life as i know it...

The Packaging Girlhood blog has created a list of the best and worst marketing campaigns of 2006. The list focuses on campaigns that are directed towards girls, or ones that girls were very exposed to.

There are so many negative and stereotypical images encompassed in marketing campaigns for girls; it's really disheartening. If you're interested in this topic, the organization See Jane has done some really interesting research on gender portrayals in children's media (for both boys and girls).

And (some of) the nominees are...

WORST

Dora's makeover from explorer to Princess

Bratz dolls, makeup, clothes, TV show, etc.

BEST

Dove campaign for real beauty (watch)

Maria Sharapova “I feel Pretty” Nike Ad (watch)

To read the commentary and see the rest of the list, click the links above.

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, feminism, kids, videos on January 25, 2007 0 comments    

WTF??
There really are some sick people out there. As if girls don't already see enough images promoting unhealthy thinness...

Spanish authorities have banned an internet site which was about to run a competition for young women suffering from anorexia.
...

The [Porcelain Princesses] competition, which would have run for a fortnight from January 13, offered points to those reducing their calorie intake to a minimum, with starvation rations of 50-150 calories a day worth nine points while "the honour of a podium placing" and a maximum ten points was offered for not eating all day.

Prior to its closure the website said in a disclaimer it advised visitors to "not follow" advice they might read there.

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, health on January 10, 2007 0 comments    

I'm so happy to hear that this T-shirt was pulled from at least one chain of stores carrying it!


Technorati tags: children, clothing

Posted in: fashion and beauty, kids on October 20, 2006 0 comments    

Another body image video. Hope you have a strong stomach for this one!



Link (in case the player doesn't work for you)

Thanks to IzzyMom.

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, videos on October 19, 2006 2 comments    

"No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted."

I like these commercials.







Thanks to Weary Parent for the video of the model - I hadn't seen that one before!

Link, link and link (in case the video players don't work for you).

Technorati tags: beauty, perception, self esteem, peer pressure, Dove, campaign for real beauty

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, kids, technology, videos on October 17, 2006 1 comments    

Saskboy's blog led me to two posts by insanitycase about a sick children's T-shirt she saw in a local discount store. Can you believe people actually manufacture and sell shirts like this?!

This isn't made for 17 year olds - the shirt is made in girl's size 6x.


It's horrible that we live in a world that encourages pedophilia by making clothing like this.

Finding the T-shirt
Buying the T-shirt

Technorati tags: children, clothing

Posted in: fashion and beauty, kids on October 16, 2006 3 comments    

Oh my God, so cute.
See more baby Halloween costumes here.

On a related note, we had our ultrasound today. Cute to see the little one moving around in there. We have one active little baby!

Technorati tags: baby, costume, Halloween, kids

Posted in: baby, fashion and beauty, holidays, kids on October 02, 2006 1 comments    

Okay, I know fashion & beauty have been the subject of my last few posts, but I promise things will get back to normal soon. ;)


I can't believe that people find models this thin attractive. Yuck. Is it any wonder that so many girls and women have eating disorders, when this is the ideal of beauty, according to the world of fashion?!

Recently, Madrid refused to let models with a body mass index of less than 18 participate in the city's fashion shows, saying it wants to project "an image of beauty and health" (FYI, the World Health Organization recommends a BMI of between 18.5 and 25).

Apparently this is the first time extremely thin models have been excluded from fashion shows.

I think it's wonderful to see the fashion industry beginning to cut down on the amount of unhealthy body images they promote (not that the models in the Madrid show were full-figured by any means, but hey, it's a start). About 30% of models were turned away from the Madrid show - a scary thought considering how many women try to achieve the weight of models.

But wait, there's more...

Now the fashion capital of Milan has its feathers ruffled by the fear that the same type of restrictions might be placed on its fashion shows. Modeling agencies in other parts of the world are also outraged by Madrid's fashion show weight restrictions.

Cathy Gould, of New York's Elite modeling agency, said the fashion industry was being used as a scapegoat for illnesses like anorexia and bulimia.
"I think its outrageous, I understand they want to set this tone of healthy beautiful women, but what about discrimination against the model and what about the freedom of the designer." (Reuters)

Discrimination and the freedom of the designer?! Come on. Too short/too heavy models have been largely kept off the runways for years. No one is saying that models have to be huge, just a healthy weight. A restriction that makes sense given that these models' photos are seen in magazines and TV around the world.

