Stop Selling Halloween Costumes That Sexualize Girls!

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By SPARK (Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge)

Join the movement at www.sparksummit.com

Halloween used to be about neighborhood trick or treating in creative and scary costumes.  But recently the holiday has become about a different type of consumption than eating candy, as girls are peddled costumes that are more and more sexualized.

That Halloween has gone from scary to sexy in recent years is a reflection of a profound and problematic societal issue: the sexualization of girls. Portrayals of young girls as sexy are so familiar to us and to girls themselves that it almost seems normal, harmless, and simply the way that girls are nowadays.

So why should we be concerned?  A 2007 American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls found compelling evidence that when girls and young women are sexualized - and worse, when they learn to sexualize themselves -they experience lower self-esteem, higher levels of depressed mood, and discomfort with their own bodies, thus undermining their ability to participate as full citizens.

Liberty Media Corporation subsidiary BuySeasons, Inc. proudly claims to be "the largest online retailer and supplier of costumes, accessories, seasonal décor, and party supplies in the world!" Its flagship brand "BuyCostumes.com...[is] the leading costume and party retailer on the web."

BuyCostumes.com sells girl costumes in adult packaging (Naughty and Nice toddler costume, Miss Wonderland child costume in mini skirt, and corset bodice, Little Bo Peep ‘tween costume in corset bodice and black fishnets) and sexualized versions of popular children's characters for adult women (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cookie Monster, and SpongeBob).

Tell Liberty Media Corporation to stop pushing the envelope when it comes to creating costumes for little girls and to stop sexualizing beloved childhood characters with their adult costumes!

Sign the petition today! 

Projection

“I am a CANVAS. Every day society projects certain standards, messages, and images UPON ME. Society tells me how I should look, act, and feel. So when you ask me who I am, I don’t always know what to tell you. But I am learning to step away from these projections, and use them to make a statement of MY OWN.”

Developed by Colby College student Aleah Starr, Projection invites us to speak up, to say what we feel and think, and to have our words projected onto others, who then stand with us and for us.

PBG (that’s Powered By Girl) and Projection offers girls and their allies a way to talk back to sexism, stereotypes, and sexualization in our media.

So if you could talk back to this media, what would you say?

If you’re between the ages of 14-22 and you’ve got something to say to the media, here’s your chance! 

Step 1: “Like” our PBG Facebook page

Step 2: On our wall, write “Projection” and post your 6-10 words (has to fit on a t-shirt!) rants, statements, poetry, music lyrics, or illustrations.  Say what you like, don’t like, want, feel, think

Step 3: Invite your friends to join the movement!

Your voice will travel to NYC, where it will be projected onto girl “canvasses” by Aleah herself at the SPARK Summit on Oct. 22nd

SPARK: Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge

If you’re a teen girl between the ages of 14-22, we want you to attend the SPARK Summit too. While you’re there, drop by the Projection Action Station and become a living canvass for someone else’s story!

FYI:  All submissions to PBG/Projection are anonymous.  We will not use your name unless you ask us to, and then it’s first names and cities only. If you use a quote, poem or lyric, please submit the full name of the author.

Be sure to check PBG and SPARK after October 22nd to catch our photo album

and find out who stood up to be photographed with your story!

"I like it hanging neatly on its designated hook in my foyer. I support breast cancer awareness, not sketchiness."

Or in other words, how can we spread awareness about a disease without turning it into a sexualized campaign that mystifies, even tantalizes, but never actually educates? Surely, as bright young women (or middle-aged women or older women or men, even!) we have what it takes to successfully campaign for a cause without the use of sexual innuendos.

By scanning online forums and blogs, it is easy to see how upsetting this type of "activism" can be to others. As one woman writes on Jezebel: 

Seeing Facebook stunts doesn't make me feel supported, it makes me think that the people who post them are immature and shallow. Breast cancer has the odd predicament of being a terrible disease that strikes a "sexy" body part. Well, my diseased breasts are gone, replaced with implants and the latissimus dorsi muscles from my back. I'll be aware of breast cancer every day for the rest of my life. Someone using it as a reason to act flirtatious under the banner of awareness just makes me resentful. 

Read more: http://jezebel.com/5657153/breast-cancer-awareness-just-gets-sexier-every-day

Others have called attention to the fact that while Breast Cancer Awareness spans October, other months dedicated to serious diseases lack a comparable fanfare. For example, prostate cancer (September) receives less media attention and less research money than breast cancer even though it is statistically more prevalent and more deadly. As Arun Gavali of the New Agenda explains:

Prostate cancer is more serious than Breast Cancer because, although the death rates are both about 2.8%, the chance of a man getting prostate cancer is over 30% greater than the chance of a woman getting breast cancer.  That means that even though the life-time percentage chance of dying from either cancer is the same, the percent chance that a man will have to fight prostate cancer is greater and there are more cases of prostate cancer for the “sick care” system to have to deal with.

