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Miftah Leath
Media Literacy Educator
Sometimes I think I was being prepared to meet Kathy since 1965, when Twiggy hit the big time as a model. As a short-waisted woman under five feet two inches with a D cup, all I could do was dream of being tall and thin--dream and feel insufficient with myself for not measuring up to fashion's image.
Fortunately, I grew up and out of that belief system. While I still have trouble finding interesting off-the-rack clothes that flatter my shape, I have released myself from the mindset that kept me on the losing end of the looks game. However, I am strongly motivated to free my daughter (and son) from this and all cultural tyranny, as well any other young girls who may be listening along with her.
I first heard of Kathy's work on the 10 o'clock news of the August day she postered San Francisco. Also in the news at that time was the Fourth United Nations Women's Conference taking place in Beijing. By February of 1996, I was hearing Kathy interviewed over public radio during Eating Disorders Awareness Week. I was in my car on the way to a steering committee meeting for the first annual women's conference follow-up to Beijing, sponsored by the Mills College Women's Leadership Institute.
Two planks in the Beijing Conference platform addressed media and fostering positive self-regard in young girls. I began a search through the phone book for Kathy ("if you're the woman who made that poster, could you please call me back...?") She returned my call and this resulted in our co-presenting a workshop called "How to Be a Girl" at the Mills Women's Conference. Kathy's provocative photos from fashion magazines sparked thoughtful discussion in a room full of 50 teenagers and women, including the college president, the Deputy Director of the UN Division for the Advancement of Women and a member of the President Clinton's Interagency Council on Women. (In May of 1997, at a national conference of mayors focused on community drug policies, President Clinton specifically challenged the fashion industry to stop glamorizing heroin use by depicting dazed and drugged-looking models in their advertising. Could there be a connection?)
Kathy and I continue our association with the Women's Leadership Institute and collaborate in creating new presentations for teachers, parents and young women. I bring my sense of irony and appreciation of the culturally ridiculous to Kathy's playful guerrilla consumerism. I also bring my teen-age daughter and parenting experience to her efforts. I am proud to be a volunteer for About-Face.
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