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!