Archive for January, 2007
In case you missed America Ferrera’s speech at the Golden Globes:
“Thank you to the foreign press for recognizing this show and this character who is truly bringing a new face to television… and such a beautiful, beautiful message about beauty that lies deeper than what we can see. It’s such an honor to play a role that I hear from young girls on a daily basis how it makes them feel worthy and lovable and that they have more to offer the world than they thought. It’s such an honor to play this role….”
January 28th, 2007
Two movies came out on DVD recently — “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Devil Wears Prada” — that are super About-Facey (that is, they take on issues of women’s and girls’ body image and media influences), so around the kitchen table the other night, we decided to make up a special rating system. Check it out — and let us know what you thought of these flicks.
Little Miss Sunshine (R, but should be PG-13)
The good: “This is for my grandpa, who taught me these moves.” Olive’s performance in the beauty pageant and more in that scene I can’t reveal here lest I spoil the fun. (Oh, and Alyza thinks Paul Dano is lovable.) Olive (Abigail Breslin) is the little girl we all remember ourselves being.
The sad: Whoa, the beauty pageant scene with the little freaky girls! Scary! (And the directors’ commentary reveals that they are for real.) And when Olive’s dad breaks it to her over breakfast that ice cream is going to make her fat. Heartbreaking. Luckily Uncle Frank (Steve Carell), Grandpa, and Dwayne, show her they love ice cream, even if it does make you fat.
Up in the air: Grandpa’s misogyny.
Reckoning: A funny, sweet comedy. Do four Oscar nominations (including one for Best Picture) lie? Also great to watch with your mom.
RATING: 5 out of 5 About-Faces
The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13)
The good: Meryl Streep being perfectly evil. Was she just having fun, or was that just me? (Oh, and she’s up for a Best Actress Oscar too…)
The sad: Emily (Emily Blunt) says to Andy (Anne Hathaway) “I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight” as they enter a gala. Andy tells Nigel she is now a size 4 (down from 6) and they toast with Champagne. C’mon people, seriously.
Up in the air: Doesn’t really take on the insane thin ideal fashion-y people and models feel they must conform to at all times. But at least it kind of makes fun of those ideals. It also makes it seem that Andy can have either a high-powered career or a boyfriend, not both. (The older women we know dispel that myth handily.)
Reckoning: Eh. We’re not so thrilled from a hard-core chick perspective. But it’s pretty entertaining, especially if you REALLY like fashion. Or you’re contemplating the work/life balance. Or both.
RATING: 2 out of 5 About-Faces
Some other About-Face-approved movies:
Lovely and Amazing: Serious body-image talk, with a mom having liposuction, an actress being self-loathing, and a little fat girl trying to make sense of it all.
Drop Dead Gorgeous: If you’re into black comedy, this movie represents some of the blackest. Its take on beauty standards is nothing short of skewering.
If you’ve see any of these movies, tell us what you thought! Just click “Add Comment” below!
– J.B.
January 25th, 2007
I have a soft, round, and extremely cute belly and believe it or not, I’ve had many people (family, friends, colleagues, etc.) ask if I was pregnant. Look! Just because my stomach sticks out, doesn’t mean I am pregnant!
It’s not easy embracing The Belly in an anti-belly world! And let’s face it, the media fuels these anti-belly sentiments.
The mixed messages I receive from my friends and family correspond to the mixed messages the media sends out. The media I’m referring to is made up of several magazines and gossip columns (both on the web and on newsstands) that consider it their civic duty to disclose celebrity body fluctuations on an inch-by-inch basis. 
Remember the Reese Witherspoon pregnancy scandal? Editors hoped to sell their magazines by using a few manipulated pictures of Reese with a bump so they could be the first to expose that Reese is preggars! It might be news to them and perhaps to us as well, but it’s not so newsworthy to our bodies. To our dismay, our weight-conscious society doesn’t view pregnancy as beautiful, but rather as a condition that adds unwanted pounds. Consequently, when someone is mistaken as pregnant, it’s usually taken as an insult. We now know Reese wasn’t expecting a third child. However, the media hoped she was, because it’s unacceptable for a top-ranking celebrity and America’s sweetheart to carry anything but a washboard stomach!
