Exposure to Sexual Content in Popular Movies Predicts Sexual Behavior in Adolescence

Science News

ScienceDaily (July 17, 2012) — Intuitively it simply makes sense: exposure to sexual content in movies at an early age probably influences adolescents’ sexual behavior. And yet, even though a great deal of research has shown that adolescents who watch more risky behaviors in popular movies, like drinking or smoking, are more likely to drink and smoke themselves, surprisingly little research has examined whether movies influence adolescents’ sexual behaviors.

Until now.

Over six years, psychological scientists examined whether or not seeing sex on the big screen translates into sex in the real world for adolescents. Their findings, which are to be published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, revealed not only that it did but also explained some of the reasons why.

READ MORE: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120717162743.htm

Let’s hope they start to study media effects next!

HP to http://sexistads.tumblr.com/

1. Does the image show only part(s) of a sexualized person’s body?

BMW

2. Does the image present a sexualized person as a stand-in for an object?

Four Loko

3. Does the image show sexualized persons as interchangeable?

Mercedes Benz

4. Does the image affirm the idea of violating the bodily integrity of a sexualized person who can’t consent?

Duncan Quinn

5. Does the image suggest that sexual availability is the defining characteristic of the person?

American Apparel

6. Does the image show a sexualized person as a commodity that can be bought and sold?

Red Tape Shoes

 

 

Hardy Girl’s Spark a change at Seventeen Magazine!

BettyJean Downing

Last year on The Majority United was honored to have a representative from Hardy Girls on TMU Radio to discuss their work on stopping the sexualization of girls. I am proud and please to bring you the following update about what they have achieved.

We have also had a former writer from Seventeen Audrey Brashich http://www.audreybrashich.com/

Author : All Made Up: A Girl’s Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty who left Seventeen to make a difference – serving on boards dedicated to fostering critical analysis of media messages, and consulted with national organizations such as Girls Inc. on their programming and policies for girls.

We are all exciting to read the following and look forward to continuing progress I the future. Please reach out to Seventeen and let them know that you approve of the change and by all means  support hardy Girls and the wonderful work they do.

If you don’t already have Audrey’s book – it is available at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/All-Made-Up-Celebrity-Celebrate/dp/0802777449

The Next Feminist Movement is Girl-Powered

In our

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

May e-news, we talked about the SPARKTeam’s activism, and Julia Bluhm’s Change.org petition, asking Seventeen magazine to commit to just one photoshop-free spread per month to celebrate real girls.  As a founding partner of SPARK, we are excited about how the SPARKTeam is taking action to end the sexualization of girls and women in the media.  While staging a mock photo shoot in front of Seventeen’s New York City headquarters, Julia was invited to speak directly to Seventeen‘s Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket about her concerns.  Julia hadn’t heard back from Seventeen, so she was left to think that while they had listened to her and the almost 86,000 people who signed her petition, they weren’t going to make any changes.

However, that assumption was proven wrong when the August issue of Seventeen magazine arrived on her doorstep.  In her Editor’s letter, Ann Shoket discussed their “Body Peace Treaty” where they pledged to “always feature real girls and models who are healthy” and to “be totally up-front about what goes into our photo shoots.” We believe that the activism of Julia, Izzy Labbe, and the entire SPARK team has brought the issue of the negative effects of the hyper-sexualization of girls and women to the public’s attention.

Read more on our blog, including a link to the story about SPARK that was on the front page of the Boston Globe on July 11, 2012.

Women, Leave GoDaddy Behind

The following post, Ditch GoDaddy, is from my blog that focuses on web development and internet issues.  The article focuses on GoDaddy’s terrible customer service.  However, GoDaddy has one of the most blantantly crass advertising campaigns I’ve seen.  They often use naked, or nearly naked women, as an incentive to visit, view, or make purchases from their website. Currently, a blog post from their owner posted on the site states, “Bob’s Latest:  The SECRETS to finding and hiring GREAT employees. + 2 Smoking-Hot Go Daddy Girls!”  While there are numerous reasons to leave GoDaddy, my opinion is that women have best reason of all to kick GoDaddy to the curb.