I hope more cities and fashion shows will implement healthy weight standards.
Kudos, Madrid!

Technorati tags: fashion, models, skinny models, Madrid, Milan, anorexia, bulimia, body image, Madrid models

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, health on September 15, 2006 0 comments    

Updated

Oh my God, a toddler should not be made up to look like this:




Note: the previous photos have been removed by the original source, so here's a lovely video. The images may continue to change, but I stand by my opinion, no matter how many personal insults continue to come my way. I can't see anyone changing anyone else's mind on this one.


Lindsay from Surburban Turmoil was a spectator at a recent child beauty pageant in Texas, and she witnessed the trials and tribulations of the little beauty queens.

Check out her funny, sad, and enlightening stories:

Barbie Girls

The Problem with Pageants

I just can't comprehend the rationale of people who put their little ones in beauty pageants. It's one thing if a teenager or adult makes a choice to be in one (although I'm still not a big fan), but forcing your 2-year old to wear wigs, false teeth, and parade around on stage when they don't want to be up there?! That's so much pressure for a child.

I want my children to be able to stay kids for as long as possible.

I love this exchange between Lindsay and her 3-year old daughter, after watching the pageant:

“Did you have fun today?” I asked her as I strapped her in for the ride home.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Hey, you don’t want to be in a pageant like those crazy babies, do you?”

“No!” she shouted. “I wanna crush bad guys! An’…big spiders!”

Thank God.

Update: Okay, comment moderation has been turned on, and foul comments have been deleted and will not be approved. I don't have time to deal with personal attacks (all coming, interestingly enough, from people who have only been registered on Blogger for a day). If someone has a persuasive argument, I'll post it. Otherwise, don't waste your time and mine.


Update: Also in the category of 'Ways To Sexualize Your Child Way Too Young'... I bring you:


Technorati tags: beauty pageant, body image, children's clothing

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty on 10 comments    

Another fashion complaint. Not because I'm such a paragon of style myself, but because I've been surfing Go Fug Yourself, and celebrities really do wear horrendous clothing sometimes.

I never thought 80s clothes would come back in style. Almost every other decade has recyclable trends, some that look fantastic. The 80s... not so much.

Posted in: fashion and beauty on September 13, 2006 2 comments    

It bothers me when people wear their pants so low that you can almost see their crotch, and you can see where their legs attach to their torso (like Usher in this picture). I see the teenyboppers at the mall wearing their pants really low and it creeps me out.

But it's even worse when people wear their pants so low that their pelvic bone sticks out for the world to see!

Eeew eeew eeew eeew EEEW.

Mischa, what were you thinking?! Pull up your shorts!!

(via Go Fug Yourself)

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty on 0 comments    

Posted in: comics, fashion and beauty on July 26, 2006 0 comments    

Yay!!

After a letter-writing campaign initiated by the grassroots organization Dads & Daughters, toymaking company Hasbro has reversed its decision to make and market 'Pussycat Dolls' dolls.

Dads & Daughters started the campaign after it learned that Hasbro would be making dolls in the image of the racy music group, and planned to market them to girls as young as six years old. In case you've never seen the group, this is one of their promotional photos:



and this was what the dolls were to look like:



Hasbro released this statement:

“Hasbro and Interscope [record label] have jointly agreed that Hasbro will not move forward with the line of dolls based on the recording group, The Pussycat Dolls. Interscope’s current creative direction and images for the recording group are focused on a much older target than we had anticipated at the time of our original discussions, thereby making a doll line inappropriate for Hasbro.”

Score one for a grassroots organization convincing a company not to sell sex to kids!

Technorati tags: Pussycat Dolls, Hasbro, children, marketing, toys

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, kids, music on May 31, 2006 1 comments    

*Updated (scroll down)

Air Canada's map of Canada
(originally on The Newfoundland Experiment, but I read about it on Feltham Rambles)


The pretty weapon every girl wants: shoes with a built-in stun gun (via Shiny Shiny)


'Sir Paul' & the seal hunt:


Grrrl Meets World wants you to caption this picture:


The American Answer (via insanitycase)

Q: Why did the chicken cross the road?

A: It was an unprovoked act of rebellion and we were quite justified in dropping thirty tons of nerve gas on it.

