Taking Girls Childhoods-one icon at a time

I was an 80's kid. This means neon colors, bad hairdos and most of all awesome cartoons. My cartoon icons were cute, sweet and lovable if they were young and could kick butt if they were older and that was OK by me. 

I was very excited to see a lot of yester-years coming back to cartoon land as my own kids would be able to enjoy them as I had before them- but wait something was seriously amiss- where was the demure dresses and sweet innocence I remembered from my youth?

I looked to little avail... Now I like these cartoons for the most part. They are still sweet with good morals and story lines and my kids like watching them and aren't trying to kill one another afterwards, which is always a bonus...but I miss the days when little girls looked like little girls.

A personal favorite, Rainbow Brite is supposed to be a six year old orphan named Wisp who saves the Color Kids and brings color and rainbows back to her world and Earth- in this new incarnation, Rainbow looks more like 16 and her dress looks like it is about to go flying. Still cute but not appropriate for the story line or little kids anymore, in my opinion.  

Strawberry Shortcake still looks young and in this guise at least still looks modest though slimming her down was unnecessary. She was made so mainstream looking really that I feel it took away from the cute raggedy-ness that made her a classic. All her friends are basic carbon copies of the same look as well no matter the ethnic background with just tiny hints to their ethnicity.

Now Cheetara, from Thundercats started off with a woman's figure, but as you can see with their reinvention they added way more cleavage, took away half her uniform, and made them hip huggers and cut away her waist into insane proportions. This new Cheetara is also supposed to be a teenager rather than a twenty-something from the older cartoon.

In a really weird transformation we go between species for our sexualization. My Little Ponies Friendship Is Magic, Equestrian Girls takes the carefree Ponies into a world where they are human- which of course means knee high boots, stomach showing tops, mini skirts or short shorts, and heels or thigh-highs... 

RIGHT.

Even Disney apparently felt the pressure to sex up their newest princess, Meridia, from the hit Brave. Taking her from a semi-good role model willing to stand up for herself to another, in my eyes, dolled up bimbo- something the character- humorously enough fought against in the movie like crazy.

Victoria Secret are targeting teens again

Victoria's Secret for Teens/Tweens

Since when is it OK for teens to even be at a Victoria Secret show, let alone be shelling out money for the sexy lingerie that the company provides? Apparently it is now since the company has an entire line out called PINK- though it states it is aimed at college girls, even an executive at the company stated that the core buyers of the line are teen girls because,

"When somebody’s 15 or 16 

years old, what do they want to be?" Chief Financial Officer 

Stuart Burgdoerfer said at a conference. "They want to be 

older, and they want to be cool like the girl in college, and 

that’s part of the magic of what we do at Pink."

 http://www.businessinsider.com/victorias-secret-markets-to-teenagers-2013-11#ixzz2lbR3ngaP

Some of the underclothes seen on the runway this year.

What girl teen OR tween wouldn't want these fun fashions? And therein lies the problem- Victoria Secret is selling sexy outfits to children- the fun, cute outfits are playful enough the balloons seems innocent and sweet- but its underwear people- and if its so adorable not only are they preying on the brand loyalty at an earlier and earlier age but should what amounts to kids be wearing such sexualized undergarments? I certainly don't think so!

But don't take my word for it lets look at some of the items they are selling right on their site. With this little gem you dont even have to wait for puberty to hit to enjoy lacy, sexy (read slutty) clothes.  The description reads:
No girl should be without a blingy bralette & matching v-string panty combo—all in pretty peek-a-boo lace. Ready to go in a pretty box.

Bling Bralette and Panties Gift set

UMMM Yeah my girl should, can and WILL be without v-string panties-thanks, and this is just the tip of the iceberg of sexualized items being purposely sold to younger and younger girls in fun colors and patterns. 

 View entire PINK collection HERE at the Victoria Secret's website.

Manly men sell

When companies want to sell something that isn't considered "manly" or "tough" the best way to do it is to put a tough spokesman behind the product as a way to make it more acceptable for a man to purchase. This tactic can be seen in many commercials and the latest, I have seen in this batch is Shaq selling men's lotion- something not manly at all.