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If you follow the buzz on the internet you probably know that GoDaddy has raised the ire of plenty of the internet’s faithful. Their latest and most damaging transgression is supporting “SOPA” a poorly written law opposing internet piracy. While opposing internet piracy is hardly a radical stance, GoDaddy was in position to know that the specific law drawn up would cause huge headaches and potential legal problems for many reputable internet sites. Godaddy eventually withdrew it support for this law when customers started leaving in protest.

This, however, isn’t GoDaddy’s only public relations blunder. The president of company trumpeting his ‘big game’ hunting, and a series of tasteless and trashy commercials have left many web professionals looking for an alternative. While they are the most well know domain name registrar they are also likely the most disliked as well.

Yet my complaint about Godaddy is due to their customer service and business practices. I strongly recommend looking for another registrar like Network Solutions or NameCheap, because GoDaddy misleads its customers and bleeds money from them through their dubious practices. The most recent example I encountered is of a client who purchased a domain and email service believing they had also signed up for a hosting account. Technically they could ‘host’ their domain at GoDaddy, but it was a severely limited plan that only allowed for a canned page to be ‘hosted’ at Godaddy, which left them without the actual service they needed.

My initial problem with GoDaddy is that I placed an order using their ‘speedy checkout’ option. This wasn’t a short cut through the order process like it sounds, it was a sneaky way to get customers to sign up for auto-renewal for particular products. Obviously I hold responsibility in this mistake, I should have read over the fine print. However, Godaddy has made a lot of money by misleading people into purchasing the wrong product.

They also hold your credit card number, and you can only check out if you agree to let them hold this information on file. For most online businesses, this is a voluntary choice, not a prerequisite to ordering. GoDaddy is the last company I trust to hold my credit card information, and I highly recommend not allowing them to store your information. At one time, GoDaddy was the only real cost effective choice for domain registration. That is no longer the case, and taking your businesses elsewhere to a company that will treat you fairly is a prudent and wise decision.

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I have moved my business to NameCheap.com. I have nothing against Network Solutions, but NameCheap is more affordable and has a good domain management set up. SWITCH2NC is a coupon code you can use to get a dollar off each domain name transfer (effective early March – don’t know the expiration date.) There are other domain name registrars as well, these are just two of GoDaddy’s most prominent competitors. -Katherine Morrison

Are you a Feminist?

BettyJean Downing Kling

Are you a feminist? To many this sounds like a silly question, and some might respond with a statement like; “Well Yeah! If not a feminist, what does that make me? A misogynist (having a hatred of women, as a defined group)?”

Men and women alike call themselves feminists believing the term refers to respecting females and believing them equal and capable deserving the same opportunities as men. And yet describe yourself as a feminist and there is a good chance your will be misjudged!

Feminism comes with a lot more negativism than it deserves. Unfortunately not everyone has a positive opinion of the term or for what the movement accomplished for women and girls. In order to undermine the feminist movement a great number of negative stereotypes have been perpetuated; such as the man-haters, ugly, lonely, barren, angry woman who is a feminist only because she cannot find or keep a man etc. etc.

These stereotypes are intentional propaganda, plain gibberish, served up to give the so called “post-feminist” generations pause about self-identifying as feminists. Instead are we to be ashamed our foremothers fought for the right to vote and are still fighting for equality under the laws?

I suggest films like “Feminist: Stories from the Women’s Liberation Movement” are very important and serve to correct the history of women’s history and struggles. This independent film, made by Jennifer Lee (@JenniferLeeUSA) documents some significant events of the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960′s and 1970′s and reminds us of the positive changes which addressed the legal and economic obstacles facing women.

Men and women worked together to tackle issues of working women, gender roles, salary, and opportunities of women in the workforce . It is important that we tell the whole story, correct the lies instead of focusing on Bra-burning for example, which became associated with the movement, but the term is a misnomer as no bras were actually burned at the Miss America protest.

“Feminist: Stories from the Women’s Liberation Movement.” 

Why are people reluctant to call themselves a “feminist”? Why aren’t we proud of what the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s and the 1970s did for us?  I am making this documentary film about the significant events of the Women’s Liberation Movement so that we can remember why we’re proud of the word “feminist.”  I have traveled all across the United States and interviewed over 30 feminists who participated in the Women’s Liberation Movement – including some famous faces. The Women’s Liberation Movement was a momentous time in our history – when you see these feminists tell their stories, you will be proud to call yourself a feminist.

