Women's Movements

By Kyla Bender-Baird

“Sexualization of girls is nothing short of an epidemic,” said Hunter College President Jennifer Raab at the SPARK Summit this past Friday in NYC. SPARK stands for “Sexualization Protest: Action, Resistance,  Knowledge.” SPARK was convened to challenge the sexualization of girls, which has a detrimental impact on girls’ self-esteem, body image, mental health, and sense of self-efficacy. One of the most disturbing effects that Raab pointed out is that self-improvement has been defined as changing one’s body rather than expanding one’s mind. For examples of just how out-of-control the sexualization of girls has become (and also how folks are pushing back), check out this video the Women’s Media Center produced for the Summit:

By Kyla Bender-Baird

Do you have ideas on how to transform our body-hating culture into one of size acceptance and body love?  Submit them today!  As part of the March 2011 "Endangered Species: Preserving the Female Body" conference, The Women's Therapy Centre Institute is hosting a BIG IDEAS contest.  All you have to do is answer this question:

What is one bold action that could make the world truly value the diversity of women and girls’ bodies?

For details, click here. 

Put this on your must read list! Courtney Martin, of Feministing and Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters fame, has just launched a new book. Do It Anyway: The New Generation of Activists profiles the work of eight activists, doing what they can to make this world a better place.  As Courtney writes in "Generation Misunderstood" (a Women's Media Center Exclusive),

I found young people trying to make their lives matter each and every day, straining to be of service to others, asking important and complex questions about how one can be ethical and authentic in one’s activism and still pay the rent at the end of the day.
 

Hear from Courtney herself in this video:

By Kyla Bender-Baird

I am filing this under "love this."  The Ms. Foundation for Women gave a nice shout out to young feminists today on their blog, Igniting Change, as part of the Young Feminist Blog Carnival.  "Feminism matters to me because it takes into account all of these issues and addresses the interconnections of identity, oppression, and activism," says young feminist (and Ms. staffer) Rebecca Villatoro. Don't miss this fabulous video she include in her blog post: 

By Rylee Sommers-Flanagan*

History is a collective story. It is selectively written, representing even unintended preferences of its author, and it is selectively understood, transforming as the mind of the reader practices a sort of cognitive dissonance to contextualize it.

By Rylee Sommers-Flanagan*