Dreading the worst

So yesterday, my husband and I went with my parents to my brother's mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving. We had a really nice time...lots of food...laughing...playing with my brother's three daughters (all about 7 and under in age) and my older nephew.

We started talking about movies we have just seen and one of my nieces, who is about 6, came up to me with a DVD....of the Bratz! I don't know what the title of the DVD was, all I could see were the Bratz characters on the front cover, scantly dressed....with big pouty lips, sultry eye make up, with a figure that is basically unattainable in real life. A feeling of dread, and of heart break, over took me.

My little niece took my finger and rubbed it on the cover, which had some fuzzy fabric on it, and she went on and on about the dog in the movie that talks. But, I honestly didn't hear her because all I could do was wonder if the images of these characters are already starting to make her feel inadequate about her figure...about her self worth. I didn't say anything to my sister-in-law, but maybe I should have. But I seriously doubt she would have understood my position on why I think the Bratz shouldn't be allowed in the house.

I really hope that when all my nieces reaches my age, that they'll be smart, confident young women who can see past the marketing stereotyping of their younger years and realize that they don't have to model themselves after these types of images.... I hope they try to be the best that they can be, what ever that is.

Brainwashing

So, I was watching the television last night, which was probably my first mistake, and a toy commercial came on for a talking play kitchen for little girls. It had a sink, a stove, even a trash can. Plus, it had plastic food that talked to you when you put the right ingredients together. One of the lines for the product "Now you can cook just like mommy!" Then, directly after that commercial was one for a talking play work bench with all sorts of plastic tools for little boys.

Am I wrong in thinking this is brainwashing our young children into thinking that the woman cooks and the man works with the tools? Is this not socializing the girls to be the mommies and to be cooks and the boys to the bread winners? It just really saddens me that the toy companies are doing this. Why are we doing this? I understand that most little girls want to be like their mommies, but, why not let them pick toys out also that interest them, rather than being subconsciously coerced into thinking they need a play kitchen, and let's not forget the baby dolls that need their diapers changed and fed and how they are also marketed to little girls so they can learn at about age five that they will need to know this when they grow up.

It really makes me wonder if the CEO's of these companies really know what they are doing to the future leaders of the world.

genetic anomalies

So, I'm wondering why most women (including myself) still shop at stores where the management and the marketing teams at stores like Gap, Banana Republic, and even Kohl's, use genetic anomalies (aka skinny models) to model their clothes? We ALL know that the average women isn't as tall or weigh anywhere near what those models do? Are there simply no stores with nice, stylish clothes at reasonable prices that don't have some 6' model who weighs 120 lbs displaying the clothes? Do these stores even exist? If so, please let me know. I'm at the point where I just want to scream at these retailers that I'm not going to take it anymore, and start making my own clothes.


Here is a list of facts I pulled up. Disturbing, isn't it?

At the auto parts store

You know how, most times anyway, when a woman goes into an auto parts store, she is treated like she doesn't know what she needs or what she is talking about? Just for future reference, I know a pretty good amount of auto lingo, what this or that does...etc.

Well, I just left our local auto parts store, thinking that something was wrong with the battery or with the alternator. I walked to the front counter, and politely asked the man behind the counter that I would like these checked. With out hesitating (not the usual thinking that I didn't know what either were), he rolled the tester outside, asked me to pop the hood and to rev the engine. Then, we concluded that I needed a new battery. As he was replacing my battery, I started asking him questions, and he actually spoke to me in an intelligent manner, not "dumbing down" the words or lingo at all! How refreshing!

I know this probably isn't the norm of how other women are treated, but it gives me a small bit of hope that maybe things are changing, if just at an auto parts store...

So here starts my journey

This is the beginning of my journey and my education into feminism. Although I've always considered myself a feminist, I have to admit I've never taken as seriously as I thought I should. So, I decided to learn all I can about it, the struggles we as women are still facing today and why we are still facing some of the same issues we were facing generations ago.

I suppose I got into feminism because I've been directly affected by it. I can remember getting lower pay and doing the same job, for even longer! I can remember being told that I couldn't do something, just because I'm a woman. I can remember doing a play in high school where I played Susan B. Anthony and not knowing who she was, until my teacher pointed me in the right direction. I can also remember when my grandmothers couldn't vote, couldn't do the same things a man could do, and how much rage I felt because of that. Also, a couple of very good friends of mine reminded me that we are all in this together, and if we are going to make any sort of impact, we must stick together.

Along this journey I suspect that I'll stumble, say something that is totally off or wrong, or just offend someone. But, it will be a fun and glorious journey. I hope to inspire others to take up the cause of feminism.

And, so it begins...look for more soon!