Oprah Goes to School
True, the world's most successful woman has always shared her wealth. But her latest project is really one for the books.

By Allison Samuels
Newsweek
Jan. 8, 2007 issue - Two thousand and six was the year Africa went Hollywood: Madonna, Clooney, Brangelina. And now, in 2007, the most exclusive spot on the continent will undoubtedly be in the town of Henly-on-Klip, about 40 miles outside Johannesburg. Set on 22 lush acres and spread over 28 buildings, the complex features oversize rooms done in tasteful beiges and browns with splashes of color, 200-thread-count sheets, a yoga studio, a beauty salon, indoor and outdoor theaters, hundreds of pieces of original tribal art and sidewalks speckled with colorful tiles. Julia Roberts, John Travolta, Stevie Wonder, Nelson Mandela and the reigning African Queen herself—Angelina Jolie—are expected to attend the grand opening this week. By now, you're probably wondering how much a spread like this goes for per night. Actually, it's free. There's only one catch—you have to be a 12- or 13-year-old African girl to get in. As spectacular as this place sounds, it's not a resort. It's a school: the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls.

Winfrey has spent five years and $40 million building the school to her own Oprahlicious specifications—did we mention the huge fireplaces in every building? The talk-show diva always does things in grand style, of course. But $40 million for a school for impoverished girls in Africa does seem a bit, well, extravagant. In fact, the South African government had planned to build the school with her, but it pulled out amid reported criticism that the academy was too elitist and lavish for such a poor country. Oprah doesn't care. "These girls deserve to be surrounded by beauty, and beauty does inspire," she says, sitting on the couch of her hotel suite overlooking the deep-blue Indian Ocean. "I wanted this to be a place of honor for them because these girls have never been treated with kindness. They've never been told they are pretty or have wonderful dimples. I wanted to hear those things as a child."

Oprah says she decided to build her own school because she was tired of charity from a distance. "When I first started making a lot of money," she says, "I really became frustrated with the fact that all I did was write check after check to this or that charity without really feeling like it was a part of me. At a certain point, you want to feel that connection." But there's another reason Oprah has put so much, and so much of herself, into this school. Like her students, she grew up poor—truly a coal miner's daughter—with dim hopes for the future. She was raped as a girl and ultimately raised by her grandmother. To a certain degree, she is building this school for herself: the plucky girl who became one of the most successful women in the world yet still feels that pain. I wanted to hear those things as a child. If she can save these girls, perhaps she can rescue that child, too.

I so love what Oprah is doing for the gyrls here! It is awesome, Oprah is a true "SweetGyrl"

Gyrls are very special people!

Mary J Blige- Take me as I am

Tell your friends, this message, when they are pressuring you into being what your not!

And if you have boyfriend that is pressuring into something your not comfortable with, Tell him!
"Take Me as I am"!

Disney first: black princess in animated film

‘The Frog Princess’ will be set in New Orleans, scored by Randy Newman

Judi Bottoni / AP

Randy Newman on piano and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band play a song from Walt Disney's animated musical fairy tale ‘The Frog Princess’ on Wednesday in New Orleans.
View related photos

NEW ORLEANS - The Walt Disney Co. has started production on an animated musical fairy tale called “The Frog Princess,” which will be set in New Orleans and feature the Walt Disney Studio’s first black princess.

The film, set for release in 2009, also is the first hand-drawn film Disney has committed to since pledging last month to return to the traditional animation that made it a worldwide brand.

“The Frog Princess,” a musical scored by composer Randy Newman, is “an American fairy tale” starring a girl named Maddy who lives in the French Quarter in New Orleans, said John Lasseter, chief creative director for Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.

Disney did not provide details of the plot, but the company showed shareholders preliminary drawings from the movie. Newman and a jazz band played a song from the movie’s score.
Maddy joins eight other Disney princess characters, who have generated $3 billion in global retail sales since 1999. Disney Princesses is the fastest-growing brand for the company’s Consumer Products division.

