2010 August | Adios Barbie

Pink Notes: Another War Between Head and Heart

August 30, 2010 By pia 3 Comments

heart

ANOTHER WAR BETWEEN HEAD AND HEART

By Jill “Pink” Sedares

I find Susan Sarandon to be one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. I notice my shape is very similar to hers. Does she find herself beautiful? Does she fight between her heart and her head?

Next month I will be 48 years old. My waist is naturally getting thicker, that is what happens, ‘aint nothin’ I can do to stop it. My feelings are mixed. A part of me feels excitement about it, even beautiful, sexy! That comes from my heart, my self-accepting, loving, unconditional heart.

It’s the head again that I’m fighting with, the head that absorbs all of society’s misguided judgments and unfulfilling conditions. The head constantly reminding me I’m not perfect. I’m not living up to societal expectations. I’m too curvy. I can’t wear SKINNY JEANS! In today’s world it seems that not wearing skinny jeans is downright unacceptable. And, yes, I struggled with that war too…

Am I still good enough without skinny jeans? Advertising certainly makes it clear that I’m not.

HOWEVER, I made it over the skinny jeans stumbling block, and I’m making it through the aging process. My path to self-acceptance is getting a little easier. Although fleeting, I am having moments of feeling incredibly sexy. I will continue to travel down this healthy road of self-love and fight the demons of these recordings.

I am beautiful. I am healthy, strong, loving, and loved. Now THAT is something I wish we as a society were focused on promoting: health and love.

Filed Under: Self-Esteem

Dove Video Shown to Impact Girls’ Self-Esteem

August 26, 2010 By pia 1 Comment

Frame from the Dove "Evolution" video.

‘No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted’ – that’s the concluding catchphrase of a one-minute video called ‘evolution’ made by Dove a few years ago to show how cosmetics and computer trickery are used to create the unrealistic portrayals of female models on advertising billboards. Now a team of researchers at the University of the West of England, led by Emma Halliwell, have tested whether viewing this short video can buffer young girls against the negative effects of looking at images of ultra-thin female models. Past research found such a benefit when adult women viewed a similar video but this is the first time the idea has been investigated with young girls.

Watch: Dove “Evolution” video

Filed Under: Science, Health and Research, Videos Tagged With: "evolution", British, Dove, Psychological, research, Self-Esteem, Society, Study, video

Mannequins Make a Statement

August 24, 2010 By Sharon 8 Comments

Australian plus-size model Emma Harrison alongside 16D mannequins Picture: Andrew Tauber Source: Herald Sun

Text and photos (below) by Sharon Haywood

Australia has made body image news again. The latest relates to the release of size 16D (US 38D/UK 38DD) mannequins in the lingerie section of the mainstream department store Myers. Back in February, Debenhams department store in London started the movement by using size UK 16 mannequins (US 14/AU 18) in their window displays. In May, the New York Times had a feature about them. Mannequins making headlines feeds an internal discussion I’ve been having with myself about what they really represent.

A few months ago, I began paying closer to attention to the mannequins around me in Buenos Aires. If you’ve read any of my previous posts about Argentina, you know that Buenos Aires has a toxic culture when it comes to body image. Mothers dress to look like their teenage daughters. Anorexia and bulimia is rampant, second only to Japan. Women wanting fashionable clothes over a size US 12/UK 14/AU 16 are hard-pressed to find what they’re looking for. As I started to really notice the models in the windows, I shouldn’t have been shocked. But I was. Mannequins in Buenos Aires have bones. Or at least they’re crafted that way. Well-defined collarbones and noticeable ribs. Check it out:

Argentine mannequins in Buenos Aires

I had never consciously thought about mannequins in the past and I couldn’t recall what they looked like in the different countries I had been to. Recently, I spent a week on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. One evening, I headed into the tourist town of Playa de Carmen. What struck me most about the store window models were the male mannequins. Big-bicepped ones. Thankfully, I didn’t see any pelvic bones jutting out beneath the skirts of the female mannequins. A bit more shapely than the Argentine version but still thin:

Mannequins in Playa de Carmen, Mexico

Before returning home to Argentina, I spent a week in my hometown of Toronto. Along the trendy but down-to-earth Queen Street West I finally saw a store window that stood out from the rest:

Mannequins in Toronto, Canada

Although this window doesn’t include variation in body size, the gorgeous diversity of it made me want to do a little happy dance right on the spot. I couldn’t remember ever seeing a Black mannequin, let alone a Black female mannequin alongside a White one. And if you look closer, they aren’t carbon copies of each other. Each has its own individual traits. Just like real people.

