Monthly Archives: March 2012

March 30, 2012

Does the Vogue Mom Give Away Our Childhood Obesity Fears — Or Our Beauty Obsessions?

I admit, when this whole Vogue Mom story broke, I had to take some serious deep breaths. (In case you’ve been under a rock all week: Socialite Dara-Lynn Weiss wrote an essay in the April Vogue — the “shape” issue, ha! — about her obsessive efforts to get her seven-year-old to lose 16 pounds.) And when Ms. Weiss then announced that her fun anecdotes about screaming in Starbucks and forbiding her daughter to eat cupcakes (before sneaking two herself) resulted in a book deal… I had to take a lot of deep breaths. Because that is a thing. That is happening. Yeah.

Tagged as BMI, childhood obesity, Dara-Lynn Weiss, Georgia Billboards, obesity, Slate, Vogue, XXfactor

1 Comment

March 29, 2012

Human Bodies: Living Fabulous, Not One Size Fits All

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Yes, chickens, today I am showing you a video of Shaquille O’Neal’s appearance on The Daily Show from Monday night. You don’t have to watch the whole thing. It’s funny because John Stewart interviewing weird celebrities is always better than John Stewart asking very thoughtful questions of smart celebrities (see: anyone remotely affiliated with any government or Bono). And because Shaq describes himself as “living fabulous” and is getting a PhD. Well, alrighty then!

Filed under Beauty Standards, Glossed Over

Tagged as Beauty Standards, body diversity, Body Mass Index, Dances with Fat, Dove for Men, Ellen Degeneres, Health at Every Size, John Stewart, Ragen Chastein, Shaquille O'Neal, The Daily Show, Venus Williams

1 Comment

March 21, 2012

Israel Bans Underweight Models — So Who’s Hiring Them? [Slate / XXfactor]

I’m back on Slate’s XXfactor blog, with a piece about what these bans on underweight models might do to the models themselves. Of course the hope is: Allow them to keep working, now at a healthy weight. But that assumes the fashion industry will all fall neatly in line and start championing the health of their young workforce — which is pretty much the opposite of what’s happened so far anytime anyone has attempted industry reform thus far. (See Marc Jacobs refusing to check for underage models last month for the case in point.)

Tagged as anorexia, beauty ideals, BMI, Body Image, Double X, fashion industry, Israel bans underweight models, media, Model Alliance, photoshop, Sara Ziff, Slate, underweight models, workers' rights, XXfactor

4 Comments

March 20, 2012

Girl Model: The Prettiest (Exploited, Underage) Workforce [Slate's XX Factor]]

I already showed you the trailer, but today I’m on Slate’s XXfactor blog, talking more in-depth about Girl Model, the haunting and thought-provoking documentary premiering around the country this month. (List of screenings here.)

I’m interested to see that so far, the comment thread on that post zeroes in, yet again, on the age-old question: “Why are models so gosh-darn skinny?” There are a lot of theories about fashion being created by gay men and gay men liking a lithe, boy-like silhouette… Meh.

Tagged as Ashley Sabin, David Redmon, Girl Model, globalism, modeling, Slate, XXfactor

4 Comments

March 19, 2012

Brazilian Blowout Settles — So Why Are Stylists Still Getting Sick?

Today I’m over on The Nation Institute‘s Investigative Fund Blog, with a piece about the latest Brazilian Blowout court settlement.

You guys, I am seriously SO OVER this story. By which I mean: I am so over the fact that there is still a story to tell here.

First of all, we’ve known — anecdotally, at least — that keratin hair straightening treatments contain toxic chemicals ever since Siobhan and Alexandra were inspired to write No More Dirty Looks because of their $400 hair disaster.

Tagged as Brazilian Blowout, Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, formaldehyde, Investigative Fund, Jennifer Arce, keratin hair straightener, National Healthy Nail and Beauty Salon Alliance, No More DIrty Looks, safe cosmetics, The Nation Institute

4 Comments

March 15, 2012

And Now for Something Completely Different (Put Some Reclaimed Wood in Your Kitchen, Yo)

Today I’m over on the homepage of Cultivate (that’s Williams-Sonoma’s website dedicated to all things kitchen), with a piece about how to use reclaimed wood in your kitchen.