Disney introduced its first non-white animated heroine in 1992's “Aladdin”: a Middle Eastern character named Jasmine. Three years later an American Indian princess appeared in “Pocahontas.”

The creation of the Chinese heroine from “Mulan” came in 1998. Other Disney princesses are the main characters from “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid.”

Disney aggregated the eight characters in 1999 under the banner Disney Princesses and has rolled out toys, books, clothing, furniture and other merchandise aimed at girls ages 3 to 8.
Disney chief executive Robert Iger said the company wanted to show its support for New Orleans, only partially rebuilt 18 months after it was flooded by Hurricane Katrina, by holding its annual meeting and setting its newest animated film in the city.

“The film’s New Orleans setting and strong princess character give the film lots of excitement and texture,” Walt Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook said.

John Musker and Ron Clements, who co-directed “The Little Mermaid,” “Aladdin” and “Hercules” will co-direct the movie. The pair also wrote the story for the film.

I AM SO GLAD THIS IS HAPPENING, I MEAN IT ONLY TOOK 100 YEARS!!

14 YEAR OLD GYRL SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS IN PRISON!!
FOR SHOVING SOMEONE~

Paris, Texas. in plain view
March 13th, 2007 Fredric

The one thing i love most about reading online is the ability to find little nuggets of information or interesting stories without having to flip through a giant stack of recyclable paper with messy ink. yesterday was no exception when i stumbled upon a story in the tribe (may need free signup) about a small town in Texas that seems to relish in its violent racial past.
Paris, Texas is the home of the Paris Fairgrounds, a stage where thousands of white ’spectators’ would gather to burn and lynch blacks as if at some sort of carnival. today, it is a highly segregated town that has implicitly dared anyone to question how it chooses to treat blacks that live in the area.


The facts:
“black parents have filed at least a 12 discrimination complaints against the school district with the federal Education Department, asserting that their children, who constitute 40 percent of the district’s nearly 4,000 students, were singled out for excessive discipline” the Paris public schools are under investigation by the U.S. Education Department.


19-year-old white man, convicted last July of criminally negligent homicide for killing a 54-year-old black woman and her 3-year-old grandson with his truck, was sentenced in Paris to probation.

Judge Chuck Superville sentenced a 14-year-old white girl, convicted of arson for burning down her family’s house, to probation.

A 14-year-old black freshman, Shaquanda cotton, shoved a 58-year-old teacher’s aide at Paris high school in a dispute over entering the building before the school day had officially begun. She was tried in march 2006 in the town’s juvenile court, convicted of “assault on a public servant” and sentenced by the same judge Chuck Superville to prison for up to 7 years, until she turns 21
Yes, you read that last part right.

I’ll let it sink in for a second.

So its 2007, one state is drafting formal legislation to apologize for slavery, and another is trying to flex its ‘don't mess with Texas’ ego. while i complained earlier of how dismayed i was that some black blogs tend to be angry, this type of reality justifies that sentiment, and rightfully so. while I’ve never been the most articulate when it comes to expressing the complete shock of ‘in plain view’ racism, i can honestly say that this type of white arrogance and hate needs to be called out and handled swiftly. but how? the article mentions that NAACP is on the case (rolling eyes), but i feel like more, MUCH MORE needs to be done.

If you get to the end of the article, the turmoil suffered by Shaquanda in juvenile prison, where 95% of the offenders are repeat and violent (read: real crimes), has caused her to attempt suicide on her life 3 times. 3 times! a 14-year old, my little sister, is trying to kill herself because a racist bigot of a judge put her in prison for shoving someone. SHOVING!

So what can be done? link to this article. publicize this story. let’s see what blogging black can really do. go to the governor’s page at http://www.governor.state.tx.us/contact and let him know how you feel and how this is completely bullshit.
free Shaquanda cotton. NOW!


I ask that some of my more articulate readers post a statement in the comments that we can all use on the contact form on the Texas governor page.

