Posts by Stacey

‘Fat Betty Francis’ caricatures a complex character

Along with many other Mad Men fans, I eagerly awaited the show’s return last month after an extended hiatus. I wasn’t home for the season’s second episode that aired on April 1st, but all it took was one quick glance at Facebook and Twitter to see what that episode’s theme supposedly was – Betty Draper Continue reading

In the space between old and new: Irish girls, the body, and self (part three)

[Ed. note: This article is Part Three of a three-part series about the intersection of secular and religious culture in Ireland and the effect of those forces on Ireland's young women. Here's Part One and Part Two.] Ireland’s small size and historical lack of political and economic power, as well as its location between the United States and Continue reading

Lana Del Rey’s “Blue Jeans” video: More drowning than denim

Lana Del Rey’s recent video release for “Blue Jeans” is deeply disturbing on so many levels. The cover art preceding the video’s debut channeled a messed-up Little Mermaid meme where an inert Lana lies in a questionable stage of consciousness as a disembodied, tattooed hand stretches for her jugular. I guess I was hoping the Continue reading

Barbie goes bald… but don’t tell the “normal” kids.

Oh, Barbie. Such a complicated relationship you have with women. More than any other doll, Barbie is considered the iconic American toy of girls in the U.S., and is most well known by her critics as not being able to stand up on her own two feet if she were a real woman. Now, she’s Continue reading

Rejecting narrow beauty standards with Beauty Redefined

My definition of “beautiful” tends to stray far from the media’s limiting idea of beauty. Yet, when I think of the word “beauty,” too often the same harmful images the media feeds women come to mind. Day after day, women are bombarded with one narrow definition of beauty, limited to physical appearance, and further narrowed by Continue reading

Forever 21: Let our knees be (knees)!

Discount fashion retailer Forever 21 is adding another item on the drop-down menu of “body parts to feel self-conscious about”: knee caps. The web site featuring their skirt-purchasing options has more than 100 items in which the models’ kneecaps are completely airbrushed out, or are cleverly obscured so only a hint of curvature is detectable. Continue reading

Meghan McCain body-shaming bridges the political gap

Despite my political disagreements with her family, I really feel for Meghan McCain. Reporters always feel the need to critique the styles of the potential First Ladies, and this seems to extend to the styles of political daughters as well. Mrs. McCain’s hair always received quite a bit of attention (how a hairstyle has any Continue reading

The “Yaeba” trend in Japan is not so different from American cosmetic trends

Orthodontia and the pursuit of correcting crooked choppers is big business here in the US and Western cultures. While certainly used for reasons other than aesthetics, the primary purpose for seeing an orthodontist is to correct a misaligned mouth. Historically, a straight smile was a status symbol, implying that those bearing braces or corrective devices Continue reading

United Nations Women Board is led by… not a woman

Let’s get you up to speed. United Nations Women is the combination of gender-equality initiatives within the UN, and works to oversee the operational activities “based on policy directions set by the General Assembly, ECOSOC, and the Commission on the Status of Women” (learn more about them here). The 56th Commission on the Status of Continue reading

PETA strikes again in San Francisco: Women stand in as literal pieces of meat

Women in the media are relentlessly treated like nothing more than pieces of meat, presented as objects for the mindless consumption of the viewers, and for the financial gain of the industries behind sexist marketing tactics. Who would have expected that an organization could take the “women treated as pieces of meat” route so literally? Are Continue reading