Is anyone else fed up with having to be nice and sweet to be accepted as a feminist? Anyone else tired of wrapping their feminist message in smiles and politeness? Well I am, and Emma Watson’s speech at the special event for the United Nation’s HeForShe campaign just confirmed my frustration. WHY OH WHY is it so… Continue Reading →
If they can see it, they can be it
Geena Davis is fed up with the way women and girls are portrayed in movies. Outraged at the lack of female characters in the kids’ movies she watched with her young daughter – and worried that her daughter would grow to have limited aspirations from a lack of on-screen role models – Davis founded the… Continue Reading →
Did the Media Fail Women in 2013? Ask The Representation Project
The newest viral video making its way around my Facebook feed is, “How the Media Failed Women in 2013,” a sobering three-and-a-half-minute compilation of media moments that drive one point home: the representation of women in the media isn’t changing fast enough. [media url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NswJ4kO9uHc”] “How the Media Failed Women in 2013” recaps the highlights and… Continue Reading →
Never Did I Think I Would Be Standing on the Street Half-Naked: A recap of About-Face’s most recent and gutsiest action yet
On Saturday, June 15th, 2013, I was with About-Face and supporters as we stood scantily clad in front of Victoria’s Secret on Powell in San Francisco for our latest action, called Operation Real Bodies Real Love. Wearing only our bras and underwear, we were making a statement about what real bodies look like (and how… Continue Reading →
Does being in a male-dominated industry make women skittish about feminism?
There was a big headline in recent weeks, one that many women rejoiced over—Marissa Mayer, a long-time Google executive, was hired as Yahoo!’s new CEO. Big news, indeed, since a mere 4% of CEOs (a grand total of… 20) of Fortune 500 companies are women. Of course, I wasn’t the only one to be disappointed… Continue Reading →
Georgia’s Strong4Life campaign relies heavily on fat-shaming
There is no denying childhood obesity is a growing concern. The CDC reports that one-third of American children and adolescents are overweight or obese. The health ramifications of an unhealthy lifestyle, especially one that begins in childhood, are severe. Seventy percent of obese minors had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and obese children and… Continue Reading →
Former Survivor Contestant Turns Body Image Activist
There are numerous ways to have an impact on how the media represents women. But sometimes it’s difficult to know where to turn. If you’re like me, you have days when you want to take a baseball bat to your TV, shred every fashion magazine in the supermarket, and go on a spray-painting rampage to… Continue Reading →
Who you callin’ a slut?
By now, you’ve probably heard that last January, a Toronto police officer told students that that they should avoid dressing like sluts in order to prevent being victimized. (Oh, yes he did.) Since then, “SlutWalks” have taken place in over 80 cities worldwide including New York, Boston, Dallas, Melbourne, and London to publicly protest the… Continue Reading →
Miss Representation is exposing American media
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/28066212[/vimeo]I have to be honest with you – I’m tired of seeing blog post after blog post depicting the fallacies of the media. I’m tired of reading about sexism, objectification, and disrespect. I’m tired of feeling hopeless about the state of gender representation in the media. Luckily, Jennifer Siebel Newsom’s new, edgy documentary Miss Representation… Continue Reading →