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Category: Sexualization

Women’s health? Think again.

Here’s something I find disturbing: The cover of April’s Women’s Health magazine. Here are some of their cover stories: “20 Easy Ways to Look Hot Now”; “Drop 5 Pounds-Eat Your Way to a Smaller Size”; “You’ll Own Spring in the Coolest Shoes, Bags, Jewelry, and More”; “The Single Best Anti-Ager Most Women Skip”; “Working Out… Continue Reading →

Two reasons why the princess rap meme isn’t really that funny

Are they blowing up your newsfeeds these days, too? Those two-minute vignettes that string together hilarious rhymes while perpetuating horrible stereotypes of girls and women? Yeah, those. So far, there’s Snow White vs. Elsa (with 28 million+ views) and, more recently, Cinderella vs. Belle. [media url=”youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeZXQf77hhk/A&W=415″] Despite their sassy tone (and Sarah Michelle Gellar’s funny… Continue Reading →

9 easy ways you can support women and girls right now

1. Pledge to only read books written by women this year. Check out this list of books by transgender authors. 2. Blog. See something sexist? Have something you want to get off your chest? Write about it! I started a feminist Tumblr that focuses on sharing media and stories that support feminism, empower women, and… Continue Reading →

All-natural or all-sexist? Carl’s Jr. does it again

Why go all-natural? Carl’s Jr.’s latest burger commercial can tell you. “I love going all natural. It just makes me feel better,” says a voluptuous blond woman wearing little more than…well…anything. This woman, who has hobbies, goals, dreams, and a personality that we know nothing about, is the spokesperson for the new All-Natural Burger at… Continue Reading →

Advertising and porn: Why can’t we tell the difference?

What is porn, anyway?                        Is this porn?                                               Is this? How about this?               How do you know? It’s been said that porn is hard to define, but “you know it when you see it.” So what do we see when we see porn? Documentary filmmaker Rashida Jones… Continue Reading →

“Era of the Big Booty”? No thanks.

I’m not a prude, and I don’t like to judge other women’s personal choices. But I do care an awful lot about how women are portrayed (and portray themselves!) in the media. We’re now averaging 13.6 hours of media consumption per person per day, which means the stories we see played out in the media… Continue Reading →

Cause for celebration? Sports Illustrated discovers plus-size women

Yesterday, About-Face’s executive director, Jennifer Berger, was published in the San Francisco Chronicle with an op-ed (that is, “opinion editorial”) about the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. In it, Jennifer praises Sports Illustrated for running the images of the larger models, but also states: On the other hand, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is really just… Continue Reading →