Taking two hours to get the "I just rolled out of bed" hairstyle

I stumbled across this youtube video a few nights ago after entering "Men at Work, Land down under" into the search engine. (??) Anyway my husband and I couldn't help but just keep watching and laughing at how absurd it all was. Basically, a woman starts off with hair that appears to have been blow-dried straight, and then proceeds the curl it with hot rollers which she leaves in for twenty minutes, go through section after section, teasing it up and spraying it with hairspray, and concludes by clipping on her fake hair...to achieve the "natural" look. At the end, she ties a dainty plait in her hair to make it look more "beachy".

The time, products and effort that go into achieving what supposedly appears to be effortlessly beautiful hair seem so laughable from this angle (the angle of watching someone else do it!), but I can't help but feel a little sad that so many of us women want to look like someone else.

My personal study: Women in soft porn menswear

This is a study, by me, of soft pornographic clothing by brands commonly found in retailers throughout Australia. All brands are stocked in stores in Australian shopping centres. The brands I selected include Two In The Shirt (T.I.T.S.), Unit, Hustler, Nena and Pasadena, Jetpilot, Og Abel, Roger David and 187. They are sold in City Beach Australia, Waves, Liquid Surf and Roger David, to name a few. This study was based on 50-60 shirts.

Note: This is a "study" I did myself, on shirts that were specifically chosen because of their soft porn images. They ranged from shirts featuring girls in bikinis to...well, worse. I wanted to explore the common themes or depictions of women on this disgusting yet tragically fashionable trend.

Also, I did not include pictures this time, so don't be afraid!

Each time I found a shirt that met one of the following criteria, I made a tally of it. I have listed the most common results first, going down to the less common.

DEPICTIONS OF WOMEN.

Decoration 30

Porn Stars 20

Punching Bags 5

Gold diggers 4

Angels 3

Bitches 2

These depictions were based on both slogans and images. By the term 'Decoration' I mean that the women had no real function other than being a near naked prop. For example, there were several shirts that featured women and cars. One of these involved a semi naked woman fixing a car, and another washing a car, but six of them were of a woman either sitting on or standing in front of the car- not doing anything but being there displaying their bodies.

FREQUENTLY USED PROPS.

Cars- Fixing 1, Washing 1, Decorative use 6

Alcohol, drinking 6 (limited to Wifey shirts)

Weapon (usually a gun, in one case a knife) 5

Bike (for riding or sitting on) 5

House duties 3

Bananas, eating 2

From this you may deduce that the activities women were shown to participate in were posing near cars or bikes, drinking, using guns, vacuuming and seductively eating bananas. I don't know about you girls, but I can't seem to stop myself posing near cars and eating bananas...

POSES/ IMAGES

"General" sexual references 13 (semi naked women, references to sex)

Sexual activity (lesbian activity, touching) 5

Sexual poses 5

Legs spread 4

Putting things in mouth 4

S&M 1

Violence 1

It is important to note that when I refer to "General sexual references" I only included shirts that were of a very sexual nature. Obviously, all the shirts I reviewed I considered to be of a sexual nature, but I did not include clothing with pictures of simply girls in bikinis- it had to be further down that road. Therefore, "Sexual poses" refers to overt sexual poses, not just pouting girls in bikinis.

USE OF MOUTH

Mouth covered 6 (including one instance of entire head being covered)

Putting something in mouth 4

Additional references to silence 3 (gags, shhh sign, bandannas, word silent, silence included in slogan)

It seems to be a theme in many of these soft porn shirts that women's mouths are actually covered, by bandannas, gags and other objects. The obvious interpretation to me, is that women and girls are being silenced. I find that a very disturbing notion, that through the medium of t-shirts, half of the population could be so marginalized.

BODY PARTS

Focus on one specific body part 5 (Mainly backside and breasts)

Eyes covered 1

I think that having the model's eyes covered, as well as many more images showing only the model's torso or hot body parts, leaving her head off the image, makes her just a body or an object, and makes it easier not to view her as a person.