The need for stronger awareness efforts on the prostate cancer front does not, of course, negate the importance of October and the many ways in which we can honor survivors and victims of breast cancer. Typing out a suggestive Facebook update does not, however, accomplish this task. Perhaps knowing where you "like it" will eventually lead someone to research and extrapolate the correlation between sexed up statuses and breast cancer, the thought process will probably end there. Putting aside the issue of using one's (female) body and teasing references to garner interest in a tragic disease, let's consider the proactive and direct avenues by which knowledge can be spread. You might, for example, follow one blog commenter by writing:

Today, let's all donate to breast cancer causes like http://www.cityofhope.org/patient_care/treatments/breast-cancer/Pages/default.aspx or http://ww5.komen.org/ & do self exams instead of updating our status.

Whichever way you decide to raise awareness, do it with dignity. Share facts, provide hospital locations where mammograms are free or discounted, give to a charity, volunteer. Honor your own body by talking to your doctor about reducing your risk of cancer in general. Because after all, "I like it" when women are informed about their health.

Will sex sell this Halloween?

We sure hope not! Halloween, for girls and women, is an endless parade of sexualized outfits. Even creative costumes, ones that we might otherwise deem age-appropriate, are reduced to raunchy, skin-exposed replications. Nothing could be more representative than this Spongebob Squarepants mini-skirt and tiny top marketed to teenage girls:

Ready to stop this non-sense? Come on over to our SPARKwatch Facebook Event page and post any and all costumes that you think should be taken off the shelves. We'll send a message to the store, along with a photo of the costume, asking for it's prompt removal.


Brought to you by SPARK Summit (Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge).

SPARK Ally of the Day: Shelby Knox

I’m just coming to terms with the fact I’m not a “girl activist” anymore, although the documentary that told my story of fighting to get better sex education into my Texas high school, The Education of Shelby Knox, captured me forever as a bubbly fifteen year-old with questionable fashion sense. Since the film came out, I’ve become an itinerant feminist organizer, traveling across the country organizing campaigns for gender justice and speaking about the next wave of feminism. (It’s probably for this work, not the aforementioned fashion fails, that Marie Claire just named me “The Next Gloria Steinem.” Ummm, pressure much???) My favorite projects turn girls into girl activists; I’ve done this work with the Girls Leadership Institute, the Sadie Nash Leadership Project and The Girl Scouts, among others. 

I want to add my SPARK to this movement for the girl I used to be. I hated my body for being too big, my hair for being too curly, and my own supposedly unnatural aversion to the tight, skimpy clothes that were my only hope for a boyfriend. I didn’t know that the media wanted me to hate my thighs so I would buy weight loss products and expensive jeans, my hair so I would buy flat irons and creams galore. I didn’t realize there were forces out there that want young women to think their worth lies in their sexuality and being able to attract a mate rather than their innate ability to take over the world. When I figured out how to decode these messages I got angry, I started the journey to loving myself, and I found my power in activism and plotting to – you better believe it – take over the world. I want young women to embrace their big hips, their big mouths, their big dreams and become the leaders of the next generation of the revolution!

Part of "30 Allies in 30 Days." Learn more about the SPARK Summit and check back tomorrow for our next ally! 

SPARK Ally of the day: Sharon Lamb

I’m a professor, author, researcher, and media critic who co-authored Packaging Girlhood and the APA Task Force Report on the Sexualization of Girls and is currently co-authoring a sexual ethics curriculum.  Girls deserve a sex education that’s real and relevant and critical of sexualizing images so that they can both explore and be safe, get love and be loved, and feel comfortable in their own skin! 

Part of "30 Allies in 30 Days" Learn more about the SPARK Summit and check back tomorrow for our next ally!

SPARK Ally of the day: Gail Dines

I am a professor and activist who co-founded Stop Porn Culture. Our goal is to raise public consciousness about the harms of pornography. I'm adding my spark to this movement because I believe that girls are being assaulted with images that are sexist, reductive and dehumanizing. We have to do battle with the pornographers because it is time to take back our culture.

Part of "30 Allies in 30 Days" Learn more about the SPARK Summit and check back tomorrow for our next ally!

SPARK Ally of the day: Rachel Simmons

I'm co-founder of the Girls Leadership Institute, an educator and the author of two bestselling books about girls. I want to help girls respond to the commodification of their sexuality and redefine sexy. I'm tired of seeing sex be packaged as an avenue to power and confidence for girls and women.




Check out Rachel Simmons on Twitter and Facebook!





