"Sexualized images in media may harm girls, young women"
This is one of those headlines, trumpeted all over the media today, that merits a resounding "Duh!" The American Psychological Association has released a study decrying our culture’s overt sexual fetishization of females, pointing out that sexualization occurs when "a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics" and when "a person is sexually objectified—that is, made into a thing for others' sexual use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making." Look for earnest coverage next week in Time and Newsweek (always on journalism’s receding edge).
I mean, really. A full generation after the women’s movement? Three and a half decades since feminists started calling our attention to the effects of sexual objectification on tender female psyches? Even Reviving Ophelia came out, like, ten years ago, people!
This is on a par with other "duh!" news headlines like "Study Indicates Smoking is Bad For You" and "Everybody Loves Money." (Come to think of it, I'm as guilty of sexualizing money as the next guy – I mean, gal.)
Still, I’m grateful that we’re having the conversation. The APA study lists some “Positive Alternatives to the Sexualization of Girls,” and blogging is applauded as a means of girl empowerment. Kewl!
Overall, I’m glad that this exceptionally self-evident concept is being hammered home to a new generation. I guess if you’re not a girl, or a parent, friend, husband, teacher, coach, or brother of girls, you might actually not have been aware.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Turncoat!
So now John McCain thinks Roe v. Wade should be overturned?
I always find it entertaining when men make sweeping declarations about whether women should be permitted to make decisions about their own bodies. I say, when men start rushing out en masse to buy pregnancy tests, enduring morning sickness and third-degree tears, and thrusting their cracked nipples into screaming infant mouths (while risking their lives, their promotions and their college scholarships), that’s when they can opine about abortion. Till then, they should shut their traps.
It’s really a shame. McCain until now represented that rarity, a quasi-cool Republican (I know, I know, a contradiction in terms) thanks to his "maverick" views and semi-Libertarian leanings (though his support for the Iraq debacle pretty much landed him in the enemy camp). Now, on the campaign trail, this grizzled vet has decided, late in the game, that the moment has finally come to pander to our great nation's illest common denominator: the charming folks who, gosh darn it, honestly don’t believe women deserve equal rights, agency, and full citizenship. All while fervently believing that if abortions are illegal, women will Just Stop Having Them! Hey, give ‘em a break – they’re probably too young or too drunk to remember back alleys, wire hangers, and dead sorority sisters.
It's the same kooky wingnut logic, willfully blind to human nature, that insists that withholding condoms and sex education will stop kids from getting it on and contracting HIV, and that Just Saying No will prevent kids from experimenting with pot. It ignores the fundamental fact that People Are Gonna Do It Anyway. As soon as you leave the room.
Wasn’t the GOP supposed to be all about individual liberties? But hey, this is the party that colluded with the right-leaning Supreme Court to appoint the current White House resident, in defiance of the popular vote. Hey, yeah, remember that, my fellow Americans? (Not to distract you from your nonstop Anna Nicole Smith-fest – may she strut her stuff in peace.)
Well, Senator McCain. Not that you were going to get my vote anyway, but I’m ashamed of you.
I always find it entertaining when men make sweeping declarations about whether women should be permitted to make decisions about their own bodies. I say, when men start rushing out en masse to buy pregnancy tests, enduring morning sickness and third-degree tears, and thrusting their cracked nipples into screaming infant mouths (while risking their lives, their promotions and their college scholarships), that’s when they can opine about abortion. Till then, they should shut their traps.
It’s really a shame. McCain until now represented that rarity, a quasi-cool Republican (I know, I know, a contradiction in terms) thanks to his "maverick" views and semi-Libertarian leanings (though his support for the Iraq debacle pretty much landed him in the enemy camp). Now, on the campaign trail, this grizzled vet has decided, late in the game, that the moment has finally come to pander to our great nation's illest common denominator: the charming folks who, gosh darn it, honestly don’t believe women deserve equal rights, agency, and full citizenship. All while fervently believing that if abortions are illegal, women will Just Stop Having Them! Hey, give ‘em a break – they’re probably too young or too drunk to remember back alleys, wire hangers, and dead sorority sisters.