Yet this is the same media that shockingly reveals (or are they reveling in?) celebrities under a hundred pounds. Gossip columns are as much about body-fat content as stars’ activities. Us, People, InTouch, Star, etc. take turns obsessing over which celebrities are rail-thin (ahem, see this week’s People magazine) and which could afford to shed a few pounds. As readers, we are expected to reject both body types. However, we are never given any indication of what they think a healthy body should look like. Their (unhealthy) obsession with weight results in us obsessing and dangerously criticizing our weight. We wonder: if Nicole Kidman’s body doesn’t size up, how can mine?
Let’s bring this back to The Belly. It’s no wonder I’ve had prospective crushes stop me in the midst of conversation to ask whether or not I am expecting. Though that question is never justified, it is especially unwelcome after the crush in question has already bought me a drink! Just because celebrities (or 0.25 percent of the world’s population if that) have washboard stomachs, doesn’t mean women who don’t are pregnant.
It’s taken me a long time to accept The Belly. But after years of belly-hating, I had to put things in perspective. After all, how long can I hate something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life?
–A.J.
January 21st, 2007
Let me just tell you about this amazing lingerie catalog I just got in the mail. No it’s not Victoria’s Secret — I’d sooner toss my cookies than look at Victoria’s Secret catalog (or store) ever again. I actually found a lingerie catalog that makes me feel like I might actually look good in the lingerie! My new catalog of choice is: Julianna Rae.
Hmmm, let’s have a look… Gasp! Do I see a little bit of arm fat on that woman on page 7? Do I spy actual attempts at racial diversity? A hint of cellulite on page 15? A woman’s formerly pregnant belly on page 28? And oh my gosh! That one on page 23 might be actually a little bit older than 23! She could even be … 40!
The thing is, a little bit of arm fat or cellulite doesn’t ruin these women’s looks one bit. They all look happy. And even to my raised-to-attain-an-unattainable-ideal self, these women look truly beautiful, not to mention sexy. And shockingly, I almost feel normal when I look at the pages.
Amazing enough, the most wonderful thing about Julianna Rae’s marketing isn’t the models. It’s that you can shop by body type, either through the catalog or on the website. And none of this “wide hips” or “small bust” typing that only makes you feel “less than.” Juliana Rae wants you to feel like the beautiful flower you are:
Now, Juliana Rae is no Victoria’s Secret, and this is no low-rent catalog. The products are a lot more expensive, but they’re also incredibly high-quality. (I can vouch for this: When I got married about eight months ago, someone gave me one of the Il Cieli reversible robes, and I’ve barely taken it off since.)
The company seems to have built the idea of showing real women, and selling to them, into their founding statement. From the Julianna Rae Our Story page:
“Most of us do not look like supermodels (or regular models for that matter) but that doesn’t mean we look like a bag of potatoes (no offense to potatoes – we love them in all forms!). We are healthy, active, independent women who have a sense of style and more importantly, of ourselves. We deserve clothes that fit our lifestyles and our bodies – clothes that make us look and feel great.”
What you can do. When we dislike a certain company’s marketing or advertising, we should be speaking out and refusing to buy their products and encourage others to do the same. The reverse is also true: This is an opportunity to support kind, caring business practices. So if you’re as impressed as I am, show your support by at least writing an e-mail or letter to Julianna Rae. And if you like the products, go buy yourself something pretty! –J.B.
January 18th, 2007
Some of you may have seen the Golden Globes the other night. I have to say, I missed it. However, I was excited to see the glamour of the illustrious red carpet! Though most of the gowns worn at last night’s fashion ahem…awards ceremony were not particularly amazing, I did wonder how stars managed to look so flawless. That’s when I came across this recent article on CNN.com. The article chronicles the time, money, and work stars put into looking perfect on the red carpet. I was amazed to find out that Botox, “body-enhancing airbrushing” (a.k.a. fake tan), hair extensions, girdles, etc. were all a part of the red-carpet mystique. Who would’ve thought? -A.J.
January 17th, 2007
I live 1.7 miles from my office. My commute consists of various combinations of public transportation (depending on the weather, the type of shoes I’m wearing, and the number of times I hit the snooze button) and despite the many frustrations of the San Francisco MUNI system, often the most aggravating part of my commute takes place in the final fifty yards leading up to my office.
