Especially when I’m watching with my husband, it never fails to see tons of girls/women (perfect bodies, I might add) in either barely anything or nothing at all and now they’re even including women on women action (if you know what I mean). It is completely upsetting and humiliating to me every time I turn on tv and I’m to the point where I feel that I need counseling because I feel so horrible everyday!

Does anyone else out there feel this way because it doesn’t seem like it or am I just crazy??

Building awareness among our peers out there is key to breaking the perpetuation of stereotypes – another is developing or continuing to support evangelists out there in the market that are helping to shatter stereotypes.

MadamaAmbi, self-reflection is absolutely important so that each of us understands how we may be contributing to continuing the stereotypes. Although we may not all align on all of the root causes, feminism is a pretty personal and different experience for each of us, perhaps we can align on some of the broader issues impacting women and make a difference.

Just thinking today I’d also like to see us be proactive rather than reactive. As an example, illustrate the value of the female market, opening up their traditional demographic (Nintendo is an excellent case study in this arena) positively impacting revenue and ROI. Let’s face it, big business cares about their bottom line.

Nintendo skyrocketed to the top within the latest generation of console wars. Why? Because they explored a whole new demographic (women and older gamers) that was largely ignored by Microsoft and Sony. Their marketing campaigns in the latest generation(skewing heavier to women) demonstrate men and women, across generations, enjoying their product. Look at the latest Nintendo handheld – is it by coincidence that Nintendo executives renamed it the Nintendo DS from the Nintendo GameBoy? The rename opened up their market!

This is revolutionary thinking for the video game industry where “booth babes” are the norm and marketing campaigns like this occur, not infrequently: http://kotaku.com/5156423/half naked-woman-launches-uk-x blades

Sigh – but again with strong women working in the field and serving as mentors – positive growth and change is inevitable.

Amy I will be in touch.

We cover this issue extensively (this ‘all things girl’ series about empowering girls rather than consuming them will give you an idea of our devotion to this topic: http://blog.shapingyouth.org/?p=4507 so ping me if you’re game. Amy at shapingyouth dot org. Thanks all! Let’s get the word out. Sure wish I could’ve been there…slating a follow-up piece soon…

Women who wear stiletto high heels and can barely walk in them is one of my pet feminist peeves. A woman holding desperately onto the arm of her male companion while she teeters down a hill makes me want to grab her and scream that SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO WEAR THOSE STUPID SHOES!!! But, I know conscious feminists who love their stiletto heels and will never give them up. I’m sure if they were to scrutinize my life, they’d find a way I’m not living up to my feminism.

I think these kinds of discussion are critical. However, they don’t get very far because right about here people start defending their personal choices and their right to indulge in the things that give them pleasure. And then people wonder where the sisterhood went and we are a movement of women who feel hurt by their movement.

I don’t have an easy answer to this problem. I’m getting a little repetitive, I realize, in commenting again and again that “it’s a process.” So, where is the process? Well, right here, and anywhere women are talking to one another and really listening and not getting defensive. Do you remember consciousness raising groups? I might be one of the oldest feminists hanging around online with you young’uns! People scoff at CR groups as if they belong to a once-in-a-herstory time of flower children, granola and women-libbers. But I’ve done enough groups, both as a participant and as a facilitator, to know that this kind of circle is the circle that can rock the world.

When women come together and speak from personal experience about their lives, it becomes clear how hurt we are by patriarchy. Without anyone having to put out an action plan, it becomes clear what needs to change. We start to see who we are when we are not squeezed into rigid, smallminded, sexualized jewel boxes. We cry. We laugh. We collectively hold a vision of a different and better world prioritized around the very values that patriarchy has ground under its heavy, angry foot.

Right now I’m producing a webcam roundtable, UtalkGirl, for this very reason. We’re very much in beta right now and I’ve posted clips of our first session on YouTube. The quality of the video/audio sucks, but some of the conversation is as good as it gets. Unfortunately, our platform, ooVoo, didn’t record all of the audio and some amazing footage was lost, but it will come up again and it will be spoken again.

I’m doing this via webcam not only because I’m disabled by chronic pain/fatigue, but also so that I can broadcast these conversations. I’ve also put out the word that when we get the technical kinks worked out, I welcome women to come and produce their own roundtable. I’m also interviewing women by phone about their feminism, and I will be podcasting those on Interview for Obama. I want real women being real to be visible to one another. I want our conversations to be broadcast and accessible to the widest audience possible. The voices of real women have not been heard, not even those who have managed to climb the ladder and break into mainstream media. They probably do not even realize how much they are aping the patriarchy and how unknown they are to themselves.

Let’s keep talking and listening, sisters.

LOVE
Madama

And of course, in this chock-a-block full economy of culture, it’s hard to know what is good.

Does someone/some blog keep a list of good fem culture, a rating system, like R or PG–something like SOF- sexism and objectification free media? Or course, one could read lots of women in hollywood, but i’d want a rating or list. I’m going to rent baby mama just to up Poehler’s numbers!