It's the same kooky wingnut logic, willfully blind to human nature, that insists that withholding condoms and sex education will stop kids from getting it on and contracting HIV, and that Just Saying No will prevent kids from experimenting with pot. It ignores the fundamental fact that People Are Gonna Do It Anyway. As soon as you leave the room.
Wasn’t the GOP supposed to be all about individual liberties? But hey, this is the party that colluded with the right-leaning Supreme Court to appoint the current White House resident, in defiance of the popular vote. Hey, yeah, remember that, my fellow Americans? (Not to distract you from your nonstop Anna Nicole Smith-fest – may she strut her stuff in peace.)
Well, Senator McCain. Not that you were going to get my vote anyway, but I’m ashamed of you.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
BFF!
I am loving Katherine Heigl, a member of the dizzyingly large, Golden Globe-winning cast of Grey's Anatomy, who is very publicly throwing down in defense of her gay best friend. As everyone with the slightest celebrity obsession (or a TV, or an internet connection) knows, the cuddly T.R. Knight, another member of said cast, was the target of not one, but two homophobic slurs from Isaiah Washington, yet another member of said cast. To wit (and I paraphrase): "I'm not a faggot like T.R." (off camera) and then (at the Golden Globes, no less) "Hell, no, I didn't call that faggot a faggot."
I'm so proud of how fiercely and courageously Katherine is defending her best friend, who has since come out (i.e., made the best of being outed). (Props to you, too, T.R.) "I will beat you up," Katherine vowed, if you mess with her boy. Not many people would go out on a limb, risking disapproval from her bosses and her network for publicly calling Washington out on his homophobia, when they would surely have preferred to just sweep everything under the red carpet. We all know how outraged Mr. Washington – and everyone else – would be if someone had used the "N" word disparagingly about him.
You go, Katherine. You're putting the fabulous back in f*g hag.
I'm so proud of how fiercely and courageously Katherine is defending her best friend, who has since come out (i.e., made the best of being outed). (Props to you, too, T.R.) "I will beat you up," Katherine vowed, if you mess with her boy. Not many people would go out on a limb, risking disapproval from her bosses and her network for publicly calling Washington out on his homophobia, when they would surely have preferred to just sweep everything under the red carpet. We all know how outraged Mr. Washington – and everyone else – would be if someone had used the "N" word disparagingly about him.
You go, Katherine. You're putting the fabulous back in f*g hag.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Me & Angelina, sittin' in a tree.
Last night I dreamed that I was Angelina Jolie's girlfriend. Sadly, in real life her mother just passed away. Evidently they were very close. In my dream, though, her mother was alive and delightful, and I played my violin for her. It occurred to me that I'd better get ready for an onslaught of paparazzi photos because I was going to be plastered all over Us magazine like Jenny Shimizu (only taller). Wow, maybe I should lose ten pounds, I thought, and get my hair done.
It was fun being Angelina's girlfriend. She seemed warm, smart and down-to-earth, and we would've made quite an entrance on the red carpet. Of course, I have an actual girlfriend who is Angelina's equal in every way, except for the paparazzi photos, and so I was not terribly disappointed when I woke up. I'm sure Brad and the kids were relieved.
Speaking of Charming Girlfriend, I am disconcerted to find out that her porn name (an amalgam of your first pet's name and your first street) is Tawny Blossom. How apt! Mine, however, is Tom Tom Wicopee.
That is just not fair.
It was fun being Angelina's girlfriend. She seemed warm, smart and down-to-earth, and we would've made quite an entrance on the red carpet. Of course, I have an actual girlfriend who is Angelina's equal in every way, except for the paparazzi photos, and so I was not terribly disappointed when I woke up. I'm sure Brad and the kids were relieved.
Speaking of Charming Girlfriend, I am disconcerted to find out that her porn name (an amalgam of your first pet's name and your first street) is Tawny Blossom. How apt! Mine, however, is Tom Tom Wicopee.
That is just not fair.
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