Part of "30 Allies in 30 Days" Learn more about the SPARK Summit and check back tomorrow for our next ally!

Frances Perkins Center Open Door Award

Megan Williams is the executive director of Hardy Girls Healthy Women. Named one of the ten people shaping the future of Maine's economy by MaineBiz last year, Megan was hired to lead Hardy Girls in 2005, a year after her graduation from Colby College in Waterville, Maine. She has nurtured the ten-year-old nonprofit from its local roots into a flourishing organization with programs featuring mentoring, an emphasis on strength and activism, and national workshops and curricula.

SPARK Ally of the day: Angela Jones

I am the co-creator of the blog Plus-Size Models Unite, a wife, mother of two children, friend, activist, eating disorder survivor, and a model.  I want to add my spark to this movement because I want to see diversity of every shape, size, and age represented in the media.  I want to encourage girls and women to be confident in their individual self, to live a balanced and healthy lifestyle, and to ask themselves this simple question daily, "What is one thing I love about myself today?" 

Part of the "30 Allies in 30 Days." Learn more about SPARK summit.

Once Upon a Time: Ready to Serve

It still feels like summer out there, and you better believe that we’ll soak up these warm days for as long as we can, but we’re also thinking ahead to the year before us.  It’s almost September, a month that will bring new journeys for students, folks beginning new jobs, and others making exciting transitions.  We’re thrilled to be welcoming five fabulous women to our board of directors — Lindy Graham, Stefanie Solar, Mary Madden, Trish Hansen, and Kristin Aiello.  The board of directors isn’t the only governing body of Hardy Girls welcoming new faces — below you’ll find the application submitted by 17-year-old Adriana to join our Girls Advisory Board (pictured below), who participate in leadership development, complete social action projects, and generally keep us current on what’s important in the lives of girls.  It was just too good to keep to ourselves!  (And yes, she’s been accepted.)

I believe that women and girls of all ages should be completely comfortable with who they really want to be, rather than being swayed by gendered social expectations to do anything or be anyone they don’t want to do or be.  As a rising senior at Winslow High School, I all-too-often witness young women in my school and group of friends being pressured into fitting some kind of gender stereotype.  I’ll hear guys (even girls’ boyfriends) joke around, saying thinks like, “Why don’t you just go make me a sandwich?” or calling girls derogatory names.  Many girls even seem to embrace these names for themselves and begin jokingly calling each other (and themselves) profane, misogynistic nicknames.

I have begun to understand that these gender-related stereotypes, behaviors, and mindsets are not always obvious.  In most cases, the promotion of gendered social expectations or norms is extremely subtle, which makes the situation even more dangerous.  If girls think it’s funny to or cute to call themselves derogatory names, because they think, “oh, it’s just a joke,” it only trivializes the issue.  I believe that it is essential to view these issues as real problems that actually exist, rather than simply laughing them off or considering them taboo.

I’ve noticed that, often times, people who question these gender norms are considered “crazy feminists”, or labeled dismissively as gay or lesbian.  I want to change this fact.  I want to work to make it mainstream – even cool – to question traditional gender roles.  It’s hard enough for girls to stand up for themselves in situations, such as relationship dynamics.  But I truly believe that every girl can (and should) work to de-normalize these gendered expectations and make the people in her life and community more aware of these subtleties. 

I would like to do anything I can to make these issues important to people – both male and female – and to discuss with people not only the most obvious gendered social problems, but the more subtle ones, as well.  After all, those are often the most difficult to acknowledge and we often brush them aside as minor details.  Especially in high school, the environment is often very unsupportive of these kinds of subtleties and issues.  I believe that a young woman should have a safe and supportive place to discuss anything – even the most seemingly minor thing – that makes her uncomfortable or upset.  I’m confident that by volunteering with Hardy Girls, I would find a great opportunity to pursue this issue about which I am so enthusiastic and passionate while reaching out to others at the same time.

SPARK Ally of the day: Lyn Mikel Brown

We're ramping up energy in support of SPARK: Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance, Knowledge, a growing movement to push back on the sexualization of girls and push forward girls’ right to an embodied, healthy sexuality.


The October 22nd SPARK Summit will launch an intergenerational movement to support and stand with girls. In response to the American Psychological Association’s Task Force Report on Sexualization of Girls, the most downloaded documented in the history of APA’s website, the SPARK Summit will engage teen girls to be part of the solution rather than to protect them from the problem, giving them the tools they need to become activists, organizers, researchers, policy influencers, and media makers.