Other instances of this tactic include Terry Crews in the infamous Old Spice commercials.

Even Chuck Norris has gotten into the commercial business- he is seen below in an advertisement for the MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) World of Warcraft.

Other spokesmen for  WoW have been Mr. T and Ozzy Osbourne.

Edutainment - "Turn game time into brain time"

The edutainment industry is a booming business- from shows to toys to flashcards there is everything and anything out there to make babies and toddlers smarter in the parental market.

Beginning with the Baby Einstein Boom, products flooded the market to improve a baby's mental aptitude and abilities. Just plop Junior or Princess in front of the flashy puppets singing and showing famous art and musical compositions and they will be smarter. (not to mention mom will get five minutes of quiet without feeling like a "bad mom" because this is "good for them" right?)

After Baby Einstein came Brainy Baby and hundreds of other DVDs, toys, video games, and other items have flooded the marked preying on a parent's insecurities and want to make sure their kids have and are the best.

But there is no research to confirm the giant promises these companies are making to parents everywhere- in fact some early research is even showing that increased watching of these videos might stunt language and developmental skills rather than improve them. Though screen time in general is not recommended for children under two at all, these DVDs are being hawked to parents to babies barely out of the womb.

Have an older kiddo? A toddler need not worry there are plenty of edutainment opportunities for mom and dad to spend their money on. Game systems like Leapster and V-Flash advertise themselves as learning game systems- not all like the mindless gaming machines...right...

Then there are the gaming edutainment websites such as ABC Mouse, Funbrain.com, and BrainNook to name a few.

A multi-million dollar industry built on the idea that babies and toddlers are in need of higher education, rather than free play, fun and old fashioned pretend. 

Drop Dead Diva- Society's View of Women

Drop Dead Diva

Meet Deb- a "actress/model" in Hollywood whose dream job is a prize announcer on The Price Is Right. 

Her life is abruptly ended while putting on make-up for a modeling interview in traffic. Sent to the Heaven waiting station, she discovers her life hasn't really been good or bad and panicking she hits the large red return button thinking she will be returned to her old body back on Earth. 

Not so much, at the time of her return Jane- an overweight lawyer was dying and Deb got sent into Jane's Body instead. Now the once skinny, vapid model whose power and self worth came from her  perfect body and dreams of being a model/ actress are down the drain. 

Meet Jane- an overweight, overworked lawyer who cares nothing about her looks, social life or anything but her job. When she dies she is depressed and unhappy with her life. Though she is very smart and good at her job she is belittled by the other women in the office due to her weight.

So who has the most power here? Deb is now Jane and is struggling with being "ugly and fat".

In fact most of the first episodes are of her trying valiantly to "fix" this new body into her old one's shape. The new Jane has no memory of being Jane, of course, so is winging it as a lawyer and learning that without her looks to skate by she really is smart and can learn and do many things she never thought she could before her second chance.

I think that the show is very telling in that only when her physical "perfection" is taken away, that Deb is able to see the beauty and intelligence she has always had. It reminds me of the beauty and the beast tale where once the outside wasn't the main attraction the inner light could be seen. Mainstream media doesn't often promote this ideal and this show was a huge hit, I think because many people LIKED the idea of the skinny chick being forced to be the one she had always made fun of or at least had an uber fear of becoming.

The Mom Wars

BOTTLE VERSUS BREAST

CLOTH VERSUS DISPOSABLE

STAY AT HOME VERSUS BACK TO WORK

We have all heard of - and probably been (or will be at some point) a part of the mom wars; whether as the mom yourself, the husband/ significant other or the other person in the argument. In today's society, it seems like the media is pushing the separation of the moms out there as if having a unified force of women is a disaster waiting to happen- and i suppose it is.

Women of today are so busy trying to be the perfect mom and wife and woman that society keeps shoving down our throats that we have no time for ourselves let alone other women and valuable relationships, causes and cares.

Televisions earliest images of women were contented house wives and mothers. Women whose sole pleasures came from providing a life for her family. even when later the wife did work outside the home the husband and children always came first and the women were always perfectly coiffed with immaculate homes.

