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 Women recently happened, so while I’ve always had an ear to the ground in terms of the United Nations’ initiatives, in the past couple weeks I have been particularly thrilled with the presentations, talks, and events happening right now.
UN Women: Surprisingly, not always led by women.
So, imagine my surprise to find that the Republic of Korea’s Ambassador to the UN, Kim Sook, a man, had just been named President of the Board of UN Women. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Republic of Korea has done some great work with the UN. But in regards to UN Women, one might hope or expect that the Board would recognize the relevance of appropriate and informed leadership. And maybe, you know, appoint a woman.
What does pubic hair have to do with cervical cancer?
Taking things literally (via julyna.com)
You’d think nothing, right? Well the Canadian Cancer Society sure has a surprise for you!
Julyna, which I’m pretty sure is supposed to rhyme with vagina, is a new public health campaign which asks women to “trim their pubic hair into a creative design and solicit donations for doing so from friends and family.” Apparently, painstakingly shaping your pubes into a lightning bolt or a star or a Mickey Mouse head (!!!) and then telling everyone about it will raise awareness of cervical cancer. Sorry, but what?
The CCS says that Julyna was modeled after Movember, which called for men to grow fantastic moustaches and solicit donations for doing so. Because, you know, pubic hair is like a moustache for your vag or something
Egyptian women are protesters too
Who's to say the woman in this photo isn't a protester too?
By now, everyone on the Internet has heard of the protests in Egypt.
Powerful and moving images saturate the media, bringing us face to face with these brave women and men.
The New York Times offers this image on the left. The caption begins, “A protester consoled a woman during a demonstration.”
Okay, let’s break this down.
A protester? I see two.
A woman? Oh, now I get it, New York Times. The man is a protester. The woman is…a woman.
I seriously doubt that this woman found herself unexpectedly in the center of a protest, unless she was taking an extremely scenic route to her kitchen. Continue reading
How do we draw the line between sexual exploitation and harmless presentation of children?
Do these American Apparel models convey similar messages despite their age difference?
When it comes to children, it can be very difficult to distinguish what is exploitative from what is innocent. If a certain pose signifies sexual provocation amongst adults, must that pose have the same meaning when created by a child? And how does this increasingly blurry territory affect how the judicial system defines child pornography? Continue reading
Forced to be fetishized–Is forcefeeding in Mauritania that different from America’s obsession with thinness?
Mauritanian girls forced to gain large amounts of weight so they will be more appealing to men
Some things simply exhaust me. An article in the October 2009 issue of Marie Claire magazine, titled “Forced to be Fat”, is one of them. It also made me sad, angry and horrified. And you know what? It made me a little bit jealous.
In the country of Mauritania, girls and young women are often force-fed up to 16,000 calories a day to make them fat. The article states: Continue reading
Media discourse has it wrong on sexual violence: the Richmond gang rape
An earlier version of this article was previously posted at AAUW’s blog, Dialog.
This Dolce & Gabbana ad (2007) glamorizes gang rape
Most people have heard about the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl a couple weeks ago, along with many shocking and horrific aspects of the event. However, some reported details may have done more harm than good in increasing awareness about sexual assault. Continue reading
The Shriver Report – A Woman’s Nation: Why media representation matters
An earlier version of this article was previously posted at AAUW’s blog, Dialog.
The Shriver Report – A Woman’s Nation (A Study by Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress) includes a chapter entitled “Where Have You Gone, Roseanne Barr?”, which discusses more than the offensive depictions of women or the lack of women’s representation in the media. While the chapter’s author, Susan J. Douglas, does talk about those issues, she goes right to the root of the problem: Continue reading
Fourth graders feeling fat: The plummeting self-image of young girls
Girls like Sarah Totonchi (shown here in 1986) were convinced they were fat at age nine
In his recent article for the Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Zaslow reports recently contacting women from a 1986 study of fourth graders, in which 75% of the girls revealed that they felt like they weighed too much, and more than half claimed to be on diets.
The girls weren’t alone in their concerns about weight: a fourth-grade boy, when interviewed, said “Fat girls aren’t like regular girls. They aren’t attractive.”
But the societal pressure on girls has increased exponentially during the two decades since the first interview. Continue reading
The media does (not really) feel sorry for trivializing violence against women
From Kanye to Serena Williams, it seems like everyone has been apologizing for inappropriate comments recently. But one apology you may have missed was that of Orange County Register columnist Mark Whicker.
Phillip Garrido’s backyard, where Jaycee Dugard was held captive for 18 years.
Whicker wrote a seriously offensive column on September 7th that attempted to use the rescue of Jaycee Dugard as a hook for a story on a series of sports highlights.
Dugard’s rescue earlier this year after being kidnapped at age 11 was big news. She had spent 18 years held captive in her abductor’s backyard, where he repeatedly raped her and forced her to give birth to two children. Continue reading
False images: Kelly Clarkson and Twiggy get modified
Airbrushed Kelly and live Kelly
It’s been a busy couple of weeks in the world of airbrushed images.
Kelly Clarkson’s obviously tweaked and airbrushed body on the August cover of Self sparked controversy and even provoked Self editor Lucy Danziger to speak openly about the magazine’s airbushing techniques. Danziger, who admitted to digitally shaving off her own unwanted weight in pictures from her first marathon, defended the practice, saying the Self staff altered Clarkson’s photos “to make her look her personal best” while also calling the photo the “truest we ever put on a newsstand.”
In other airbrushing news, Continue reading