Renee Zellweger's Face: Hypocrisy

Hello my darling fudgies

One of my favorite pop culture expert Michael Buckley @buckhollywood was the first person to point out the obvious transformation Renee Zellweger's face has gone through. This picture doesn't lie: some work has been done.

Actually, it might be lying a bit. To be fair, lighting may have a great deal to do with the way features look on camera. Don't tell me you've never taken a picture in bad lighting and looked like you'd been run over by a train.

I've written about plastic surgery before, and my stance is quite clear: if it doesn't affect me, or hurt anyone, knock yoselves out. 

So clearly Renee's decision isn't what's bothering me. However, if you happen to google something along the lines of "Renee Zellweger new face", you will soon find out what makes me angry.

Renee destroys her face!
Crazy before and after!
WHAT A SHOCKER!

...Really now.
A woman in the film industry, in the epicenter of Hollywood pressure, starting to age and lose roles because Hollywood is about that young life, who is constantly judged and criticized for her body, her face, her eyes, her left nostril...
You're going to tell me that this woman would consider going under the knife to fit into society's mold? Shocking!

This blatant hypocrisy infuriates me, because this is how the media gets away with body shaming. Perez Hilton and TMZ devote their entire lives to poking and prodding into these people's lives, pointing out every single flaw, but as soon as someone has enough and caves into the pressures of the industry, suddenly it's a scandal!

Never accountable for their actions, never responsible for the damage done!

Look, this is not a criticism of Renee. In fact, in her position, lord knows what I would do.
This is simply a platform to jump off from, to discuss the hypocrisy of the dialogue regarding women's issues.
Speak now, my loves!

xoxo

Gabby

Sam Pepper: Get Yo Hand Off My Butt

Hello my darling fudgies!

Recently, Sam Pepper, famous Youtuber and overall d*ckweed has released a video where he walks around the streets of London and fondles girl's butts.
Without their consent of course, because then it's funny right? Then it's a prank, right?

Nope, then it's sexual assault.

Many intelligent people have given their 2 cents about this topic, including Laci Green, so I think it is safe to say that you all know why this is wrong in general. I've also written about Youtube celebrity culture and sexual behaviors in an article here.
But Let me tell you why this video upsets me personally.

When I was 14, leaving my house, nay, leaving my room, was sort of a challenging task. I was afraid someone would see me from school and make a negative comment about me in their head. I was afraid someone would honk, or I would fall, or I would breathe wrong.

Keep in mind that nothing terrible had ever happened to me as a result of leaving my house, but still, agoraphobia was pretty much a 24/7 demon.

Now with the help of medication and meditation and a bit of common sense, I can easily leave my house, hair a ratchet mess, in my sweatpants, not a care in the world.

But there's still a part of me that fears something like this. Something exactly like a random stranger pinching by butt.

If Sam Pepper or another entitled male ever did something similar to this, here are my 3 possible reactions:

1. Slap the jaw off of this child. #deservedit
2. Go on a feminist rant about sexual assault and the entitled male and curse him with my feminist super powers.
3. Never leave the house again.

It's the 3rd one that makes me nervous. I can guarantee that many of the girls whose butt was pinched reacted in a lighthearted way, even if they were violently uncomfortable, did not find it funny. Like, at all. I can't say any of them were recovering agoraphobics, but if it were to happen to me, all those negative ideas would come flooding back into my brain.

Keep that in mind when you're doing anything: how will this impact another person's day?

xoxo

Gabby

4 Videos Girls Must Watch

Hello ma angels:)

crossposted from bbbsblog.wordpress.com

Tired of watching the Kardashians all summer? Need something more intellectually stimulating for you or your young girl? Here are 5 important videos to watch as a female!