Activists and organizers around the country are contributing to SPARK already by drawing attention to the issue of early sexualization.  In our series called  "30 Allies in 30 Days," Hardy Girls Healthy Women is highlighting thirty fabulous individuals who are actively doing their part to ignite SPARK. Our first ally is Dr. Lyn Mikel Brown:


I'm co-founder of  Hardy Girls Healthy Women, professor of Education at Colby College, author, and activist. I'm also the Powered By Girl (PBG) campaign organizer, which means I work with amazingly creative and smart teen girls who are contributing their voices and activism to SPARK.  I'm adding my spark to this movement because I'm tired of the pornifed images that pass as female sexuality in media and I want to do what I can to make room for girls to say who they are and what they want.

Part of "30 Allies in 30 Days" Learn more about the SPARK Summit  and check back tomorrow for our next ally!

A Dad and His Daring Daughter!

Hardy Girls has long paid tribute to its Founding Othermothers—an amazing group of women who made a financial commitment to the organization way back in the beginning. They’re women who nourish a girl’s hope through acts of love, courage, and commitment to making the community and the world a better place for girls. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge another population — this one of male allies — that does the same thing for girls and for Hardy Girls. We’re calling them Otherfathers and this month, in honor of Father’s Day, we’re bringing you a story about one of them. We spoke with Scott Price, who, as a long-time supporter of Hardy Girls and dad to twelve-year-old Maddie, is both an Otherfather and a regular one. And he rocks at both!

Scott’s daughter, Maddie, is a sixth grader at Canaan Elementary. First introduced to Hardy Girls through Adventure Girls programming a couple of years ago, Maddie participated in snowshoeing and frog tracking. She later attended the Girls Unlimited! Conference. Of raising Maddie, Scott tells us: “I think there’s a lot more opportunity than when I was a kid for girls in general.”

Having grown up with five younger sisters, Scott has seen a progression in activities that girls are encouraged to pursue now. “I think with equality, we’ve come a long way. I think there’s more opportunity for sports and education. I think there’s more opportunity for college careers. I like to see Maddie have those chances.”

One of the things Scott says he wants most for his daughter is for her to have a variety of different experiences. “When I had to start making my adult decisions, I was able to see what was out there, so I’m big on trying to get her lots of experiences. It’s most of the things I like to do — outdoor stuff, cultural stuff, travel.” Indeed, they’ve taken Maddie all around the U.S., to Canada, and even to London. They take canoe trips and go on day hikes as a family, and attend shows and concerts at the Waterville and Skowhegan Opera Houses. “We like those quite a lot,” said Scott. “I think there are a lot of things to take advantage of in Central Maine.”

It’s clear that Maddie is a busy kid; she’s particularly devoted to dance and trombone lessons and babysitting. “She took a babysitting class and she understands what money is.” But while Scott encourages new experiences, he understands the importance of not overscheduling. “She doesn’t have to do everything, all the sports and all the dance… It’s a balance you have to find. I find that home time is good. And friend time; you’ve got have friends, too.”

Maddie and her friends are looking forward to starting middle school in the fall, and Scott is excited for her. “She has lots of good friends that are going with her. They’re all good students, and she has a good base.” It doesn’t mean, however, that he doesn’t worry about other influences. “I’m constantly aware of commercials and stuff and I’m always spouting off behind the real meaning of what they’re trying to sell. With the new computerization age, the kids get an amazing amount of ads and exposure to stuff; it’s hard to keep up. I talk about that stuff — I hope the kids listen.” We’d be willing to make a bet that they do, Scott!


Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers and Otherfathers! We'd love to hear about why your dad rocks-- leave us a comment and tell us all about him! Or, if you're a dad yourself, let us know what you do to support your daughter!

SPARK! Summit Needs Girls' Votes!

We’re sparking a revolution and it needs a name! Well, we have a name (SPARK!) but need your input on what S-P-A-R-K stands for.

Hardy Girls, TrueChild, Women’s Media Center, ASAP, and the Ms. Foundation for Women are planning a summit to ignite a movement in protest of the sexualization of girls in media and in support of better images and messages about girls’ sexuality. So much of the media suggests that our sexuality is the most important aspect of who we are – that girls’ and women’s value comes from just how sexy we are – say nothing about our interests, talents, or rockstar personalities (see Gen Z Does Single Ladies and Stupid Is As Stupid Does).

You helped us brainstorm some great acronyms for what SPARK! could stand for. We’ve taken the top 4 options and now need your input. What do you like best? Take a look at the poll and let us know what you think. Voting closes on Friday at 5:00 pm so vote now and tell your friends!

Gen Z does 'Single Ladies'

by Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D

Anyone half paying attention to the media in the past few weeks has seen the YouTube video of a dance troupe of seven and eight year olds doing their thing to Beyoncé’s Single Ladies. If you haven’t seen it, trust me, it’s impossible to watch and not be mesmerized. The girls hit it hard; they are frenetic, fearless, and full of themselves—and very, very good. Gyrating. Grinding. Pulsating. Bouncy balls of energy we might expect of girls this age, but in adult packaging. 

