Seventeen’s Pretty Amazing Contest Is Pretty Amazing
I’ll be honest: I have my issues with Seventeen Magazine. It’s not just that most of the magazine revolves around a traditional and restrictive definition of beauty and their idea of “health” still revolves around dieting and working out in order to achieve your “best body ever.” My biggest problem is what the magazine overall promotes as being important to its readership of teen girls. Are we really just obsessed with how to impress the guy we like and what celebrities are up to? (No, hence, the FBomb exists). And even when “real” issues are brought up – like eating disorders or sex – they’re non-committedly grazed over (Again, oh hey, FBomb).
That being said, I think Seventeen has been making some really great improvements lately. As a …
10 Things Hillary Was Thinking When Osama Was Shot
Osama Bin-Laden’s death a week ago has caused speculation, excitement, relief, concern, and yet another totally uncalled for hyper-examination of Hillary Clinton’s body language. This time it’s not her cleavage or her tearing up…it’s her hand.
A photo of the situation room released shortly after the raid on Osama Bin-Laden’s compound has everyone talking about our Secretary of State’s hand—was she gasping? Stifling an allergy-related cough? Showing signs of feminine weakness? Hillary’s position in the photo has been scrutinized more than anyone else’s (big surprise), including Joe Biden, who is holding a rosary.
I haven’t heard any murmurs about Biden’s position (was he clinging to religion? Feeling nervous? Feeling regret?), but all anyone can talk about is Hillary’s “gasp” and what it “means.” So, for all the talking heads …
Endangered Species Summit: Our Generation and Body Image
The Endangered Species Summit – an international movement focused on improving the way women around the world view and treat their bodies, in the media and beyond – took place last month. There were branches in London, Buenos Aires, Melbourne, Sao Paul and New York. I was lucky enough to be involved with the New York branch thanks to the incomparable Courtney Martin, who is a goddess (and who flawlessly planned the NYC summit). I had the daunting task of representing our generation on the Intergenerational Panel, which also included such amazing women as Jean Kilbourne, Erica Watson and Rachel Simmons. So, you know. No pressure or anything.
Needless to say, it was an incredible experience, but more than talking about my impressions, I figured I’d share …
Saturday Vids: In Honor of the Endangered Species Summit
Today, I’m honored to report that I’m one of the panelists for the New York City branch of the Endangered Species Summit - an international summit occurring during March 2011. The aim of the summit, as the London branch put it, “is to save future generations of girls from the misery that turns women against their own bodies. The challenge – to make people understand how and why this is an emergency, to show them how they can do something about it, and to inspire them to embrace change.”
In honor of the summit, I’d like to take this opportunity to share some of my favorite videos on the topic of body image (and how generally fucked up it is in our society).
In my time as a semi-out bisexual teenager, I’ve encountered plenty of supportive, kind, loving people who have not cared about my sexuality or have been able to relate to me because of it. I’ve met plenty of people who don’t know much about bisexuality, but aren’t really against it either.
Those people I can deal with.
It’s the few people I’ve met who have prejudices against bisexual people, have huge misconceptions about us, or are very nervous around us because of above said misconceptions or prejudices that irk me greatly.
Its difficult being a bisexual teenager, and many straight individuals aren’t aware of or just don’t understand these difficulties. So, I’d like to let you into my world a little bit, so that the next time you encounter a bisexual …
As soon as I heard about the new reality show “Bridalplasty” on E!, I knew I had to share its absurdity with other rational beings. On this show, engaged women compete in various wedding-themed challeges for two prizes. And what might they be? A free wedding and extreme plastic surgery. Able to phrase my disgust in a much more comical fashion is Erin Gibson in a segment of infomania’s Modern Lady, in which she dissects the issue.
So I’m watching Glee on Hulu because homework is boring and the internet is slowly but surely taking over the world. And because I don’t like interruptions, I opt at the beginning of the clip to watch the two-minute NuvaRing spot, instead of watching the whole episode with commercials throughout.
The scene: there are a bunch of women (props to NuvaRing, they’re not all white) sitting around a pretty garden table, laughing together as they share their hilarious, completely relatable experiences with birth control pill mishaps. The woman in purple embarks on a gripping story about how she dropped a pill while on the subway, and started calling around to pharmacies to ask “if they had any extras.” One pharmacist tells her, “You could probably just use protection, like condoms…”…
Saturday Vids: Glamour Magazine and The Girl on Page 194
Over a year ago, Glamour Magazine printed a photo of model Lizzi Miller (known to many as the “girl on page 194″). Despite the fact that she is a “plus size” model, which seems to be something magazines don’t think the general public wants to see, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive.
Glamour then followed up with a group shot of plus-sized models, promising to continue to include more images of plus-sized models in their magazines. Here’s an interview Ellen DeGeneres did with the models last year:
I guess the point of bringing this up again is that I hope this wasn’t just a passing fad or media stunt. I want to remind everybody that this happened. In all honesty, I haven’t picked up a Glamour Magazine in a while and I’m wondering: has anybody noticed that Glamour made good on their promise? Do they employ plus sized models? Has anybody seen mainstream magazines that do?