RACE

Black women 2

Black women exposing backside 2

Black women featured not exposing their backside 0

Basically what I have seen here is that ONLY white caucasian women, who are also thin, beautiful and sexualised appear anywhere in these pictures, except for a few rare instances. These are, 1) T.I.T.S. brand Latina Wifey shirt, with a barely clothed Latin women, with her legs open, eating a banana in an alluring way, for lack of a better word. 2) and 3) are both black women, who are wearing g-strings, as the focus of the picture in both case is their backsides.

This means that there is no representation of black women anywhere, except when they expose their backsides. That is the only time black women are used.

After noting all of the above, I couldn't help feeling a little more concerned about the messages they send about women and the roles that they have, or that are expected of them. Whether ironing, playing cards or standing in front of a car, women are expected to be beautiful and resemble porn stars- but also remember their most important purpose is posing and eating sexy foods in a sexy way.

That's what I'm talking 'bout! (Part 2)

WARNING: This post contains offensive images. Please don't scroll down unless you are prepared to see them. These images appear on t-shirts and are for sale in regular shopping centres.

City Beach (again). Openly displayed, as are they all, often in the front window for all passers-by to see.

Roger David, from the new line "Blood is the new black". The one on the right is copied from a Roxy music CD cover.

To be fair, I have never seen this one for sale at a shopping centre, and it doesn't qualify as pornographic. I use it as another example of some of the offensive content on t-shirts.

This is from Krank clothing, found in a Westfield shopping centre. Similar shirts were displayed out the front of the store. Centre management was dismissive to complaints. Krank stocks Hustler brand shirts (yes, Hustler like the pornographic magazine). Some slogans on these shirts include "Bitches get stiches", "Get a tattoo, pussy" and "Talk sh*t, get hit".

This shirt is from Target.

Even "family friendly" Target is getting in on the soft porn menswear action.

I figured I've already mentioned Nena and Pasadena and their gross sexist designs...in like three separate posts.

In all my research to find out who is responsible for regulating clothing, and laws surrounding these issues, I have found a giant gap. I have spoken to Consumer Protection, Human Rights Commission, the Ad Standards Bureau (while they do cover outdoor advertising, that does not extend to clothing) and my local member of parliament who has discussed this with the police.

I am told the Minister for Police is considering legislation in this area, as it is becoming more necessary I suppose. I will be in touch with his office too!

That's what I'm talking 'bout!

WARNING: The images below may be offensive. However, they are all openly displayed on t-shirts and in shopping centres.

This is a Hustler shirt, for sale at a small t-shirt store in a shopping centre.

For sale at Krank clothing store, in a Westfield shopping centre, displayed out the front of the store.

This one is currently available at City Beach surf, one of their many soft-porn shirts. They have also been known to sell R rated toys in the children's toy section.

City Beach surf again.

I quote straight from the website: "Ladies, show a little glamorous attitude...bold and feminine in one sexy package!"

Yes, this shirt is actually designed for women. Not just women, but women who have attitude, and are bold and feminine! They forgot to mention women who have no self respect.

Buddy Franklin's not inviting me to his birthday party and most likely not going to be my friend anymore...

I read on a football message board a few weeks back a discussion about the new line of N&P shirts, and one of the young men mentioned in passing that he liked shirts with "hot naked b*tches" on them.

If that doesn't give any indication of why I think these images are so harmful- when pictures like these exist on t-shirts, it becomes more normalized, more acceptable to objectify women and to view them as 'less than human'. They're not people with thoughts and feelings, they are just breasts, butts, legs.

I just thought I should update those who are interested on the Nena and Pasadena situation. You know that letters were exchanged and phone calls were made, but without any real success. Since then, through the very helpful medium of facebook, there have been others to share their feelings with Nena and Pasadena, contacting them through their website and their facebook page. Some also contacted the ASB about the billboard in Busselton, and some more also contacted the various stores to stock Nena and Pasadena clothing. See here to read more info, and to read some brilliant letters in the comments section.