4. Always #LikeAGirl

This video went viral last month, and there's a good reason why. We teach girls through our hurtful words that being a girl is weak, or inferior to being a boy. Girls grow up to believe they are meant to be beautiful, and that's all they can be, not strong, or smart, or athletic. Watch this with your youngster and let the message bounce around her head:)

5. Pantene Labels

Ahhh, the unquestionable double standards. This video really strikes home for me, for whenever I have taken on a leadership role in my life, the men around me called me bossy, instead of organized, or a leader. Help your young friend realize the double standards of this world by watching this video, so that she can understand why it's okay to be bossy sometimes. 

2. Try, by Colbie Caillat

I love this song! The song itself is good enough for me, but the message behind it brings it up a couple notches! For a mainstream artist to come out with such a simple yet powerful video is quite admirable. Blast this on your way to school or summer camp, and let the words skin in:)

1. Dove Unstoppable

When I was in the 5th grade, I quit swimming lessons because I didn't like the way my body looks in a bathing suit. And still to this day I loathe going to the beach for those same reasons. Girls need to understand that beauty is not all that you can be, and that insecurities should never stop you 

----

xoxo

Gabby

Women's Studies: Bra Burning 101?

edit:Some of you ask how this relates to body positivity and self-love. Good question! 
I can only hope that people, when the time comes to choose their career field, are confident enough to choose a career path that will make them happy, not others around them. 
However, if your friends and family still aren't taking your women's studies major seriously, I'll do the best I can to spread the feminist love:) 

I’m sitting at my dining room table during Spring Break, listening to my brother, a freshman in college, rage against the “useless liberal arts” majors infecting his school’s scientific prestige. When I asked him what he thought was the greatest waste of college funds, the most useless major of all, he paused, rolled his eyes and grunted:

“Women’s studies”

…Anyone surprised by such an answer from a cisgendered heterosexual white male? No one? Thought so.

Unfortunately, the mentality that majoring, minoring or even walking into a women’s studies class, means you are a bitter, bra burning, men-hating woman, is still widespread.

Now I must confess, I once thought like this as well. But I can see clearly now, the close-minded rain has gone, so I can walk you through my former, and the current critic’s, thought process. Here are the 3 main arguments women’s studies skeptics like to use, and why they are not valid:

1.    It’s Useless

Why invest in a women’s studies program? We’re in the 21^th century now! Men and women and all other humans are equal!

Now, this, this is why the study of “politics, society, media, and history from women's and/or feminist perspectives “, as defined by Wikipedia, is not only far from useless, but down right necessary.

For example, in 1997, “Vision 2000”, a call to New England Land Grant Universities Presidents and Chancellors to ensure full and equitable participation by women, was dismissed, even ridiculed by many, including women themselves. Daphne Patai, in “Chronicle of Higher Education”, questioned Vision 2000’s recommendation on the importance of sexual violence and harassment education in universities, calling it “inflammatory rhetoric”. She even went as far as to ask: “Are rape and sexual assault indeed routine occurrences at universities? Is harassment really widespread?”.

Just in that statement, mrs. Patai made a case for women’s studies. 

Is it really widespread, she asks?

According to the US Center for disease, one in five college women has been raped at some point in her lifetime.

What about the fact that in a typical academic year, only 3% of college women report surviving rape or attempted rape, which demonstrates an incredible flaw in the justice system.

This isn’t an attack on the writer herself; it’s an attack on the omnipresent ignorance that led to these brutally misinformed comments, which can only be remedied with critical thinking, problem solving and lots of information. What a coincidence, that’s actually what a women’s studies class is for!

2.    Hating Men Gets You An “A”

Another widespread misconception regarding a typical women’s studies class is that you walk in, b*tch about men for a few hours, write a paper about how men are evil beings that should burn at the stake, and get an A: all for the thrifty price of 50 000 $ a year!

The great thing about women’s studies, as Hilary Watchler put it so eloquently, is “that it makes you think about layers of identity and explore how oppressions like racism, sexism, and ableism are comparable and intertwined”. This has nothing to do with hating men, and everything to do with critically thinking about important equality issues that can be resolved in a variety of fields.