Why is this film important?

The fight for equality is not over. For example, today only 17% of our congress is female with only six female governors. In order to move forward and truly have equality we must embrace our history. Rejecting the word “feminist” holds us back. Hearing and seeing the stories of what these women did when they were college students during the Anti-War and Civil Rights Movements will show us how to move forward.

As a mother, it’s important to me that my child knows the history of women in the United States. Women have a rich history full of dramatic stories, tough fights, and huge successes. In order to create equality for women in the United States, we must honor the work done during the Women’s Liberation Movement.

I completed all of the interviews with my own money. The cinematographers who shot the interviews did so for free. This film is a labor of love for all of us. ~Jennifer Lee

Father: “I realised something horrible today, my little girls are being diminished”

BettyJean Kling

Somehow I wandered into a gaming site where a father posted the following realization about what he is up against being the father of daughters in such a sexists climate as this. I also read the comments of other gamers who responded. I was curious  as to the amount of support he would get – it was mixed for the most part. 

I just had to post this man’s piece. I also had to post one idot’s reply. I say idiot because he was not even smart enough to realize he was one of the dummies he was recognizing and so opposed to exposing.

Subject: I realised something horrible today Matt Thrower (MattDP)

As long as I’ve politically aware, I’ve been broadly supportive of the aims of feminism without ever worrying myself about the details or indeed about the effects that feminists catalogue of discrimination on the lives of women. “This is bad”, I would think. “Something ought to be done”. But in terms of actually doing anything well, I left that to the feminists.

Since becoming a father to first one, then two, daughters, this perception has slowly changed. As I read “girls” books with them, or play “girls” toys with them or watch “girls” TV with them I have become aware, and saddened by the subtle way in which these things diminish the expectations and lives of little girls. There are few enough stories and stereotypes that feature females as the main characters. And when so many of them that are ostensibly about girls actually end up carrying the implicit message that what they should be worrying about is how their actions end up affecting the men in their lives, what hope is there for them to grow into strong, independent young women?

This makes me very sad. I’ve tried to treat it in a sensible fashion. Alongside the Disney things and traditional toys that they desire I do a little research and try to ensure that at least some of the things they get to play with have more central, adventurous female role models. Push it too far, start banning stuff, and you run the danger of bringing them up as social freaks or, worse, making them hate the messages that you’re trying to get them to take notice of.

As I’ve slowly grown into this realisation it’s struck me that more and more men who have daughters – especially those who, like me, have no sons to dilute their attention – must notice the same thing. It’s not like it requires a massive level of perception of intelligence to distil – it’s obvious once you, as a man, get exposed to all these “girls” things that you’d probably never otherwise notice or hear about. And so it made me wonder why it was that more and more middle-aged men aren’t, as a result, sticking up for at least the moderate sections of the feminist cause, aren’t helping the women to make a fuss about this stuff, get it noticed.

I was listening to the radio this morning, to a segment about stalkers who are almost inevitably men stalking, threatening, damaging both psychologically and physically, women, when the answer struck me. The reason is because a lot of fathers accept this stuff. They think it’s right and good and proper that their little girls grow up to be attendant to the needs and desires of men, and to put those needs and desire secondary to their own, believing that the men will handle things for them, and handle them better, just because they’re men.

That realisation has made me feel quite profoundly depressed.

Now for  a smart comment: Jorge Montero (hibikir)

There are movies presenting positive female role models for little girls, if younlook. I have no daughters, so I wonder instead about why there are so many men on TV that seem to be intellectually inadequate. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/734765/i-realised-something-horrible-today

My Comment: BettyJean Kling (The Majority United)

RE: There are movies presenting positive female role models for little girls, if younlook. I have no daughters, so I wonder instead about why there are so many men on TV that seem to be intellectually inadequate.

I am stunned with your comment. Obviously, you have missed the point of this piece completely. In fact even the writer should have provided the following visual demonstartional evidence for the viewers perusal.

