According to the Geena Davis Institute of Gender in the Media, "Hasbro has announced plans to begin selling
gender-neutral versions of its long-successful Easy-Bake Oven. A teenage
New Jersey girl launched a campaign, including a petition that quickly
attracted over 40,000 signatures, against the company after she was
unable to find an Easy-Bake Oven in a color other than pink or purple."
I give props
to McKenna Pope, of Garfield, N.J., the young woman who took action against our overly-gendered
culture of toys in the U.S. She's an example of how one person acting on her
dissatisfaction with the status quo can positively change the culture we
consume.
If you share Maggie Stiefvater's claim that you "don't care what a book is classified as: [you] care that it's good," then continue reading about five books you will never outgrow. Perhaps, like me, you might consider reading them, too, over break? www.npr.org/2012/12/20/167562764/5-young-adult-novels-that-youll-never-outgrow
On the topic of the first official concept art for Disney's 2013 computer-animated film Frozen:
The above images were released and met with a general disappointment for the character designs. The art is sure to be phenomenal (I mean just look at those ice-sculpture-things, wow) but many felt there was something lacking in the characters Anna and Kristoph.
I have included the rest of my post under the break. I tried not to have this post turn into a big discussion of "What Disney could have done." I am very interested in looking through original concept art of animated films, and I find it so interesting because the creators can literally create any appearance for a scenery or a person. It is always fascinating to see what could have been and what they officially decided upon.
Please read on for some thoughts on this Tangled lookalike, how it compares to the original Hans Christian Andersen story, fanart that potentially improves on the Frozen setting, and sketches from concept artists:
I just saw this posted on facebook (you all should follow Cranky Fat Feminist if you don't, she's a former Denison student!), and I though I'd share it here. I'd never heard about The Girl Effect before, but it would have been really cool to talk about... Here is the link to their website: http://www.girleffect.org/
I heard about this on Sunday from Jordan, and I see it was mentioned briefly on our blog before the word broke that it wasn't officially connected with Victoria's Secret. But it seems http://pinklovesconsent.com/ is trying to do a really cool thing in making the line official, or at least raising awareness for "the consent revolution."
I have some problems with Victoria's Secret that stems not from the qualities of their products, but the way they advertise, especially when compared to Dove models (which I love). I saw this comparison a while back:
Above: Victoria's Secret and Dove comparison
Above: More of Dove's Real Beauty ad
Yeah, Victoria's Secret has some different skin tones thrown in there, but all of the women are the same height and have the same swoopy hair and skinny body build. Dove makes an effort to find diversity with their models, and it's something that I appreciate greatly.
Look how fun and beautiful everyone is! Silly faces, genuine smiles, as opposed to very glossy, rail-thin models posing for "sexy." It's interesting to observe the comparison from an compositional perspective: VS models pose and contort their bodies to have angles rather than smooth edges.
Speaking of Dove, body diversity, and squeamishness over the sexuality in old-age:
Dove's Pro-Aging Campaign.
I didn't know this, but the above video was "banned in the US for showing too much skin." Sigh.
I think Victoria's Secret should seriously consider a Pink Loves Consent line. Why not? It would be extremely progressive to see such a mass-consumed company like Victoria's Secret actively participating in the molding of impressionable pre-teens, breaking of stereotypes, and an attack on rape culture.
Even so, it seems far-fetched. In mid-November at the Victoria's Secret televised fashion show (a show produced "in order to show America the true meaning of the word 'sexy'"), a model on the runway wore a mock-traditional Native American headdress. Wearing faux-Native American paraphernalia has long been seen as offensive to those of the culture.
I'm a little weak in explaining this, but the tumblr account http://this-is-not-native.tumblr.com/ calls out tumblr posts (mostly of hipsters in headdresses) and gives a list of resources for combatting ignorance.
But that being said, WOW it would be awesome if this were made a reality: http://pinklovesconsent.com/pink/pink.victoriassecret.com/before_after.html
And wasn't that the intent? I agree with Erica Cheung's outlook in her Huffington Post article: "Even though I was disappointed that Victoria's Secret wasn't actually promoting this positive image, I was very happy to realize that I had been tricked. I was so impressed than an activist group was able to reach so many people and garner such a positive reaction to a campaign that has to do with women's bodies and sexuality."
This post has covered a lot of topics (Pink Loves Consent, Victoria's Secret vs Dove ad campaigns, and the importance of cultural sensitivity....), but I hope I provided some informative links!
**The group behind "Pink Loves Consent" is FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture. You can see their news and blog here: http://upsettingrapeculture.com/
Reexamining identity and difference in
ways unimagined only a few decades ago. Watch this video showcasing the
love between parents and children grounded in the grit of experience.
Although facebook is very distracting and a great way to waste time, sometime every now and then I come across interesting and empowering. I know that in one our recent classes we were talking about hair and acceptance, image, and so fourth. While on fb I came across this page that promotes the "natural hair African American women, ummm how interesting if this was in our society; if we seen this in stores, on television, and throughout our lives, just as much as we see the white barbies, princesses, etc. Stanisha I think that you would really enjoy this and have much to say. :)
Now when I watch television, look at magazine articles, or browse through the library looking for books, various issues we have discussed in class randomly pop up in forefront of my mind. So, as I was watching TVLand this past Sunday, I couldn't help but notice how the sitcom Hot In Cleveland covers our discussion on "senior" sexuality. That is, older men and women, 60+ in age having active sex lives and how sometimes that makes a lot of us uncomfortable. I love this sitcom because the humor that goes into defying stereotypes about middle aged and senior women is just great! Just to provide a little bit of context, Hot in Cleveland showcases the lives of 3 women (Melanie, Joy and Victoria), who have moved from Los Angeles to Cleveland (who would have guessed?) and happen to fall under the care of Elka, the oldest house member who is played by Betty White. Yes, Betty White from The Golden Girls. In this scene, the girls go to Elka's favorite hair salon. Her stylist, who is also in the same age range as she is, is quite flirtatious. Here's the link: watch from 2:49-4:46 and 16:35-19:10. Hilarious right?
So, while we might be disappointed that the VS website "Pink Loves Consent" is a "hack(er) job," here is something we can applaud, a great list of books from The New York Times that offer diverse protagonists!
Have you all seen this yet? Victoria's Secret actually did something pretty cool! Celebrating women's rights to be "sexy," still wanting to have fun underwear, and also to be able to say yes and no as they choose! Also, should you need stocking stuffers... haha
