When was the last time you were in a store that sells toys? You can always tell when you get to the “girls’ section,” because everything – everything – is pink, purple, frilly, and princessy. I don’t know about you, but I always found the narrowness of girls’ toys insulting. I’m not against playing princess… Continue Reading →
Why the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media rules
Academy Award-winning actress Geena Davis (of Thelma and Louise and Beetlejuice fame) founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media to advocate for diverse portrayals and equal representation of female characters in the media. The Institute and its program, See Jane, promote gender equality in media representation through research, education, and advocacy. The… Continue Reading →
Biased blox: the real heroes of the gendered toy war
Recently, the internet has blown up in praise of GoldieBlox — a construction toy designed to improve spatial skills and encourage a different kind of play in girls. Why is such a toy necessary? According to the Kickstarter page that made the project possible, only 11% of engineers are women and according to a study… Continue Reading →
How the world has turned our grocery lists into our body types
Pears, apples, string beans, rulers: not just inanimate objects anymore! Put these items on your grocery list nowadays, and you’re bound to come home with a bag full of diversely-shaped women instead of food or measuring tools. But why? I recently searched “body shapes” on Google, and the results were pretty interesting. Nearly all of… Continue Reading →
The ugly truth about the Victoria’s Secret fashion show
Our newest article on Victoria’s Secret is Victoria’s Secret, you’re going down (and I like it). Every year around this time, I’m deeply troubled by the annual Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Not because I don’t like a great-fitting and sexy bra as much as the next lady (I do! In fact, I purchase plenty of… Continue Reading →
Disclaimer for airbrushed models: an effective solution?
Airbrushed images of women and girls are bad for our overall health: mental, emotional, and sometimes physical. We can reasonably assume that the vast majority of media images are altered, even those of famous figures who are celebrated as examples of these “attainable” beauty standards. So, why not draw attention to this issue through an… Continue Reading →
What the French ban on beauty pageants can teach us
Anyone else totally caught off guard by France’s impressive new legislation banning child beauty pageants? Yeah, me, too. Because as I much as I adore the country and its people (I lived there for two years in my late twenties and also worked for the French company Club Med), its contemporary pop culture has never… Continue Reading →
Look how sneaky Old Navy’s advertising can be
I couldn’t believe what I saw on a bus ride the other day. From my seat, I noticed Old Navy’s storefront windows in downtown San Francisco covered with the big and screaming tagline ,“Here’s the SKINNY”, alongside a picture of a girl wearing the impossibly constricting “skinny” jeans. An online ad for the same pants looks… Continue Reading →
Mixed signals: football and feminism
Many people think of football as the classic man’s sport. Certainly, the game appeals to some basic masculine desires like physical strength, competition, and bravado. But many women enjoy the sport as well; things like loyalty to a region or player, a sense of community, or even just love for the game are all reasons… Continue Reading →