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...