IF MORE GIRLS COULD THINK THIS WAY, AND GET OUT OF RELATIONSHIPS THAT ARE NOT GOOD FOR THEM WITH CLASS LIKE THIS VIDEO FROM BEYONCE, THEY WOULD HAVE BETTER CHOICES.

WE ARE SO ABOUT EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN TO LOVE THEMSELVES. CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT GYRLS! I AM NOT ENCOURAGEING BASHING GUYS, BUT I AM PROMOTING WHEN SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE IS NOT DOING WHAT YOU KNOW YOU NEED OR WANT, THEY GOTTA GO!

IT'S SO IMPORTANT TO LIKE YOURSELVES LADIES & MEN, MY STREETBOYZ2BIZNIZMEN!

IN LIFE PEOPLE PEOPLE PLAY PARTS, THERE ARE SEASONS AND REASONS AND LIFE, THE PROBLEM COMES IN WHEN YOU TRY TO MAKE PEOPLE THAT ARE THERE FOR A SEASON AND REASON STAY A LIFE TIME! ITS LIKE MEAT GOING BAD IN THE FRIDGE.

ANY HOW BEYONCE IS HOT IN THIS VIDEO ENJOY!!

STAYTUNED! SWEETGYRL IS INTERVIEWING THE LOVELY UP & COMING GORGEOUS SONGSTRESS!

MS. HANNAH FROM OUT OF NONE OTHER THAN THE PRESTIGIOUS VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY!

MS. HANNAH IS BEING FEATURED AS THE

"ULTIMATE SWEETGYRL OF THE MONTH"

STAY TUNED FOR THE INTERVIEW!

Who is a Sweetgyrl? You Are!

DREAMS. RELATIONSHIPS. ATTITUDES. Sweetgyrl is for teen girls striving to LIVE and BECOME. Be a part of a network of girls, all kinds of girls, with Sweetgyrl—online, in life. You probably have lots of people telling you what to do…but what do you want to do? What is your passion? What is your destiny? How do you begin? Sweetgyrl is all about you shaping your own experiences by setting goals and achieving !

Sweetgyrl is the ideal place to hang out with friends, try new challenges, share hopes and dreams, and plan for your future. Sweetgyrl — a future created for you, by you, about you!

FOLLOW YOUR TRUE PASSION - DO MORE OF WHAT YOU’RE
GOOD AT!

Sweetgyrl is Real Life!

It's a community of girls who want to make a difference in their lives and in the world and have fun while they do it. It has all of the things you love to do, from gossip and boy-talk, to healing and realizing your destiny . Whatever you want to do—it's here! Find out how to develop new leadership skills, improve the community, or ask for help to create your own group.
Sweetgyrl is Online too!

You can become part on the Sweetgyrl online community by regularly visiting the site. Give your opinions and get to know yourself better. At Sweetgyrl we are committed to discussing issues that affect the lives of teen girls in a nonjudgmental, personal way. Through honest writing, visuals and peer mentoring, we try to give girls a new way of looking at subjects that are crucial to their lives.

We hope to provide connection and identification in a way that is not possible in other media. Our content deals frankly with sexuality, emotions, body image, etc. Sweetgyrl allows them to use their voices through programs and relationships that empower girls to develop their individual strengths and unlimited potential.

"WHY I WISH I WOULD HAVE STAYED A VIRGIN"

HELP! I KEEP ATTRACTING JERKS!

I FEEL ITS IMPORTANT TO HELP GIRLS OVERCOME LOW SELF ESTEEM NOW!

OTHER WISE THEY WILL GO THROUGH LIFE ATTRACTING AND HAVING LOVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE SAME TYPE OF GUYS!

When I broke up with my ex from high school, I took note on the kinds of guys I kept getting! on one level or another, they were all jerks! or should I say non-committal, emotionally unavailable, inconsistent, or some other unbearably negative trait.

So I had to ask myself well gee, what the hell am I sending off that I keep getting these kinds of dudes?? I mean am not ugly, am cute if you ask me! I am educated, I love God, I drive a nice car, I dress my tail off!, I can cook, I am clean! I can keep a house, I have great conversation! what is the problem? One loser after another. I had to go start my introspection... now me continually attracting the same kind of man, did not get the "Clowns" off the hook! "They were, who they were".

