Yearly Archives: 2012

But half of law school, med school, art school are girls! Aren’t boys the ones who need more support?

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Um, no.

I get some version of the comment pasted below all the time. Oliver is responding to my post about how “Adventures of Tintin” featured almost no female characters, typical of most animated movies made for kids.

From Oliver:

You keep focusing on how sexist American and Hollywood still are as you focus solely on women, because, you course, you ARE a woman! You say Hollywood keeps making kids movies that say that boys are more important to girls, but the reality is that is how YOU are reading it and how you want to see it. The reality is, studies have shown time and again that the way public schools in America function is actually detrimental to boys and young men and the way they think, function and learn. Boys, many many times more often than girls, are left behind in school and there are increasingly more and more girls going to college and less boys. A large majority of college-attendees are now girls. Girls have plenty of support today telling them they’re important, they can accomplish whatever they want, they can do everything a boy can do. The reality is that in our modern time there became as much equality between boys/girls and men/women as realistically possible. Pretty soon women became more equal than men. Girls more equal than boys. The focus shifted. Women found their voice. So don’t sit here telling us there is too much in America telling us boys are more important than girls. EVERYTHING points to the contrary. Girls have plenty of media that caters SOLELY to them. If anything, young boys need to be reminded of their importance and be shown better role models and given more emotional support while they grow up. You have everything backwards, you dumb, irrational, zealous feminist.

PS Nobody I watched this movie with, boys, girls, men or women noticed this lack of women. Do you know why you noticed it? Because you focus on it in your life. You look for these things and try to find meaning that’s not there. You’re the same as all the people who post on the IMDB forums accusing movies of being racist because there are no black people. You have a chip on your shoulder that you need to break off. You’ve been owned.

My response:

Hi Oliver,

I wish these facts were just my opinion. Women don’t make it past 16% in power positions in most professions all across the board. Women are half the students in med school, law school, art school etc but it doesn’t translate to equal status or pay beyond education.

That no one you saw Tintin with noticed the lack of girls only shows how used to invisible females we are. Do you think if the movie had all female characters you might have noticed?

Here are some stats, More at the Geena Davis institute on Gender and Media:

Women are 51% of the U.S. population

Over half of college graduates but less than a quarter of full professors and a fifth of college presidents are female

Women are 50% of new entrants to the profession, but less than a fifth of law firm partners, federal judges, law school deans, and Fortune 500 general counsels

Only 16% of protagonists in film are female.

The female characters in G rated movies are just as likely to wear revealing clothing as in R rated movies.

Women make up 8% of all writers of major motion pictures.

Women are 17% of all executive producers

95% of top grossing Hollywood films directed by men

Women are 2% of all cinematographers

Women are 7% of film directors

In 84 years, 4 women have been nominated for best director, only one has won

2012 Academy Award nominations, 98% movies directed by men, 84% written by men, 70% starring men

77 percent of Oscar voters are male.

Women and girls are the subject of less than 20% of news stories.

Women make up 14% of all guest appearances on the influential Sunday television talk shows; among repeat guests, only 7% are women.

Only 15% of the authors on the The New York Times best seller list for nonfiction are women.

Only about 20% of op-eds in America’s newspapers are by women.

Women hold only 15.2% of seats on the boards of Fortune 500 companies.

In the financial services industry, 57% of the workers are women but 2% tof the CEO’s are female

Women are one third of M.B.A. classes and 2% of Fortune 500 CEOs

16 % of board directors and corporate officers

Only 7.5% of the major earners at those Fortune 500 companies are female.

Only 3% of advertising’s creative directors are women.

Women are 50% of divinity students but 3 percent of the pastors of large congregations in protestant churches that have been ordaining women for decades

Women are just 19% of partners in law firms.

Women represent 17% of the United States Congress.

There are currently only six female governors (12%)

23.6% of state legislators are women

9% of Mayors are women in largest 100 cities in U.S.

U.S. ranks 71st in the world in female legislative representation, behind Bangladesh, Sudan and United Arab Emirates

Throughout our history only four women have held the office of Supreme Court Justice.

There has never been a female President of the United States.
MM

Pay attention to this correlation: Only 16% of protagonists in films are female (Geena Davis Institute on Gender and Media/ Miss Representation.)

