August 2007 Archives

On Ariel's nightstand:
Selling Women Short
The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart
by Liza Featherstone

It's been out for a while, but I finally got around to reading Selling Women Short. The stories about women who are battling Wal-Mart's discrimination, sexism, and low-wages read like fiction. I couldn't put the book down. Unfortunately it's not fiction, but that makes it even more important to read.

Whether or not you've read the book, what do you think about Wal-Mart?

If you're in the LA area, come check out the Sticker Sisters booth at Lady Party 911. It's Tuesday, September, 11th at the Echoplex. Lady Party is a really cool event put on by this new organization called OBJECT.

The night will start out with a conversation that they're calling "Punishing the Princess: The Media's Obsession with Condemning Paris, Lindsay, and Britney." It'll feature comediennes Jessi Klein and Jessica Chaffin, sex educator Nina Hartley, author Jen Sincero, and neo-feminist philosopher Tracy McMillan. Then later in the night hip-hop trio Yo Majesty and dance-punk rockers Von Iva will perform.

Have you been hearing about this so-called "modesty movement?" Of course I'm all for providing alternatives to Bratz style clothes (have you seen the latest Sticker Sisters t-shirts?), but this "modesty movement" makes me gag.

They're trying to push a "chaste but chic" dress code on girls. Not surprising that this movement is connected to faith-based organizations and abstinence only advocates. But perhaps the scariest part is that the mother of the modesty movement, Wendy Shalit, is still trying to blame sexual harassment and rape on women's "lack of modesty." And here I thought we were past that ridiculous idea that a women is "asking for it" if she wears a short skirt. Ugh.

Ann Ream (founder of Voices and Faces Project) says it well in the LA Times:

"Scratch the surface [of the modesty movement], and what's supposed to be good for girls reveals itself to be all about the boys: dressing in a way that doesn't over-excite them, demurring so that their manhood remains intact and holding tight to our sexuality until we find a husband who is worthy of that ultimate 'prize.'"

More
LA Times: "The false modesty movement"
Talk of the Nation: "Modern Girls and the Modesty Movement"

This summer has been one middle school flashback after another. But luckily they've all been good! I met Hillary Carlip who wrote the book Girl Power and I saw Team Dresch perform. Reading material and music that helped me survive middle school.

But the coolest flashback has been getting a copy of Belle magazine. The magazine was started by Kelcie Angstadt when she was 13 years old (she's now 15). It totally made me think of how I wanted to write a zine when I was 13, but didn't feel ready to put my opinions out there with my writing.

I ended up starting Sticker Sisters instead, which helped me find my voice in a different way. But I love seeing girls express themselves through writing.

The July/August issue of Belle has an article about how to "Be Green" and a quiz asking, "Do you care what other people think?" The title of the quiz might not sound that different from mainstream teen magazines, but the advice at the end sure is! It celebrates individualism and offers suggestions for getting away from today's "fashion-obsessed" society.

In an article on "The Great Debate about Weight," Kelcie writes:

"We are all different sizes, and I hope that I live long enough to see an era where women can be proud of that fact, not hide from it. If we accept that we are different, it will dissolve those thoughts in the back of our mind, like 'She's so much prettier than I am' or 'I wish I looked that good in a bikini.' Why focus on thoughts like that when they only bring you down. It doesn't help anyone, and especially not you. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and if you train yourself to refocus that eye, you'll see that you are beautiful, size zero or not."

Powerful words. Keep an eye on Belle--in a few years it just might give Bitch and Bust a run for their money!

Girls & Writing
WriteGirl
New Moon Magazine
Teen Voices