Which part of Victoria’s Secret do I disdain most deeply? There’s the catalog! The fashion show. The website. The storefronts. All with their models with exactly the same body type — not the body type of most healthy women on the planet. It’s incredibly awful for girls’ development and women’s mental health, and harmful for… Continue Reading →
Contrary to the belief of the fashion industry, the average American woman is not 5’11” with measurements that befit starving children. However, the mannequins used to display the clothes they are attempting to sell still have those proportions. I look up at them every day, styled so carefully and tastefully, extra-small shorts trying to grasp… Continue Reading →
Here in New Zealand we are still *sigh* perpetuating the old, irritating double standard in advertising, and it’s tiring beyond belief. We continue to have a culture where we champion the “typical Kiwi Bloke”, who is “every man” and his mates, affectionately championed for his ordinariness and always welcomed into the brotherhood. Men in NZ… Continue Reading →
I used to peruse the makeup section every time I entered a pharmacy. The rows of products would stare at me when I walked in, glinting and sparkling, until I would give in and buy an unneeded new mascara or my bajillionth bottle of nail polish. I didn’t even wear makeup most days! But I… Continue Reading →
Ellen Degeneres has a new line of girls’ clothes at Gap Kids, and it looks pretty great, but “gender neutral” it’s not. The Gap Kids website says that they are “dedicated to supporting girls just as they are, whether they skateboard or dance, wear dresses or jeans.” The clothes feature slogans like “Be your own… Continue Reading →
I’m getting married, and I want to share with you just some of the ways that wedding planning has highlighted pesky gender expectations and body image pressures. We always said we’d never do it. “What would it add to our relationship?” we thought. Then one night, on a romantic whim (he was gone to Italy… Continue Reading →
In my day-to-day life, I’ve noticed a peculiar bracelet cropping up (the latest in a never-ending steam of weight-loss gadgets). This bracelet has the strange effect of making the wearer walk around a room in circles for minutes on end. “What is this sorcery?” You ask? It is known as a “fitness tracker”, sold by leading… Continue Reading →
Last month, I started my first paid, full-time job. At the beginning, I was anxiously guessing the expectation for women’s fashion at work: what I should wear, how my hair should look, if I needed to wear makeup. I started to feel like no matter what I did to primp and prepare, I never looked as… Continue Reading →
What do you do if you find yourself loving a TV show that promotes values you don’t support? Such is the case for me with TLC’s Say Yes to the Dress. The gist of the show is women come to Kleinfeld Bridal in New York City with a variety of friends and relatives (their “entourage”)… Continue Reading →
