Lisa Bloom: How to Talk to Little Girls

I went to a dinner party at a friend's home last weekend, and met her five-year-old daughter for the first time. Little Maya was all curly brown hair, doe-like dark eyes, and adorable in her shiny pink nightgown. I wanted to squeal, "Maya, you're so cute! But I didn't. What's wrong with that? Hold that thought for just a moment. This week ABC News reported that nearly half of all three- to six-year-old girls worry about being fat. Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything. That's why I force myself to talk to little girls as follows. "Maya," I said, crouching down at her level, looking into her eyes, "very nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you too," she said, in that trained, polite, talking-to-adults good girl voice. "Hey, what are you reading?" Her eyes got bigger, and the practiced, polite facial expression gave way to genuine excitement over this topic. "I LOVE books," I said. Most kids do. "YES," she said.

Rape Culture 101 [Trigger warning.] Frequently, I receive requests to provide a definition of the term "rape culture." I've referred people to the Wikipedia entry on rape culture, which is pretty good, and I like the definition provided in Transforming a Rape Culture: A rape culture is a complex of beliefs that encourages male sexual aggression and supports violence against women. But my correspondents—whether they are dewy noobs just coming to feminism, advanced feminists looking for a source, or disbelievers in the existence of the rape culture—always seem to be looking for something more comprehensive and less abstract: What is the rape culture? It is not a definition for which they're looking; not really. Rape culture is encouraging male sexual aggression. Rape culture is treating straight sexuality as the norm. Rape culture is rape being used as a weapon, a tool of war and genocide and oppression. Rape culture is 1 in 33 men being sexually assaulted in their lifetimes. Rape culture is rape jokes.

Goodreads | recent updates Illegally Park-ed - Page 1 - News - Orange County - OC Weekly No one disputes that an on-duty Irvine police officer got an erection and ejaculated on a motorist during an early-morning traffic stop in Laguna Beach. The female driver reported it, DNA testing confirmed it and officer David Alex Park finally admitted it. When the case went to trial, however, defense attorney Al Stokke argued that Park wasn't responsible for making sticky all over the woman's sweater. He insisted that she made the married patrolman make the mess—after all, she was on her way home from work as a dancer at Captain Cream Cabaret. "She got what she wanted," said Stokke. "She's an overtly sexual person." Officer Park: put your hands behind my back Related Stories More About A jury of one woman and 11 men—many white and in their 50s or 60s—agreed with Stokke. Park, 31, was red-faced and unable to control his twitching foot in the moments before the verdict was announced; if convicted, he would have faced prison. Meanwhile, Park was on patrol in the southwest portion of Irvine.

Tumblr i am i am i am Epic Fail Funny Videos and Funny Pictures So it goes. Cute Overload :D I Hate This Mess, In 2007, a British man charged with the rape of a... PostSecret So it goes. Geekologie - Gadgets, Gizmos, and Awesome Tropes vs. Women: #4 The Evil Demon Seductress First off, great video, as all in this series have been. I just have a minor gripe... I totally understand why Poison Ivy was put into the video. Again, I understand her inclusion, but I feel she is a more complicated character than simply an 'evil demon seductress' trope. What I'm saying is, people who know little of Ivy and see her as only being the embodiment of this trope should look more into the character. I'm done rambling now.

Bounce Away: "Sheets or Bar" Ads for Every Stereotype Let's talk about Bounce. Specifically, let's talk about the "Sheets or Bar" campaign, the only ad series I've seen lately that can compete with the obnoxiousness of Virgin Mobile's stalker humor. The concept? Compelling idea, right? Voiceover: Sheets or bar? Woman: I'm a sheets girl. Voiceover: How do you get YOUR Bounce? Woman (offscreen): Sheets. Ouch. Bounce's most obvious message here is that stereotypes of black women use dryer sheets, because they're sooo sassy, but there's more going on. Let's look at the other side of the heated (heh) sheets-or-bar debate with a video titled "Hospital:" Woman: Well, my husband's at home with the laundry, so it's a good thing I'm a bar person, because I know the laundry'll be fresh. Woman (offscreen): Love the bar. Again, it's hard to know where to start with the wrongness of these 18 seconds. And the hospital gown? Which leads me to a fundamental issue with this campaign: They're all women.