I suggest you view the trailer known as MissRepresentation. It can be seen as a 3 or 8 minute video at the following link. Perhaps this will open your eyes to the point! http://vimeo.com/28066212.

If the link is not accepted here – google ‘video for MissRepresentation’ – every father of boys or girls needs to see it! Every teacher needs to make sure this is seens by young people. Get it in your colleges, Libraries and high Schools.

Sexualizing our Society 1

BettyJean Downing Kling
Adapted from Sexualizing America Part1 originally Publihed 2007

SEX SELLS? 
It sure does that’s why they do it! But who is doing all the buying?

Seems to me most of the sex selling is selling women and girls as objects to be used and abused by men and you would think that it appeasl mosts to men BUT, since women do most of the buying –  please explain to me why women are buying? How is selling women and girls as objects a benefit to our women? Why are our women buying the very items that lend themselves to our demise? The very items that make men rich while they demean us? Think not- think again! Stick with me over the course of my photo essay and I will unfold how they have and continue to escallate this insideous and not so secret offensive against the femle population in our society and thereby poison the the children from birth to have a skewed view of a hypersexualalized America.

Think I am exaggerating- I am going to bring you the proof! For 35 years I have harped now I am going to bring you physical proof, seeing is believing! This is what we are force feeding our children from birth. Both male and female are being normalized to believe what their lying eyes tell them about females based on what we project before them with what we wear and allow them to see as normal. Oh its normal alright and so is the resulting reprecussions of violence and abuse to our femle population now. Is this what we wanted?

Stay tuned for all 12 parts of this photo essay. Add to these images, TV programming and today’s music lyrics, peer pressure and a variety of other input that children are bombarded with from birth and you have a total picture of what they know as a sexualized and sometimes violent society.

 

In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality, and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made great strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States is still 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, women hold only 3% of clout positions in mainstream media, and 65% of women and girls have disordered eating behaviors. http://missrepresentation.org/the-film/

Just as the women under Shar’ia law accept their fate to be lower than dogs and their men believe they are the slave masters without question- we in America are conditioning our children to believe females are sexual objects and prey, rather than equals and males are sexual predators/dominators rather than equals.

So sex sells- somebody is buying it folks and it is up to us to put them out of the business of selling these ideas to our baby girls and boys!

By the way have you seen these gifts for kids: Tattoos for baby boys and Baby Stiletto’s for baby girls! Had enough yet?

Although many think that the shoes are just too cute, others believe they are hideous. Some people believe that putting high heels on a baby is perverted and will rob them of their innocence. Hayden Porter responded with,” A 3-month old baby has no idea she’s wearing high heels.”

To which I respond- every pedophile in town will enjoy the baby in stilettos! Let’s just put them on at birth and let’s make G-String diapers while we are at it – maybe tampon diapers too? Damned idiots!

Dereon Girls Ad Too Adult

Beyonce has gone too far- is she and her adult girl want to look like hookers – well that is one thing but dressing this little girls like this – it’s over the top! http://community.livejournal.com/ohnotheydidnt/23284914.html

All they are missing is a POLE because they are truly strippers in the making- where are their mothers? The same place most of our mothers are- with their heads in the sand while all this has been happening right under our noses. Check the clothes on your daughters and their friends – do it now! 

And now for the photo essay:

These first 7 photos represent 3 from Abercrombie and Fitch using models that appear to be under aged followed by  4 on ageism which shows a contrast between the supposed sexiness of the very very young and supposed used up- over the hill unattractiveness of older women. In my opinion this not only pushes sex while you are very young, it also leads to eating disorders, depression and poor self esteem and self image. It is disparaging and insulting to older woman not to mention disrespectful.

She- prey/submissive abused/sexy. They- strong/predators/sexualizing/abusing

She- prey/submissive abused/sexualized ganged on. They- strong/predators/sexualizing/ganging on

Every boys dream (he looks 14), a blond and a brunette – one on each arm to meet his every need. After all what else are they for? So tell me what item of clothing are they selling here anyway?

Now that we’ve learned what young girls are for let’s see what happens when they age?

You do not want to look like- or act like or listen to a MOTHER do you?

Either a young sex kitten or an old bag- one or the other – only two choices for women!

