message that puts girls in boxes and limits them from reaching their full potential.
As for the role models they pick, women like Carter, Benyus and Aderin-Pocock move beyond the “pink” message.
Carter is an environmentalist who founded the Sustainable South Bronx Organization, Benyus is a science writer and president of the Biomimicry Institute, while Dr. Aderin-Pocock has a doctorate in mechanical engineering and makes handheld mine detectors and optical systems for the James Webb Space Telescope. Slightly more inspiring than the female role models the celebrity-obsessed world typically glorifies, right?
PinkStinks not only lauds women like this, but critiques the messages aimed at girls on a daily basis. For example, the organization analyzed a message on a Scrabble game box for girls that was colored in pink and displayed the game tiles spelling the word “fashion.” To revolt against the stereotypical images like this, PinkStinks also has an “Approved” section on their website, which applauds products that are not gender-biased.
Some creepy T- Shirts for 8 year olds, courtesy of the Zara Fashion Store.
And it doesn’t stop there. Aware of unethical advertising strategies aimed at young girls, PinkStinks actively campaigns against alarming commercial messages in the U.K. A recent one was against the Sainsbury Company’s sexist dress-up clothing for children which labeled doctors and pilots as boys’ items, and princesses, beauticians and 1950s nurses as girls‘. Thanks to PinkStinks, the company responded and changed their approach to dress-up clothing!
In addition to the campaign, PinkStinks also maintains a blog and a “Name and Shame” section to keep its U.K. audience aware of many of the outrageous commercial tactics that they are surrounded by.
While the Moore sisters are busy countering the culture of pink, their online store enables us to keep the revolution public. T-shirts titled “Future Role Model” and “I am no princess” can be found on their site.
It looks like the women behind the U.K.’s PinkStinks are making some major, global changes.
- Sheena
While the Moore sisters are busy countering the culture of PINK, their E store enables us to keep the revolution public. T-shirts titled “ Future Role Model” and “ I AM NO PRINCESS”can be found on their site http://pinkstinks.spreadshirt.co.uk/. In addition, during the Soccer World Cup Season this month, you can resist the media obsession with wives and girlfriends of soccer players (WAGS), by wearing a PINKSTINKS shirt titled “ WAGS:Women against gender stereotyping”.
WORLD CHANGERS IN ACTION, is all I can say about PINKSTINKS!
Hey, About-Facers! Remember that action we were planning against American Apparel’s sexist advertising campaigns? Well we did it, and it was awesome.
We assembled and performed our street theater on loop outside of the Haight St. American Apparel location for about an hour on Saturday. The police eventually came to ask us to leave (it’s not a real protest ’til someone calls the cops, you know?), but not before we handed out piles of fliers and got the American Apparel employees all riled up. Overall, it was a success!
Here’s a teaser; check out more photos after the jump! (All photos here are thanks to the awesome Anita over at Feminist Frequency!)
Our reporter asks "Dov" hard-hitting questions as his "model" looks on
Dov engages his audience and gets really excited about press
We ask the hard hitting questions; Dov gets distracted by cameras.
One of our awesome volunteers with the fliers we distributed
It's not exploitation if there's a waiver, right Dov?!
This action was a ton of fun! HUGE THANKS to everyone who helped out, in person and online! We couldn’t have done this without you!
If you couldn’t make it out but still want to show your support, you can. Join our Facebook group, sign our petition, and make your voice heard!
By now, you know how much we despise American Apparel’s advertising. Well, here’s your chance to make your voice heard TOMORROW, whether you’re in San Francisco or supporting from afar:
An Afternoon with Dov Charney
Saturday, May 1 at 1:00pm
Haight St. (at Clayton), San Francisco (and online)
Using street theater and performance art, this parody interview with American Apparel CEO and President Dov Charney will give “Mr. Charney” (i.e. a friend of About-Face playing the CEO) a ribbing for the company’s treatment of its female models in its advertising.
When you arrive, there will be a way for you to be a part of the action immediately.
Can’t make it in person? Here are some other ways to support “An Afternoon with Dov Charney”.
Hey y’all! We here at About-Face have some exciting news!
First of all, we’ve fixed our comments! If you tried to comment on recent entries and found yourself being asked to log in or register, don’t worry, we’ve gotten rid of that ridiculous rule. If there’s anything you wanted to say but couldn’t, now’s the time!