Yes, sometimes there is talk of a male-dominant society, but it’s not to diminish men and to make them feel like monsters. It’s about making women feel just as important and powerful as men. To put it simply, there have been 44 presidents of the United States, and all of them have been men. This is not to say that Woodrow Wilson or Andrew Jackson were bad presidents, or even bad people, but it is necessary to point out the lack of female presence in politics.  

3.    You Can’t Get A Job with A WS Major!

Well, my dear critics, many people can’t get a job regardless of their major, but that’s not even the argument I will use to debunk this myth.

As I’ve mentioned previously, women’s studies isn’t simply a man-hating suffragette history. It’s about a certain set of skills developed over time, through critical thinking and analysis. Ms. Magazine lists a few of these skills, such as “empowerment, self-confidence, critical thinking, building community, and understanding differences and intersections among racism, homophobia, sexism, classism, ableism, anti-Semitism and other types of oppression.”

Phew, that’s a lot, and that’s really what matters. With any major, you probably won’t remember the specific year this atom was discovered, or the specific name of Tolstoy’s 23^rd short story, but you’ll remember the skills you learned along the way. You’ll remember how to read critically, how to fund research, how to interact with others, and by gosh that’s what makes someone employable. Not the fine print on the paper diploma, but the skills you amassed through your studies.

Need some examples? Ms. Magazine collected letters of women “telling their stories about how they are using or plan to use their women’s studies degree”. It’s insightful, empowering, and a big eff you to the women’s studies antagonists. Read it and weep, haters.

            The world is in desperate need of smart, educated, critical thinkers, so why deprive ourselves of their gifts? Maybe it’s not as instantly profitable as an accounting or engineering degree, but I can promise you this: you can do anything and everything with a major you love, in a field that ignites your passion, if you work hard and get creative.

Have a wonderful day, babes!

Xoxo

Gabby

Barbie: Skinny Bitch Or Surprising Feminist?

Hello my angels!

A few weeks ago, I had to give a persuasive speech to my public speaking class, and I had the brilliant idea to argue the disgusting and unhealthy effects Barbie dolls can have on young girls. As an adamant body image activist, I thought to myself: pshhtttt, piece of cake. 

Then I started to do some research about Barbie herself and the story of how she came to be.
I read some things, found some information, looked at some pictures that made me go...
"Well, so she has done one good thing..."
"Okay, that's pretty cool, but..."
"I mean, yeah, that's really inspiring, and all..."

until I found myself completely confused.
Who is this Barbie?
Is she the raging disproportionate tyrant I imagined her to be?
Or is there something going on beneath the plastic?

Compare and Contrast 

Lord knows the first thing anyone will bring up when Barbie, body image, and young girls are put together in a sentence: but Barbie is so thiiiiiiin, so disproportional, how could you even say that she's the best doll on the market?!!!! 

Now lookie here. I'm not saying Barbie's size is a natural, realistic depiction of a woman's body. Mathematically speaking, that would be a lie, and there's plenty of research on the topic that you can find on the interwebs.

However,  Charlotte Alter mentioned in her piece for Times Ideas something that changed the game for me: how about the other dolls on the market?

If people are arguing that Barbie is too skinny to have a place on the doll market, then who should replace her?
Barbie's current competitors include Monster High Dolls (left) and Bratz dolls (right).

You wanna talk proportions, let's: Look at the waists, thighs, arms...
You cannot seriously argue that these dolls are in any way, shape, or form better body image role models than Mrs Mattel herself!

Besides, Bratz dolls look fundamentally constipated. Pouty mouth, huge judging eyes; she may be pretty, but that mean gleam is enough to make me put down the doll and run for my life. Barbie, on the other hand; smiling like there's no tomorrow. Heaven forbid that's the kind of role model your daughter looks up to!

Let's not forget those outfits. While the Pale Prostitute "Monster High" Dolls are busy tearing up their fishnet tights and sucking blood from their high school classmates, Barbie's busy with her career, her goals and service to society.