Here’s a quote from Barnard president Deborah Spar in a post from Leslie Bennets on The Daily Beast where many of the stats listed above are from:

“Women remain hugely underrepresented at positions of power in every single sector across this country,” said Barnard College president Debora Spar at a White House conference on urban economic development last month. “We have fallen into what I call the 16 percent ghetto, which is that if you look at any sector, be it aerospace engineering, Hollywood films, higher education, or Fortune 500 leading positions, women max out at roughly 16 percent.”

Do you think that the narratives we surround ourselves with and the parts that we assign males and females to play matter? What does the gender imbalance in the imaginary world from animated movies to LEGO minifigs tell us about ourselves and our expectations for our children?

New moms, it gets better!

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I saw the link to Devon Cornmeal’s HuffPo post “It Will Get Better” on Lisa Belkin’s FB page. This is such a great post. Every new mom should read it. And moms of older kids should read it, too, just to feel grateful, because who really knew that breast-feeding would be 24/7? Or had any idea how great and essential sleep was before it all got taken away? Or, as Cornmeal writes, that your sheets would be literally soaked with sweat every night?

In her post, Cornmeal promises new moms that their babies will stop staring vacantly at the ceiling and actually smile at them one day.

Every night, years later, I still appreciate my sleep. I thought my gratitude for something so basic would pass, that I would start to take it for granted again. But it hasn’t. Not in the least. When I get in my bed, I feel so lucky. I just lie there for a minute and think “Wow:” Most likely I  will get to sleep through the whole night, peacefully, in quiet, relaxed and then I will wake up feeling rested. It’s so amazing. Thank you, God.

My youngest child just turned three and a mom at the birthday party asked me how I was taking it. I told her that I’m excited and happy. Having babies was wonderful in many, many ways, but even better is watching my kids grow, talking to them, and hearing what they think. I love that. So far, I’m not nostalgic about the very early years, or pregnancy or breast feeding at all.

I seriously cannot wait to be done with diapers.

What’s the difference between fat and dumb?

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“What’s the difference between fat and dumb?” asked my five year old. She had no idea. My kid. She’d gotten in a fight with another kid in her kindergarten class and maybe or maybe not called her fat. This according to the other kid’s mom. My kid denied using the word but then asked me that question. For what its worth, the other kid is not “fat.”

Today, Cinderella Ate My Daughter author Peggy Orenstein posted on her blog “Fat is a Preschool Issue.” She writes:

What’s new, however, is the ever-earlier age at which children—girls particularly– become conscious of weight. In  Schoolgirls I cited  a study revealing  that 50% of  9-year-old girls were dieting (check this  Wall Street Journal article  by a reporter who, to see for himself, interviewed  a group of girls  when that study came out; he talked to them again recently as adults).  But now, it appears, by age three girls equate thinness with beauty, sweetness, niceness and popularity; they associate “fat” meanwhile with laziness,  stupidity and friendlessness.

Orenstein posts pictures of characters then and now.

Here are three:

Rainbow Brite’s before and after pictures:

Dora the Explorer:

Care Bears:

Katy Butler still working to get MPAA to give ‘Bully’ PG-13 rating

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I posted a couple weeks ago about the misguided MPAA rating system. The MPAA’s system is so messed up, it’s actually the reason why I created Reel Girl. Just one example: “The Little Mermaid” starring Ariel who dresses like a stripper and gives up her voice to get a guy: The MPAA thinks that’s a great film for kids. I guess if you can’t talk, you can’t swear, right?

The MPAA doesn’t seem to consider context at all. They count “bad” words.

High school student Katy Butler, a victim of bullying, is trying to get the MPAA to change its rating of the educational movie “Bully” from R to PG-13 so kids can see it. The movie has an R because bullies in the movie use “coarse language.” How fucked up is it (sorry, MPAA) that kids hear swear words in real life but aren’t allowed to in a documentary about real life.

Here’s the latest from Katy Butler:

Dear Margot,

The first thing I want to say is thank you.

Two weeks ago, I started a petition on Change.org asking the MPAA to change the rating of the new documentary Bully from an R to a PG-13. Now, more than 300,000 people — including you! — have signed it. So many amazing things have happened:

  • Ellen DeGeneres signed the petition, asked me to appear on her show, and said that she feels all kids need to see this movie.
  • Celebrities like Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Justin Bieber, Randy Jackson, Demi Lovato, and Drew Brees all expressed support.
  • Nearly 30 members of Congress signed a letter asking the MPAA to change the rating.
  • The campaign has been featured in pretty much every major media outlet in America from the Boston Globe to the LA Times, and I’ve appeared on CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, CBS, NPR and many more.