Second, come hang out with us this Sunday! Author and activist Marilyn Wann is going to be hosting a Yay Scale event at the San Francisco Ferry Building, and we’re going to be there to help her out and show support. Meet us at the front entrance at 11:30am to group up, gear up, and put a positive spin on our culture’s obsession with scales! When you stand on a Yay Scale, it doesn’t tell you how much you weigh–instead, it tells you how awesome, fly, beautiful, brilliant, creative, fantastic, and wonderful you are. Check out some photos from past Yay Scale actions:
A Heineken ad featuring a blonde, female robot serving beer
I drink beer. I’m a woman.
According to the Beer Institute, I’m not alone: women make up 25 percent of the beer market.
Hmmm. Strange. Because most beer commercials I’ve seen recently either a) don’t include any women at all;
or b) depict women solely as Barbie cheerleader types who serve men beverages.
In a 2001 USA Today article, Benj Steinmen, president of Beer Marketer’s Insights, gives a little insight into this paradox: “Brewers have been reluctant to market to women for fear of alienating their core audience: men. But beer consumption among women is growing. And they like light beer.” The USA Today article goes on to cite TV ads for Amstel Light, Miller Lite, and Bud Lite as examples of a shift towards advertising beer to women.
Well, it’s almost 9 years later, and beer advertisers are still doing just that: marketing light beer to women. But most ad campaigns for beer are still eye-rollingly, ridiculously sexist.
Heineken Commercial:
Miller Light Commercial:
Bud Light Commercial:
But who cares, right? We should celebrate. We’ve been invited into the old boys’ club–as long as we stick with light and leave the real stuff to men.
In a 2008 post on the topic, a blogger at Jezebel asked:
If women already drink beer, do brewers even need to bother directing ads toward them? Or it is high time advertisers stopping ignoring half the market? And do women drink beer despite the lack of women-centered advertising, or because it’s a “manly” choice?
I drink beer because I like the taste. I like the carbonation. I like the way it compliments certain foods. I’d like to give other female beer-drinkers the benefit of the doubt and say they drink beer because they like the taste, too. And as a female beer-drinker, I’m sick of the boys-will-be-boys crap of beer advertisements. I say it’s high time advertisers stop ignoring half the market.
As a whopping 25 percent of their customer base, women have the economic power to create change. There are many ways to take action:
1. Support brands that don’t use sexist advertising.
2. Read and support initiatives such as Women Enjoying Beer, an organization that encourages breweries to better market to women and has a blog with posts on women-friendly breweries.
3. And last but not least, when you see beer ads that offend you, file an advertising complaint with the Beer Institute.
Will any of this actually help? I don’t know—beer advertisers seem convinced that gendering beer is the best strategy. But maybe, little by little, we can help them realize that alienating half the market just doesn’t make economic sense.
Katherine Leyton is a freelance writer and poet from Toronto, Canada. She has a B.A. in English Literature from McGill University and an MsC in Creative Writing from the University of Edinburgh. Her work focuses on the construction of gender and has appeared in The Malahat Review, The Feathertale Review, The Globe and Mail, and The South China Morning Post. She believes writing can create positive change in women’s lives and is involved with Sister Writes, a non-profit organization in Toronto that runs creative writing workshops for marginalized women.
Are the beauty products you use hazardous to your health? The answer is, most likely, “yes”.
When it comes to personal care products in the United States, the FDA does little to protect consumers from harmful chemicals. But we can protect ourselves by researching the products that we purchase and use.
Here are some alarming facts from the Environmental Working Group’s study of toxicity in personal care products:
More than one-third of all personal care products have at least one ingredient connected to cancer;
57 percent of all products include “penetration enhancer” chemicals that can push other ingredients faster and deeper into the skin and into the blood flow; and
79 percent of all products contain ingredients that may have harmful impurities like known human carcinogens, according to FDA or industry reviews. Impurities are legal and unrestricted for the personal care product industry.
Skin Deep is an online database where you easily get an idea of how hazardous the products you use may be by performing a simple search. This database can also be used to find products with lower toxicity.
I looked up each of the personal care products that I use regularly, and was surprised to learn that my shampoo received a 9 (out of ten) rating on the hazard scale! I also learned the following about the substance I’ve been regularly massaging into my scalp:
Luckily, Skin Deep, as well as other websites like Best in Beauty, can help us find safer personal care products to switch to.
