Sweat It Out: A Self-Esteem Campaign

A few days ago, Heidi posted about the WNBA and the requirement to wear make-up for the atheletes to adhere to rules of “womanhood.” This story has caused a stir in the community and is asking why can’t women be noticed for sport instead of beauty.  On this week’s F**K You Video on You Tube from the crew at www.feministing.com, Vanessa discusses this issue further: 

Well, its not the US that is for sure. We are down at number 17. The winner, I could have guessed was going to be some where in Europe. Well….the winner is Switzerland! Yes, according to The World Database of Happiness, out of 10, report an 8.1. The Nordic countries are also very high on the list.

So, how accurate is this? How is happiness measured? While the article wonderfully stated that it is not just wealthy countries who claim happiness, yet we so often conflate the two. Yet, it is an interesting look at our geography of happiness.

Hmm….perhaps we should all eat more chocolate.

Here is the full article.

Photo by: ianlord

 The 10th season of America’s Next Top Model, has picked as the winner, Whitney Thompson. She 1st woman with curves (plus size) to win the reality TV show modeling contest.  She is a size 8-10 which is considered “plus-size” in fashion.   She spoke with People magazine and she stated to People Mag:

 ”No matter what, I want to be a role model…I hear my 13-year-old cousins say, ‘I’m so fat.’ But they’re perfect. They’re beautiful. And they’re too young to think like that.”

Click here to watch first interview with Whitney on ET Online!

I am so glad that they are accepting differnet sizes in modeling, but i’m also a bit discouraged that size 8-10 is considered “plus size”.  Isn’t that the common size fo most western women?  When will other like Whitney who win be noticed for just their talent/beauty instead of their talent/beauty in relation to their body size. Thoughts?!

 CNN covers the rape story  of the 16 year old female in Florida, who can not get prosecution on the 23 year old man she alleges druged and raped her.  Click below to watch her video:

http://youtube.com/user/Helprapevictim

Her voice is silenced she says because she is “poor” and she feels You Tube in her only outlet to getting attention.  The case file says that she and the 23 years old male had consensual sex, the  CNN article explains why the case hasn’t gone to trial or lead to an arrest is because in “Florida law states that a 15-year-old cannot give consent to sex. And though Crystal was 15 at the time of the alleged forced encounter, the prosecutor wrote that the case would not be prosecuted because Crystal was “a mere 1 month away” from turning 16, when it would be “legal to give consent,” according to documents.”   This comment from the prosecutor, is like saying “I only raped her a little bit” or “I only killed that person one time” -  I mean the law is the law, she was 15 and now she says it isn’t consensual, the legal systems needs to investigate.

Many people are outraged and others are shocked by the use and legal implications of using You Tube in this manner - it could hurt a potential case if what is said on the tape can be used against the victim. This is a hard and sad situation, I will follow this story now to see if her use of You Tube works for or against her.  If the outcome is positive, then could technology provide a new voice for those that have been silenced?

Oh dear, oh my…it is true - there is a 90210 Spin-Off show.  To be honest, I don’t plan to watch the new spin-off,  but the topic of it has brought back many memories of my youth. The youth where I was riddled with low self-esteem, wouldn’t walk down the senior hall when I was freshman.

 I didn’t want to be the characters but I did feel cooler watching them, and I think that helped with self-esteem, until I really grew into my own skin. I stopped watching late senior year, it was as if I didn’t them need them anymore.

Oh, Bren!  And then there was Dylan and Brenda and as a generation of females were so screwed when they had sex because then that meant - well, you know what that meant. It used to be difficult to distinguish real life actions from tv related real life - meaning if Brenda and Dylan were sexing it up, then I guess we had to do the same thing.  In retrospect it is interesting to look back to 1990-1994 when I was in high school, and remember how self-conscious that time was. It is nice to know that we can grow out of that, but it would ahveen better to know how to improve my self-esteem when I was younger.

This is an older scandal, but I was reminded of this today, and wanted to give you the link the Faith Hill Photoshop - In your face photo (scroll down on page when you enter the link).  She was on the cover of Redbook and they photoshopped her as expected. But what is so fascinating is that they show us an moving image between her before and after.  Take some time and look at the picture go back and forth.  The changes are INSANE!

Alright trusty readers, take a guess and tell us what you think is the is the job/profession with the highest rate of deaths by assassination?   Having this stigma attached to the career choice has got to be hard on your self-esteem.  The appropriate song to support this question is provided below, “My Baby Shot Me Down (Bang Bang).”  - Nancy Sinatra

The winning guess will receive…..umm…the self-satisfaction of being the smartest Sweat It Out reader!