Young and sexy or a disrespected ugly old bag

Is it any wonder women feel depressed when they are marketed to and purchase from manufacturers who insult them? AND the damned fools keep buying from them! Why? An old bag you can actually love? What a damned insult! Keisel should be drummed out of business tomorrow!

Please send in any ads you find offensive and add to our collection.

‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ and sexualizing 3-year-olds

BettyJean Downing Kling

After 35+ years pushing my “Sexualizing America” thesis- it is good to see others finally calling it by the same name and realizing we must do something about this! To read more about my lifelong work simply put the words “Sexualizing America” in my search and you will find a miriad of articles I have run year after year on this subject.

Meanwhile – I would love to give a shout-out to CNN and Melissa Henson for  the information below.
Please sign their petition! http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/action/T&T/main.asp

By Melissa Henson, Special to CNN

Editor’s note: Melissa Henson is the director of communications and public education for the Parents Television Council, a nonpartisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. Watch Henson on CNN’s “Newsroom” live at 2:40 p.m. ET Tuesday.

(CNN) — TLC’s “Toddlers and Tiaras” has been mired in controversy since it debuted in 2009, and much of the distaste for the series stemmed from concerns about whether we were feeding the stage mothers’ desire for attention, or about the insensitivity in taping and televising children in the middle of a meltdown or temper tantrum. But whether you think child beauty pageants are just a chance for little girls to play dress-up, or a training ground for superficial, self-centered princesses in the making, everyone should agree that sexualizing a 3-year-old little girl is wrong.

In what was likely a misguided effort to gin up publicity and ratings for the show, TLC released footage of a 3-year-old contestant dressed as the prostitute played by Julia Roberts in the 1990 film “Pretty Woman.” This stupidity came just one week after TLC — still known to many as The Learning Channel — was forced to pull its Facebook page because of the deluge of negative comments over an episode that featured a little girl dressed up to look like Dolly Parton, complete with padded bust and buttocks.

READ MORE: http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/12/opinion/henson-toddlers-tiaras/index.html

PETITION: http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/action/T&T/main.asp

Female: What is she? Not easily defined even by herself.

Another Rant by: BettyJean Kling

What is a female? A Female is depicted by others everyday all day long all over the world. Does anyone anywhere even know who or what a female is anymore? Does a female even know who she is? Ask her – she will tell you who she is to someone else no doubt! Lately it has become vogue to brag about being a mother. ‘As a Mom’, ‘Proud to be a mom’, ‘A Million Moms’ ‘Just a Mom’.

I am one of those and belong to every one of those online groups and darn happy to be a mom a grand mom and a great grand mom and proud to belong to all of the mom groups as well.

I am also a US citizen and proud to be one – and a wife and proud to be one a daughter and proud to be one but I am ultimately a female and when I take away all the other labels –I remain far and away a female. I need to know that as one of 52% of civilization – and of all of the population, I am something unique unto myself as well as a part of something and someone else!

How many of us unique females have no children, husband, siblings, or parents alive. What does that make us– nothings?

I dare say we had damned well better wake up and recognize that we are so much more than someone else’s something, subordinate only to them. As proud as we are to be part of a family, a marriage, and as parents we have forgotten we are in the end individuals.

If you are a religious or God fearing individual- God made you in his image – you are responsible to him for what you do about you too.   Religious or envirionmentalists — as females we are the majority on this earth and as such we have a responsibility to be lights and good stewards and responsible to teach our daughters and our sons by example.  As an example we should not be turning our backs  away from what is wrong but we need to turn against it.

 The time is now! There is a war on woman all across this world and it is up to every woman to stand up and say NO! Sadly, we spend less time on the community of women and to helping each other, which would strengthen our causes then we do on fighting each other. Indeed, it takes a village and yet we fight against other never realizing we are our worse enemies when we should be our best warriors.  Think again!

It is up to women to teach our sons and daughters that females are to be highly respected and we are to be accepted just as we are! We are not second-class citizens- not here – not anywhere around the world – let us stand up and start acting like it! We are woman first – not black women – not Hispanic – not gay- not straight – not someone’s wife or daughter first – to our own selves we need to be true!

Ask yourself — What is a female? Make sure you know your worth and be prepared to teach it to others – to your chidren!