I think the biggest mistake I made was dating someone from church! I thought I had it! His mom was a minister, he loved his mom, he had sisters so he respected women (so I thought).
He held a good job, no children, saved money, went to church, dressed nice, smelled good. The ideal bachelor, right? WRONG! AGAIN! BUT YOU WILL READ ABOUT THAT IN
"THE GUY FROM CHURCH" more on that later!

So anyway... I found this article/interview on the web, that I found quite interesting. see below!

Dear Trish, I don't know why, but I keep attracting jerks. My last three relationships have been with men who stepped out on me or otherwise played me for a fool. I'm a reasonably well-adjusted and successful lady, so why do I always attract bad boys? —
In a Romantic Rut in Reston, Va.

Dear Romantic Rut, Many women find themselves in your shoes. And even if those shoes are famed Manolo Blahniks, they're not good ones to be in. Let's be honest: Bad boys are beguiling. There's a mystique about them, an alluring je ne sais quois that's terribly hard to ignore. Despite being philanderers and con artists, they manage to spin their bad-boy ways into something that appeals to our own egos. "He's had the rest," we think. "Now he can have the best." We like the challenge of winning over a player. And we kid ourselves into thinking that simply because we're fabulous he'll be willing to change his ways and settle down with us. And once he's seen our light, he wouldn't dare go back. Except, of course, he almost always does go back. Early and often. And, more often than not, we gals wind up dating another bad boy. Patterns, RR, are hard to break — his patterns and yours.

Step #1 Do a quick review of your past boyfriends. You say they've all been bad guys, so make a list of the things you found attractive about each of them. Odds are, the lists will be quite similar. Why are these traits important to you?

Asking yourself this question will help you learn more about what you really want in a man. Is there a way to get a guy that isn't self-destructive?

For example, perhaps you like a man who gives you a little space. A player gives you space, but only so he can pursue other women. A better man would spend that time pursuing his interests.

The player's behavior is detrimental to you and your relationship. The better man's behavior strengthens each of you as individuals, thereby creating a stronger couple.

Step #2 Next, reflect on your role in each relationship. Were there any signs that you were heading into dangerous waters? Maybe he had a bad reputation. Or perhaps he flirted a little too much with the waitresses.

He might even have been missing in action a little too often. If you really scrutinize, you'll likely find that you were handed a warning early on — but chose to ignore it. Write down the signs and prepare a quick exit if you see them again.

Step #3 This one's hard, but you need to face the fact that these players are in your life because you allow them to be. Check your self-esteem. You say you're "reasonably well-adjusted," but I urge you to dig a little deeper at why you repeatedly allow men to run around on you. You're not a bad person, RR, but you need to change your thinking. You deserve to be treated better, but that will only happen if you put out a "no horseplay, no exceptions" vibe.

Look to family and friends for help in building your confidence and learning how to get what you want. If that doesn't work, you can always seek the services of a skilled life counselor or therapist. Taking ownership of your past and learning to ask for what you need in the present are the first steps in securing a brighter future. Step #5 While you're working on all this, don't stop dating.

But do be a little choosier. Use these dates to test-drive your preferences and get comfortable with your new outlook. Resist the temptation to jump right into a relationship with the first decent guy you meet, however.

Take time to get to know him and keep an eye out for your warning signs (without being too paranoid). Just take it easy and take each date as it comes, in its own moment. Who knows? You might find a good man instead of another bad boy. Keep me posted on your progress.

NOW I MUST SAY THIS IS ALL EASIER SAID THAN DONE! ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A PATTERN OF DOING THIS, PATTERNS ARE HARD TO BREAK! YOU HAVE TO CONSCIOUSLY CHANGE YOUR OUTLOOK ON LIFE AND CHANGE YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS HABIT PATTERNS.

