Highly Offensive Hallmark Greeting Card

I just saw this post about the picture of a Hallmark (UK) greeting card that’s been circulating on the Twittersphere and I just had to share it. I’ve seen some interesting greeting cards out there, but may I say…this one takes the cake. I would’ve never expected to see this kind of shit aimed at 13-year-olds at Hallmark.

It reads:

“You’re 13 today! If you had a rich boyfriend he’d give you diamonds and rubies

Well, maybe next year you will—when you’ve bigger boobies!”

For a 13 year-old! Is that f****d up or what?!

Thankfully we have Twitter today which allows us to quickly focus our attention on problematic issues. Apparently, the outcry was felt on Hallmark’s end and it forced them to publicly apologize, claiming that the card was manufactured 15 years ago by some Arnold Barton before they owned the company.  

We can only apologise on behalf of Arnold Barton and promise to do our utmost in tracking down any copies remaining in circulation.

How was this not screened though? It sends a really strong and HORRIBLE message to little girls all over the world! I wouldn’t want my niece getting a card like this for her birthday—or reading anything with such a message for that matter!

Some businesses are out to make money no matter what. (Companies like Macy’s, not removing bigot Donald Trump from their campaign.) But I’m glad Hallmark “will track down” the remaining of these cards and remove them from their shelves. As for the dude who made the card, no idea who he is but he should be ashamed of himself for contributing to all the sexism women face today.

 

What does it mean to be a smart girl?

 

Amy Poehler and the Smart Girls team explain it!

I agree with them in that we don’t see these kind of girls on TV anymore. The media is treating smart as if it was just another trend, a trend that is “out.” Let’s not that trend convince  us, girls! Smart is always in! A smart girl is not afraid to identify and talk about her interests, whether it is science, math, dancing or drawing. She’s not afraid to conquer the world. A smart girl knows that, to be happy, she can’t be anyone else but herself.

What does it mean to you?

 

What Shakira has taught me about boobs

This I doubt, but in case you don’t know who Shakira is, she’s a famous Colombian singer-songwriter, dancer, record producer, and (though maybe not officially) a poet. When writing in English, I feel that she could perhaps hire a better translator or interpreter who knows both cultures well in order to polish her lyrics a bit more. Her stuff kind of gets lost when translated to English. But the work she’s done in Spanish: genius.

Anyway, this post is about the lyrics she’s written about her chest.

Sure her hips don’t lie (have you seen the girl dance?!) and she looks so natural and effortlessly sexy, unlike many female artists. One would think she has nothing to complain about. But I’m sure that if she writes about it, it is likely that she’s felt the pressure in that world of constant scrutiny.

Other than sparking my interest to learn belly dancing from watching her dance all these years, she’s one of the few female superstars who’ve proven that you can, indeed, conquer the world with small breasts and humility.

Shakira mentions her boobs in at least two of her songs. One of them, Objection,  goes:

Next to her cheap silicone I look minimal
That’s why in front of your eyes I’m invisible
But you’ve got to know small things also count
Better put your feet on the ground

The other one (probably better known than Objection in America), Whenever, Wherever, goes:

Lucky that my breasts are small and humble so you don’t confuse them with mountains.

Here’s a woman who’s proud of her small assets and she wants the world to know. Well, we’re listening because we can relate! So, thank [your god here] for artists like Shakira.

What can I say; I take lyrics like these seriously. When you have a small chest and people as famous as Shakira tell you — and show you — that it’s cool and that you should be thankful, you simply feel good.

There isn’t much mainstream music that teaches girls a note of confidence anymore. Nowadays artists sing about the stupidest things. Actually, I have to give it to Lady Gaga for Born This Way and Christina Aguilera for Beautiful, The Voice Within, and Fighter.

Are there any song lyrics that boost your self-confidence?

Understanding my friend and her big problems

Every time my large-busted friend tells me that she wants a breast reduction, I gasp and give her my best shocked-Anna Faris’ face.