Last week, I flew to Los Angeles to deliver 200,000 signatures to the MPAA’s office there, and I got to meet with one of their executives. She told me that they’re keeping the film rated “R” because they have to keep things “consistent.” Maybe she thought that I would give up, or that I’m just 17, so how much can I really change anyway? But I know that if we keep up the pressure, the MPAA will have no choice but to admit that being “consistent” isn’t as important as letting kids see a movie that could literally save lives.

So this week, I’m in Washington, DC, where I’m on Capitol Hill meeting with congressional staff, the press, and the movie’s producer, Harvey Weinstein. I can hardly believe this has all happened. I promise to keep you in the loop when we get more updates on the campaign.

In the meantime, can you help keep up the momentum by sharing my petition on Facebook? Just click here to post the petition to your wall.

Five years ago, I was being bullied so badly that I didn’t even want to go to school. But now, knowing that all of you are standing with me, I don’t feel afraid or alone anymore.

Thanks for everything,

– Katy

Elizabeth Arden responds: ‘the ad evokes a sense of grace, success, and poise that was soul-deep, not just skin-deep’

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Elizabeth Arden responds:

Hi, We want to respond to the comments and dialogue about our Ceramide Premiere ad. We regret that the ad is sending a signal other than what we intended. When Elizabeth Arden said “To be beautiful is the birthright of every woman” 100 years ago, she wasn’t celebrating superficial beauty. She was celebrating authenticity, individuality, and the self-confidence that makes each woman uniquely be…autiful. We felt the woman shown in the ad evokes a sense of grace, success, and poise that was soul-deep, not just skin-deep. A wisdom and confidence her daughter could aspire to. We are very sorry if the ad triggered the opposite response.As we continue this journey of redefining beautiful in a broader, more complex way, we hope you will allow us to learn and evolve with you and we welcome your input on how to define this complex and emotionally-charged word.
Dear Elizabeth Arden,
Thank you for your response.
This is an ad for face cream so one assumes the focus is skin. If Elizabeth Arden wants to communicate through this ad that beauty is not, in fact, “just skin-deep,” why do you show a woman doing nothing but smiling at the camera? Why not show her doing something? Winning a trophy after a tournament, jumping a fence on  a horse, or creating a painting. Why not show her doing something with her daughter?
If you want to show a woman only smiling at the camera, why not use a well known, accomplished spokesperson? A woman everyone identifies with “authenticity and individuality?”
As it stands, the combination of the product advertised being for skin cream, the model smiling at the camera, and the caption “Beautiful gives her daughter something to look forward to” communicates the message that the main thing our daughters have to look forward to in life is nice skin.
That’s not the kind of message mothers want to send to our kids.
Margot Magowan
Reel  Girl
Tell Elizabeth Arden what you think on its Facebook page.

Look what Ms. Green has to say on M & Ms’ Facebook page today

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So after I posted about sexualizing M & M’s, (I cannot even believe I have to write that, but alas, I do) I got some comments about Ms. Brown being a feminist. She’s wearing glasses, is a business executive, and Tweets empowering messages about women.

Here’s the problem: Besides the glasses and gloves, all Ms. Brown is wearing is her pumps. The main difference between male M & Ms and female M & Ms appears to be shoes. Many kids who are looking at these pictures can’t read. Put Ms. Brown in sneakers so she can walk and run like the others, and then we can talk about her backstory.

But, because I am 43 years old and can read and use a computer, I went to M & Ms FB page today to read up on Ms. Brown. Here is the first things I saw:

The boys tell me a big basketball tournament started this week. Any team wearing green has my heart! 😉 – Ms. Green

Spoken like a true cheerleader.

Here’s her next post:

Ms. Brown is sitting in her office reciting decimals in honor of Pi Day. Me, I’m off to shop! – Ms. Green

OK, so I guess Ms. Brown is the smart one and Ms. Green is the trivial, boy crazy one.