I know mannequins aren’t real, but what they communicate is potent. Mannequins tell us what bodies are acceptable, what bodies are beautiful. I sure like what the mannequins at Myers are saying.

Read more about the full-figured mannequins at Myers here.

Debenhams Department Store: Bona Fide Diveristy

Filed Under: Beauty Standards Tagged With: Australia, Beauty, Black, canada, mannequins, mexico, size, white

She’s so Normal She’s FAT

August 18, 2010 By pia 5 Comments

skinny fat More and more mainstream media coverage looks at body image in the context of what it means to be a normal, healthy size. Unfortunately, these stories are laced with the false assumption that if you are thin you’re healthy and if you’re fat you are not.

I know first hand that my size has nothing to do with the status of my health. Two years ago at 5 feet, I weighed 104 pounds. Despite looking healthy, 33% of my body was fat. My cholesterol was high and I couldn’t walk up a steep set of stairs without wheezing. I had no muscle mass.

Our motto at Adios, Barbie is: “We love you through thick and thin”. We believe that when you feel whole and complete, you are more likely to adopt habits like exercise, healthy eating, and supportive relationships simply because you find these activities nourishing. You’ll also be less likely to tear down others just to feel better about yourself.

Next time you judge a fat person because they must be less healthy than a thin one consider facts highlighted in the piece below.

Skinny yet fat, Slim shady – Time Out New York.

Filed Under: Science, Health and Research, Size & Weight Tagged With: fat, healthy, skinny, thin, unhealthy

Pop Culture’s Relentless Battle with Body Image

August 16, 2010 By valerie 7 Comments

New TV shows "Huge" and "Thintervention with Jackie Warner." Photos from ABC Family and Bravo.

By Valerie Kusler

Mainstream pop culture’s back-and-forth, wishy-washy affair with body image is nothing new — but it seems to be rearing its head now more than ever. TV line-ups are springing up shows like “Huge” from ABC Family and the new fall series, “Mike & Molly” from CBS. At first glance, it’s easy for mainstream media to position these shows as positive movement on the body image front — one about teen girls learning to navigate life and love at fat camp, and the other about a couple that bonded at Overeaters Anonymous. I should admit that I’ve never personally seen “Huge,” brand new this summer, and despite the positive reviews I’ve skimmed, I’m skeptical. And I feel the same with the forthcoming “Mike & Molly.” Networks are being praised for giving the spotlight to plus-size actors, but is it necessary to make weight the primary focus of the plot?

This is the same fundamental issue we have with most non-mainstream figures carefully planted in mainstream media. The regular-sized models that are just beautiful women — yet, only get plus-size modeling gigs, drawing all the attention to their size. The differently-abled actors in film and television whose characters’ defining trait is almost always their disability. The “token Black guy” (or Asian-American girl, etc.) that, in a sea of sameness, seems blatantly planted to meet the unspoken diversity requirement.

I can’t say that shows like “Huge” or “Mike & Molly” are all bad — I’ll have to wait and watch them, and read more critical analysis about both. However, no matter how many commercials and TV shows tell women they should feel beautiful in their own skin, the messages are so incredibly mixed that even the positive ones are barely making a dent. And with shows like the wildly popular “Biggest Loser” and the upcoming “Thintervention with Jackie Warner,” TV’s mixed messages about body image continue to proliferate.

For more on this topic, check out what McClatchy-Tribune’s Luaine Lee says about the new weight-focused line-up and more in her article, Bigger is Getting to Be Better on TV Screens. A bold subject line indeed though she does attempt to discuss both sides of the issue.

What do you think?

Related content:

TV’s Fat and Happy. Not Quite.