Are you crazy?! Why would you want to do such a thing?

Followed by a moment of silence while my friend makes her signature puppy face and nods, “No.”

She reminds me that her DD cup is causing her all sorts of problems, especially–and more threatening to her health–serious backaches. Then I regain consciousness and the expression on my face changes to something like, “Oh.”

It brings her spirit down when she talks about it. It’s a serious problem. I feel bad. So, small busted girls, my only point today is that we should be thankful for what we have.

 

Exotic see-through apparel: offensive to Americans

Help me out here; are you offended by this image? In what way? If your minor children saw it, would you be terrified?

Sears model wears see-through garment

God forbid we show the world that we have nipples!

This has nothing to do with flat-chested girls (obviously), but as a woman with so much to say, I reacted. I have absolutely no shame of my body and not a care of what the world thinks about me, so this doesn’t offend me. What I find offensive and just odd is when women modeling lingerie on catalogs are missing their nipples. It just makes me feel, like, well this is not fair for the average woman. We can’t afford to have it surgically removed…we kinda want the things to stay. We know something is supposed to be at the top of that boob, but the magazine makes it look so good without that something that we just can’t wait to buy that item so that we can look like those models. Nipple-less aliens!

If anything, this whole airbrushing thing is misleading.  And misleading the public is not outrageous to the American Family Association? The One Million Moms organization (who by the way is way below the million-mark) also needs to focus on other more-important issues that should be of real concern to parents, like bullying. (Just like PETA, I’m starting to question what their goal really is.)

I don’t see how the Sears image is explicit at all.

I have a huge problem with pornography because of how degrading it is to women. However, this doesn’t offend me. This subject will not go away until men stop seeing women as objects; until women in the porn industry decide for themselves that they don’t want to do it anymore; until the human body is no longer regarded as a taboo…the list goes on. Changing the rules will require more effort than we can imagine from everyone. Every culture is different, but Americans seem to be among the most closed-minded. (Almost comical in the land of the free!) We need to break free from that mentality.

When I was living in Spain, they aired topless women on TV for desexualized commercials all the time. At first I was shocked, but then I got used to it. Most Spanish women also take off their bikini top at the beach, whereas in the United States it may be punishable. I worked as a teaching assistant there and was taken aback a little when I first heard the teachers’ blunt ways of teaching sexual education and how the children so openly welcomed it. I believe that not too long ago there was a huge debate in the U.S. about whether kids should be taught sex education in school or not. Well, it looks like the subject is still a controversy.  And then you wonder why the rate for teen pregnancy is so high in America…

In Spain, I used to walk by newspaper stands with porn magazines hanging freely on the shelves.  Aren’t children walking around these things? How is this legal? I thought. The only ones freaked out by the magazines were us, the Americans. (I still don’t approve of porn—that’s my personal problem with that.) But, observing Spaniards’ behavior, I realized that they’ve gotten it right. The more parents hide the truth from their kids, the more kids will want to know about it. Humans want what they can’t have. They’ll have it anyway. Decriminalize it.

It doesn’t hurt adding some good values to the mix. If we teach children sexual education from an early age and teach them what really matters in life, by the time they’re young adults, certain sorts of things won’t really bother them.

The Sears see-through lingerie issue brings back memories of something similar I recently saw.  Someone showed me an image of Alicia Keys on a hip hop gossip website I wouldn’t have visited otherwise. The photos were meant to show how glamorous the singer looked at the MTV VMA’s, I guess. But then they pointed out a single image of Keys zoomed in on her breasts, captioned as “Look who made an appearance.” Grown men seriously making a big deal out of her nipples poking through her dress? Her outfit wasn’t see-through, but you could see she wasn’t wearing a bra (or airbrushing). Had she cared she would’ve probably worn something underneath. But I have a feeling Alicia Keys had more important things to do, like worry about her music performance.

