Miss Representation (Documentary Trailer)

I Wish They'd "Take It All Off" the Internet

I found this gem whilst randomly site-surfing the other day. The composition was just too perfect; I had to take a screen-shot. I like to call it: "The Left is What I Saw, The Right is What I Thought." I'm just so tired of exploitative internet ads. It doesn't matter if you're doing research for a paper or looking up lyrics to a Wiggles song — you can't escape the misogyny!

Female, Not A Marionette (By Jennifer J.)

Who's pulling your strings?

This piece was submitted by Jennifer J., a teen feminist and humanist. Jennifer would like to communicate with other teens who share her values, and end up making the world a better place for women to speak out!

If I am writing this now, it is because I feel the need to share this with other females out there who might go through the same situation. Today, I have just realized what I am to other people, especially males. 

I am not exactly the type of girl who "goes after" somebody right after some silly talk. I like to know them first and try to be connected. I have a very big heart, but I don’t show it that much. On the outside I am the tough and cold girl you would never approach, but on the inside I am the girl who loves and cares. The only reason I don’t demonstrate it is because I have learned that the more you show how warm-hearted you are, the more people will take advantage of you. 

And so, when people would draw near me, I would be indifferent, not showing any emotions. But there was one person who, despite my frostiness, approached me and faced everything I threw at him. To me that was incredible; usually people would be distant because of how cold I am. Only he had the bravery to talk to me. 

Of course we talked for a while. We got to know each other and started talking about more romantic subjects. Like many guys, he wanted to be more intimate, however I wasn't comfortable with that. I would rather talk about these kind of things and fuel the imagination than actually be intimate with somebody. I still consider myself a little girl; I don’t want to go that far.

After arguing about it several times, I decided to drop it and delete this guy from my contacts. Was that supposed to feel bad? Well, I did feel bad about doing that for some reason. I added him back and we continued talking to each other. As time passed, he was really getting serious and that critically put pressure on me. My body is a temple. I am not supposed to be pressured because of it, right? 

I decided then to talk to him about it. I told him that I shouldn’t be pressured and that we should slow things down. Today, I realize that he obliterated me. Now it makes me think about how and what I am to males. 

I am a female, and I am intelligent, beautiful, graceful, important and trustworthy. My body is sacred and not a universal pathway. I am talking now in the name of all females in the world. We are not something people can just use for their fantasies. We are love, care, comfort and attention. We are strength, courage and beauty. What makes guys think that we can be the tissue they blow in? 

Our bodies are the reason why there is a world and a worldwide population. We bear life in us. We are to be respected and loved. So I will state this one very last thing and if you can, read it out loud:

“I am a woman and not a marionette.”  

Okay, beer companies, enough is enough . . .

I must begin by saying that this is one of the most horrific ads I've seen in my entire life, and I spend a great deal of time searching for sexist and otherwise degrading ads to show at my women's rights club Real Beauty Revolution. The purpose of this ad, made clear by the (tiny) bottle in the lower right-hand corner, is to sell Coopers Beer. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that beer will always sell, regardless of whether or not it's heavily advertised, so this ad causes one to wonder how the Coopers Beer company can get away with printing something so blatantly disrespectful towards women. Most notably: overweight women.

If you haven't quite grasped the ad's concept (as it took me a minute to understand the first time I laid eyes on it), the miniscule caption in the lower corner reads: "Only 29% alcohol." In the bulk of the ad we see a woman, but not really; she's more of a hybrid, a ridiculous photo-shopped illusion of a woman. Her head is that of a young blonde (no doubt the representation of "beauty" here) and the rest is the body of a larger woman. Get it? 29% alcohol, 29% "hot chick"? This can also be read as: "when the women in your life aren't attractive enough, just take a swig of Coopers Beer and you'll be seeing [insert Hollywood actress here] in no time!

Another ridiculous ad for
Coopers Beer. The message
here?"Some women are so
unattractive, only balloon-ish
breasts would save them."
*Puke*

This ad is clearly aimed at men, as I don't know what woman could stand looking at it for more than five seconds without puking. Whoever created this ad obviously has no regard for the plight many women go through about their bodies, and is exploiting a barbaric stereotype that bigger women are "ugly" to get a cheap laugh. I hope you don't think biases are clouding my judgment when I say whoever created this ad is immature, malicious, and downright cruel.

