Posts filed under 'celebrities'
You’re reading the About-Face blog, so I’m gonna guess that you’re interested in the various messed-up ways women and girls are portrayed in media, and how it can really damage our self-esteem and self-respect. Well, now there’s a movie about it! It’s the new documentary “America the Beautiful,” and you should really go see it.
The trailer:
I saw the documentary last night in San Francisco, and I almost lost my s*&# watching the editors of Elle Girl and Seventeen magazines talking about how they need to show the thin body ideal only, or they’re “out of a job.” Really — no care for the fact that you are contributing to eating disorders, self-hatred, and general depression in young women? And the answer: No, really, none at all.
And then there’s Gerren, a 12-year-old model whose mother lets her wear next to nothing on the catwalk, but won’t let her wear a bra to school because she doesn’t think it’s appropriate. Through my work with About-Face, I’ve spoken to more moms than I can count who give their daughters the very same mixed messages.
There are just so many pertinent, poignant bits in this film, one being that the whole thing flows really well and nails the problem of our culture’s beauty obsession in a way that no somewhat-smart woman can deny. And two being that it’s an African-American man who made the film and who includes many other African-Americans who truly have something to say.
If you look carefully, you’ll spot two About-Face posters in the film! (I wish About-Face had been around to be in the movie!)
Really, I could go on and on. But I won’t.
Bring your mom, bring your friends, bring your sister. Hey, bring your brother. Cuz guys need to know this stuff too. (Plus there are quite a few bits about men and their body image too.)
I saw the film in San Francisco, where it opens at the new Sundance Kabuki on Friday. Click here for other theaters throughout the nation.
Take Action:
1) See the movie! Bring your people! Click here for theaters throughout the nation.
2) E-mail the filmmaker, Darryl Roberts, about why you appreciate the movie so well (even if you haven’t seen it yet).
3) Call or walk into your local theater and ask them to show this film.
4) Comment on the online or print articles about this film (including this one), singing its praises and adding to an intelligent debate.
–J.B.
August 27th, 2008
It is appalling — yet not surprising at all — that middle and high school girls are sending nude pictures of themselves to their boyfriends. What I wonder is: Who started this trend? Was it Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical)?
Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana)? Is it simply a product of technological advances and exhibitionism, as a recent CNN article proposes? Or is it a combination of the two? I’m thinking it’s a combination, supplemented by the fact that girls and women are continually sexualized in today’s media culture and feel that their worth is based on how sexy they are or can be.
Though the show Sex and the City is controversial amongst people who fight for gender equity, I keep thinking about the episode “Hot Child In The City,” in which the character Samantha plans a Bat Mitzvah for an uber-wealthy, Upper East Side girl, Jenny Brier. The girl tries to act “grown-up” by buying Samantha and her friends $100 bottles of alcohol, dressing in tight, high-end clothes, and (this is the appalling part) talking about all the boys she’s either been with or pleasured with oral sex. Samantha, who is at first very envious of Jenny’s fortunes, later realizes that the one thing she had that Jenny Brier and her friends don’t have is a childhood.
And that is the end result of the oversexualization frenzy we are in — the loss of childhood and innocence. There isn’t anything wrong with expressing your sexual desires or feeling sexy, but who and what contributes to healthy sexuality is really in question, as well as the extent to which sexiness defines our self-worth. Girls learn from an early age what is desirable and “hot.” They also learn that “sexiness” is a source of power. Therefore, they become defined — and maybe even define themselves — by it. Generations before the past few had less media exposure and a chance to define their sexuality on their own and probably at a later age.
What do you think about the article? About this latest “trend”? What can we do to stop it? Please share your thoughts with us below.
-A.J.
June 11th, 2008
Designer Marc Jacobs is really rubbing we About-Facers the wrong way lately. Following on the heels of his ad showing Dakota Fanning as a Hollywood tartlet and some other ads with dead-looking women and nubile girls laying in the grass, we’ve got the newest in the series: Victoria Beckham in a shopping bag.
