Monday 26 December 2011

Even 4-year-olds Know it is Wrong

This little girl has made my day! If you have not yet seen this video take a minute and watch it! Maybe some ignorant adults will then start to realize that gendered toys ultimately isolate children into gendered life patterns and can therefore be oblivious to other life opportunities. So what if a little girl wants a superhero and a boy wants a princess. Take a lesson from Riley, the little girl in the video. Even she knows it's wrong.

Saturday 17 December 2011

Accepting Imperfection

Finals are finally finished and I can resume blogging! YEAHS!!! There have been so many things that I have wanted to talk about but couldn’t slip away to write.
One of the most predominate one being H&M’s models. If you have not already, it was discovered that all the models appearing in H&M’s advertisements (of any sort) are actually computer generated. The heads of the models are those of actual people, however everything below the neck is a computer creation. When asked about this, Mr. Andersson a H&M spokesperson’s response was: “This is not about ideals or to show off a perfect body, we do this to demonstrate an item of clothing.”
Excuse me?!?! If the entire purpose of this is to demonstrate an article of clothing then why not use real life models?! Why are fashion companies so afraid of the “imperfections” of the human body? It has long been standing that advertising uses altering techniques such as airbrushing and Photoshopping, to “perfect” the images before they are presented to the public. However, H&M has reached an all-time low. These are not just altered women they are electronically generated images. If you ever thought that images presented before were unrealistic, this is a whole new level of low in my opinion. Women do not all have the same dimensions of arms, chest, bust size, butt size, anything. Each woman is unique, and I really don’t understand why advertising cannot use the uniqueness of each woman to their advantage.
My favourite quote in response to this is from Seth Matlins (told to the Huffington Post): “To all involved, we say, keep doing what you are doing what you’re doing if you must – just tell us you’ve done it. Maybe then we will realize that the women in those ads and spreads are about as real as Avatar, and thus, we’ll see it as escapism and not as realism to which we don’t measure up.” Maybe asking these companies to stop altering these images is “unrealistic” and if it is why cannot we make it even more evident that these images are not real. Make it so that we openly know that these images are false, and maybe from there we can deconstruct them as not relevant to our ideas of beauty. Distinctly distancing real women from advertising women as two distinctly separate things. 

Saturday 10 December 2011

And You Thought You've Had a Bad Date

I am a regular reader of Jezebel. I have to say I rather enjoy their satirical views and coverage of everyday events and issues. Today when skimming the headlines, I found this article, "Investment banker proves daing is getting even more crappy". If you have any time it definitly worth the read!
If you only have time for the letter, here is what you should know before reading. A couple "Lauren" and "Mike" went on date at the NY Philharmonic. While Mike felt the date went extremely well, Lauren did not feel the same way. Okay you should be good to read the letter now.
Reading this letter, I could not believe it. Man, Mike has some guts. I know that I have had all the thoughts that he is thinking in my head after the being in his shoes, but I would NEVER write this kind of letter. And if this kind of letter was ever written to me, I would consider filing for a restraining order. There is a serious difference between thinking these things and acting on these thoughts.

Thursday 8 December 2011

In My Prayers

Just wanted to send a quick message to the families and friends of Deriek W. Crouse the officer killed at the Virginia Tech shooting today. As well as to all the staff and students at Virginia Tech who were impacted by todays event. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. I cannot change what happened today but hopefully you can find some support in the fact that someone is thinking of you and is concerned for you all!

Virginia Tech Shooting December 9, 2011

I am Not My Lady Bits

A study recently done in the UK has found a disturbing trend in our interpretations of lad’s magazines. In the study, participants were given two styles of quotes: that from lad’s magazines as well as quotes from a convicted rapist. What they found was that participants (all male) deemed the quotes from the convicted rapist more applicable to themselves than the quotes from the lad’s magazine. Dr Hovath, the lead researcher in the study said “We were surprised that participants more with quotes, and we are concerned that the legitimisation strategies that rapists deploy when they talk about women are these young men than we had anticipated”.
            When I read this study, my jaw honestly dropped. Why are we teaching each other it is okay to talk about women in these ways? Furthermore, why is okay to talk about ANYONE in these ways? As a society we have normalized the sexualisation of women to such an extent that it is normalized to refer to women in derogatory terms. Ultimately dehumanizing women and reducing them to sexualized objects, to the same extent that a convicted rapist does.
 I cannot speak for everyone but this article makes me feel a little uneasy. There is so much more to me than my sexual bits, but is that all men see when they look at me? I really hope not. Yes sexuality is a part of me, but nobody (including myself) is solely defined by their sexuality/sexual bits. I am not my breasts, yes my breasts are a part of me, but they do not define me.
One thing I really wish they did in the article is address the types of quotes that they presented the participants in the study. It does not give to the subject content of the quotes nor to what degree the quotes were sexualized. I would really like to know to what degree and what subjects it was that the people identified with the rapists more.
Ultimately this article makes me consider how much we need to revise our language regarding the sexualisation of women as objects. This is unhealthy for both adults and children but teaching them unhealthy notions of humanity.
If you have a minute this article is definitely worth the read! Are Sex Offenders and Lad's Magazines Using the Same Language?