THAT IS WHY IT'S IMPORTANT TO HELP OUR YOUNG WOMEN EARLY, TO LEARN SELF LOVE AND SELF RESPECT!

MORE ABOUT KIMBERLY & "THE TRUTH BEHIND SWEETGYRL"

As a broken young women, seeking the acceptance of my peers, and always feeling left out and abandoned, and alone. It was predicted that I would not amount to anything or be anything, but somehow I always felt that there was something more or bigger coming out of life for me. I was made fun of, hated on, fought, kicked out, betrayed and abandoned many times, however I knew that I was not the only person that felt that way nor was I the only girl going through what I was going through, I knew there was hope for me even tho my circumstances stated that there was none.

The part of me that is a dreamer, I was once broken, emotionally, and it’s the part of me that wants to see young women step up their game in life and stop settling for less than wat I wanted.

Kimberly Bowles, Founder and CEO

Kimberly Bowles is the original SweetGyrl! Drawing from her own life story and experience as a teenager fighting to survive in a home environment of continuing emotional abuse, the founding of SweetGyrl is the culmination of Kimberly’s personal road to self-development.
As an experienced professional speaker, trainer, entertainer, entrepreneur, and clinical therapist, she is truly a role model who can speak to the emotional, cultural, and societal roadblocks that exist for young urban women today.

At eighteen Kimberly left home to escape years of emotional torment and rejection at the hands of her own family. At times homeless and in shelters, she struggled alone to raise her little son Samuel. Thus began a long process of exploration, education, and purposeful self-development. In time she rose above what she was taught about herself at home in order to find her own way – and make a new life - by continuing her education, working hard, finding the right mentors, and exposing herself to all types of new experiences and opportunities. She learned to value herself apart from the environment that produced her, eventually growing to self love, achievement, and personal fulfillment. A success story in her own right, her vision is to provide the same development opportunities she made for herself to young women everywhere who need support and direction on their own roads to personal success.

As an experienced educator and facilitator, Kimberly has trained many individuals and groups in traditional classroom, individual, and therapeutic settings. She has developed and taught programs for traditional and non-traditional counseling and intervention, various components for employment success and career development, diversity awareness, parenting, and for the professional development of Case Managers and other educators and trainers. She is a Clinician with a Masters in Education from Cambridge College of Massachusetts and earned two undergraduate degrees from Charter Oak State College of Connecticut. She is also a professionally trained actress and entertainer with credits on stage and screen that include Annie, The Fan, and HBO’s The Wire. Kimberly and her family live in Maryland.

SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED DISEASES AND TEEN GYRLS, NOW WE HAVE POLITICS INVOLVED, LET'S GET IT TOGETHER PARENTS! THIS ARTICLE BELOW IS WHAT I CALL EXTREME.

When I was growing up, my mom was a church lady, which led to "When I got kicked out of the house at 18"

When parenting and Christianity becomes dogmatic it is then unhealthy! You cant be over bearing and "punitive" in parenting, you are contributing to your child being insecure, dishonest, sneaking around, and rebellious!

Please look out for the continued saga in the book titled "The Truth Behind SweetGyrl" the strife's and struggles of one 18 year old that grew up in a home with a parent that meant well, however the overbearing, dogmatic, controlling, non supportive attitudes she had to encounter, promoted the planning of a pregnancy at the age of 18 and dating a young man who engaged in drug activity and led to domestic violence, homelessness, jail, shootings and much more.

Please stay tuned for the continued chapters!

March 2, 2007 New Rule: If you don't think your daughter getting cancer <http://dir.salon.com/topics/cancer/> is worse than your daughter having sex, <http://dir.salon.com/topics/sex/> then you're doing it wrong. Last year, science came up with a way to greatly reduce cervical cancer in young women.