The controversy in the wake of the video was almost immediate. Not surprising, the reaction has been divided – between the ‘shocked’ and the ‘defenders.’ Those shocked by the video point out that the black and red burlesque-inspired costumes are more risqué than even Beyoncé’s outfit in her Single Ladies video. They’re appalled to watch little girls do the same dance moves they’ve seen in sexist rap videos on MTV. To the shocked, such dancing can only lead to sexual behavior. They say things like "these girls will be pregnant by 15." Worse, it’s pedophile bait. It’s morally depraved, sick, bordering on child abuse. They blame the clueless parents, the clueless dance instructor, the clueless audience cheering the girls on, and the clueless idiot who posted the video. 

Facing off against the shocked are the defenders of all things girly. What is your basic maladjustment, they wonder? Lighten up. This is the new girl power. Today’s version of girls having fun, a Gen Z rendition of flappers or jitterbugging girls kicking their feet in the air to reveal their panties. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along. You with the dirty minds, get a life.

The shocked are looking for simple answers and personal responsibility. They want someone to blame, and that usually means the parents. Good parents turn off the TV, they say, and by that I think they must mean “raise their children in a vacuum,” because, of course, TV represents a small fraction of the media kids are exposed to these days, and all of it contains highly sexualized imagery. I guess good parents also don’t let little girls take dance lessons, because I mean, really, have any of the shocked been to a local dance recital? Burlesque is the norm.

The defenders, on the other hand, refuse to entertain reality. Just girls having fun doesn’t cut it, not in an increasingly pornified culture where the boundary between childhood and adulthood is all but gone. Not when research tells us exposure to sexualized media is associated with greater acceptance of teen dating violence and sexual harassment. Not when a 2007 American Psychological Association report linked media sexualization to girls and young women’s top three mental health problems: depression, eating disorders, and low self-esteem. And not when having this kind of fun makes girls targets for name-calling, often by the shocked themselves, who like to call little girls who dance this way things like "little sluts in the making."

Whether it’s a demand for individual responsibility or a defense of individual right to fun, neither the shocked nor the defenders acknowledge the elephant in the room. Since the FTC lifted restrictions on children’s media in the 1980s, media and marketing companies have targeted younger and younger girls with sexier, thinner, more beauty-conscious and more boy-obsessed imagery and messages. As marketing to children has skyrocketed, so has children’s consumer spending. Blaming parents delights marketers and media because they’re off the hook for their unconscionable behavior –the ways they use developmental psychologists to help them reach kids and create a desire for their products, the way they immerse their brands in everything a child plays with, dresses in, or watches, the way they use the very concerns we have about the sexualization of little girls to boost their so-so ratings. 

When the video played and the reporters surfaced, I felt the way I feel each and every time “sex + girls” hits the airwaves. Whether it’s Britney going commando, junior high girls sporting rainbow bracelets, Miley pole-dancing at the Kids Choice Awards, or elementary school girls dancing to Beyoncé, reporters always sound eerily the same, a creepy mix of hand-wringing and barely hidden glee. Tell us why this is bad, they ask. How did we get to this point? Why don’t parents parent anymore? Tune in to Dr. Phil, Anderson Cooper, Fox News, Video at 6. Watch the girls with us, again and again and again and again. Isn’t it awful? 

I know what they want. They pretend to represent the shocked, calling for some parent’s head on a platter. But it’s classic bait and switch. Like so many, I also watched the parents of the dancers being interviewed and nothing in their answers made me want to chase them with pitchforks and torches. I felt for the deer-in-the-headlights father when he said he never thought of his daughter this way. I believed the mom, calm and rational, who explained that they weren’t copying Beyoncé’s moves but the Chipettes’ from the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie (Really, 20th Century Fox? Chipettes? How about becoming 21st Century Fox?). 

No one in their right mind can blame French maid Halloween costumes, pole dancing kits in toy stores, Tots and Tiaras-type reality shows, and Bratz dolls on parents. No one in their right mind can say this sexualized version of growing up is just good, clean fun. To ask parents to take responsibility for the billions of dollars marketers and media invest in making this stuff normal and creating little girls’ desire for this stuff, is simply crazy.
Since the APA Report on the Sexualization of Girls in Media came out in 2007, the landscape has gotten worse and the answer isn’t as simple as the ‘shocked’ and ‘defenders’ claim. So what do we do? Because we have to do something. Join Hardy Girls Healthy Women and our sister organizations, True Child, Women’s Media Center and ASAP on October 22nd at Hunter College in NYC for a national summit on the sexualization of girls. We’ll be working with parents, educators, researchers, media experts, policymakers, and most importantly, teen girls to examine the complexity of this issue, generate creative responses, and commit to policy, media and activist solutions to spark a movement and demand something better for girls. For now, save the date and we’ll keep you posted!

