And another annoying thing I forgot to include in the last post

[oursin]

My hope was that girl power would revive feminism, rather than prove to be its last gasp.
There isn't enough 'duh' in the world to express my feelings about this statement.

Comments

[gillo]

I was a sucker for girl power - feminism's little sister

Is this the Grauniad's week for hiring nitwits? Should cod be bought in bulk now?

[oursin.livejournal.com]

I think it's insidious Observer Woman seepage.

[buffysquirrel.livejournal.com]

I didn't even read the whole thing and now I have to throw up!

[legionseagle.livejournal.com]

Oh, gawd. This reminded me that yesterday one of the team's two (male) trainees chose to circulate this particular Daily Dilbert (http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/archive/dilbert-20071123.html). Of the lawyers senior to him in the team four are female (one being currently off on maternity leave) compared to two male; I'm the most senior. I don't think he realised precisely why I Was Not Amused, but I hope he got the message that I wasn't.

[gillo]

Aaargh.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

I was wondering the other day how much effect the Spice Girls had had on children growing up in their heyday. If you're 8 or so, do you just see the 'message' about girl power, and not notice the short skirts and suggestive writhing in every video.

It's surely better than todays favourite of playboy bunny.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

I know not this playboy bunny of which you speak in the context of children, and wish to express a profound desire that I may so continue.

The thing is, what you see when you're a kid is different from what affects you. Thinking back to my own childhood, I'm very sure I would have only consciously noticed the explicit message. But that doesn't mean that the sexualization (also, do we need to digress on how the non-white one was "Scary"?) and the twittering, vapid presentation of girliness wouldn't have worked its way into my brain anyhow.

It's not a question of whether other things are worse, because the world is chock full of things which are worse or just as bad. The question is, which things are better? And what can be done for them? Because the majority of messages about gender, femininity, and sex which little girls get are not nice at all - and I'm sure you know all that.

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

Playboy are now being marketed as a lifestyle brand to women and children, including pencil cases for them to take to school. Which is not nearly as bad as the child's pole dancing playset that Woolworths were doing.

Erm, so I do think there's an issue of being worse. I don't even see there being even mixed messages these days, just relentless sexualisation and trivialising of little girls.

[buffysquirrel.livejournal.com]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaargh

[shiv5468.livejournal.com]

The playset? Or really vehement musical criticism?

[ithiliana.livejournal.com]

*headdesk*

And: Spice Girls = GRRL Power? I don't think so.

[ironed_orchid]

Ugh.

[intertext.livejournal.com]

Harrumph