It's a vaccine that prevents women from getting HPV, which is a sexually transmitted disease that acts as a gateway to the cancer. And the vaccine is so good, it could wipe out HPV.<http://www.salon.com/mwt/broadsheet/2007/02/02/hpv/index.html> I keep a stockpile near my hot tub, and I can tell you, that tingling sensation means it's really working. And I'd say that even without the endorsement deal. Now for the bad news: Not everyone is pleased with this vaccine. That prevents cancer. Christian parent groups and churches nationwide are fighting it. Bridget Maher -- no relation, and none planned -- of the Family Research Council says giving girls the vaccine is bad, because the girls "may see it as a license to engage in premarital sex."

http://judo.salon.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.salonmagazine.com/opinion/content/large.html/1938426597/Right/default/empty.gif/39633231343836383435653833323930><http://judo.salon.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.cgi/www.salonmagazine.com/opinion/content/large.html@Right>Which is really a stretch. People don't get the vaccine for typhoid and say, "Great, now I can drink the sewer water in Bombay." It's like saying if you give a kid a tetanus shot she'll want to jab rusty nails in her feet. It's like being against a cure for blindness because it'll encourage masturbation. It's like being for salmonella poisoning in peanut butter because it'll discourage weirdos from spreading it on their ass and calling the dog. And yet, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma is another one who's anti-vaccine. He thinks if a teenage girl feels a little prick, she's gonna want to feel a whole lot more. But HPV shots don't cause promiscuity. Tequila shots do.

Everything your kids buy is sold to them with sex. The vaccine doesn't make them want to screw: MTV does. And hormones. And having moron parents they want to escape from. Hey, when you're 15 years old, breathing encourages sexual activity. But let's be frank: These <http://dir.salon.com/topics/christian/>Christian groups aren't just against the HPV shot; they're against family planning and <http://dir.salon.com/topics/condoms/> condoms and morning after pills -- they want to make sure sex is as dangerous as possible, so that kids know, if they sleep around and get an<http://dir.salon.com/topics/stds/> STD, that's God teaching them a lesson, and the lesson is, you should never have tried out for"American Idol" in the first place. There's only one kind of medical science that excites Christians, and that's anything that proves life begins earlier and earlier in the womb. If you could use stem cells to prove that life begins at foreplay, the pope would turn the Vatican into a lab. These people don't really want to see a cure for anything, except homosexuality. But as a parent, if you're so obsessed with abstinence<http://dir.salon.com/topics/abstinence/> you'd risk your kid's health, there's a word for what you are, but it's not "follower of Christ." It's not "moral."

It's not "Christian." It's not even "logical." So just admit it. You hate sex. It's OK to say you hate for the sake of hating. It hasn't hurt Dick Cheney. I hate to tell you this, Mrs. Maher, and Sen. Coburn, and anyone else who thinks a vaccine gives your girls a "license to have sex": Your daughter knows she doesn't need a license for sex. She's already on the Internet exchanging bondage fantasies with a German boy she met on MySpace. Forget HPV; she's already on to S/M. We all know, there's only one 100 percent proven method to make a woman abstinent -- marry her. (Editor's Note:

Cute concluding punchline and in sync with what much of the media believes about marriage, but contradicted by the largest, most scientific sex survey (National Opinion Research Center, U of Chicago, 1994) which found that married people have more sex than singles and enjoyed it more physically and emotionally.)

"WHY I WISH I WOULD HAVE STAYED A VIRGIN PART 2"

THE MEDIA PROMOTES SEX TO TEEN GYRLS! SEXUAL PROMISCUITY!

READ ARTICLE BELOW, not only do young women deal with negative peer pressure at school but they are forced to deal with it when turning on the TV or reading magazines, am I going to be a corn ball and say don't let our daughters watch TV or read magazines! of course not! I like the magazines and TV, however we need to realistically help our daughters define beauty on their own terms as well as SELF RESPECT AND SELF LOVE!! Gyrls with low self esteem feel that they have to be pretty enough or sexy enough to get the attention of boyz! Studies show that boyz are not ready for the emotional responsibility that comes along with sex, they are in an EXPLORATION STAGE! HORMONES!

I understand allot of this is pop culture, but how far is too far, in rap we have to be ho'd down or bitched down! in Rock we have to be groupies! and the list goes on!