Tuesday 6 December 2011

To Be or Not To Be: It's A Question of Virginity

Recently the media has gone stir-crazy around the debate of virginity. Does the individual wait until marriage, or not? Personally I think it is completely up to the individual. However, there are stigmas attached to both remaining “pure” and becoming sexually active.
            I am sad to admit but I find enjoyment in watching the crazy antics on the TLC. Most recently TLC aired a new show entitled “The Virgin Diaries”, which documented 5 different individuals who are all virgins and 1 “reclaimed” virgin. One couple documented in the show were Shanna (27) and Ryan (31), who had neither been intimate nor kissed another individual before. The show documents their wedding, with the grand moment being the couple’s first kiss. When watching the kiss it looks like they are trying to eat each other’s face. Nom… nom… nom… face. Needless to say it is particularly awkward.
            While I feel the show does a good job at displaying their choice to remain “pure” in a positive light, that being a virgin isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it is the an individual’s choice,  conservatives place such an emphasis around “remaining pure”. Even the choice of wording, “purity” comes with so many connotations. The opposite pure is impure, which seems a little harsh to me to call someone impure. To me that is like telling someone they are a fundamentally a bad person. That the one decision, in this case to participate in sexual acts, has fundamentally changed their life.
 I cannot speak for everyone, but losing my virginity was not all that grand. I always imagined that losing my virginity would be this momentous occasion, fireworks would go off and my whole world would be changed for better or worse. Personally I did not find that at all. The first time was kind of actually unenjoyable. Painful and awkward, and trust me when I say there are no fireworks when you lose your virginity, neither literal nor metaphoric fireworks. I’m making sex sound all bad which it really isn’t, it does get better, A LOT better. But the assumptions of the first time are so grand, and the connotations associated with being “pure” only increase this.
I do not believe that being sexually active, under one’s will makes someone impure. I truly hate the stigma around sex. As I have blogged before, the stigma’s around sex make it harder for people to make informed decisions about their sexuality. People need to be informed and that cannot happen when you stick the label of “impure” next to education.


Thursday 1 December 2011

Consuming Christmas

This is my first Christmas working in retail. It is just December 1st and the mall is buzzing with people. Purchases have doubled. People are no longer buying only $20 or $30 items they are buying massive amounts of goods. Spending $80 to $100 instead of the usual $20-30. Seeing this trend makes me question how much our definition of Christmas has morphed to a consumerist definition.
            I remember when I was a child, Christmas was always my favourite. I won’t deny it, the presents were a lot of fun, but for me I loved being able to show other people I care for them. I loved being able to see family which I didn’t often get to see. I loved getting to have shortbread and hot chocolate in my pyjamas for breakfast. For me as a child and now as an adult, that sounds like Christmas.
 However parts of this definition are consumeristic. We buy each other goods to show them affection. We associate showing the idea of showing someone you care about them with buying them something. To me this seems backwards. I am not by any means saying that we need to stop giving gifts. What I am saying is that we need to rethink our idea of the holidays as something that is solely consumerist. What is wrong with making a gift or giving the gift of time. Showing someone you care by spending the time doing something for them or spending time with them. I’ve never seen any rules dictating what it means show someone you care. Sometimes the perfect gift for someone is something you find in a store. But I really don’t think we should be buying just for the sake of buying.
Not only do we need to stop buying for the sake of buying but I feel people need to buy smarter. Sadly a lot of products are made in workers overseas working for pennies to produce that product you are buying. I’m not going to go into all of the horrible things that those people are facing while making that product as that is a whole other conversation, but we need to remember and acknowledge that what purchase supports the way it was manufactured. Purchasing non-fair trade coffee beans is enabling systems that oppress coffee bean farmers.
Not only in aspects of manufacturing but we need to acknowledge any possible health threats from the product. Something I never knew was hidden harmful chemicals in a large number of popular brands of bath and beauty products. Be careful what you are using on your body. Be careful you are not supporting products that are unhealthy for you.
. Enjoy your time with your friends and family this Christmas. There is nothing more important in life. And remember, Christmas isn’t about consuming; it’s about being with the ones you love. So please be a smart consumer this holiday season.