Look at your daughters – know what a female is. When you look at your little girl – do you airbrush her perfect? Doesn’t she deserve to be a first class human being or are you raising her to be someone’s something? When you see a report of a wife missing or found dead at the hand of her husband – do you realize that could be your daughter you gave to a husband in marriage? Did you give her as a peice of property? Do you think those parents ever dreamed of such horror? In many religions, men are reared to treat their women this way and  these customs are coming here. Not that our men have not been bad enough here all along.

We are faced with two extremes regarding the treatment and condition of women right here in the US. There is a liberal or a conservative view – Sexualization or Religion both render her less than! Neither extreme is acceptable and we have no right to decide which box is right for your daughters! Human rights belong to every female and each of us is born with inalienable rights. These rights are being abrogated by man and government and it is being tolerated by the majority of our citizens in this the US an otherwise free country.

We the women of the US are not subjects of the government- slaves to our husbands nor are we subject to the churches. We are free human beings, brainwashed into submission by men who we can simply out vote by uniting against them and demanding our civil and human rights!

WHY? Because we women have not stood, up and said NO! We have hidden our eyes from the truth! Women in our society are disrespected and we can stop it now.

Reported in the US http://www.feminist.com/antiviolence/facts.html

4-5 women a day are murdered by their husbands in the US
1 in 4 women a day are beaten – only half are reported so 1-2 are feared to be harmed
1 in 4 college women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years

http://www.wisechoice.net/porn-statistics/

100,000’s a day have a Tiger Woods for a husband
Over 50% of men accessing the internet are using internet pornography on purpose
Internet Porn is the fasting growing cause of divorce in the United States

Pornographic websites 4.2 million (12% of total websites)
Pornographic pages 420 million
Daily pornographic search engine requests 68 million (25% of total search engine requests)
Daily pornographic emails 2.5 billion (8% of total emails)
Internet users who view porn 42.7%
Received unwanted exposure to sexual material 34%
Average daily pornographic emails/user 4.5 per Internet user
Monthly Pornographic downloads (Peer-to-peer) 1.5 billion (35% of all downloads)
Daily Gnutella “child pornography” requests 116,000
Websites offering illegal child pornography 100,000
Sexual solicitations of youth made in chat rooms 89%
Youths who received sexual solicitation 1 in 7 (down from 2003 stat of 1 in 3)
Worldwide visitors to pornographic web sites 72 million visitors to pornography: Monthly
Internet Pornography Sales $4.9 billion

Women appear to be brainwashed, given only two choices, Conservative or Liberal- Madonna or the whore. It’s only natural to fear the antithesis of the box we were forced into. If we break out of these boxes and stop fighting for the same booby prizes we can achieve the main goal. Why settle to be with a big wig who can at any time toss us aside when we can be the big wig ourselves? I would rather be in control than behind someone in control of me!

1.) Jessica Alba

Have you wondered how some celebrities manage to keep their seemingly perfect figures after pregnancy? Is it the personal trainers and private chefs that do the trick? Not entirely or perhaps not at all.  It’s the airbrusher! The real Jessica Alba , months after giving birth, is seen airbrushed, note the trimmed waistline and hips.

2.) Beyonce

I wonder why Vanity Fair digitally altered Beyonce’s image to appear several shades lighter on their cover.

3.) Kate Winslet

Although denies any retouching was done for her 2008 Vanity Fair photo shoot, a professional airbrusher interviewed by the Daily Mail disagrees:  “There is no real detail in her face. Any detail or wrinkles have been removed. There are no eye bags, contours and smile lines. Her bottom has been rounded off so it looks nice and pert. I would be very surprised if her bottom was like that naturally.”

4.) Britney Spears

These side-by-side photos were taken within days of one another.

5.) Julia Roberts

The Redbook editors plucked Roberts head from a paparazzi shot taken at the 2002 People’s Choice Awards while her body was borrowed from the Notting Hill movie premiere four years ago. The clipped-together photo is accompanied by a headline that blares, without a trace of irony, “The Real Julia.” 