Less than $2,000 to go!

As you may know, Girls Rock! Weekend is not only our biggest programmatic event of the year, it's our biggest fundraiser! Money raised for Girls Rock supports the weekend, of course, but it also supports programming year-round that empowers girls to get their critical thinking caps on and make their voices heard.


We are beyond thrilled to report that we are so close to reaching our fundraising goal for 2010's weekend -- with only $1,927 left to go, the finish line is definitely in sight. Can you help us reach the mark before the weekend begins on Friday, April 9th?


Maine girls effect positive change, and next weekend we'll celebrate them all over the state. Will you join the celebration and consider digging into your pockets for some more positive change? Visit www.hghw.org/give to help do your part in making Maine a better place for girls to live and grow.

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Written for the Feminist Psychologist by Lyn Mikel Brown, Ed.D


In 2008, the District Attorney of Wyoming County in Pennsylvania presented 16 teens – 3 boys and 13 girls -- suspected of “sexting” with a choice: either attend a 5 week, 10-hour education program designed by the District Attorney or face felony child pornography charges. Not much of a choice: if charged and convicted the teens faced a possible seven-year sentence and a felony record. They would also have to register as sex offenders for 10 years and have their names and photos posted on the state’s sex-offender website. Still, three girls refused the “voluntary education course” and instead, with the support of their parents and the ACLU, obtained a preliminary injunction barring prosecution under state child-porn laws. On March 17, 2010 the appellate court upheld the preliminary injunction, accusing prosecutors of violating the civil rights of the teens.


What had these girls done? A 12- and 13-year-old posed for pictures in their underwear at a slumber party; one was speaking on the phone, the other making a peace sign. The third girl, 14, appeared in a photo emerging from the shower wrapped in a towel, just below her breasts. There was no evidence that the girls had ever transmitted the photos; they were discovered when male students were caught trading the images over their cell phones. While both boys and girls were threatened and pressed to undergo education, only the girls were required to learn about sexual self-respect.


If you’re tuned into youth culture, it’s impossible to miss the hysteria around sexting. Research conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy revealed that 20 percent of teens in the U.S. say they have sent or posted lewd photos or video of themselves. Given that one picture can make its way far and wide in minutes, it’s likely that most of this 20% represent those forwarding or receiving photos, not posting them. But just as with previous reports of rainbow bracelets and oral sex, there’s a Press Gone Wild reaction to sexting, almost always blaming girls for their “stupid” acts.


Outside the Pennsylvania appeals court, MaryJo Miller, the mother of one of the 12 year olds, said that when she saw the pictures of the slumber party, she thought the girls were "goofballs.” Her daughter was wearing a training bra. “You are going to see more provocative photos in a Victoria's Secret catalog." That’s an understatement. Quick to judge, rarely do the press, police, or school officials make reference to the obvious: the normalizing of sexual voyeurism and sex camming in media. Whether it’s expendable babes baring it all for celebrity on Entourage, Heroes character Tracy Strauss supporting herself and her young child by stripping online, or America’s Next Top Model contestants posing in sexually provocative ways for the camera, the message to girls watching is always, if you need or want something badly enough, you should be willing to sex it up for public consumption. In the VH1 reality show For the Love of Ray J, for instance, girls with nicknames like Cocktail, Chardonnay, and Danger will do anything to be chosen. In what sounds like a middle school dating game, in one episode Ray J asks the girls “to pretend I’m out of town and you have to keep me interested.” Of course the girls do everything from a strip tease to sexy raps to making a “human banana split” -- even Ray J is so shocked by that one that he can’t stay in his seat to watch.


One newspaper excitedly reports that teens are on to the legal risks of posting photos, and so they’re taking shots of body parts or being careful not to include their faces. Who really knows how many teen girls are this hell-bent on public nudity, but no doubt American Apparel had liability in mind when they developed their recent “best bottoms” campaign. Looking for the new "face" of AA, they invited girls (18+, but really, who’s checking?) to upload a “close-up photo” of their ass-ets to the website. I don't know about you, but I’m on the edge of my own perfectly adequate seat waiting to find out which porn-inspired fave will win -- Boom Boom, Luba, bOOtAAyliCiOus, or Cherry.