You see, the last stretch of my commute takes me past one of the most unfriendly parts of the city for women: the Financial District. More specifically, the corner of Market and Montgomery, where bike messengers gather, where businessmen get their coffee, where commuters wait for the bus, and where construction workers are forever building luxury condos. It is here that I am subjected to a never-ending onslaught of lingering stares, inappropriate catcalls, and lewd comments.
As a side to my morning latte, I get a “What’s up sexy, you wanna go out with me?” (do these lines ever work?) a “Hey girl, you Russian?” (what is that even supposed to mean?) or the ever-popular hissing and kissing noises (what am I, a housepet?). Some comments are accompanied by lewd gestures while some men have even had the audacity to reach out and grab my arm, as if touching a stranger is a completely normal and ok.
The crazy part is, it doesn’t even really matter what I look like. I could be showered with my hair down and wearing full makeup or bare-faced and pony-tailed, in a skirt suit or a turtleneck and baggy jeans, in high heels or flats, or even a potato sack for that matter. The result is the same. I am wading, unprotected, through a sea of unsolicited negative attention.
Frustrated, I wonder what makes men think they can treat women this way. What gives them the right? Then I look up and see an advertisement of a model in a bra and underwear. Oh yes, I think to myself, that’s what.
Women are continually objectified in advertisements, movies, television shows, and magazines. Often they are shown wearing hardly any clothes. Other times they aren’t even shown as whole women. Instead their bodies are chopped into parts: midriff here, cleavage there, legs all over the place. It’s no wonder men do the same thing on the street, verbally dissecting me into nothing but a “nice rack” or “hot ass.” We are socialized to believe that women exist not as individuals with thoughts, feelings, dreams, talents, and aspirations, but solely as bodies. And that’s where the danger starts.
So how do we fight back against this? Should I say something to the men who objectify me? Should I say something to the advertisement and entertainment industries? Or should I say something to the millions of women and girls that are subjected to negative attention from onlookers on a daily basis simply for walking down the street?
I think I’ll choose option number three.
As I approach the door to my building a man who’s just walked out of a neighboring deli looks me up and down and blurts out “hot legs.â€
Great, thanks, I think as the door closes behind me. So I’m a set of legs. I’m not a human being off to work in an attempt to save women and girls from a lifetime of objectification or anything. –A.D.
January 14th, 2007
Watch this Dove Campaign for Real Beauty ad and see if it doesn’t change your perspective.
Continue Reading January 11th, 2007
In 2006, we About-Facers saw an amazing array of news stories that really got us thinking. Or angry. Or inspired. Or all three. At About-Face, we’ve always just traded e-mails about newspaper, web site, or magazine stories that get us going within our little circle, and after some yelling at our computer screens we talk about them, understand them, and put them away (the “understanding” part really helps).
But this year, we decided it was time to expand that circle of a few to a circle of many, and we’d like to invite YOU to the circle. Yes, you.
We know you probably agree that American media is negatively affecting the way women and girls feel about themselves — to the point that we diet ourselves silly, obsess about food, talk about our bodies endlessly, ogle thin women enviously, and buy products desperately hoping they will solve our problems. In most cases, these actions aren’t just superficial — they are mentally and physically unhealthy. And you know what? It’s not getting any better.
That’s why we’re hoping you’ll help us start a community with our new blog. One made up of women and girls who have something to say. Who want to be conscious consumers of media and plain old stuff. Not to mention feel better about themselves while doing it.
So, want to talk about what that latest Skyy vodka ad or latest show on MTV means? How you felt last time you finished reading Allure magazine? Or just get something off your chest about your body image? Come on back every Sunday and Thursday nights, when we’ll have something new to say, and we hope you will too. Let’s work together to stop this train heading toward our ruin. You know, create an about-face.