No human life is endangered by looking at a picture of a model showing a little skin on a catalog of a forgotten store’s even-more-forgotten lingerie department. The funniest thing is that—and these are totally unrelated to each other—the same people who oppose a harmless nipple-display are sometimes the same people who don’t mind their children playing violent video games or having access to a rifle. Correct me if I’m wrong, but one of these may actually lead to the killing of people—a nipple doesn’t.

I don’t know if I’m getting my point across here. I could go on and on, but I’ll end it after this line: this whole please-hide-your-human-body thing is full of senselessness and double-standards.

Feel free to share your thoughts, please!

Related articles

• Victoria’s Secret Does It Again: When Racism Meets Fashion (racialicious.com)

We Need More Condom Ads

With all the idiocy going on lately about women and abortion—how politicians and everyone else (especially those without a vagina) want to tell us what to do with our bodies—I was thinking, why are all the responsibilities pushed on women? It takes two to make a baby!

This thought came from watching a condom commercial on TV today. They’re so rare. Why aren’t there more commercials about wearing protection? The more we make the younger generation (and people in general) aware of the available methods of protection, the less we’ll have to deal with the twisted abortion subject. And by the way, I’m pro-choice all the way.

It sounds as if people have forgotten how a baby is made. They all talk about the pill, the pill, the pill…but what about men?! They all seem to be making women the only responsible party in procreation. I’m sure women don’t wake up one day feeling like getting pregnant only to end up aborting it. Accidents happen. Whatever the reason for an abortion, a man should also be held responsible for the act because he knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to put his penis in that woman’s vagina. (This sounds like elementary sex education, but I guess this is how you’re supposed to teach those with elementary knowledge.)

I just think that this society has gotten out of control and has gotten it all wrong. Cable TV channels, like MTV, are too busy teaching their young viewers how to get f***** up and knocked up at 16. Then what do we get? An entire lost generation with no sense of responsibility.

A lot of celebrities say that they shouldn’t be held responsible for others’ kids’ behavior. That’s true. But what they forget is that—and let me quote Spiderman’s grandfather—with great power comes great responsibility. Public figures know everyone is watching their every move. Many people want to be like them. Teenagers want to be like them. So, since kids want to do what they do, I think they should try—or start?—promoting safe sex a little bit harder.

Ads that promote protection and birth control methods should be aired more frequently instead of putting all the pressure on women. America needs to start accepting it, too. I was reading one day that some condom ads had been banned in the U.S. Meanwhile, Jersey Shore and “16 & Pregnant” are still being broadcasted. Disturbing. I don’t think sex education encourages sex at all; it saves everyone the headaches! And, perhaps, even stop politicians from trying to decide for us.

Self-Esteem

Reblogged from rendezvous:

Judging a person does not define who they are. It defines who you are.

To be beautiful means to be you. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.

(Found written on a napkin under one of the tables, Kuang's cuisine)

What to do when you have small or zero boobs and the TV is telling you to grow a pair?

Annoyed. I can’t think of a better way to express how I feel every time I’m watching a movie where they emphasize that bigger breasts are a man’s ultimate desire. There are tons of movies that do this. The most recent for me? I just saw the movie Ruby Sparks—the story of a writer who is having writer’s block after much success in his life and he creates a female character, Ruby, that comes to life, he falls in love with, blah blah blah. I actually liked the movie.

Well, in this movie, the writer tells his brother that he can make Ruby do whatever he wants…

You can imagine where a conversation like that between two men goes. So obviously the brother asked the writer  if he could make her grow “bigger tits.”

If it touches a nerve in someone like me; someone who is already bored of and done with the media’s artificial word, I imagine flat-chested girls with less confidence and more vulnerability would feel humiliated, as if they were not good enough to please a man. And the point here is not “pleasing a man” at all, but feeling good about ourselves. This is the kind of crap that pisses me off about the mainstream media. Why can’t they just quit the subject already? This society is not getting any better.