We can complain about the perfectly sexy angels in Victoria’s Secret Love Your Body ad campaign (please!), but there’s something particularly icky about American Apparel’s use of ordinary women in its ads, producing low-brow Polaroid-like pictures with a back room naughty feel that normalizes the acts teen girls are now threatened with arrest for imitating. Diesel Jeans adds their spin by capitalizing on adolescent rebellion. “Stupid” is crazy, fun, risk-taking! Smart is “the crusher of possibilities.” For girls, there’s just one way to prove you’ve got the balls to be stupid: show us your boobs!


Teen girls are comparatively measured in their response to sexting. When a blogger on Jezebel.com asked about this issue, girls were more likely to say it wasn’t something they’d seen or experienced personally. They sounded more thoughtful about the causes and more understanding about the outcomes than anything reported in the news. The real story, they say, is the unintended consequences of an impulsive act; the real concern is that girls are more likely to be judged, vilified and threatened with prosecution. As one girl said of the threats to girls like those in the Pennsylvania lawsuit, “it's hard to get my head around the fact that you’re making the victim the criminal.” Pretty smart.

American Apparel’s “best bottom” contest has concluded, butt…this is so not over

I don't know about you all but we’re on the edge of our own perfectly adequate seats waiting to find out what an ideal bottom looks like and who American Apparel thinks has the best ass-ets. Will it be boom boom? Luba? bOOtAAyliCiOus? Cherry? Wait, where are the boys? Oh yea, halfway through our protest American Apparel set up a site for the guys too, where somewhere close to five guys posted pictures of their bottoms amidst the 1368 girls. Turns out that fakery just didn’t fly. In spite of AA’s lame story, this wasn’t equal opportunity sexualization; it was the same old double standard.

We can’t thank you enough for spreading the word about American Apparel’s blatant and unapologetic sexualization of girls and women. Thanks for signing our petition and for blogging, Facebooking and tweeting the story. You’re all rock stars and we’re incredibly grateful.

We felt the love, but we also fielded a lot of criticism because of this campaign, some cogently argued and some not worth repeating. More than once we heard versions of: Aren’t you just giving AA more attention? Doesn’t your outrage serve to further the appeal of American Apparel to their target market? Haven’t you learned yet that the forbidden fruit tastes sweetest, especially to teenagers? Yeah, we know this. We talked a lot about the forbidden fruit idea, in fact. We work with teen girls, we know about marketing and resistance theory–i.e., saying no, bad, is standard practice for getting teens to say yes, want. In the end, though, our staff of young women and our high school girls advisory board felt CEO Dov Charney and American Apparel had crossed the line and we had a responsibility to act.

This is not just a capitalist marketplace, it’s a marketplace of ideas, and the onus is on all of us to speak up and take action when we see something egregious and harmful. The increasing media sexualization of girls has become a pandemic, reinforcing the sexualization of and violence (sexual, physical, emotional, material) against girls and women in the global arena. In the US, it has been linked to three of young women’s most common mental health complaints: depression, low self-esteem, and eating disorders. AA products may be made in the U.S., but they’re exporting the sexualization of girls and women around the world.

Sure, American Apparel gets more attention, but so do those of us who find their practices reprehensible. Every time we speak out, we find our friends, sister organizations, and allies. Every time we talk back, we create a little more space for coalition and resistance and we educate a few more people about the harmful effects of media sexualization. Why speak out? Because the alternative is to allow the Dov Charneys of the world to pollute our environment. Silence, doing nothing, is just not an option.

Plus, roughly half of our more than 3,000 petition signers pledged to use their wallet-power to protest American Apparel's crude ad campaigns.

So, here at Hardy Girls, we're going to continue to advocate with and for girls because we're determined to create a better world for all, one where women are valued more for their beliefs and brains than they are their butts. And, we're grateful to be doing this work in coalition with so many fabulous girls, women, and male allies. Thank you!

Join us for our upcoming trainings!

Have you noticed the media lately? On internet, TV, and magazines, girls and women are reduced to body parts, criticized for their looks, and encouraged to work on their physique rather than their minds. Girlfighting is showcased on nearly every channel and hyper-sexuality is thrust upon girls at younger and younger ages.

Of course, we have all noticed the media; it permeates our everyday lives even as adults. Rather than concede to the negative messages that we all are subjected to, why not develop skills to deconstruct, analyze and confront the culture itself?

As a colleague in the struggle to create more supportive environments for girls to thrive, I want to invite you to attend Cultivating Hardiness Zones and Becoming a Muse, two back-to-back strength-based trainings for adults working with girls. Developed by Dr. Mary Madden and myself, Cultivating Hardiness Zones and Becoming a Muse are designed to help you incorporate the latest research on girls' development into work you're already doing with girls. This isn't a training that stresses the inner girl or works to improve "self-esteem," but rather focuses on providing girls with an environment that's conducive to learning and growing despite cultural messages and stereotypes.