I’ve been trying to figure out why even though females are 51% of the population that female characters in the imaginary world– whether its movies, cereal boxes, snack food, or candy– are shown as a minority. Part of the reason is that if you only show one female, you only have to come up with one look and one narrative for her. It’s easy to stereotype her. If you have two females, its still fairly easy. Make a smart one and a pretty or boy crazy one.

If you scroll down, Ms. Brown, the business executive, the feminist, does have something to say, too. Here it is:

From Our Sponsor: For Working Women, Business Travel Is In the Bag

Nasty weather. Long lines. Agonizing delays. Yes, business travel is rife with obstacles, so the last thing a professional woman needs is for her own purse or bag to make life on the road any more adventurous.

Mrs. Brown M&M®(Photo: Courtesy of M&M'S®)

When it comes to preparing for an important flight, it’s not enough to pack light – you need to pack smart. Taking a savvy approach to your luggage and carry-ons can make any work trip easier to stomach. That’s why we turned to a true expert in living life from a bag, M&M’S® Ms. Brown, who recently stepped out of her corner office where she served as Chief Chocolate Officer for 70 years, for her tips to help businesswomen prepare for travel more effectively.

It’s OK to think small. A woman needs her toiletries, but Ms. Brown warns that over-stuffing a carry-on bag with bulky liquids, gels or aerosols is a surefire way to have a problem. “You always see travelers tossing large bottles of face wash, moisturizer or even toothpaste in the trash at security checkpoints,” says Ms. Brown. “That’s bad for your wallet – and even worse for your hygiene!” Ms. Brown opts to pour her favorite products in travel-size containers (roughly 3-ounces or less) and stores them together in a 1-quart ziplock bag in her carry-on. “If you just can’t survive without a big bottle of fancy shampoo or conditioner, you’ll need to keep them in checked luggage,” Ms. Brown says, quickly adding, “Of course, that’s not a problem I run into personally.”

Don’t just save your receipts, store them. Business travelers rack up expenses, and organizing mounting piles of receipts on the go is no easy task. “Your purse is not a cash register drawer, it shouldn’t be overflowing with loose receipts,” says Ms. Brown. Her solution: Store receipts in one standard mailing envelope in your purse or carry-on bag. “That way you don’t lose receipts – or any friends in your company’s accounting department when you hand over incomplete expense reports,” Ms. Brown says.

Ease the (hunger) pain of travel. “I like to work in the airport or on long flights, but it’s hard to concentrate when your stomach’s growling,” Ms. Brown cautions with a chuckle. Her answer for hunger? Bringing finger foods on flights. She advises keeping small, portable snacks in your carry-on to satisfy cravings on the road. “I usually recommend the delicious milk chocolate of M&M’S®,” says Ms. Brown. “Of course, I’m a tad biased.”

The woman knows how to pack!

Lord, who has the job to develop these M & M personalities, looks, and back story? Are they hiring? Can you imagine how cool it would be to make some truly subversive, kick ass M & Ms?

Seriously, what would happen if half of the imaginary characters in kids movies and products were female? Even non-creative people would be forced to make some effort to move out of gender stereotyping.

Please go to M & Ms Facebook page and ask them to stop sexualizing food marketed to kids.

Beautiful gives her daughter something to look forward to

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That’s the caption for an Elizabeth Arden ad I saw in O Magazine. Here it is:

I know there’s hardly any point in getting pissed off about sexist ads from cosmetic companies, but the mom being “beautiful” gives her daughter something to look forward to?

Are you kidding me?

What really drives me crazy about this fucked up commercial is that we get all pissed off and holier than thou about moms who put their daughters in beauty pageants or shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras.” This ad from Elizabeth Arden in a mainstream magazine sends the exact same message: mothers and daughters are connected by a mutual obsession with beauty, and beauty will lead them both to success and adventure.

The difference between “Toddlers and Tiaras” and this Elizabeth Arden ad? Class. Moms with money may buy expensive cream. Moms with less money may put their kids in beauty pageants. Getting upset by one and not the other is like saying you’re not an alcoholic as long as you drink aged scotch or expensive wine. We owe our children more than this.

Elizabeth Arden, my daughters have more to look forward to than being “beautiful.” Please leave my kids out of your stupid commercial.

If you agree and are offended by this ad, please tell Elizabeth Arden on its Facebook page.