Lance "Buddy" Franklin, AFL player, is one of the designers and also models for the brand, and while members of Collective Shout were doing some research, the AFL Respect and Responsibility Policy was discovered. To summarize some of the most relevant points,

"to work towards creating safe, supportive and inclusive environments for women and girls across the football industry as well as the broader community.

The Respect and Responsibility Policy is about shifting attitudes – ensuring that people throughout the Australian Football industry are aware, and have structures in place, that recognise that violence against women and behaviour that harms or degrades women, is never acceptable."

Next, letters were written to the AFL regarding Buddy Franklin's "extra-curricular" activities, being the face of a company that promotes soft porn t-shirts. Here's mine.

Buddy Franklin is the face of Nena and Pasadena clothing. The shirts blatantly objectify women, in overly sexual poses, revealing naked body parts. The women’s heads are often absent, reducing them to a series of “hot” body parts. There are slogans like “Angel of silence” and “I can be whatever you want me to be”. Women are portrayed as playthings men use for their own sexual gratification. In a workplace this would be sexual harassment.

Players are heroes for young boys, sending a disappointing example. It sends a message women’s bodies are for men’s entertainment. This is inconsistent with the Respect and Responsibility policy which sats “behaviour that…degrades women is never acceptable”. Does the AFL condone the making and promoting of degrading shirts? What actions does the AFL plan to take?

Do I really believe the AFL is committed to promoting respect for women? I would like to, but I do acknowledge that many corporations do not prioritize acting in a moral or ethical way over revenue. However, if anything is to make a difference for the AFL, it would be public pressure.

Yesterday an article came out on ABC's news website by Canberra author Melinda Tankard Reist about Nena and Pasadena and the AFL. Last night, after I posted a link to this article on Nena and Pasadena's facebook page, I was blocked, along with others who (even politely) shared their concerns. Apparently they posted this message on their page.

"I am the Head Designer of NENA & PASADENA & I'll make this very quick and easy to understand! - FASHION IS FOREVER CHANGING! - All designs in question were designed over a year ago! - They have been delivered and sold already! ALL your comments and attempts to slander my designs and our brands will only increase the sa...les!! I wish it wasn't so, but Unfortunately that's how it works. I pride myself in designing t-shirts which appeal to my customers.. Please feel free to message me with all your concerns. But know your not helping your own cause by posting on this page. Kind Regards,Paul Edwards Tim Arandt Ryan Griggs"

This morning I recorded a Melbourne radio interview on this same issue, which will be broadcast next week. I have also heard that James Valentine was discussing the issue on Sydney radio today.

To quote Julie Gale, founder of the organization Kids Free 2 B Kids, "When there is so much violence and sexual abuse committed against women- it is utterly incomprehensible why anyone would willingly perpetuate objectification. Dehumanising women is the first step that allows for such behaviour."

If these shirts are unacceptable to you, I would ask you to please consider writing even just a short letter to N&P to say so. Your voice means something.

What went down when I called Nena and Pasadena....

So, let's get up to speed. Nena and Pasadena clothing has released several offensive t-shirts with semi naked women in provocative poses, including topless. (Refer to my previous post for more information.) Several people that I know have have made complaints, either directly to Nena and Pasadena, to the Advertising Standards Bureau, or to the stores that choose to stock this clothing. My sister in law Kylie received the following response from Nena and Pasadena.

Thanks for your comments and views but we feel we know what young people want to wear so we choose to continue our design concepts in full. I have three teenage boys of my own and have discussed your email with them, they were humored by your thoughts and added that the 6 o'clock news contained far more adult contact than a tshirt!! If you feel that we degrade women or promote violence against women please further your emails to the editor of the herald sun.

Kind Regards

Tim Arandt.

This response was unsatisfying to me, as it didn't actually address anything we mentioned in our letters. Tim also left a mobile phone number, so today I called it and had a chat to him. We had a pleasant enough conversation, well, debate. I will summarize what his argument was.

