Brilliant post by Melissa Fabello that I found on Adios Barbie  Adios Barbie is sort of the one stop body image shop

By Melissa A. Fabello 

As a sex educator with a specialization in body image, I receive a lot of anonymous messages in my Tumblr inbox from people wanting to know if their body is “good enough” for sex.

Will my boyfriend be disgusted if my breasts are uneven? How small is “too small” for a penis? How do I get over the fear of my body jiggling when I’m on top?

And overwhelmingly, increasingly:

Is my vagina dirty? How do I know if my vagina looks/smells/tastes right? Can I use soap “down there?” Or perfume or deodorant or douches? Should I shave? Should I get surgery?

It’s exhausting.

Believing strongly in comprehensive sex education – that is, that everyone deserves access toall information – I find these questions tremendously difficult to answer. On the one hand, I have to be honest with my followers and let them know the truth about how their body works and which “solutions” to their “problems” exist and are safe. But I also need to steer them in the right direction toward body-positivity. I give them their answers, but I also make sure to explain that the real problem is the one that’s inside of their head – that the voice nagging that their bodies just aren’t right is what’s really wrong.

That’s not the answer that they’re looking for. But it’s the truth.

Part of teaching people to accept, own, and respect their bodies and the bodies of others is helping them to unlearn the social myths that they’ve been sold and to provide accurate information about their bodies. So, for women with vaginas*, here’s a primer that outlines four myths that keep us from loving our vulvas – and from loving ourselves.

CLICK HERE to read more

We have body issues

Great comic from Colleen Clark which I had passed on through my Adios Barbie feed

CLICK HERE to read the whole comic. It's really good.

Kate's breasts, Pussy Riot, virginity tests and our attitude on women's bodies

Thanks to miss representation via adios barbie for the following post.

"In a hypersexualized culture, in which porn is available 24-7, it is not female nudity that is scandalous...Rather, what is still scandalous to our culture is when women take ownership of their own bodies. Staging a strip performance is no

t disruptive to social order in Moscow, but three punk poets using their sexuality to make a satirical comment about Russian leader Vladimir Putin is destabilizing and must be punished." - Naomi Wolf 

Go here to read more

Racism (Even Hipster) Racism is not cool

I  heard some young fellas recently talking about their 'black'  friend. Or more correctly using racist terms to describe him. When challenged on this these guys said that' "He is cool with this - were his friends  so we can say it in fun". It seems that more and more I hear people believing that because they are saying these words in the manner that they do they are 'making fun'of racism and are totally not racist themselves.

This way of using racism as if it means nothing to you is called 'hipster' racism. As far as I am concerend it is STILL racism. Anyway - Go here to see a great article on 'hipster' racism from Jezebel

Thanks to Adios Barbie for this link

Ugly or Pretty

Thanks to Adios Barbie for posting this. I have just shared it with you.


By Sayantani DasGupta
What if everyone was beautiful? No, I don’t mean inner beauty, prettiness that shines from the inside out. I mean, wide eyes, perfect noses, proportionate bodies, and symmetrical faces. The same approximate height, weight, skin color? Could making everyone look the same even the social and economic playing fields?
But human variety is important—it would be boring for everyone to be conventionally pretty, you say.
Well, what if we upped the stakes? What if making everyone beautiful could help stop bullying or eliminate eating disorders? What if it eradicated racism, prejudice, or even brought an end to all war and conflict?
Would it be worth it then?
Young adult (YA) author Scott Westerfeld spins these possibilities, and more, into his novel Uglies.

Go here to read more...

Girls women and body image

It seems that there is an epidemic crisis of confidence affecting girls and women, and both its causes and effects are going largely ignored and unspoken in and by the mainstream. But....what do we do about it. On my last visit to ADIOS BARBIE I found them making this a political issue. Hoping to get the Congree of the USA to pass a 'self esteem' bill. Here is what they say...

"We're asking for support to pass federal legislation requiring advertising and editorial that's meaningfully changed the human form through photoshopping or airbrushing to carry "Truth in Advertising" labels. The labels will simply state that the models shown have been altered. No judgments, no morality, just transparency and clarity.

Transparency and clarity that may help address and stem these horrifying numbers:
- 42% of girls in grades 1-3 want to be thinner

- 51% of 9-10 year old girls feel better about themselves when they're dieting

- 53% of 13 year old girls are unhappy with their bodies; by the time they're 17, 78% of them will be

- By the time they're 17, these girls have seen 250,000 TV commercials telling them they should be a decorative object, sex object or a body size they can never achieve.

- 7 million girls and women under 25 suffer from eating disorders (NEDA.org)

- 40% of newly identified cases of anorexia are in girls 15-19 years old. A rise in incidence of anorexia in young women 15-19 in each decade since 1930. Anorexia has the highest rate of mortality of any mental illness. (myNEDA.org)

- 80% of women feel worse about themselves after seeing a beauty ad. $20B is spent on beauty marketing in the US annually. That's a lot of money being spent making women feel worse about themselves.

We're not passing judgement here, not making anyone right or wrong; there are no villains. What we are asking is that if changes to the human form are made digitally, that those making the change (advertisers or ediors) simply say so.

Photoshopping, airbrushing, digital manipulation aren't the issue. The issue is too many look at these images and think they should look LIKE these images. And they can't...because they're not real.

So let's call a duck a duck and modified picture a modified picture. All we're asking is that if you do it - you tell us you did.

If we save one life, if one girl or one woman feels better about herself because of truth-in-advertising labelling, how's that a bad thing?

Please help us address this epidemic crisis of self-confidence, and help support The Self-Esteem Act. Thank you.
- Off Our Chests and OffOurChests.com
- National Eating Disorders Association (MyNEDA.org)

Love this take off of beauty advertisements

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Remember Ruby.

THANKS TO ADIOS BARBIE FOR THE FOLLOWING

The late Anita Roddick (1942-2007), the founder of The Body Shop, wanted to do something about false representation of women. In 1997, the socially-conscious international cosmetics franchise and Host Universal created Ruby: a chubby-cheeked, chestnut-haired, computer-generated figurine. Ruby was the brainchild of The Body Shop’s self-esteem campaign, “Love Your Body.” Her size 16 image was accompanied by the caption, “There are 3 billion women who don’t look like supermodels and only 8 who do.” She sent the message that you should love what you’ve got, not loathe it.

If you’re familiar with Ruby, you know that she’s not easy to locate. So, where’s this confident and curvaceous character been hiding? You can find her here, alongside other rejected and banned ads. We can thank Mattel for Ruby’s label of “Banned.” The U.S. toy manufacturer thwarted the innovative campaign in its early days by serving The Body Shop with a cease-and-desist order; all posters had to be removed from American shops. Click here to read more.....