BarbieCollector.com has announced the arrival of the Hunger Games Katniss Everdeen clone, but replicating the character as a Barbie doll feels at odds with the very essence of the character’s power. Joining the ever-growing pop culture collection, the Katniss emulation is sold alongside other blockbuster-inspired dolls: classic favorites like the belly-baring I Dream of Jeannie doll, royalty… Continue Reading →
Mad about modeling
A new documentary called Girl Model, which follows the path of 13-year-old Nadya, a self-proclaimed Siberian “gray mouse” and “ordinary girl” who gets plucked from a sea of other lithe hopefuls by an American mercenary model scout and sent to Japan to try to make it big, is making the rounds and winning accolades at… Continue Reading →
‘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 →