You never saw a toy out of place and a errant child was quickly turned around with a sound word or two. In todays media we see an entirely different view of motherhood- the battlefield. from even before one gets pregnant women are harked on about thee "vital" issues.

What will they eat? Wear? will you continue to work?
and I have been on both sides of all three arguments and the media plays a huge role in the animosity between loving mothers who all in the end only want whats best for their baby.

Why would the media care?

MONEY!
From the millions of books sold on how to do everything baby related to  talk shows, self help gurus and all around consumerism built around the my parenting is better than yours strategies the media is making a killing by making new moms feel like a failure no mature what choice they make.

From Scary to Slutty- Halloween Advertisements and the Media Monster

~Mean Girls

At younger and younger ages the idea of dressing in a slutty manner for Halloween is becoming the accepted norm. In movies and T.V. shows the idea of the slutty (insert something random here) costume has taken on a life of its own making everything from a pirate to a zombie into a sex symbol and selling that idea to a younger and younger audience every year.

~Idle Hands

We have all seen the movies where the teen girls are dressed in next to nothing are in "costume" and so its OK...not so much people! The girls in these movies are perpetuating the idea - along with the Halloween advertising and costuming websites that sell scraps of cloth and call them costumes that it is alright to look like a hooker waiting for her next John in the spirit of Good Fun...

~Night of the Demons 1988

Still most of these movies involve older teens at least- 15 or 16 and above- unfortunately the Costume industry doesn't feel the need to stay to even that low standard but insists on targeting not oly teens in slut-tacular hot messes but even younger audiences as well. 

This highly offensive ad was in the Spirit Halloween Store Tween Section. 

Some other truly terrifying costumes to make it onto their tween/teen pages are below. These are all available in 12/14 size- that's the size my 12 year old neighbor girl wears! My daughter will be in that size by next year and there is no way that any of these would pass the fingertips test- you remember ladies- if your fingertips didn't touch cloth it was too short? What happened to that here?

Swashbucklin Sass

Forest Bandit Tween

Blue Peacock Tween

None of these young (ahem) ladies can be more than 14 or 15 - at most.

And to really send the message home lets see what one little starlet is being for Halloween.

Noa Cyrus- Age 8

The media in both movies and advertising has sold teens for years on sexy costumes and now they are truly targeting our children as well.

Transgender Superhero SheZOW

SheZOW

The television network, The Hub has released  a new series for the superhero fans in kiddie land- but this superhero has some parents crying villainy. In SheZOW, the superhero is a heroine- except he isn't. 

The main character Guy ends up with a ring that was destined for his twin sister- that had been passed through the generations of their family turning the women into heroines- when Guy puts on the ring to annoy twin Kelly it fuses with him, giving him the responsibility  and kick- ass go-go boots as well!

Having pretty much taken his sister's birthright accidentally, the 12 year old slacker is now burdened with the struggles that accompany being a superhero- and one who has to pretend to be female as well. I have watched both episodes that has aired thus far on the hub and found them lighthearted and funny- my kids did too and I for one see no issue with a male character's alter-ego being female- there is no voice change, or facial or body changes to suggest any physical change- his costume is simply SHE-tabulous.

The American public is of mixed reviews however. The Christian activist group One Million Moms (more like 57,000 give or take on Facebook) writes, 

"Warning to all parents! This Saturday, June 1, the premiere of the transgender superhero show "SheZow" will air on Hub at 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT/9:30 a.m. PT. The media is determined to pollute the minds of our children and there is no better way to desensitize them than through a cartoon program. Everyone knows children are drawn to animated shows; both boys and girls love superheroes. This character especially will appeal to both boys and girls since the superhero represents both genders by cross dressing and being transgendered. This dude becomes the FEMALE superhero SheZow dressed in pink and purple...This is just another attempt by the gay, lesbian and transgender community to indoctrinate our children into accepting their lifestyles." -One Million Moms

Other viewers and media considered it simply another form of entertainment and even a step in the right direction for getting kids to accept all kinds of people. Guy isn't transgendered, gay, or even a transvestite- he is a superhero whose costume happens to come with hot pink mini skirt and elbow gloves.

