you know how dangerous it is to be born with breasts

We just watched a film about sexism in advertising, and I almost started weeping in class. Not crying, not bawling, but weeping... the tears of a dull ache that can't be fixed with a kiss and a band-aid. I know this sounds melodramatic to some of you, but I'm about done being apologetic about my budding passion for women's studies. It's more than a new interest or a temporary hobby. These things are so important, so very real, and they affect everyone.

We saw ad after ad where women were made into objects... literally, objects. They were beer cans and cars. We saw tons with women objectified and sexualized, where they were tied up and gagged, where they covered their mouths and bit their lips. And the women... 100% of the women in advertising represent a body type that describes 5% of our culture. In addition, the women are flawless to the point of obscurity, now more so than ever as computers reshape chins, delete wrinkles, erase necklines, broaden eyes, whiten teeth...

This particular video dealt with their sexualization, but it's more than that... My current least favorite commercial is a LeanCuisine commercial, I believe. It features a line of women discussing the bland dinners they suffered through the night before, expect one lady who details her succulent meal. What gets me about this advertisement, what drives me absolutely mad, is that no one questions why the hell five perfectly fit women are on a diet!!! It didn't occur to me until last week to question it, and I've seen the damn thing a million times!

They are not just eating healthily. To maintain their tiny figures (and the women on these commercials are incredibly thin), they must starve themselves? That's ridiculous!!! If you can't keep a size 2 waist while eating healthy, balanced meals, you are not meant to have a size 2 waist! Now, I'm all for feeling good about yourself and treating your body right, but I think this goes beyond that. Skipping meals or going to the gym five times a week to maintain a figure you weren't born to have is unnatural and unhealthy for both body and mind.

And it starts so young! Which reminds me, I am boycotting Calvin Klein, as the ads we saw today made me vomit in my mouth. More than any other company, this brand sexualizes children. It was disgusting, and I've never felt so gross as when I saw a mostly naked fifteen year old trying to sell jeans. I felt dirty for even seeing the commercial.

Maybe the worse thing for me right now, though, is my inability to separate what I want and what I'm told to want. I've been on and off diets since I was 12 years old, long before anyone, ANYONE, should be dieting. Now, I'm trying to loose some weight. And I don't eat badly!!! I have a diet full of vegetables and fruits and whole grains and protein! I walk around campus and around my neighborhood and the mall! I drink water, lots of water, and I've cut things like corn syrup out of my diet almost completely! So... why do I struggle to shed inches, and squeeze myself into pants a size to small? I don't have an entirely organic meal plan, but I don't eat fast food with any sort of regularity, nor any other product equally unhealthy. I'm taking care of my body.

This probably needs cleaning up, as there is infinitely more to say and plenty more intelligent ways to say it, but I wanted to get this out before I exploded...

Crazy- what are you, then?

Most people associate innocence with naiveté. Conventional wisdom regards it as belonging to children and fools and rookies who lack the sophistication or experience to know the tough truths about life. But the Beauty and Truth Laboratory recognizes a different kind of innocence. It's based on an understanding that the world is always changing, and therefore deserves to be seen fresh every day. This alternative brand of innocence is fueled by an aggressive determination to empty one's imagination of all preconceptions. "Ignorance is not knowing anything and being attracted to the good," wrote Clarissa Pinkola-Estes in Women Who Run With the Wolves. "Innocence is knowing everything and still being attracted to the good."

And the sky opened up with the soil of the sun...

Hello, cyber-friends, and welcome to the much anticipated return of Grace's Random Ramblings. While updates are infrequent and often times incomprehensible, you can always count on complete sentences and accurate punctuation.*

*No representation is made that the quality of blogging services is greater than the quality of blogging services offered elsewhere.

So... we're headed to the Quest tonight, and maybe the Yacht Club (which I have never attended). We just went from having no place to sleep to three offers, which is fantastic and means we won't have to crash someone's pad with just a grin and a guilt trip. Yay!

In other news... I've been spending a lot of time with my Little, and it's been fantastic. We're meeting once a week to work on homework. We might be going to Chuck E. Cheese on Tuesday. I watched her play soccer last weekend, and she did a great job.

I'm applying for jobs around town next week. I'm also going to keep Harris a couple times a week; they're pulling him out of day care. I'm not sure how that's going to work.

The fair is this weekend, but I don't think I'm going. Sad day. Big Spring Jam is next weekend, and I am going to that. I'm very excited. Hmm... apartment shopping is going well, I suppose. We have a list of places, but we haven't toured any yet. On that note, though, we're going to stay where we are until they sell-- you can't beat the rent we're paying.

In closing, I'll be updating this thing much more frequently, starting now.

The people thought that they were just being rewarded...

Guess who is playing house? That's right, yours truly. I've got the boys for five days. It's rather intimidating, but I'm still excited. I took them to school this morning, and I'll pick them up again around 2:30. I have class from 10 to 12 today. I really like both of my classes. In "Intro to Women's Studies," we have a speaker coming today from Rape Response. It should be interesting.

I have a lot I need to do, starting with calling my Little, Jessica. I talked to her some last week, but plans went ary when I had to schedule a doctor's appointment. I'm going to ask her grandmother if I can pick her up every Monday after school and take her to the library, where we can do homework together. Lametastic, right? Maybe not, though. I think I would have thought homework less atrocious if I got to break the routine of it sometimes. We'll see how it goes.

Life is busy busy busy! I still need to find a job before I let myself get to comfortable working for the Tomlinsons again. I need to get my oil changed. I need to find a new apartment. Ahh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got a little nostalgic about camp last night, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I was dreaming about it in my sporadic sleep. I started missing some of you folks muchly. I was also thinking about how quickly we adjust from situation to situation. Anyway, I'm ready to play sometime soon.

I also have a message from Lindsey on facebook, but I can't check it from here because they've blocked that and myspace. Saaaad day. Oh, I have a reminder for everyone. Check it out. It can't hurt.

Umm, let's see. I spent a fantastic weekend in Florida with Lance and Jeff at dear Jessica's. The drive down wasn't bad, I guess. I slept for a good bit of it as I tried to ward of a stomach bug I had. I think it may have been something I ate. It was decidedly unpleasant. I vomited at this one tiny gas station, and I'm pretty sure the whole store was listening. It was crazy loud. Eww. Once we got there the weather was beautiful and the company pleasant. We saw dolphins up close and went out for sea food once and watched a lot of television. It was great. The drive back was... tiring. We probably should have left earlier. I wish I'd gone back home early Monday morning, but we didn't. I didn't know my sisters would be in town. Blah! We did eat lunch with Jeff's parents, though, and that was nice.

Tuesday Jeff and I went to the lake for a bit, then we met the fam (Mom, Dad, Graham, Aunt Alice, Uncle Jim, and Grandmomma) at Ricatoni's for dinner. It was fantastic. We had a good time, and Jeff and I got lots of leftovers! Yay!