I was contacted today by an amazing group: PURE: Public Urban Ritual Experiment. They have an upcoming show, where the dancers reflect on their body image as it developed over their life spans. It sounds completely amazing, and if anyone wants to fly me to New York next weekend, I am totally there. If you [...]
Archives for body issues
Openness
If you follow me on Twitter, you know I spent a few weeks this summer in Germany with my two kids visiting my mother. It was a lovely vacation.
Here are some things I noticed that struck me as very different from America, and of interest in this space:
Swimming (or Comfort with bodies and sexuality)
Germany has [...]
What does your body really look like?
I have heard from far too many parents that their teenagers don’t seem to know what their bodies really look like. They are hypercritical, obsessive, and emotional. They say things like, “I’m so fat” and “I wish I looked more like…” and they wince in the mirror. The parents who bring this particular issue to [...]
Sexuality in the Media - part 3
On Wednesday I described an assignment I give to my college Human Sexuality students where they create a media image that incorporates positive sexuality. I am posting three best projects from my class this semester. On Wednesday, I posted about the blog Avant Garde Bodies, yesterday I put up sexy advertisements that showed real women’s [...]
Why we link sex and menstruation
Yesterday someone commented on an earlier post called Making menstruation personal again. Here is what she (or he) said:
I find the “medicalization” of menstruation abhorrent, but I disagree that “menstruation is one of the first parts of teaching young women about sex and sexuality.” Of course sex ed is really important, but I think explanations [...]
Top Ten Things To Do Before You Have Sex: A list for teenagers
This is actually an old post. But I have had many requests for it again recently, and so thought it was worth bumping back up to the front for a day. And yes, this is something to show your teenagers if you think they’re thinking about starting to - or have already started - having [...]
Critique of the new Dove commercial
Dove Commercial
Dear Dove,
This commercial sucks.
I know you think you’re all cool and whatever because you’re supposed to be standing up for girls, but you’ve missed the boat here by a wide margin. In fact, rather than supporting girls’ movement towards “Real Beauty,” you’ve gone in the exact opposite direction.
And what makes this so surprising [...]
Skinny Cat
Unlike Phoebe’s Smelly Cat, the Skinny Cat goes beyond noxious and strays into the problematic.
This weekend we were hanging out with my daughter’s 6-year-old friend, who we’ll call Jane because that’s shorter and faster to type than her actual name. We’re close to Jane’s whole family, and always have a lovely time together. This weekend, [...]
Teen arrested for prom dress - no, really
Ah, good ole Texas. Always a great place for scandals like this one. So here’s what happened: A senior named Marche Taylor wore a really skimpy dress and was denied entrance to her prom based on it. And yes, it is really, really skimpy. So I get where the prom sponsor [...]
The Body Project, by Joan Jacobs Brumberg
The Body Project is a great book to give you a historical understanding of how American society developed to the point where girls are obsessed with their bodies.
The story begins with how the time-line of reproductive development has changed over many years from the mid-teens to late-childhood.
The Body Project goes on to discuss menstruation, and [...]