When I see teenagers online as young as 13 talking about how “flat” they are—HELLO! You’re 13!—it really drives me mad because I know we owe it all to Hollywood. It’s really sickening and I am not buying it!

I am lucky to have reached a point in my life where I feel comfortable in my own skin and I’m able to easily brush off the negativism. But I wasn’t always like this and I know how uncomfortable and hurtful it can be. That’s why I tell my stories, to help girls out there dealing with the same issue realize that, though the media will try to put you down for your “lack of contributions” to men, in the end your self-worth is what counts. When you reach that level of invincibility, nothing can break you. Inflated or flat, think highly of yourself. A pair of fake boobs will probably just end up costing you a fortune and all sorts of trouble anyway. Self-confidence is your cheapest remedy and defense.

Missrepresentation: Brilliant, Must-See, We Needed This!

The other day, browsing movies on iTunes, my boyfriend came across Missrepresentation, a powerful documentary that uncovers the reality we’ve been living in with today’s media, the portrayal of women on television and advertisements and how the mainstream media is contributing to the under-representation of women. Right now I’m in Spain and had not heard about the film. But hey, was I glad I did.

First, I have to say that for the past few months I’ve been writing my (first) book, my own story as a woman with “little to offer” up-here, according to the typical American man, I’ve had to think about what really influenced me in my teen years, and I thought of Television. I sat back and thought: Wow, is there anybody else out there who sees what I see? Do parents care about what their young girls are seeing around? Can they at least sit down with them and talk with them with hopes that they’ll open up their eyes the right way, before someone else does it the wrong way?

I’ve been lucky enough to have been raised by a strong woman who never let me watch the crap the media feeds us on TV. I grew up not giving two sh*ts about Telenovelas or reality shows like “America’s Next Top Model.” I’m proud to say that I don’t watch reality shows — or much TV, in fact. The only media that could actually make me get up and sit in front of a screen include Tina Fey, Conan O’Brien and the whole National Geographic program — and documentaries like Miss Representation, of course. But there aren’t a lot of powerful mothers like my mother out there anymore. Children age seven, eight, nine…are on Facebook! Like my own little cousins, for instance. Come on! How are parents allowing this?!

Sometimes I’m reminded of that movie Idiocracy, where no one was educated and humanity got so dumbed out they replaced the entire water system with Gatorade. It’s a genius concept that somebody must’ve predicted exactly where this society is going if they keep this rate. I seriously worry about this society and how the dumbest of all people (who shouldn’t have kids) keep bringing children into this world.

Then, I watched Missrepresentation. This documentary should be played on Television every single day for all parents and teenagers to sit down together and watch. It was about time somebody came up with the facts!

In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality — and not in her capacity as a leader. While women have made strides in leadership over the past few decades, the United States still ranks 90th in the world for women in national legislatures, depression rates have doubled among teenage girls, and cosmetic surgery on minors has more than tripled in the last ten years.

Now we need to pass along the message. The newer generations are going down instead of up and we need to take action. Watch the film. Share. Make your daughters watch. Pass the message. It really is a wake-up call.

Related articles

• “MISS Representation” – A MUST WATCH (metabodymind.wordpress.com)
• Sex, lies and media: New wave of activists challenge notions of beauty (cnn.com)
• Miss Representation – holding media accountable for objectification and misrepresentation (feministmeup.wordpress.com)
• Sex, lies and media: New wave of activists challenge notions of beauty – CNN.com (worldwright.wordpress.com)

Glad I can sleep on my stomach (Comfortably)

I usually sleep on my back (I can’t believe I’m sharing my sleeping position on here), but once in a while I just want to lie flat on my tummy. My mom always warned me and my sister; she said we would get less wrinkles on our face and body later on if we slept on our backs. Thanks for looking out, mom! Though I think I’ll be fine.

As I toss and turn in my bed, I grab my iPad and share my thoughts with you: I think it’s fantastic that us señoritas are able to do this without having to worry about squashing our non-existent boobs! Cheers for that.