• There are plenty of other companies making similar soft porn t-shirts.
• There is a market for the shirts- teenagers want to buy them.
• They do not believe in censorship of any kind.
• They are acting within the bounds of the law.
• They actually already removed some of the worst offending shirts, including those with drug references, suicidal references, and some kind of machine gun shirt.
• Kids already see porn everywhere.
• The shirts are not aimed at children (as consumers).
• It should be up to parents to decide what they will allow their kids to wear- and he also thinks the shirts are distasteful and would not let his teenage sons wear them.

Some fair points. I also shared some additional ideas.

While there may be other companies doing it, and regardless if there are teenagers who will pay for them, these images are distasteful and offensive, and as a corporation they should act responsibly- and pornographic, sexist images and slogans are not that.

As for the freedom of speech/censorship issue (which always comes up)- he said "I don't believe in censorship." I agreed education and discussion is important, especially for young people who need to learn to think critically for themselves. And I don't think teenagers are stupid, but I do think they are bombarded by a hyper-sexualised culture and become desensitised.

I asked him if he did not believe in censorship, would he think it was appropriate to put racist slogans on a t-shirt. He said if someone chooses to wear a shirt with the word 'Nigger' across it, he should be free to. (Question: Then am I free to smack said person?) While I agreed that people should be free to wear what they choose, I pointed out that by designing and manufacturing these shirts, they are not just allowing people to choose to wear offensive clothing, but providing the offensive clothing for those stupid enough to wear them. There is a difference there.

I quote Melinda Tankard Reist, author and activist for women's issues, "Free speech shouldn't mean hate speech. Free speech should be fair speech."

I agree that kids do see soft porn all the time. The public sphere is covered in it. This is damaging to their natural development. Children when faced with adult, sexual material do not have the emotional maturity to process it and make accurate judgments about it as an adult might. It gives them false ideas about what it means to be a man, or a woman and qualities that are considered the most valuable i.e. being hot, thin and sexy. They should be free not to have this material imposed on them, as should I, and anyone else who chooses not to participate in viewing pornography.

AND- the fact that kids are already exposed to pornography doesn't make it okay to manufacture pornographic t-shirts too. I can choose not to allow my children to watch video hits, and control their internet use (as they become older) but a t-shirt is a walking billboard. Regardless of the age group these shirts are intended for, they are t-shirts! I have seen many of them as I am out and about, just as children will as young men wear them out in public. I can not choose to not see them, my choice has been taken away.

I agreed with him that to a large extent parents are responsible for what they allow their children to wear/watch etc, and I do prevent my children from watching or seeing certain inappropriate material. But I'm not that naive, when my kids are teenagers, who are they going to want to listen to? Their friends, or their Mummy? Especially when a lot of things (like stylish clothing) is specifically marketed to them as desirable, cool, and necessary to show off their identity? Plus, once again...they are t-shirts! If I want to keep them from seeing a t-shirt someone is wearing, I will have to lock them away in a tower or something. (Yes, I just watched Tangled.) And what about the kids whose parents aren't so vigilant?

The fact that he acknowledges the t-shirts are distasteful and he would not let his own children wear them indicates pretty clearly to me that the shirts are offensive, but the fact that they would still defend their right to sell products like this also clearly indicates they are profitable!

What's the big deal? I'll tell you!

First of all, for those of who you are thinking, what's the big deal? It's just a shirt, and there is far worse out there.

The t-shirts reduce women down to a collection of body parts, or even just one body part, e.g. o naked lower body from the back only (see here), exposed breasts only (see here) etc. Or here or here. Often the women pictured does not have a head, or her head is deliberately covered up. This is completely objectifying women. The pictures are not women anymore, they are just bare breasts, a naked bottom, bare legs. When women become merely objects for men to use to satisfy their lusts, they become dehumanised. They are viewed as less than human, a piece of meat, having less rights, being just a thing.

