Hall of Shame - White Rihanna

In October, Rihanna was on the cover of Vogue UK.  On the cover, she wanted to pay tribute to Marilyn Monroe.  Notice anything about the cover?

Not only is she wearing a blonde wig, but they also used computers to lighten her skin.  In this comparison you can see that she looks awfully white...

    

Does Rihanna really look more like Marilyn Monroe because her skin is lighter?  That is a weak justification.  This photoshop job only reinforces the beauty norm for women of color that those with lighter skin are more beautiful.  

There is power in knowledge and we need to let the magazine publishers know our distaste for what they do to beautiful women.  The only true way for them to feel the pressure is to stop supporting them with our money.  I encourage everyone to take a look at what they purchase and decide who deserves your money (and no one can decide that besides you).  For many years, I have subscribed to Cosmo and enjoyed reading it.  But as I began thinking more about it, there were objectionable articles, advertisements, and awful photoshopped pictures.  I have now decided to cancel my subscription.  While one person may not make a difference, a group can.  And a last thought for you, one of my favorite quotes, "Some things I cannot change, but till I try I'll never know" (Wicked).

Hall of Fame - Kiri Davis

In response to my last post, I wanted to highlight an individual that is bringing attention to society's beauty standards for African-American women.  Kiri Davis has made a short documentary entitled "A Girl Like Me."

This is a great film that discusses light v. dark skin, "good" vs. "bad" hair and the ways in which this impacts African-American women's self-image.  She also repeats the infamous doll test in which African-American children are asked to identify their preferred doll between a White and African-American doll.  About 72% of the children say they prefer the White doll.

I wanted to feature this film because the only way our society is ever going to change beauty norms for women is to have frank conversations about them and the ways that they impact our self-image.  It is also important to recognize that their is not one set of beauty standards for all women but that they do vary between different races.  The example of skin color is a great one.  The standard for White women is to be dark and tan, while the standard for African-American women is to be lighter.  Am I the only one that finds that interesting...  Can't we just be happy and love the way we look.

Hall of Shame

So this post is not about a specific thing or person but more about the pressure that society puts on girls to look a certain way.  I have recently been thinking about this a lot as a result of one of my groups.  The topic of this session was self-esteem and one girl openly shared about how hard it is being a little heavier.  This can be especially difficult for younger girls who get bullied and harassed because of the way that they look.  It is especially disheartening that this happens at school.  A place with the sole purpose of learning and becoming smarter.  But all some girls can think about is their weight and how to avoid being made fun of, and not what they should be learning.  For those girls, of any age, that are outside the beauty norms it can feel like you are never pretty enough, or skinny enough, or sexy enough.  Even in tonight's episode of Glee one character could not believe that a guy was attracted to her because she wasn't "the pretty girl."  


It still amazes me that after all the advances women in our society have made, they are still consistently judged on the way that they look.  How many of us have looked at another woman and thought "Why is she wearing that?" or "That outfit is not flattering."  I know I am guilty of this.  At the same time, when watching TV or looking in a magazine, women often compare themselves to the models and actresses.  When a lot of the time what we see is not even real.  If you have not seen this video it is amazing because it shows the way that a person is transformed from reality to what you see if an ad.

I wonder if we will ever live in a society in which all women are happy and satisfied with their bodies.  If a girl that doesn't fit within society's beauty norms, will be able to love herself and not be made fun of at school.  Or if things are going to continue to get worse as technology advances and we can make more digital alterations to pictures.  

Hall of Fame - England and Argentina

I have posted two Hall of Shame and figured it is time for a Hall of Fame post.  I wanted this post to be in response to my most recent Hall of Shame post about women in positions of power.  So first I want to recognize England has recently changed their succession laws to make women equal to men.  In the old law, which has been in place for 300 years, the first born son is the heir to the crown.  But now if this lovely couple has a daughter first, then she will take precedence over her brothers as heir to the thrown.  Prime Minister David Cameron has said "the idea that a younger son should become monarch instead of an elder daughter simply because he is a man - this way of thinking is at odds with the modern countries that we have become."  

The other country that I wanted to recognize is Argentina.  In 2007, they elected Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner as their 55th president.  She is the first female elected president of Argentina (and second female to serve as president).    Interestingly enough, when she first was elected in 2007, the relationship between Argentina and US deteriorated because the US claimed that she had illegal financial support for her campaign.  I'm sure the fact that she was a woman had nothing to do with their claims...


She was recently re-elected and her margin of victory is the largest since democratic elections have been held in 1983.  One of the main responses for her high approval rating is the fact that Argentina's economy has grown 9% last year.  This provides more evidence that women as national leaders can have an amazing impact on the country and its economy.  

Hall of Shame

Forbes has recently published an article of the world's 10 most powerful people (Full Article) and there is only 1 woman on the list.  Even though women make up 51% of the world's population, there is only 1 woman on the list.  The 1 women who did make the list is Angela Merkel who is the Chancellor of Germany.  Germany also has the most vibrant economy in the EU.  Coincidence...

This list is further evidence of the fact that women worldwide are not represented in positions of power.  This is especially true in the United States where women make up 51% of the population but are only 17% of Congress.  Some other countries that have had female leaders include: China, Haiti, India, and Iran.  We try to make ourselves seem like women are true equals, while we portray these countries as disrespectful towards women.  But they have taken a huge step by electing a female leader.  And it seems like it will be many years before this happens here.

Everyone is clamoring for change in our political system.  Maybe we should start by changing the people that are in positions of power.  Paying special attention to the fact that we seem to always vote for the same type of candidate - white, male, college educated, over the age of 35.  Let's try mixing things up and see what happens.  Maybe our economy will become as vibrant as Germany's.  Keep that in the back of your mind when you go to vote next week.