Still  others see it as a great leap in American culture- the show has been aired in both Australia and Canada without the Apocalypse occurring, I think we will be safe. 

 At the end of the day, perhaps no one has embraced more enthusiastically what SheZow could represent — and what the future heralds — than gay producer Howard Rosenman. 

"The unbridled creativity of our TV artists are pushing forward the mainstreaming of gender-bending media heroes and heroines," says Rosenman. "A boy wearing girls' clothes to fight villainy is beyond brilliant. Soon there will be no differences, on an equality basis, between genders. Just like Will & Graceprovided 'normal' contextualization of LGBTQ persons, SheZow too will provide 'normalization' to cross-dressers, transsexuals, FTMs, MTFs, transgender [people], queers, genderqueers, transvestites, drag queens, drag kings, girlfags, boydykes, and 'warrior princesses.' Thank trans- and cis-God!” -Advocate.com

Man or Monster in the Media

“It's poor judgment, … to call anything by a name. We don't know what a hobgoblin or a vampire or a troll is. Could be lots of things. You can't heave them into categories with labels and say they'll act one way or another. That'd be silly. They're people. People who do things. Yes, that's the way to put it. People who *do* things.” Ray Bradbury. In TrueBlood two of the main male characters, Bill, a vampire and Jason, a human, are shown and  comparable in many ways.  The idea of what makes a man can be seen in very different ways. Both are men, and therefore representative of the gender but what do their behaviors say about masculinity in general or theirs personally?

Bill is a vampire that was turned around the time of the civil war. He carries himself with a quiet dignity and old world charm. He seems very reliable and Sookie even says he seems much older during a walk because he is so serious and responsible acting. He is unruffled when Jason repeatedly tries to start fights with him and defuses the tension Jason’s immature behavior creates with quiet humor.

The beginning of this episode shows Sookie being beaten by two individuals who plan to kill her, Bill comes to her aid- ruthlessly attacking and knocking out the would be killers and then takes Sookie deep into the woods and saves her by selflessly giving her his blood. When she wakes he answers all her questions calmly and even tells her vampire secrets to appease her stress over what has occurred. He makes sure to walk her to her car after she is healed and then agrees to talk to her Grandmother’s reading group to make her happy- even though he is adamant over his dislike of war and the topic in general. He is a perfect gentleman in his actions with her.

When he goes to Gran’s house Jason is belligerent and rude but Bill conducts himself with charm and grace and even requests of Gran to take Sookie for a walk. When she asks, he is honest to her that he has killed the people who attacked her and fed on them before hand and that he had killed before at times. He is very upfront with her. Bill represents a type of masculinity not found in media or real life much these days it seems. He is sweet, honest, honorable and in my opinion the old world type of man- someone who can be relied upon and is upstanding and trustworthy- even though he is the “monster” vampire and is supposed to fit into the villain box.

Jason represents an entirely different type of man. He is the bold, brash, bring it on type of redneck man that it seems is applauded in today’s society. With his own actions he condemns himself to the role of idiot redneck from the beginning of the episode to the end. He is in jail in the beginning of the show being held because he is a suspect in a murder of a woman who he is caught on tape having very violent sex with and strangling her. Instead of trying to resuscitate her or calling 911 when he thinks he has killed her, he runs. He is let out because she was faking being dead to scare him (as shown after he leaves on the video) but immediately runs to another woman (an apparent “friend with benefits”) and uses the poor me play to get her into bed- where he is shown as not only a very violent lover- especially after seeing the vampire marks on her throat- as well as a narcissist- he watches himself as they are at it in the mirror.

Jason repeatedly acts in a rude, prejudiced manner towards Bill and talks back to his Grandmother as well. He is disrespectful to the women he is around and has a strong “better than you” attitude.  Jason acts like an out of control child. He drinks all the time and is loud, quick to anger and whiny  He uses the people around him without even noticing- such as the fact that Terra is head over heels in love with him and he doesn't even notice her. He tries to pull the “man of this family” card to control Sookie’s actions though he is immediately shut down.