I’m glad that resources like these exist, but the fact that cosmetics consumers have so little protection is ridiculous. Why has the government cracked down on lead in paint, but not in lead in lipstick? Why do companies have to prove that chemicals are safe before being sold in Europe, while in the U.S., the responsibility falls on the consumers to prove that chemicals are unsafe before they have a chance of being pulled from the shelves?
Your beauty products go more than skin deep.
If you want to make cosmetics safer for consumers, or simply learn more information on this issue, check out The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. A summary of important info can be found in Unmasked: The 10 Ugly Truths Behind the Myth of Cosmetic Safety[PDF]. Here are some shocking facts from Unmasked:
INGREDIENTS BANNED FROM COSMETICS United States: 10 European Union: 1,100+
Ingredients in personal care products in the U.S.: 10,500
Portion of chemical ingredients in cosmetics that have been assessed for health and safety by the industry’s self-policing safety panel: 11%
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics also produced a short video, which introduces some of their concerns.
What do you think about cosmetics safety? Will you change the way you choose and use personal care products in the future? Join the conversation by posting a comment. Feel free to share links to other helpful resources, and if you find these resources helpful, please share them with everyone you know!
On August 15, 2009, the About-Face Take Action group members, About-Face volunteers, and their friends posted decals with positive messages on various stores’ fitting room mirrors in the heavily populated Union Square area and downtown shopping area in San Francisco.
They also handed out decals to others who wished to do the same or to keep one for their mirrors at home.
On the same day, our Take Action Group also set up its own “dressing room” at Powell St. and Market St. in downtown San Francisco and invited people to write inspirational messages about body image on the walls. Watch our video and see how it went!:
To learn more about this action, check out this page.
Who: Passionate activists! Quiet behind-the-scenes helpers! Education-minded world changers! New and familiar faces are welcome! (Volunteers must be ages 13 and up).
Why: To help About-Face equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect their self-esteem and body image.
How: At this Volunteer Meetup, you will learn more about our small but effective organization and the many ways we can work together! You will also get to enjoy a free dinner with others who are interested in this issue!
In the early part of the meeting, About-Face staff will introduce the organization and talk about the many volunteer opportunities we have open, which range from a couple hours to a couple months.
If you like, you can stay and start volunteering RIGHT AWAY! We’ll have a few projects to do until the end of the meeting.
You can also sign up for longer-term volunteer opportunities and get to know us better.
If you have a laptop with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel) on it, we’d love for you to bring it.
Please try to RSVP so we are sure we have enough food (and to let us know if you have any food restrictions, which we will try to accommodate): iwanttovolunteer@about-face.org or (415) 436-0212. But we’re not going to turn you away if you don’t RSVP!
About-Face is looking for new bloggers to help keep our web site current and fresh! As an About-Face blogger, you will have the opportunity to help women and girls understand and resist harmful media messages, have your writing published, become a better writer, and have a productive outlet for expression. Please note that this is not a paying position, but a volunteer opportunity.
Issues We Cover
* Images of women/girls in media messages: billboards, advertisements, etc.
* Female icons/sex symbols such as Paris Hilton, Barbie, Bratz dolls, etc.
* Female celebrities representing, promoting, or experiencing body image problems
* Women in the media working in media and possibly being discriminated against
Timeline and time commitment
This position will start as soon as possible! We are looking for writers who can turn in a 150-500 word blog entry once or twice a month. All work will be sent through e-mail, and bloggers will often have to submit a second draft after the first one has been edited and returned.
Duties and Tasks
* Finding various media that relate to our mission and learning how to incorporate them into our blog
* Turning in blogs on time and working with editors’ comments in a time-efficient manner
Requirements
* Interest in how media affects women’s and girls’ body image, self-esteem, identity, self-image
* Responsibility – commitment to turning in assignments on time, communicating clearly with a reasonable manager/editor
* Strong writing and analytical skills
NEXT STEPS
To apply, send these items to Sabrina Sierra, Blog Manager, at blogmanager@about-face.org:
* A brief e-mail that tells us what would make you a good fit for this role
* A writing sample between 300 and 500 words
You should hear back from us within a week of applying, depending on the volume of submissions we receive. Thanks for your interest!
” — Danika, age 16.
