Wednesday, October 31, 2007

How Perfect Are You?

"About-Face's mission is to equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist the harmful stereotypes of women the media disseminates." OK, now THAT's what I'm talking about!

"Our ultimate goal, the About-Face vision, is to imbue girls and women with the power to free themselves from body-related oppression, so they will be capable of fulfilling their potential." Amen, sisters!

This website features a photo on the opening page of a woman with her two girls, holding a sign that says, "I don't need plastic surgery because I want my daughters to look like ME!" One page lists 10 things you can do to help achieve their mission, and here are a few points I found particularly compelling. Think about it.

-Girls listen to what women say about themselves and learn the language of womanhood.

-You can stop perpetuating the quest for perfection by NOT talking about how imperfect you are.

-You're the boss of you--wear what you want, say what you want, do what you want.

-Ladies, make a short list of women you admire. How often does what you admire about those women have to do with their looks?

I'm pretty sure Hillary doesn't wear a size 4 and model in her free time. And if you watch C-SPAN, you KNOW those congresswomen don't give a rip about what they look like. Maybe they're actually busy paying attention to things like, oh, I don't know, the war in Iraq, global warming, genocide in Africa, and the poverty level of U.S. senior citizens.

Visit the About-Face blog for a little wake-up call about what's going on in the fashion industry and what advertisers (of yogurt, alcohol, and all sorts of things) are saying about women. And watch this YouTube video for a different perspective.

1 comment:

Gary said...

I can't even begin to imagine how much inspiration and creativity would be unleashed if we weren't so preoccupied with our own looks and how others look. I first read this post a week ago and I'm still thinking about it!