Of the two men I would say they both represent very different types of masculinity- Bill is supposed to be the monster, heartless cold and using people but it is Jason who runs from woman to woman, barely acknowledges her death, once he knows he didn't murder her- except to use it to get into Dawn’s pants and acts like an ass to Bill simply for being different. Bill is a gentleman, kind, respectful and willing to do things for others that could hurt or upset him- such as giving Sookie his blood and secrets as well as talking about a past that visibly upsets him.

The Season of the Witches

When you think of witches in today's media there are two strong views that the industry has seemed to take- either that of the Evil Witch - dark, ugly,and misshapen or that of the Good Witch- always beautiful, or sexy, strong, and powerful. They are either black or white- with little or no room for wiggling. This represents the idea of females in my opinion- the idea that a woman who goes against societies norms are still seen as "bad" and that those who are sweet and play by the rules are "good".

For most of post-Christian history the witch was seen as an evil creature- the consort of the devil, one who poisoned, hexed, and degraded themselves and others for the sheer enjoyment of their "Master".

Today media is using the old fairy tales as new material and not always in the same old ways. The fear of the scary evil witch is still highly prominent in both society and in the media's portrayals. The most notable of would probably be the Wicked Witch- A woman who stands up to the stereotypes. 

In this the media has canonized the idea of the wicked witch- evil, ugly, and full of hate- as seen in movies like The Wizard of Oz. The Wicked Witch is the villain but it is her sister who has been killed and her shoes that are stolen. The underlying idea that her evilness makes her ugly and hateful is underlined by her opposite - Glinda the Good Witch. In the movie, Wicked is seen as horrid and Glinda- all sunshine and rainbows is seen as perfect.

WICKED WITCH: Looses Sister, shoes, and is set up by her country's government, and set up for assassination by the so called good guys.

GOOD WITCH: Knows how to get 

Dorthy home the entire time but

uses her to rid herself of a political

enemy while staying the sweet

good beautiful character.

In many movies it is this case. Another example can be seen in the new movie, The Great and Powerful Oz. When the witch goes from meek to really inhabiting her own emotions and anger she goes from a sweet innocent kitten-like woman to an ugly evil looking character.

 In television, we see the "Good Witch" seen in shows such as the comedy, Bewitched- where a mortal man falls for a witch and marries her then finds out. The humor comes from wacky characters from her family and she is seen as sweet, innocent and her spells and witchcraft wasn't ever anything that could be considered bad or evil. Samantha was portrayed as loving, ever patient, wise beyond her years and perfect in pretty much every other way. This show lasted eight seasons.

Another television show where the "good witches" seen as beautiful, wonderful, sweet and sexy is Charmed. A show that ran for eight seasons as well and followed the tale of four sisters who are hereditary witches and fight all manor of demons and other trouble. These four women were usually in sexy clothes, though later one became a mother and her wardrobe calmed a bit, but the sexy factor was definitely played up as well as the power factor.

Often their opponents were demons or other evils and were ugly- again plying the underlying idea that beautiful is inherently good and bad is ugly. The media is using the idea of witches as a representation of woman in general and the good ones are beautiful  powerful, sexy and what you want to be- the ones who run against the grain are old, ugly, and gnarled. 

There is a backlash in media now really taking the idea of the wicked as desirable.

The "Sin is Sexy" ideal is showing up more and more in images on places like Facebook and looking on Google you can see many ideas of "Sexy Witch" costumes and ideas. 

So once again the media has taken an idea- that of the witch- an evil old ugly hag casting spells and debauchery doing and turned it on its head in the hearts and minds of people with subtle influences. 

Many women see this as a great thing- the idea of a wise woman, a pagan or real witch being seen as old, ugly and evil or praying to Satan is idiotic at best since they don't believe in a Christian Satan, to a powerful woman is beneficial. Media's ideals on witches are changing the way that women are seen in an underlying way. 

Beautiful women are the good ones in media hype- the kind that you want to be and want to be around, so sayth the media. 

What do you think? Which witch was the evil one?