Certain pictures depict women being silenced. The one with a woman's exposed breasts actually has a head attached (progress!) but it is completely covered by a scarf. Another, with a topless woman covering her breast with her hand, reads "Angel of silence". Silencing women and displaying their body parts as entertainment is very disturbing to me. Even more so to see these images represented as fashion, and seeing it on a man's t-shirt.

I am not saying that all men who buy a t-shirt like this view women as objects and will go on to rape and assault them. But I do believe that when women are depicted as sexual playthings for men, on music videos, magazines, advertisements etc that is becomes more normal and more acceptable to view them as such. Particularly as they are typically portrayed as available for sex and eager to be used, some men feel a sense of entitlement to them. There is certainly enough evidence to suggest that similar attitudes towards women are problematic, as increasingly more often we read in the newspaper about the latest AFL scandal, or a gang rape scenario, likely with high school aged students, and possibly filmed and uploaded online. Our culture is one that can be dangerous for women, and each of the media I listed before, including these t-shirts, contributes to this culture.

A common argument is "If you don't like it, don't look" or something close to it. Let's ignore the fact that many times, if you leave your house, you can no longer not look. As a woman, regardless of whether I buy or wear one of these shirts, I am affected. As more young people grow up surrounded by a buttload of advertising and degrading material to women (yes, a buttload), feeling that this is completely normal, the more acceptable this will be.

Muscle up to lose weight!

Hey all. I just wanted to share a really informative article on the benefits of strength training. I love strength training, and I find it much more enjoyable than cardio! I have cut and pasted it below in case there are any problems with the link.




INCREASING your lean muscle mass can help speed up your body’s fat-burning ability and could be your key to permanent weight loss. By Linda Drummond

Evidence continues to accumulate on the benefits of adding some type of resistance or strength training to your workouts. With benefits that spread across the health spectrum, researchers now believe strength training can play a vital role in long-term weight loss. 

Miriam Nelson, author of Strong Women Stay Slim (Bantam Books) and a researcher at Tufts University in the US, found that women who followed a weight-loss diet combined with weight-training exercises lost 44 per cent more fat than women who only followed the diet.

“Researchers have discovered something disturbing: when women diet, at least 25 to 30 per cent of the weight they shed isn’t fat, but water, muscle, bone and other lean tissue,” Nelson says.
But strength training can help us to lose excess fat rather than vital tissue.

Muscle up
Melbourne-based exercise physiologist Trent Malcolm says: “People on low-kilojoule crash diets slow their metabolic rate and their lean muscle mass will deteriorate. Losing weight on these low-kilojoule diets can also exaggerate the sagging and softness of the skin when it’s not filled out with lean muscle mass.”

Kerry Warnholtz says she’s noticed a huge difference since she started weight training with a program devised by Ideal Bodies Online in July 2008.

“Your strength and energy increases and, after about six weeks, you start to see some muscle definition and lose body fat.”

Malcolm says metabolism is, for the most part, determined by our body’s lean muscle mass. “One kilogram of muscle will burn about 627 to 1465 kilojoules per day, while 1kg of fat only burns about 20 to 40 kilojoules per day.”

So it makes sense to try to not only preserve lean muscle mass, but increase it.

“It takes a while for your metabolism to kick in, but when it does it’s like a freight train,” says Warnholtz, who lost more than 15kg and reshaped her body to become leaner at 40 than she was at 20. Now that she’s reached her ideal weight, Warnholtz says her metabolism works well. Even after indulging, she says it’s easy to get back on track again.

After the age of 20, our lean muscle mass starts to deteriorate. Without training we can lose between 2.2 and 3.2kg of lean muscle every 10 years. Without lean muscle, our skin can sag and the texture appear less defined. You don’t need to build large muscles. As little as 1.4kg of lean muscle can increase your resting metabolism by about seven per cent.

Whether you want to build or maintain your lean muscle mass, it’s important to train smart, Malcolm says. Spot-training isn’t effective. You need to work large muscle groups with moderate weight to see success. “The most important thing is the intensity,” Malcolm says. “Use as much energy as possible with multiple body parts. Toning is more about losing body fat than building muscles.”

