Girl Power!

I recently read an article that says that 90% of girls report sexual harassment. As shocking as that statistic is, there was one quote that stood out to me. While interviewing researcher Christia Brown, Amy Wilson asked, "How about female high school athletes? Do they face unique sexist challenges?"




Brown responded,

They often get comments about their sexuality or their inferior athletic abilities. However, we also know that those girls have the best outcomes of any girls in high school. They tend to have higher self-esteem and do well academically. They also tend to have better body images than nonathletes. We suspect it is because they view their bodies as powerful and use their bodies for a purpose, instead of just viewing their bodies as something that needs to be attractive.

In light of the recent Olympic games, I think that helping girls see themselves as more than a pretty (or not-so-pretty) face is important. Check out the full interview here: "90% of girls report sexual harassment." (Detroit Free Press)

Beyoncé gets lighter, Vogue gets darker

There has been some debate recently about whether or not L'Oréal digitally retouched Beyoncé's skin to make her look lighter. As afrobella.com points out, this isn't the first time this has happenned.

While searching for info about the L'Oréal controversy, I came across several articles talking about the July 2008 issue of Vogue Italia, which featured all black models. Critics of the fashion industry have long decried the lack of black models on the runway, so I assumed that this "all black" issue of Vogue would be considered a good thing. Well, it turns out that I was wrong. Many commentators question whether the special issue will have any affect on the fashion industry at all.


The July 2008 issue of Vogue Italia has sold extremely well, but don't expect to see this translate into more diversity in who appears in ads and on the the covers of top fashion magazines. Black women already spend $20 billion each year on clothing alone.


For more info on the Vogue Italia July 2008 issue, check out Italian Vogue's "All Black" Issue: A Guided Tour (I wouldn't look at this at work, by the way) on Jezebel.com.