Ads that aim to sell a product are usually predictable: their main message (argument) is to sell their product, and everything else is subtle, subliminal, or an afterthought. This ad, however, seems to be flip-flopped in that it's prominent, in-your-face message is "fat women are unattractive." Only after the audience gathers that fact do they realize the ad is for beer (the product is shoved into a lowly corner, after all). This is in incredibly bad taste, and just one of countless reminders that women are stigmatized each and every day for the way they look. It's bad enough that women are subjected to constant criticism from diet pill companies and late-night ads for exercise equipment like the Ab Circle Pro ("Not only will your Ab Circle Pro help you Lose Your Love Handles, it will help you workout and slim down your buns, hips, and thighs, too!"), but when this same sense of body-shaming is carried over to unrelated products like beer - it makes me wonder when people will finally step up and say enough is enough.

 If you'd like to unleash your rage on the Coopers Beer company, you can find their contact information here.

This is What a Feminist Looks Like

I'm still waiting to get my hands on one of those uber-cool "this is what a feminist looks like" t-shirts. Whoever came up with that slogan was a freaking genius; it just speaks to the fact anybody can be a feminist. There are so many idiotic ideas about what feminists are "supposed" to look like (I'm sure you can think of more than a few), that when people see glitzy celebrities like America Ferrera, Ashley Judd, Michael Moore, Margaret Cho, Larry David, Whoopi Goldberg, or Camryn Manheim (shall I go on?) wearing the feminist name loud and proud it just blows their minds.

Okay, I wouldn't really call Michael Moore "glitzy."

But you get my point. Celebrities aren't always the greatest representation of us "little people," but it's still amazing that concern for gender equality can be seen across the board; in other words you don't have to be a middle-class white woman to be a feminist.

One of my pet peeves is when people assume feminist ideology is a simple, black-and-white construct. If you're a feminist you do this. If you're not a feminist you don't do that. When in reality feminism is as diverse as the people who claim the name. As with any eclectic group you're going to have your radicals (women who truly do hate men, refuse to wear make-up, etc.), your wannabes (people who like to call themselves feminists, but don't step up when it counts), and there are even relatively new groups called lipstick feminists, stiletto feminists, and (horrifically enough) slut feminists who think dressing sexy is the ultimate expression of female empowerment. My point is, you can't make assumptions about an entire group of people just because they call themselves something. So instead of assuming that I hate men (yes, I have actually been accused of hating men), take a minute to really hear me out. Look at what I am fighting for. Me. Danielle. Not those so-called "feminists" on TV.

It's time for a mini-rant!

Right: The most attractive Hooters waitress . . .

Okay, I can't hold it in. I gotta talk about those so-called "lipstick feminists." They are pretty much the bane of my existence.

They are the "barista girls" who wear skimpy clothes to sell more coffee down the street; women who appear on Hooters commercials and claim that being (sexed-up, scantily-clad) waitresses kick-started their careers as school teachers, doctors, and lawyers (I kid you not!); and girls who audition to be the next Pussycat Doll because they want to be "inspirations" to little girls everywhere - puke!

These women are just trying to justify the fact that they're portraying themselves as sex objects by saying women have "earned" the right to be as uninhibited as they want, and that it's "empowering" for girls to be completely free with their bodies. I am all for body-confidence, but these women are kidding themselves. Nobody's looking at a Hooters girl and thinking "wow, what an amazing woman! Look how confident she is in those booty shorts - I really respect her!" I think we both know what people are really thinking.

It just frustrates the heck out of me because here we are, trying to be smart and strong and outspoken and progressive and hard-working, and these women are making us look like materialistic, bimbo-ic (is that even a word?), brainless objects!

Well, I'll tell you what. I'm going to make it big someday, baby, and I'll do it with my (uber-cool feminist) shirt on!

Check out the video that inspired this post: