On Saturday, June 15th, 2013, I was with About-Face and supporters as we stood scantily clad in front of Victoria’s Secret on Powell in San Francisco for our latest action, called Operation Real Bodies Real Love. Wearing only our bras and underwear, we were making a statement about what real bodies look like (and how… Continue Reading →
Why Jes Baker is totally a fat positive hero
Jes Baker is okay with being fat. Get over it. That’s just the message the 26-year-old Behavioral Health Professional recently sent to Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, Mike Jeffries (anyone else tired of hearing that guy’s name?). But she also sent that message to society itself. Jes has garnered millions of views on her blog, The Militant… Continue Reading →
Braving the princess cliché: Disney misses the mark with Merida’s makeover
Disney/Pixar’s 2012 animated film Brave was groundbreaking, not only for its exceptional graphics, but for its portrayal of an unconventional princess, the independent sharpshooter, Merida. Children and adults of all ages were delighted by Merida and the film has been a huge success—which is why many parents are outraged at Disney’s “makeover” of Merida for… Continue Reading →
Girls suck at math and boys shouldn’t wear princess crowns
Gendered advertising sucks. Seriously. Just last weekend, I was in the grocery store with my partner when we stumbled upon some energy drinks marketed specifically toward women, called Her, which were so uniquely (sarcasm) colored bright pink. Because apparently, all other energy drinks weren’t “feminine” enough, we needed one just for women. Just like we need… Continue Reading →
Target’s “Everyday Collection”: sexualizing saltines and soup
A few months ago, in my Sunday newspaper, a Target flyer arrived featuring a brunette beauty fixed with a seductive stare, cocking her head back against a box of saltines, while gripping a Campbell’s microwave soup bowl in her other hand. Unneeded sexualization anyone? I immediately removed the page from the pile of sales ads,… Continue Reading →
Kids want to see heroic female protagonists
This article was originally published by Margot Magowan on her blog, Reel Girl. Yesterday, I posted about A Mighty Girl’s news that kids’ underwear with female superheroes on it sold out. I also posted about a dad shopping with his 5-year-old daughter who complained about the lack of cool female characters on clothing. He bought his daughter boys’… Continue Reading →
Ford finds a way to deal with real woman “flaws”
Does it matter if a sexualized model being used to sell a product is actually real or not? That is, if she’s in fact a living, breathing human being? As someone who keeps an eye on how women are portrayed in advertisements, I don’t know how I missed the fact that Sports Illustrated and their… Continue Reading →
Feminist group pranks Victoria’s Secret, everyone likes the improvement
What if Victoria’s Secret used their caché in a certain demographic to promote the importance of consent? It seemed to be reality this month with the web site Pink Loves Consent, set up by the Baltimore feminist group FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture. FORCE used the Victoria’s Secret logo and their trademark PINK line to showcase… Continue Reading →
You go girls! Plus-size bloggers tackle fashion one step at a time
What we wear as people allows us to express to the world around us who we are as individuals. This should be something so easy to do, right? WRONG! For so many curvy and plus-size girls and women, this has become a battle that leaves many wounded and feeling defeated. For this reason, the valiant… Continue Reading →