Don't believe the hype, define beauty on your own terms, Mothers get with your daughters and help them define WHO THEY ARE!!

Sexed-up images in media hurt young girls: study Tue Feb 20, 8:57 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Inescapable media images of sexed-up girls and women posing as adolescents can cause psychological and even physical harm to adolescents and young women, a study in the US has warned.ADVERTISEMENT The pressure of what experts call "sexualization" can lead to depression, eating disorders, and poor academic performance, said the report, released Sunday by the American Psychological Association.

"Sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem and is harmful to girls," it concluded.Adult women dressed as school girls in music videos, bikini-clad doll sin hot tubs, and sexually-charged advertisements featuring teenagers were among the many examples cited.Such omnipresent images -- on television and the Internet, in movie sand magazines -- can also have a negative effect on a young girl's sexual development, the study cautioned.Based on a comprehensive review of academic literature, the 66-page report noted that young adolescents and girls were particularly at risk "because their sense of self is still being formed."School performance can also suffer.

In one experiment cited,college-aged women were asked to try on and evaluate either a swimsuit or a sweater. While they waited for 10 minutes while wearing the garment, they completed a math test."The results revealed that young women in swimsuits performed significantly worse ... than those wearing sweaters. No difference were found for young men."The study, which includes numerous recommendations for concerned parents, coincides with a growing wave of public concern about the impact of highly sexed imagery.The fashion world has been in turmoil since public authorities in Madrid banned under-weight and under-age models from catwalks last year.

The Italian government and two top fashion associations followed suit,signing a code of ethics in December after top Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston died of heart failure weighing only 40 kilos (88 pounds).In France, Health Minister Xavier Bertrand, concerned about the rise of eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, recently asked a panel of experts to create a similar voluntary code for advertiser sand clothing designers on how the female body should be portrayed.Sunday's study said sexualization occurs when "a person's value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior," when sexuality is inappropriately imposed, or when a person is sexually "objectified."

Looking at popular music videos, the authors quoted songs by the Pussycat Dolls, Kid Rock, and 50 Cent, emphasizing lyrics that they suggested sexually objectified women.The report said that "sexualization of women is particularly prominent in advertising," and singled out beer commercials as a major offender.Also cited was a Sketchers shoe ad that features pop singer Christina Aguilera dressed as a school girl in pigtails, with her shirt unbuttoned while licking a lollipop.

The popular Bratz dolls, the study noted, depict "girls marketed in bikinis, sitting in a hot tub, mixing drinks, and standing around,while the 'Boyz' play guitar and stand with their surf boards," it said. The dolls come dressed in miniskirts, fishnet stockings, and feather boas.The report called on parents to take a more active roll in helping to shape the sexual self-image of their children, and to exert consumer pressure on manufacturers and advertisers.In the United States, the sexualization of young girls became an issue of public debate after the 1999 murder of Jon Benet Ramsey, a six-year old beauty pageant contestant who put on makeup and adult clothes.Source: yahoo newshttp://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070220/ts_alt_afp/uschildrensex_070220135757

Don't believe the hype! how do you tell teen gyrls that watch television to not believe the hype on how your "suppose" to look! It's really sad. Reason being that, many young gyrls have very very low self esteem due to the fact that the media "sells an image" it's the "Image Based" media.

It sells the way a girl is suppose to look, feel, and behave according to "societies" standards.

Unfortunately many young women are choosing to go way above and beyond to look a certain way. The way the media portrays young women, particularly teen girls, in my opinion degrades their self esteem and self worth! many times young women don't feel that they are pretty enough, sexy enough, or "enough" period because they don't look like rail thin models! Please read the article below for more info.

Love, Hugs, Kisses, Kimberlina! SweetGyrl Founder/CEO

model: Media turns women into objects Dan Berrett Pocono Record Writer March 02, 2007 EAST STROUDSBURG

In the 1970s, Ann Simonton was a piece of eye candy. As a model, she made the cover of the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated and the pages of Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Vogue, among others.But even then, she sensed that this world was unreal; eating disorder sand insecurity plagued the beautiful crowd to which she belonged."

