EMgirls (EMpowered Girls)

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Comment by Renee on April 22, 2010 at 7:39pm

I noticed it's been a while since the last activity....does anyone come on here anymore??

Comment by Kara Norman on October 24, 2009 at 5:52pm

Hi EmGirls..what are your thoughts on our newest discussion question:

"More Than A Costume~ What Message Are We Sending Our Girls?

Image-Teen Girls Costume (Maid Perfect) found online under the Teen Girl "Career Section"

Last week, my two daughers (ages 5 and l1) and I went on our annual adventure to find a halloween costume. Last year when we did this my then 10 year old daughter picked a halloween pirate costume that included a short skirt and fishnet leggings.. since when do pirates not wear pants???? Needless to say after much begging I let her get that one but added my mommy touch by adding a long sleeved leotard and regular leggings. It looked nothing like what we came home with but mommy was happy! So here we are again, standing in Party City, looking at the walls of costumes and once again I am horrified by the highly sexualized costumes for girls. What is going on, are we preparing our girls for the future or to be on the streets? After I got home from the store that evening I looked online and browsed through the tween girl and teen girl section at the costumes that manufacturers feel that our daughters/teen girls should wear.

I found costumes like the maid costume at the begining of this blog which is designed for a teen girl! I also found this Candy Striper costume for TEEN girls seen below (when I first saw this image of the teen girl in the costume I thought it said candy stripper, not striper..geez!) who is hardly dressed like she is going to visit/take care of sick people in the hospital, I mean look at her shoes, they want our daughters, our next generation to dress up like this? The kicker is that these two costumes (Maid Perfect and Handy Candy Striper) are found under Party City's CAREER costume section for teen girls!!!

I am so angry that if you are a teen girl looking for costumes and you search under the 'career section' this is what your CHOICES are! This is just another way the our society is oversexualizing our girls at an early age. The tween costumes were no better, I found costumes with corset shaped tops, too short skirts and more fishnets on girls with tons of make up on in provocative poses.

Now when I searched the career section for boys, I found Police Officers, Air Force Pilots, and Military Costumes. Now for girls under the career section, I found costumes for an Army Brat, Bad Spirit Cheerleader and A Mega SuperStar with her midrift section out! Joe Kelly, founder of the advocacy group Dads and Daughters see this trend in costumes as symptomatic of a deeper issue. "The hypersexualization of younger and younger girls only serves to reinforce gender roles. When an 8-year-old girl can't find a doctor costume because all they have are nurse outfits, that's a problem."

Dr. Sharon Lamb coauthor of the book, "Packaging Girlhood: Rescuing Our Daughters From Marketing Schemes," which includes a chapter devoted solely to sexy Halloween costumes. Lamb points out that most Web sites selling kids Halloween costumes divide merchandise along gender lines, and typically offer more choices for boys than girls (boys get to be doctors, police officers as well as gory monsters and "Star Wars" characters). Of the 22 girl costumes featured on one Web site Lamb looked at, 15 were cheerleaders, divas and rock stars. "That really limits girls' imaginations," says Lamb, who surveyed 600 young girls for the book, many of whom admitted to dressing up as something sexy for Halloween in order to get attention.

EMGirls it is very important realize how our society can affect our self esteem even something as simple as a costume. If we encourage our girls to maybe choose another costume or create one on their own which represents more positive images we are sending a message to manufacturers that we want more. Use opportunities when shopping for a costume with your mom or friends girls to discuss what these costumes really mean and why there is more to being a girl/teen than being sexy. I was thrilled when my 5 year old said she wanted to be a superhero! I was also glad to see that there were more SuperGirls on the shelves this year as well. We got home and she was dying to try it on. As she ripped the costume out of it's package a week before Halloween she was just so excited! I secured her red cape, she stuck her little chest out and put her little fist on her hips and struck her supergirl pose! She darted through the house trying to make her cape fly through the air..it just warmed my heart! To think that my 5 year old felt like she could conquer the world in that moment, I realized that it was more than a costume..it is shaping who she is. It starts with choices like this will create a generation of confident girls like all of you who will realize your power and what is deemed as being beautiful or cool! Girl power rules!!