Love,
Andi, Jennifer, and Alyza
And now, the top media stories of 2006 (which you’ll read more about in depth throughout January)! Drumroll, please!
| Ashlee Simpson vs. Marie Claire |
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Ashlee Simpson told Marie Claire Magazine how important it is for girls and women to embrace their natural beauty. One month after this infamous interview, Ashlee Simpson reveals a new nose. Can anyone say mixed messages? |
| Spain’s Ban on Thin Models |
| It’s about time a large body of authority lay down the law (literally) and focused much-needed attention on scarily thin models! Let’s hope this is just the beginning and that one day we’ll be able to look at the runway and see women who look healthy. |
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| Competition Sells: Angelina Jolie vs. Jennifer Aniston |
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When it comes to selling anything, advertisers and the media choose stereotypical roles, finesse them to fit modern times, and start a contest. Unfortunately, it also sets up an unhealthy environment where women and girls belittle one another rather than appreciate and learn from each other. In the instance of Jennifer and Angelina, it is easy to set one up as the victim (Jennifer) and the other one as having her life together and winning the man (Angelina). But why must one successful woman have to compete with another successful woman? |
| Nicole Richie’s extreme thinness |
| This year brought out another strange trend — putting women with eating disorders (or at least disordered eating) on display on the covers of magazines with cover lines like “Too Thin!” The idea is for us to say, “Eew, gross! Look how thin she is!” But then you turn the page and see an ad for Weight Watchers. What’s up with that? |
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There’s nothing new about women going on nutty diets, or celebrities being spokespeople for them, but in 2006 they seemed to be the new Fendi bag. Victoria Beckham bragged about her Water Diet, Mariah Carey raved about her Morsel Diet, and Beyonce told of her maple syrup, water, lemon juice, and cayenne pepper diet. All lost weight, but at what cost? Their integrity perhaps? Way to set an example, ladies. |
| Stars overexposure, literally |
| Thanks to various celebrity gossip magazines, web sites, and blogs, we’re able to catch a glimpse of the private life of a lot of stars such as Britney Spears, Lindsey Lohan, and Paris Hilton. However, thanks to an apparent panty ban in Hollywood in 2006 we caught a glimpse of the private parts of celebrities as well. We hope that this trend doesn’t catch on, and that they don’t catch cold. |
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Calling all girls!!! Instead of playing with dolls dressed as scientists, journalists or social workers, play with half-naked fashionistas! Equipped with big eyes, smalls skirts, and an in-your-face image, Bratz dolls have been giving Barbie a run for her money since they came out in 2001. In 2006, MGA Entertainment thought it would be a good idea to market a line of Bratz dolls inspired by the Pussycat Dolls. You know, the vampy burlesque group that romps around in lingerie singing lines like “don’t you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me?” Hmmm…wonder why that one didn’t take off. |
| Dove’s Real Beauty campaign |
| Ah, finally! A breath of fresh air! Images of women who aren’t perfect, looking happy. Or the variation, women without perfect hair in a shampoo ad. While the cynic in us says, “This is still just marketing,” and “They are selling cellulite cream!” the overall feelings of these ads are positive. Just look at those women smiling at you from that billboard! |
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Did we miss any great stories? Let us know by clicking Add Comment below!
January 4th, 2007
You may have heard about Spain’s controversial ban on excessively skinny models. We’ve attached a few links to articles about the ban as well as reactions from the fashion industry.
ABC News: New Message to Models: Eat! A Model’s Recent Death and a Ban on Skinny Models from Madrid’s Runway Has the Fashion World Spinning
So what does About-Face think of these recent events?
“I’m thrilled that the fashion industry is thinking about the impact of using thin models, but unfortunately the conversation isn’t centering on how regular women are affected by fashion. I want the industry to have certain health standards for its workers, but that’s not all that matters. How about a little concern for the power of fashion and what it does to society?” – Jennifer
“I was so excited to hear this news I almost screamed aloud. It’s about time someone drew attention to the unhealthy standards set forth by the fashion industry, and at a governmental level! Designers claim that emaciated models are part of their artistic vision, but it seems the only statement they’re making in sending scarily thin women down the runway is that fashion can be deadly. I love the fact that there were doctors on hand turning away models who didn’t fit into a healthy BMI, highlighting that extreme thinness isn’t high fashion, but cause for medical concern. I hope this is a conversation that continues on and off the runway. All I know is that I’m totally rooting for Spain in the next world cup.” – Andi
January 3rd, 2007