Our two upcoming trainings are:

March 15th and 16th, 2010
University of New England, Portland, ME
9am-4pm
Registration fee for both days is $295 by March 1st; $320 afterward.
Registration for one day is $175.00 before March 1st; $190 afterward.
Some partial scholarships are available.

AND

April 27th and 28th, 2010
Simmons College, Boston, MA
9am-4pm
Registration fee for both days is $295 by April 13th; $320 afterward.
Registration for one day is $175.00 before April 13th; $190 afterward.
Some partial scholarships are available.

Registered groups of three or more will receive a 15% discount.

At this training, you'll learn concrete strategies to:

• Help girls and women build meaningful connections;
• Show girls how to find and use the resources they need to thrive; and,
• Tap into girls' energy and creativity and inspire them to make the world one which values them for who they are, not how they look!

Who should attend these trainings? Teachers, guidance counselors, school administrators, health service and social service providers, parents and guardians, and anyone who wants to learn more effective approaches to bringing out the best in girls!

Thank you for the important role you play in girls’ lives. We look forward to seeing you this spring!

Are we getting under American Apparel’s, ah, skivvies?

Thanks to our sister org, GirlZone.com, for letting us know that American Apparel has now invited men and boys to join their crazy sexist ad campaign. How’s that for a creative response to our Girlcott? Add boys and hope we go away!

It’s all pretty disingenuous, of course, given AA’s history of sexist ad campaigns targeting girls. The simple reality is that this ad campaign sits in a culture that highly sexualizes girls and women, something AA knows and takes full advantage of. So it’s no surprise that boys aren’t posting photos anywhere close to the number girls are posting. No surprise, either, that all the top vote-getters on the site are girls.

AA is capitalizing on the lowest common denominator marketing strategy to make a buck: selling sex and sexism. Are we supposed to believe that an equal opportunity invite to sexualize boys too makes this ad campaign okay? Please.

Tell American Apparel that objectifying bodies – any body--and commodifying sex to sell their products is not okay.

Our Response to the Kaiser Report on Teens & Media

On January 20, 2010, the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) released Generation M²: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Olds. The tagline: “Daily media use among children and teens up dramatically from five years.”

KFF explains that while this age group already devotes over 53 hours a week on “entertainment media,” the use of multiple media outlets at the same time – such as listening to music while surfing the web – exacerbate this daily intake of media content. Upon comparing 2009 findings to those of their 2004 Generation M² report, the report authors claim that children and teens have gained an additional hour and seventeen minutes of daily media exposure. They attribute a number of influences to this increase, such as the popularity of “mobile media,” which drives the accessibility of media. Not surprisingly, three-quarters of 8 to 18-year-olds say that their media use is unmonitored by parents and guardians, and according to the KFF report, this unbridled flow of information is taking its toll on kids. The authors assert that “heavy media users” suffer from poor grades in comparison to “light media users.”

At Hardy Girls Healthy Women (HGHW), we pose that the wellbeing of children and youth are affected far beyond their performance in school. We argue that media use among 8 to 18-year-olds, as reported by KFF, sheds light on the venues where girls and boys are gathering media messages, and subsequently, where they are learning negative gender stereotypes.

Let’s take a look at social networking sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, where media bombardment is commonplace. Advertisements featured on these sites are often marketed to a specific audience, making their impact even more pinpointed and dangerous. A middle-school aged girl may encounter, for instance, a plethora of ads suggesting weight loss solutions as the secret to happiness. A high-school boy may alternatively be offered games that appeal to his heightened online presence but that also portray men as violent and malicious members of society. Both scenarios show that gender norms are being delivered to girls and boys across the media spectrum.

Multi-tasking with media-based products threatens children and teens even further, as their ability to deconstruct images and content are squandered by repeating and overlapping messages. For example, while perusing her Facebook profile, a teenage girl comes in contact with numerous advertisements, including those that promote body augmentation and negative body image. Meanwhile, the lyrics of a familiar pop song playing on her computer reiterate the degradation of women’s bodies. The message from both the song and the advertisement are not only common but normalized features in this young girl’s life, and without the skill set needed to tackle multiple media outlets, these messages continue to guide her self-perception.

While exposure to the media carries a number of drawbacks, particularly for children and teenage consumers, the messages can be broken down. Cultivating media literacy among the younger generation is one such way to empower children and teens. Lyn Mikel Brown, co-founder of HGHW, along with her colleagues, argue that by fostering such a analytical eye, youth become active objectors to the mainstream stereotypes and negative portrayals of girls and boys.

To learn more about media literacy, please join us for our spring trainings in Portland and Boston. You can sign up online or by phone.