Comment by donna ryan on October 12, 2009 at 12:35pm

I believe our girls needed to be told that God made you beautiful the way you are no questions ask!!! We don't need to have make up on, dresses up to be someone else or want to be like someone else. Make up doesn't change who you are so why hide behind it to fool yourself that you are beautiful. If all the money that the cosmetic companies made would go into helping others and help other people we wouldn't have to worry about all of this doubt that we are not beautiful.

Comment by Christina Mahon on October 12, 2009 at 11:31am

I agree!
It looks like they put her head on a different body...

Comment by Dayva Michele A. on October 11, 2009 at 8:01pm

that ralph lauren picture of that girl is disgusting.

Comment by Christina Mahon on October 9, 2009 at 2:22pm

Your welcome Kara! :D
Hugss

Comment by Kara Norman on October 8, 2009 at 8:45pm

Hi Christina!! I know it is so crazy! I feel/felt the same way, and this is just a great reminder to celebrate real beauty. You are such a beautiful young lady Ms. Christina! Thanks for beautiful comment and declaration! Hugs, Mrs. Kara

Comment by Christina Mahon on October 8, 2009 at 8:42pm

WOW!
Kara you amazed my mom, and I!
Models can look different with makeup on but the things they do to make the models look picture perfect is wow! lol
I always wanted to be a beautiful model.
Every morning I would look at myself and see things I wanted to change.
Girls would look in magazines and feel horrible about there self because,
they don't have the perfect skin, or body shape.

This week I will try to be proud of what I look like!
(:

Comment by Kara Norman on October 8, 2009 at 8:19pm

HI EmGirls!

Share your thoughts on my latest discussion question:

Today's Perception of Beauty~ Let's Change It!

Magazine Ad from Ralph Lauren

Hello EmGirls!

Take a good look at this photo from a Ralph Lauren ad. What do you think about the model in this ad? I was shocked and horrified that such a leading fashion designer would think that this ad is appealing to a woman/girl and would make her want to go out and buy this outfit! Is this what our society things is beautiful? This is obviously a photo shop disaster!!! This ad got me to thinking about how the media has such a powerful influence on how we think and feel about ourselves. We all want to look like a supermodel at times but is this really the best goal for ourselves. This picture is a perfect example of how what we consider beauty is slowly being distorted by the media and our society.

Here is an excellent video called “Evolution of a Model” created by Dove which shows how much retouching is done to models in magazines to portray this ‘perfect’ or ‘beautiful image’ that we as women and girls try to live up to.


These images that we see everyday in magazines shape us in many ways. We often strive to look perfect and have negative thoughts about ourselves when we try to live up to these impossible standards. What is beauty to you? Do you feel beautiful even if you feel that you aren't the 'perfect' size or look a certain way?

"Today's unrealistic idea of what is beautiful means that young girls are under more pressure now than they were even five years ago. Airbrushing means that adverts contain completely unattainable images that no one can live up to in real life. We need to help protect children from these pressures and we need to make a start by banning airbrushing in adverts aimed at them. The focus on women's appearance has got out of hand - no one really has perfect skin, perfect hair and a perfect figure, but women and young girls increasingly feel that nothing less than thin and perfect will do."-Jo Swinson

Being aware of the tricks that the media uses can arm us with a better perception of what it means to be beautiful! We place too much emphasis on our imperfections and should focus more on what makes us fabulous and unique! There are beautiful things about each of us and we as a society should celebrate our strengths, talents, and abilities not just our jean sizes or looks.

I challenge you all EmGirls to be proud of the beautiful young women that you are and not to let our society influence how we feel about ourselves and what we think is real beauty!

Comment by Zoey Noack on October 5, 2009 at 8:58pm

Thank You Mrs.Kara and Christina!!!
I am very happy to be a Christian too!
(I guess I'm just a Jesus Freak! ;} )

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