6.) Jennifer Aniston

Wish you could have washboard abs like Jennifer Aniston after the age of 40? America’s favorite Friend does as well. When asked by host Barabara Walters what happened to the modest girl next door we used to love, Jen laughed, “She’s there! Photoshopped!”

7.) Sarah Palin

The body belongs to a 22 year-old woman known only as Elizabeth. An unemployed web site designer from New York City found the four year old pic on Flickr and pasted Gov. Palin’s head on it as a spoof for her Facebook page. And the rest has become as much a part of political yore as Swift Boat and Dukakis in a tank.

 

8.) Kelly Clarkson

Apparently Kelly Clarkson grew tired of Howard Stern making cracks about her ass and did something about it, or shall I say had her airbrusher do something about it.

The airbrushing later became so pronounced on her new album cover that Clarkson barely recognized herself. On a blog entry she wrote: “Its very colorful and they have definitely Photoshopped the crap out of me . . . Whoever she is, she looks great, ha!”

9.) The Women of the Israeli Cabinet

In a move straight out of Pravda, the Israeli ultra-Orthodox newspaper Yated Neeman airbrushed two female cabinet members out of a picture of the Israeli Cabinet and replaced them with two men not even in the cabinet.  The newspaper claims picturing women violates their laws of modesty but here in the States it simply violates our laws of common decency.

 
 

10.) The Dove Soap Women

Remember the Dove Soap campaign featuring “real”, full-figured women instead of the airbrushed, fake supermodels we’ve grown so accustomed to? Even when Madison Avenue ad executives try to keep it real, their itchy airbrush fingers get the best of them.

According to retoucher Pascal Dangin, these ladies were just as fake as the supermodels we so love to poke fun at. “Do you know how much retouching was on that?” he asked. “But it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone’s skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive.”

 

Gentlemen, next time your lady tells you the Hollywood ideal of beauty is impossible to live up to, believe her. And Ladies next time you think only a trollop posses for these things – think of the Israeli Cabinet members who disapeared.

Please do not write me comments about the women who pose for these- it is easy to blame women and leave the men blameless or to blame men but the truth is this: Sex sells because we have been selling women forever. For all of history we have been selling women- there are more of us then there are of them – let’s just stand up and stop it now when and where we can! ? Start with the advertisers. ‘Boycott them – but do it collectively so one gets hurt badly at a time- one at a time money talks!

What is a Female – do you know? How will you explain it to your 3 year old? Do you want to tell her she must grow up to be a mother even if her body will never make her one? Do you want to teach her to submit to a man who may beat her to death? Do you want to teach your 3 year old boy not to believe what his lying eyes tell him to believe ? She is not what he thinks she is – she is not what you think she is either!

She is a total work of art- she is every bit as valuable as the son you may have bore — act like it- fight for her right to be treated as the whole – human being she is! Do it Now!

Terry O’Neil does NOW proud

BettyJean Kling

 I know Terry, I helped get her elected and believe me – she is much less radical than her predecessors. She is however, presiding over NOW the National Organization of Women or as it should be named more appropriately, NODW the National Organization of Democratic Women and is therefore obliged to tow the party line. And tow the party line she has as was evidenced by her latest comments this week.

When Terry ran, I had high hopes that NOW , under her leadership, would open up to all women and so those of us who voted for Sarah went to Terry’s side and voted for her over Kim Gandy. Terry the presidency by a slim eight votes and everyone there knew it was the Sarah voters that took Terry over the top. It was no secret , in fact it was the talk of the weekend culminating in the election of  June 20, 2009.

We hoped Terry would remember the moderates who helped put her in and open NOW to all women but apparently the good ol Gals and the single issue ideology that keeps women from uniting has prevented Terry from taking NOW up a notch or back in time to era when the organization’s true goal is to serve and empower all women nationwide.

 My heart skipped a beat when I heard Terry on behalf of NOW come out in support of Michelle Bachmann this week over the Newsweek cover.

“It’s the combination of they snap the photo of her with her eyes very wide – people call it ‘crazy eyed’ – plus that huge label they slap on her as the Queen of Rage,” O’Neill told ABC News’ Matthew Jaffe in a phone interview. “As much as I disagree with everything she stands for, she is a serious viable candidate for the United States presidency and there is no male viable candidate who has ever been treated this way.”