In this ad, Victoria Beckham (aka Posh Spice) literally becomes a product to purchase. Never mind the disembodied legs and suggestion of violence. Has she been killed and then put in the bag? or is she about to be taken home and put in the closet?
Accprding to a recent New York Times article, the photographer asked Victoria, “You’re kind of a product yourself, aren’t you?” He reports that “She was, like, ‘Uh, yeah.’ ”
We will give Marc Jacobs one little point for putting the fabulous M.I.A. on display so all can see her greatness. But that’s all. Just one point.
Thanks to Feministing.com (which you should be reading every day!) for the tip.
TAKE ACTION: Tell Marc Jacobs that you think this ad shows women’s bodies, and women, as products, and that you will not be buying his goods any time soon. Go ahead and e-mail these people: Asa Larsson at a.larsson@marcjacobs.com and Renee Barletta at barletta@kcdworldwide.com, and fax 212-966-0782.
And then remember, don’t buy any Marc Jacobs stuff.
For more bad ads and ways to talk back, check out our Gallery of Offenders (brand new update coming soon).
–J. B.
April 14th, 2008
I was Google-chatting with my good friend Rebecca the other day and we were rambling on about the Oscars. You know — our favorite dresses, favorite speeches, and so on. Out of the blue, she asks “Did you hear about Emma Thompson?” Apparently, Emma Thompson laid it down to the producers of her new movie Cassandra’s Dream when they asked Hayley Atwell to trim down her physique. Ms. Thompson used her leverage as a two-time Oscar winner and told the producers she would “resign from the film if they forced Atwell to lose weight.” Wow!
We’re hoping this story is true. Either way, we hope other high-powered celebrities heed this example of awesome-ship (of course, in an ideal world, this would never be an issue). After all, movies are supposed to be part of self-expression. When did this type of expression result in controlling women’s bodies?
–A.J.
February 26th, 2008
We came across a posting on the San Francisco Chronicle’s Daily Dish a few weeks ago, on Allegra Versace’s battle with anorexia. Here are some excerpts from the post:
Fashion queen Donatella Versace’s daughter Allegra is under medical care, battling a serious eating disorder.
Donatella, 52, has expressed her heartache and has admitted Allegra was being “consumed” by the illness, and pleaded with the media to “respect our pain.”
She says, “My daughter is very ill. Anorexia is consuming her and we are very worried. However, the doctors are doing all they can to snatch her away from this cruel disease and we have faith in them.
“Please think of us and respect our pain. Many mothers will know well what I am going through and what my daughter is risking.”
It’s disturbing to see this as gossip-worthy. Why is a disease a hot topic? Let’s say they found out that Allegra had breast cancer. Would they show her in her hospital bed, post-mastectomy, with a shaved head, struggling to recover? Second, Allegra’s mother runs one of the world’s top fashion companies. Will she see a connection between her daughter’s illness and the effects of the fashion industry on women’s body image? Here’s what Marcella, our eating disorders expert, had to say about it:
“I really dislike this type of coverage. There is always picture of the physically ill person so that we can look at her as some kind of circus freakshow. I am curious to see how and if this evolves. It just seems so twisted to have one of the top fashion designers’ daughters have an eating disorder. Right now, this story does not sit well for me because it is ignoring the obvious elephant in the room. I think it would be powerful if ‘Mom’ Donatella could perhaps see how toxic her line of work is for a growing girl around body image and make a statement about this and include more diversity in body shapes and sizes for her clothes and runway models.
I am glad there is more coverage on eating disorders in popular media, I just don’t like the way it is being covered, and many experts in the field hold my opinion.”
What do you think?
–A.J.
April 17th, 2007
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And then there’s Gerren, a 12-year-old model whose mother lets her wear next to nothing on the catwalk, but won’t let her wear a bra to school because she doesn’t think it’s appropriate. Through my work with About-Face, I’ve spoken to more moms than I can count who give their daughters the very same mixed messages.