Body benefits
Michael Cunico, New South Wales fitness manager at Fitness First, says we need to move beyond the number on the scales and think about the change in clothing size and other benefits of developing lean muscle mass.

“Strength training doesn’t need any equipment; simple body-weight training can be extremely beneficial in building lean muscle,” Cunico says.

During any workout you burn fat, but with strength training you elevate your metabolism and continue to burn fat for up to 39 hours afterwards. So if you do some form of strength training every second day, you can knock your metabolism into high gear.

Strength training can also help create stronger bones, prevent injuries, increase balance, flexibility and mobility, and it has mental health benefits too.
Find a strength-training program that suits you. Perform some body-weight exercises after your walk (try squats, lunges, tricep dips, push-ups and the plank), take up Pilates, hit the gym for a circuit or Pump class, or ask an exercise physiologist to help you devise a plan.

Myths dismissed
• Women who lift weights get bulky muscles. Genetics has a role in building muscles, says Trent Malcolm. “Females don’t have the levels of hormones required for significant muscle mass.”
• When I stop training my muscles will turn to fat. Fat and muscle are different tissues, Malcolm says. “When you stop training muscles, they will reduce in size and tone. So keep working them.”
• To build lean muscle, use small weights and do lots of repetitions. “Low-intensity training and isolating muscles won’t burn fat,” says Malcom. “Increase the intensity and use moderately heavy weights.”

This one's a serious one.

WARNING: This post contains some disturbing material involving children.



























Last week I read about an extremely tragic event in Connecticut. This happened three years ago. I think most people would agree that this is an absolutely horrific thing to happen, and so very sad for the father left behind.

Following is a segment from the article that was particularly poignant.

Petit said he cried at the verdict, "thinking of the tremendous loss."
"Michaela was an 11-year-old little girl tortured and killed in her own bedroom, surrounded by stuffed animals."


Some of you might be wondering why exactly I am writing about this.

You might know a song called "Love the way you lie" by Eminem and Rihanna. The lyrics can be found here Here is part of it. "If she's ever tries to f---ing leave again I'ma tie her to the bed and set this house on fire".

This does not promote respect for women, or equality between the sexes. It depicts men as having power in relationships, and using violence against women to keep it. Women have the very important role of being punching bags.

Rihanna herself was famously beaten up by her former boyfriend Chris Brown. This was quite a big deal. Photos of her bruised face circulated and the particular attack was described as being quite vicious, including Rihanna being bitten. I have tried to fathom how a young woman who has actually been the victim of violence could then participate in a song eroticising the very same thing. The most obvious point I considered was that maybe it was not supposed to be glamourising domestic violence, but just creating awareness of an important issue. HOWEVER- that theory doesn't actually hold up.

Things I learned from this song.
- Domestic violence makes for a more passionate, intense relationship.
- If a man loves a woman very much, he will want to kill her for leaving.
- Women enjoy being abused (see lyrics like "...stand here and watch me burn, it's alright because I like the way it hurts", or even the title of the song)

Even if it this song really was about creating awareness of domestic violence, the message would still most likely go right over the heads of the performers' young fans. Here are some comments from the youtube music video page (with over 200 million hits).

surething6996: awesome kick ass song love the way eminem is so passionate in this song
1990ravetoxic: wow very nice,,,I love the story,,,,and the song of course..the singers...very nice... perfect...
la8dyc: megins right hook......i have done that....then had the best sex ever...
MrFROHOE: i never thought people burning a live could look so sexy, but...DAMN!

Violence against women is still a very real problem in the world, even in (especially in?) western cultures. As I read about the Petit family in the paper, I felt sick at the thought that many young people love and celebrate this music, but it is not unheard of for men to tie girls to their beds and burn their houses down.

I am disgusted by the evidence I see around me of men who hate women. But what I really don't understand is when women participate in their own exploitation.