Lots of pretty pictures for your Pinterest-ing needs. With not a trace of fitspiration or thinspiration to mess with your head. Though I’m pretty sure kitchenspiration is also a thing now. And well, guilty as charged.

Filed under Press

Tagged as Cultivate, kitchens, kitchenspiration, Pinterest, reclaimed wood, Williams-Sonoma

3 Comments

March 14, 2012

Why Fit is the New Thin (And What We Can Do About It)

Trigger warning: In order to write today’s post, I have to use and link to images that are potentially triggering for folks with ED/in recovery/generally struggling with negative body image thought patterns right now. I’m going to be making it crystal clear why I do not endorse these images or want you to apply any of them to yourself — but please tread carefully and skip today’s post if you think this might be sensitive material for you. xo

Tagged as Body Image, fitspiration, fitspo, Jezebel, Pinterest, plastic surgery, Shoes, The Great Fitness Experiment, thinspiration, Thinspo, Tumblr, Zumba

53 Comments

March 12, 2012

Dear Teenage Girls: You’re Asking the Wrong Question (But It’s Not Your Fault)

Time Magazine tells me there is a new and disturbing trend du jour: Teen girls posting YouTube videos in order to let the Interwebs decide the 2012 version of that age-old burning question: Hot or not?

A quick survey of YouTube does indeed pull up dozens of videos like this, including the one above where a girl in an awesome koala hat explains that she’s going to show us lots of pictures of herself because “I just wanted to make a random video seeing if I was, like, ugly or not because a lot of people call me ugly and I think I’m ugly and fat, but all of my friends that are girls, they’re just, like, Oh you’re so beautiful … and I’m, like, Shut up because I’m not beautiful.”

Tagged as am I pretty or ugly videos, eating disorders, Jessica Winter, Peggy Orenstein, teenage girls, Thinspo, Time, Tumblr, YouTube

5 Comments

March 7, 2012

The Play’s the Thing: Disabilities and the Arts [Parents Magazine]

The adorable munchkins you see pictured above are members of the Wolf Performing Arts Center, an incredibly special theater group for children of all abilities based in the Philadelphia suburbs. Wolf PAC has been a huge part of my own family’s life and a gift to the whole Philadelphia community for the past seven years. So I’m quite delighted to tell you that my profile of Wolf PAC and its unique approach to inclusion for children with special needs is out now in the April 2012 issue of Parents.

You can read the story, called The Play’s The Thing: Disabilities and the Arts, on their website here. And watch a video of the kids doing their musical theater thing! (So cute. The current interweb sloth obsession has nothing on them — don’t tell Kristen Bell.) And of course, remember to show your love at the newsstand too.

Filed under Happenings, Press

Tagged as autism, disabilities, Parents Magazine, theater, Wolf PAC

2 Comments

March 6, 2012

Girl Model

Girl Model Trailer from Ashley Sabin on Vimeo.

As there always is during and immediately following New York Fashion Week, there’s been a lot of talk about how tough it is to be a model lately. But this year, I’m so pleased to see that the conversation seems to be pushing beyond the “OMG, eat more sandwiches!” horse that is dead and beaten. See: Leah Chernoff’s great Fashionista piece about the Model Alliance and also: Sociologist/former model Ashley Mears’ analysis of why modeling is a bad job.

Tagged as Ashley Mears, Ashley Sabin, David Redmon, fashion industry, Fashionista, Girl Model, Leah Chernoff, Model Alliance, modeling, New York Fashion Week

1 Comment

Monthly Archives: March 2012

Does the Vogue Mom Give Away Our Childhood Obesity Fears — Or Our Beauty Obsessions?

Human Bodies: Living Fabulous, Not One Size Fits All

Israel Bans Underweight Models — So Who’s Hiring Them? [Slate / XXfactor]

Girl Model: The Prettiest (Exploited, Underage) Workforce [Slate's XX Factor]]

Brazilian Blowout Settles — So Why Are Stylists Still Getting Sick?

And Now for Something Completely Different (Put Some Reclaimed Wood in Your Kitchen, Yo)

Why Fit is the New Thin (And What We Can Do About It)

Dear Teenage Girls: You’re Asking the Wrong Question (But It’s Not Your Fault)

The Play’s the Thing: Disabilities and the Arts [Parents Magazine]

Girl Model

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Monthly Archives: March 2012

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Body Politics

Eco Pretty

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