Terry hit the nail on the head, we need more women to run and they will not unless we stand up and force fairness in the media. Men are not treated the same way. Hillary, Sarah,and now Michelle—there is a pattern of sexism preventing women from holding the highest offices.

As of 2011, there were 72 women out of 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and 17 women out of 100 members of the U.S. Senate. That’s just 89 women, or a mere 16.6 percent. Only 268 women have served in Congress since it was established some 222 years ago.

I applaud NOW for stepping up however, how is it Terry’s job or NOW’s to defeat conservative women?

“The main reason why we would stand up for Michele Bachmann and defend her against these kind of misogynistic attacks is we want women to run for office. Of course my job is to defeat Michele Bachmann and I intend to do so. But good women will not run for office if Newsweek magazine can do this to such a prominent politician and get away with it.” http://dailycaller.com/2011/08/08/the-national-organization-for-women-defends-bachmann-against-newsweek/#ixzz1Ud9M9O6l

Perhaps it is time to change NOW into NODW?

SPARK: Sexualization of Girls and the Consequences

Hardy Girls, Healthy Women
Monday 12/06 @ 7 PM Pacific — 10 PM Eastern
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/freemenow/2010/12/07/the-majority-united

BettyJean is joined by Renee Randazzo & Jackie Dupont to talk about The Hardy Girls Healthy Women Training Institute and the wonderful work they are doing. SPARK in October really caught my attention.
Join us tonight at 10 PM Eastern

SPARK Summit: Pushing Back on the Sexualization of Girls!

The SPARK Summit: Sexualization Protest:  Action, Resistance, Knowledge

This day-long summit will bring 200 girls and young women (ages 14-22) and 200 adults to Hunter College in NYC on Friday, October 22nd to challenge the sexualization of girls by engaging girls to be part of the solution rather than protecting them from the problem. 

The day will feature workshops for girls and adults, action stations, meetings with celebrities & girl activists, exhibits, performances, protests, opportunities to create media, an Intervene on Halloween costume show, and more! 

We’re confident that the SPARK Summit will be the launch of the most important social movement for girls (and for all of us) in the 21st century!  Together, we’ll create enabling conditions necessary for all girls to be strong, healthy, and connected.  An absolutely amazing coalition of individuals and groups from around the country have come together as SPARK partners, ensuring big success for this movement.  Will you join us?

The American Psychological Association (APA) suggests that the proliferation of sexual images of girls and young women in the media is harming their self-image and development.

An APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls examined research papers covering the effect of all kinds of media content including television, music videos, magazines, video games, the Internet, movies, and music lyrics. They also looked at the way products are sold and advertised to young girls.

The Task Force described sexualization as: “when a person’s value comes only from her/his sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is sexually objectified, e.g., made into a thing for another’s sexual use.”

The report suggests that the volume of sexualized images has increased as more media content exists over a wider range of accessible technologies, leading to increased exposure and pressure on young girls. Attitudes of family members and friends can also increase the pressure.

“We have ample evidence to conclude that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and healthy sexual development,” said Dr Eileen Zurbriggen, Chair of the APA Task Force.

“The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls’ healthy development,” she said.

They gave examples of images from advertising. One featured a well known female pop star, Christina Aguilera, advertising a trainer. She was dressed in school uniform, with an unbuttoned shirt and licking a lollipop.

The report suggests that the sexualization of girls impedes the healthy development of a girl or young woman in several different areas. For example by undermining her confidence and making her feel dissatisfied with her body, this can result in negative self-image and lead to feelings of shame and anxiety.

Also, a body of evidence now links sexualization with several of the most common mental health problems in young women and girls: eating disorders, low self -esteem and depression. And there is also the increased chance that it will impact a girl’s ability to develop a healthy sexual self-image.

The Task Force suggests that parents have a strong influence in this area. They could wittingly or unwittingly be contributing to the problem, or they could protect their daughters by educating them and supporting them to overcome the effects of the negative images they come across in their everyday lives.

They call on all members of the community – parents, teachers, school staff, health professionals to look out for the impact that sexual images might be having on the young girls and women in their care. Schools should teach media literacy and include sexualization topics in sex education, they say.