Speaking of Barbie's career....

I Ain't No Wifey

Barbie was founded by the Mattel toy company in 1959. Within the first years, careers, such as nurse and schoolteacher, became available for purchase. A pretty girl with her own career? Shocking!

Ken, her metrosexual boyfriend, didn't come along until 1961, which means that Barbie wasn't founded on the idea of being someone's wife, someone's accessory, NO. She was an independent woman, with an independent career, and you had better step aside before her fuchsia stilettos walked all over you. 

And even when Ken did come along, this didn't stop for one second the absolute explosion of careers Barbie has undertaken these past 50+ years. 

Barbie has her own convertible, her own dream house, her own freaking tour bus, without needing no man: if that's not a strong, empowered, feminist role model, I don't what is. 

psst: Did you notice that I said Ken her boyfrand, not husband? That's right: Barbie and Ken, unmarried man and woman, lived together in 1961. Barbz, your progressivism rocks. 

Ahead of The Curve

A fantastic example of Barbie being way ahead of the curve in terms of woman's rights and opportunities is 1965 Astronaut Barbie. Yes indeed, in 1965, Mattel released an Astronaut Barbie kit (pictured left), no helmet hair required. 

...Interesting, isn't it, that the first real American woman, Sally Ride, to go to space wasn't until 1983? 

You read that right.

For 18 years, Barbie was inspiring young girls to reach for the stars (quite literally) before it was even a realistic dream. 

Still to this day, Barbie pushes the boundaries of conventional society gender roles.

Every election since 1992 has come with Mattel's own Barbie for President kit. 

I'm writing this today, in 2014; let's all take a moment to remember that America has yet to elect a female president!! 

Also something worth noting in this picture: 

Barbie President comes in Caucasian, African-American, Hispanic-American and Asian-American, so that no matter what your ethnicity is, you, young empowered girl, can be the leader of the free world.

Am I the only one who shed a tear just then? 

Barbie has done many other great things for racial acceptance and diversity encouragement. 

In 1968, Mattel came out with Christie, Barbie's black friend, the first black doll to be released on a national market. 

1968: only 4 years after the Civil Rights Act was passed, outlawing most public segregation and prejudice based on race. 

For a young black girl to be growing up in a time where white normality, racism, and prejudice is still the norm in many places, having a beautiful, empowered doll that represents your race can mean the world. 

Since 1968, the range of African-American Barbies has been equally impressive. Just like all white people don't look the same, all black people don't look the same:

-Some have more red untertones in their skin, some more blue, some are darker, some are lighter. 

This may seem like an insignificant detail to some, but having pride in your origins, in the uniqueness and complexity of your pigment, is a wonderful, inspiring idea that is often overlooked by many other competitors. 

-----------------------------------------

Barbie's not perfect, I'll give you that.
But jesus christ who is?!

I'll leave you with this simple question:
What's more important to YOU? 

1. That your daughter plays with a doll that fits your idea of a healthy size and proportion (if you can find one, please let me know)?

or

2. That your daughter plays with a doll that teaches her that her life is in her own hands?
That because Barbie can be a CEO, an athlete and a stay-at-home mom, than so can she? 

That's up to you, future parents.
But when you're walking up and down the aisles of a toy store in 10, 15, 20 years, and you see a Barbie in the corner of your eye, I hope you know what's more important.

Have a wonderful day my loves!
xoxo
Gabby

Links:

1.Times: http://ideas.time.com/2014/02/05/in-defense-of-barbie-why-she-might-be-a-feminist-doll-after-all/

2.NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2533.html#.UwVo9UJdXXc

3.The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/dec/19/women

4.http://www.examiner.com/article/olympic-dolls-gold-medal-barbies-and-other-barbie-doll-olympians

5.http://www.fashion-doll-guide.com/Barbie-Miss-Astronaut-Reproduction.html

6.http://www.fashion-doll-guide.com/Christie-Doll.html