The Reality Behind the Quest to be “The Biggest Loser”

What Reality TV Taught Me About Sluts, Waifs, Douchebags and Angry Black Women

Khloe Can’t Keep Up with the Kardashians’ Body Standards

Filed Under: Media Literacy, Size & Weight Tagged With: Biggest Loser, fat, Fat TV shows, Huge, mainstream media, Mike & Molly, plus size, size, Stereotypes, Thintervention with Jackie Warner

The Sad Truth About Shopping for Plus Sizes

August 13, 2010 By pia 16 Comments

The latest from Lane Bryant

Last week I went shopping for my friend’s birthday. I wanted to get her some clothes that she could feel confident in. Not too difficult of a task, right? Not quite. My friend is a size 12 to plus size depending on the label. After spending nearly three hours searching one of the most popular malls in LA, I found absolutely *nothing* for her. I left defeated, overwhelmed, depressed and empty handed.

What a cruel practice it is to not include women of all sizes in all clothing lines. After that experience I feel nothing but empathy for the millions of women who aren’t empowered by fashion. Instead, a journey to the mall is a painful step into the surreal world of being ignored and alienated.

Like me, my friend has a Mexican body. Our apple shape fails to live up to the sexy Kardashian hourglass. Our bodies aren’t like the curvy girls who tend to be plus-size models. For some larger Latina’s, the only shirts and dresses out there are big and flowy. Rarely, flattering.

While I am thrilled that there are more options for plus sized women, the industry has a long way to go. I can’t wait for the time when my friend can shop and know that she’ll find a fierce outfit to flaunt on the dance floor Saturday night.

Check out the piece below to learn more about the history and limitations of the plus-sized clothing industry.

Ads Featuring “Average Joes” Just as Effective

August 7, 2010 By valerie 2 Comments

Study finds that male consumers respond equally to ads featuring everyday guys OR male models. Photograph by: Photos.com, canada.com

A recent study in the Body Image journal reports that advertisements that feature everyday males are just as effective as those with super buff male model types. In fact, given the choice between the latter and no model at all, study participants chose no model. The ads were evaluated by both men and women, with consistent results across the board. The study does not mention females — and though there are notable standouts like Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty, it seems sadly unlikely that the result would be the same for ads with women. We’d love to know — what do you think? Are ads with “average” men — and women– just as effective as those with the Adonises and supermodels?

Is There a Problem with a White Fashion Director at a Black Magazine?

August 3, 2010 By Sharon 3 Comments

“Essence Editor Responds to Controversial Hiring of a White Fashion Director” by Jessica Wakeman at The Frisky

August 2010 cover of Essence magazine

On Monday, a media industry blog revealed that Essence, a lifestyle magazine geared towards black women, had hired a new fashion director named Ellianna Placas, to begin in September. But it was not the lines on her resume touting O: The Oprah Magazine and Us Weekly that attracted attention. It was the color of Placas’ skin: white.

Placas’ hiring is controversial for fans and supporters of Essence. A former fashion director for Essence, Michaela Angela Davis, tweeted: “It is with a heavy heavy heart I have learned that Essence magazine has engaged a white fashion director, this hurts, literally, spiritually.” She told Clutch, an online magazine for young Black women:

“[The disappointment] is personal and it’s also professional. If there were balance in the industry; if we didn’t have a history of being ignored and disrespected; if more mainstream fashion media included people of color before the ONE magazine dedicated to Black women ‘diversified’, it would feel different.”

Clutch itself wrote of the hiring:

“It felt like our mom walked us hand in hand to the center of the biggest shopping mall in the state, turned around, and left us. But we are no longer the little girls eyeballing the glossy giant who taught us how to love ourselves. We’ve been finding our way through the life, love and labels for quite sometime now; and the likely abandonment of the counselor who taught us everything we know is now evolving into clearer overstanding.”

Clearly, a white fashion director at a black women’s magazine is a controversial decision. Let’s take a nuanced look at it.

Read Jessica Wakeman’s perspective at The Frisky.

Filed Under: Race, Ethnicity and Culture, Representation and Identity Tagged With: Black, Essence, Ethnicity and Culture, Race, Ethnicity and Culture, Women

Pink Notes: Another War Between Head and Heart

Dove Video Shown to Impact Girls’ Self-Esteem

Mannequins Make a Statement

She’s so Normal She’s FAT

Pop Culture’s Relentless Battle with Body Image

The Sad Truth About Shopping for Plus Sizes

Ads Featuring “Average Joes” Just as Effective

Is There a Problem with a White Fashion Director at a Black Magazine?

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