misscherrypi

Posts Written by misscherrypi

By misscherrypi • 11 years ago

Thank You Johnson & Johnson!

A SYTYCB entry

Last week, the New York Times reported that Johnson & Johnson is going to reformulate all of their products to be free of formaldehyde, 1,4 dioxane, parabens, and phthalates – known carcinogens commonly found in personal care items and cosmetics. This is a major victory for the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics and other activists who have been working for safer products. In 2005, Stacy Malkan, co-founder of the campaign published “Not Just A Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry” which exposed the harm that cosmetics most people use every day could potentially cause.

This issue is especially important to women because on average women use more personal care products than men, and for women who decide to become pregnant, many of the harmful ingredients Johnson & Johnson are removing present an even greater risk to fetuses. But these ingredients are found in items like shampoo, shaving creams and moisturizers, things people of all genders might use frequently. The Skin Deep Database is a project run by the Environmental Working Group where anyone can find out more information about thousands of products and ingredients. Combined with Malkin’s book, these resources provide a good primer on how to decipher the complicated ingredients list on most cosmetics.

I am particularly impressed with Johnson & Johnson because this is not something that they have to do. They are responding to consumer demands, yes. However the average person still does not ...

By misscherrypi • 11 years ago

So what if Mindy Meyer is kidding?

A SYTYCB entry

This summer on the streets of Brooklyn, a young woman is pounding the pavement with drive, ambition and chutzpah. Mindy Meyer, a 22 year old Orthodox Jewish woman is running for State Senate on the Conservative Party line, and she’s generating a lot of press from her unconventional campaign tactics. Her bright pink and leopard print website is bringing her lots of attention and has garnered her the nickname “Magenta Yenta” although she refers to herself as “The Diva of the District.”

On the positions page of Meyers website, – she is seemingly both in favor of and opposed to stop and frisk, and comes out in favor of school vouchers and against crime. She is also ...

A SYTYCB entry

By misscherrypi • 14 years ago

Why Megan McCain is Wrong

I was browsing through a used bookstore the other day and I came across Andrea Dworkin’s “Right Wing Women .” I have read some radical feminist theory and while I have admiration for radicals of many stripes I’m too practical and optimistic to call myself one. I much prefer liberalism in most senses of the word. Still, I picked it up and thumbed through it, wondering what Dworkin had to say on the subject. Hell, there might be some useful commentary to understand a Sarah Palin run for the presidency 2012. It was pretty cheap so I bought it. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s at the top of my to be read pile.

The book came to mind ...

By misscherrypi • 14 years ago

Blurred Boundaries

I love reading blogs. Everything about them is interesting to me: posts, comments, bloggers, communities, long histories of hat tips, trackbacks and blog wars. Tonight I was really struck by a common thread I saw running through two very different blogs. It got me thinking about the concepts of culture and identity and how challenging it can be to confront their flexibility.

The posts both are about culture being appropriated or exploited. The Racialicious post is is an introduction to thr idea of Global Hip-hip, and specifically about about Korean and Japanese hip-hop. At WWdn, Wil Wheaton is talking about taking part in the launch of a new website but then finding out Shaq and MC Hammer ...