Ask M & Ms to stop sexualizing female cartoon characters

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Yesterday, I blogged about how, except for the pink ghetto, female characters marketed to kids are usually shown as a minority. They are also sexualized. See the M & Ms below as a typical example. Ms. Brown, the new female M & M character, also shown in heels, is missing from this photo. You can see her here.

I wrote about how presenting females as a minority is dangerous because it normalizes invisible women. Adults stop noticing that girls have gone missing. So do kids.

Females are 51% of the population but we manage to make the illusion of a female minority real when it comes to power positions across America. At the top, women are stuck at 16%.

Where else are females a minority? In the imaginary world, a place where singing lions befriend warthogs, rats can cook, and toys come to life, where anything should be possible. So why is the animated world so sexist? Why do the female M & Ms have to be in the minority, wear high heels, and bat their eyelashes? Why is this OK with parents? What is this gender stereotyping teaching our kids?

A couple things happened after my blog yesterday.

I got even more than the usual amount of hate emails on SFGate: Who cares about M & Ms, I’m stupid, I’m ugly, I can’t write blah blah blah.

Then I saw on FB someone had blogged on About Face about the same sexualized M & Ms issue and was asked by her sister: who cares?

And finally, my daughter is turning three this week. When I went to Party City this morning, I was greeted at the door by a giant green M & M in go go boots. Every kid who walks in the store sees that. It is messed up. It’s no better than that cartoon Camel selling cigarettes to kids. Sexualizing girls is dangerous, and it needs to stop.

So, if you think the above picture is messed up, if you think female M & Ms should be allowed to wear sneakers and run around just like the males get to do, please go to M&Ms Facebook page. Ask M & Ms to stop sexualizing cartoon characters. It’s bad for kids.

Reel Girl rates M & Ms ***SSS*** for extreme gender stereotyping.

Females 51% of population but minority of imaginary characters and real life power positions

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Until early this year, there was just one lone female M & M. The green one.

Then just before the Superbowl Time Magazine reported on the debut of another, bringing the female-male ratio to 1: 3:

“M&Ms already has characters based on the other colors in its candy rainbow (red, yellow, blue, orange and green), but until now the candy has gone largely male-centric. Green has been the lone female. Brown will join her, with high heels in full view.”

I suppose we grateful she’s not Mrs. Brown and that she’s wearing glasses. I hope with those pumps that it’s before Labor day.

Unfortunately, M & Ms are just another product where female characters are not only sexualized but presented as a minority.

Here’s a Goldfish package from Pepperidge Farm showing three males and one female.

Here’s a new set of LEGO minifigs. Harley Quinn, on the far left and not shown in her underwear is also female, making the ratio four males to two females. In the whole set, I count three times as many males as females.

In her film, Miss Representation, Jennifer Siebel Newsom argues that there’s a connection between sexualized images of women in the media and lack of women in power positions.

I agree with this, but it goes beyond sexualized images. It’s images at all. The imaginary world has done something really scary. Females are 51% of the population, but in cartoon images marketed to kids, except for the pink ghetto, females are presented as a minority. This illusion is dangerous, because it normalizes the lack of females. We expect it and accept it.

We’ve become so used to seeing females presented as a minority that we hardly notice it anymore. We don’t question it. Even worse, our kids don’t.

Look at this poster for “Arthur Christmas:”

It’s typical of movies made for kids for males to star and also to represent the majority of characters.

The lack of female characters exists in most products marketed to kids whether its toy characters, cereal boxes, or animated films.

Here are some stats from the Geena Davis Institute on the lack of girls in animated films. Here is Reel Girl’s Gallery on Girl Gone Missing From Kids Movies in 2011.

Do you think the lack of female imaginary characters could have anything to do with what Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg calls the aspiration or ambition gap between boys and girls?

The other place in America besides the imaginary world where females truly are a minority? Leadership positions. In almost all professions in the top positions, women don’t make it past 16%. Here are stats on that.

Could the lack of females in these two worlds be connected?

Why do you think in imaginary worlds created for kids– worlds populated by singing lions who befriend warthogs, rats who cook, and toys who come to life, worlds where anything should be possible– females are restricted to a minority? Why does the lack of females in the imaginary world, of all places, reflect the same lack of females as in power positions? How do you think this gender gap affecting kids imaginations and aspirations? Why are we allowing this gender gap to happen?