Tag Archive for "Products"

Posts Tagged Products

Do You Actually Want Young People to Quit Smoking?

Nothing says you should quit smoking like conflating sexual assault with the effects of cigarettes. Via the NYTimes, a feminist activist in France speaks out,

But the reaction on the Web site of Droits des Non-fumeurs has been mixed. One comment read, “The campaign trivializes sexual abuse — worse, it implies guilt on the part of the abused.”
Florence Montreynaud, the president of La Meute des Chiennes de Garde, or the Pack of Female Watchdogs, which opposes symbols of sexual violence in films and advertising, called the ads “unbearable” and said “what is most shocking is the banalization of sexual violence.”
She is a feminist, she said, and a longtime member of Droits des Non-fumeurs. “But it is terrible ...

Nothing says you should quit smoking like conflating sexual assault with the effects of cigarettes. Via the NYTimes, a feminist activist in France speaks out,

But the reaction on the Web site of Droits des Non-fumeurs ...

By Vanessa • 14 years ago

Cringe-Inducing Toy of the Day

That’s right, games for contacting the dead can be pinkified too!
Check out the description for Hasbro’s Ouija board for girls sold at your local Toys “R” Us. The tagline for the product is, “Ask the Questions Girls Want to Know.” The description:

It has always been mysterious. It has always been mystifying. And now the OUIJA Board is just for you, girl. With 72 fun questions included, you’ll never run out of things to ask. Who will call/text me next? Will I be a famous actor someday? Who wishes they could trade places with me?

Because that’s what our adolescent girls should be striving for, after all. And your friendly girly ghost has the answers! (Huh?)
Via.

By Jessica • 14 years ago

Heteronormativity, Cell Phone Style

Sociological Images has a post up featuring this cell phone for children which has big buttons representing parental speed dials. Assuming, of course, that all children not only have two parents, but that they’re of opposite sexes as well. Heteronormativity is everywhere, but it’s the everyday small things that can be most insidious.

As Lisa so aptly writes: “That this is ‘normal’ will be reflected back at that child again and again, whether or not it reflects their reality.”

By Vanessa • 14 years ago

“Restore” your sexual confidence. Dye your vagina pink.

Gah! Community poster gothicguera alerted us to another disturbing product to add to the list today. My New Pink Button is a “genital cosmetic colorant” that “restores the ‘Pink’ back to a Woman’s Genitals.”
Since some folks have changes in hue to their vulva with age, childbirth or other reasons, this product was created for the purpose of “restoring sexual confidence to women everywhere!” Yes, tell a woman there’s something wrong with the color of her vag is exactly what she needs for her sexual confidence!
The different colors are sold with oh-so-obvious names like Marilyn, Audrey and Ginger, the one shade that was “developed for ‘Women of Color’.” It just doesn’t get worse than this, people.

By Vanessa • 14 years ago

Sarah Palin lands gig with Fox News, gets new action figure

Looks like the Sarah Palin schoolgirl action figure has been trumped, big time. After all, who needs some silly doll when you can have your very own Sarah Palin embryo ornament?
This is one of many of this Etsy vendor’s “baby’s first” fetus ornaments that include characters from Twilight. All products are claimed by designer to be “just for fun, no political statements being made here.”
There are just no words. Oh, and in case you haven’t heard the other Sarah Palin news, it looks like she’ll be actually doing the news – that’s right, and not shockingly on Fox News as their newest contributor.
Via the Washington Independent. h/t to Jill.

Looks like the Sarah Palin schoolgirl action figure has been trumped, big time. After all, who needs some silly doll when you can have your very own Sarah Palin embryo ornament?
This is ...

By Chloe Angyal • 14 years ago

It’s not sex, it’s “swagger”

The cover story of this weekend’s New York Times Style Section was a profile of Justin Bieber, the fifteen-year-old Youtube pop sensation who had four Billboard top-100 hits in 2009. The article focuses on his relationship with his single mother, and also with the unique challenges of being an international pop sensation before you’re old enough to have a learner’s permit. It covers his mentor-mentee relationship with R & B singer Usher, as well as with his image management team, which includes a “swagger coach.” But it also focuses quite heavily on the reactions Bieber inspires in his young female fans.
His hordes of female fans, some of them as young as ten, are described by the ...

By Rose • 14 years ago

A Barbie that really represents black women

Now here is a Barbie that you don’t see everyday. This one was done by Loanne Hizo Ostlie. She is a bad-ass artist who sells Barbies on ebay with the hair re-rooted in diverse styles that are more representative of Black women today.

I often have this image on my desktop because it’s the closest image of Barbie that resembles my look and we all need a little affirmation every now and then. It’s not to say that Barbie with locs is problem free. But this work is an important contribution and it should be acknowledged.

I don’t know if I am on a hair kick because I am still reeling from Chris Rock’s Good Hair shenanigans, but ...

Now here is a Barbie that you don’t see everyday. This one was done by Loanne Hizo Ostlie. She is a bad-ass artist who sells Barbies on ebay with the hair re-rooted in diverse styles ...

By Lori Adelman • 14 years ago

The Female Condom 2: Cheaper, Thinner, and a Lot Less Squeaky

Back in March, we mentioned that the FDA had recently approved a new female condom (FC) for distribution in the U.S.
Well folks, that new female condom has officially hit U.S. markets, and is now available for our all-American consumption. The FC2 is made of a new, thinner, material, is less likely to squeak during use, and is about 30% cheaper than the original FC.
My colleague Audacia Ray has a post up on Akimbo about why this news marks exciting progress for US women’s access to safer sex materials.
Now, I know that the FC often gets a bad rap. Previous commenters have touched on some of the many criticisms it often faces- it’s ...

Back in March, we mentioned that the FDA had recently approved a new female condom (FC) for distribution in the U.S.
Well folks, that new female condom has officially hit U.S. markets, and ...