Other interesting news:

• They're making a Fraggle Rock movie!
• The unaltered Star Wars Trilogy is coming to DVD in September
• Having a wife is 'better than a dog, but a terrible loss of time'
  

And in weird, disturbing, sick news: PETA has officially gone insane.

They've released a comic for kids, to scare them into thinking their parents are murderers. Teaching kids to care about animals is all well and good, but this crosses the line. The artwork is disturbing, and I think it would give kids nightmares!

It's called:



The end of the comic warns children:

"Until your daddy learns it's not fun to kill, keep your doggies and kitties away from him. He's so hooked on killing defenseless animals, they could be next."

* Update: Tony commented that there's another PETA comic. Not to be accused of unfairly discriminating against men, PETA has also published a comic warning children:



Technorati tags: Air Canada, Newfoundland, stun gun, high heels, Paul McCartney, seal hunt, Apple, Bush, USA, Fraggle Rock, Star Wars, Darwin, PETA, children

Posted in: comics, fashion and beauty, kids, politics, seal hunt on May 12, 2006 6 comments    

I just love the lyrics to Pink's new song, Stupid Girls.

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading People magazine and watching Entertainment Tonight sometimes, but it bothers me that we live in a world in which women are progressively being dumbed down and objectified.

Not that I think the women in question actually are dumb (well, not most of them), but I think that playing down one's intelligence can do a lot to heighten a female celebrity's popularity, and that reality bothers me. Are people scared of smart, powerful women? I'm not sure; maybe. I think that some men can be threatened by confident women, and that gender roles and the glass ceiling are still very much a part of Western society, as much as we might like to think that they aren't. But women also support stereotypes and 'stupid' girls too, so men as a gender can't be blamed. It just worries me that so many young girls have body image issues, and feel that they need to be thin, wear brand name labels, or become sexually active to be popular (speaking of, I saw a CBC -or was it CTV?- news report about 'lipstick parties' recently, and it literally made me feel ill to know that pre-teen girls think they have to participate in group oral sex in order to get boys to like them. Granted, these parties may not be a widespread trend, but it's disturbing nonetheless).

It must be hard growing up in a world where Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson and Lindsay Lohan are splashed all across TV and magazines. We hear more about celebrities' sex lives, eating disorders and shopping trips than we do about the charity work that they (and 'regular' people) are involved in.

Go to Fred Segal, you'll find them there
Laughing loud so all the little people stare
Looking for a daddy to pay for the champagne
Drop a name

What happened to the dream of a girl president?
She's dancing in the video next to 50 Cent
They travel in packs of two or three
With their itsy bitsy doggies and their teeny-weeny tees

Where, oh where, have the smart people gone?
Oh where, oh where could they be?

Maybe if I act like that, that guy will call me back
What a paparazzi girl - I don't wanna be a stupid girl
Baby if I act like that, flipping my blonde hair back
Push up my bra like that - I don't wanna be a stupid girl

Disease's growing, it's epidemic
I'm scared that there ain't a cure
The world believes it and I'm going crazy
I cannot take any more!

I'm so glad that I'll never fit in
That will never be me
Outcasts and girls with ambition
That's what I wanna see!

Disasters all around
World despaired
Their only concern
Will they fuck up my hair?!

Technorati tags: music, lyrics, Pink, stupid girls, celebrity

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, music on April 10, 2006 5 comments    

My favourite Oscar Fashions: Michelle Williams & Keira Knightly

Technorati tags: Oscars, fashion

Posted in: fashion and beauty on March 07, 2006 0 comments    

Check out the portfolio of Glenn Feron, retoucher to the stars, to see before and after photos of Halle Berry, Alicia Keys, Usher, and many more.

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, technology on March 01, 2006 0 comments    

The gals at Go Fug Yourself understand your confusion and distress when you see someone wearing something like this:
Or worse yet, this:

Posted in: fashion and beauty on 0 comments    

Don't believe everything you see!

Check out this interactive Flash movie showing a magazine cover model before and after retouching. Click the link, and then click the picture to see how the graphic editors do it.

Posted in: body image, fashion and beauty, videos on 0 comments    

SO weird.

A designer has created a 'wall of breasts' to help men buying lingerie for their wives and girlfriends. Instead of guessing or pointing to another woman in the store to determine size, men can play with the breasts on the wall to determine which is most similar to the size they need to purchase.

I wonder if they have trouble with men loitering in the store?

Link to story

Posted in: fashion and beauty on February 28, 2006 0 comments