I was part of a system that was turning real people into things and objects," Simonton told an audience at East Stroudsburg University on Wednesday night. "It's much easier to hurt a thing." She found that out first-hand. In the same month that she made the cover of Seventeen magazine, Simonton was gang-raped at knife-point in broad daylight, she said.

The experience radicalized her, and cemented the connection she saw between how women are portrayed in the media and how they are treated in the real world. Simonton founded Media Watch, a watchdog group that teaches media literacy and challenges exploitative images. She has long protested advertisers whose images she calls hurtful and degrading, particularly to women and minorities.

She has picketed Miss America contests and dressed herself as a slab of meat during demonstrations. Her efforts have landed her in jail 11 times. On Wednesday, Simonton came to ESU at the invitation of the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. Her talk focused on how media images distort women's notions of their bodies and men's ideas of women ‹ and of themselves.

"Our main goal is to become more critical viewers of the media," she said, as she projected examples of advertisements to ESU's half-filled Keystone Room. "We are duped into thinking that, because we have 500channels, we have a choice." Simonton scrolled through a gallery of ads, noting what she saw as the worst offenders ‹ mostly the fashion industry, alcohol companies and products pitched at teenage boys, such as skateboards and video games. The style of these images ranged from muted to explicit, and from artsy to cheeky. But in nearly all of them, women were depicted flat on their back or stomach, their legs parted come-hither style.

"Seldom do they stand on their own two feet," Simonton said."It's ubiquitous. The ads become banal," she said. "It changes how we think about ourselves."Media's role in creating unhealthy views of women has long been staple of feminist criticism. Fifteen years ago, Naomi Wolf's bestseller "The Beauty Myth" showed how marketers exploit women's vulnerabilities ‹ particularly those related to their bodies ‹ to sell products. It's fertile soil because the gap between media image and reality is so stark. The average American woman stands 5-feet-3-inches tall and weighs 163 pounds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Women with these dimensions rarely appear in the media. "The image you're trying to emulate is something that is impossible," Simonton said.But many women still try.

Symptoms of eating disorders are presenting about 10 percent of late adolescent and adult women, according to the Academy of Eating Disorders.And it is the gap between aspiration and reality that marketers seize upon, Simonton said. "They want you to feel dis empowered so that you will fill it with consumption," she said.The notion that media manipulates people's insecurities for pure financial gain is being echoed by voices from across the political spectrum, from a self-described radical feminist like Simonton to the conservative Christian group, Focus on the Family, though it's a safe bet neither would see themselves as being in league with one another.

On Wednesday, Simonton showed other images, many of which showcased discrete parts of women's anatomy to the exclusion of all else. "Women are turned into one body part," she said, showing advertisements of women's mouths, legs, hair and rear end rendered in super close-up. Or others flashing their breasts."The question is not, 'Did she choose to do this?'" Simonton said referring to the models posing in the ads, or to the young women baring all in "Girls Gone Wild" videos. "It's 'How does this affect us?'"

To many, the effect has been a coarsened, violent and hyper sexualized culture, one that has seen young children clad in form-fitting "adult"clothing and pornography entering the mainstream.One of the true victims of this situation, in Simonton's eyes, is men.In ways that range from the subtle, overt or ironic, she argued that men are told that domination and violence of each other are the chief ways to be a man.An ad for an ultimate fighting video game came up on the screen behind her. "

Tired of talking about your feelings?" the ad asked, in front of an image of a fist pummeling someone in the face."Who's being hurt by male violence?" she asked. "Men are." In 2005,men were victimized by violent crime at 1.5 times the rate that women were, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Simonton said that media images also affect men in subtler ways, by framing their ideas about women and their expectations for relationships.

She showed ads of men sitting dressed while women sat near them scantily clad, or in bondage."The unspoken rule is that men cannot be with their equal," she said."Men should be upset about this."