Feb. 24, 2007 - 18:08 MST

THINKING IT OVER

Mary Winter of The Rocky Mountain News usually has a column in the Saturday "Spotlight" section of the paper. Which she does today. In a way it seems more that it should be in the editorial section - prominently. Quoted here in full:

APPEARANCES CAN BE HAZARDOUS TO HEALTH

"LIke millions of Americans, I loved Little Miss Sunshine, the surprise hit movie about a dysfunctional family on a road trip to California."

"One of its main charms is Olive, a 7-year old girl played by Abigail Breslin. Olive wears red cowboy boots, pink shorts and unfashionably big eyeglasses. She likes ice cream and she says what's on her mind."

"Unlike the rest of her struggling famly members, Olive has no demons or addictions."

"Her innocence is showcased in the final scenes, when she competes in the Little Miss Sunshine child beauty pageant."

"Fresh faced Olive is surrounded by tarted-up miniature women, a Labrador puppy in a sea of pampered poodles."

"She may not steal the snooty judges' hearts, but she sure does ours."

"I was reminded of Olive this week when I read about a new report on how we're turning girls into sex objects at earlier and earlier ages."

"I didn't find any groundbreaking news in the 45-page "Report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on the Sexualization of girls," but the take-home message was clear; More than ever, the media is giving young women the absurd message that the sexier their appearance, the more worthwhile they are as human beings. And girls are becoming emotionally sicker because of it."

"Fashion and teen magazines are some of the worst offenders when it comes to treating women as objects, according to the report. Their articles and ads send the message loud and clear: A woman's highest purpose should be to look good for a man."

"It's why thongs and sexy lingerie are marketed to girls as young as 7 and why, from 2002 to 2003, the number of girls 18 and younger who got breast implants tripled, from 3,872 to 11,326."

"Even toys have been sexualized. Today you can find Bratz dolls in fishnet stockings, miniskirts and feathr boas."

"Part of me finds it hard to believe that women haven't wised up. We've been having this discussion since at least the 1980s, when a 15-year old Brooke Shields posed in a then-scandalous ad for Calvin Klein jeans and a few years later when Naomi Wolf wrote about the crushing pressure women feel to meet a certain appearance standard in The Beauty Myth."

"In 1998, there was the classic experiment that showed that women get dumber when they think about their appearance. In the test, college students were left alone in a dressing room and were asked to try on either a swimsuit or a sweater. While they waited ten minutes wearing the garment, they took a math test. Women in swimsuits performed significantly worse than did those wearing sweaters. No differences were found for young men."

"It proved, at least to the authors of the 2007 report, that "chronic attention to physical; appearance leaves fewer cognitive resources available for other mental and phsical activities."

"But that's not even the worst of it. When you worry constantly about how you look, the cost -- in the form of shame, self-disgust and feelings of worthlessness -- can be heartbreaking."

"Is there any wonder eating disorders, depression and self-mutilation are constantly on the rise among American girls ?"

"The cure, say report authors, would probably include a literacy campaign to educate girls about how the media manupilates them. Parents and schools also need to give girls constant reminders that man ads, fashion magazines and music videos are fairy tales."

"Finally we need to push physical activity and athletics for girls. girls have a much better chance of developing self-respect when those around them emphasize body comptetence over appearance, letting them start appreciating what their bodies are capable of, not how they're adorned."

"I think a kid like Olive would get that concept, if only more adults would."

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This is what a woman (Mary Winter) has to say, not some macho type man. And I pretty much agree with her.

Which brings up to me that there are many women old enough to know better who are buying the bullisht of, "thinner is better." Look at all the skeletal fashion models. What are they teaching their daughters ?

I know a young woman 13 going on 35 who has been dressing far beyond her age as daringly as she can. She preened when she began to wear her first training bra, constantly checking to see who was looking.

Her jeans are very low cut and tight and usually her belly button is on display. And all that jazz. She is, however, well mannered in most ways, smart as well. But - - - - - her obvious awareness of "who is looking at me," is something that seems to me to take away from her character.

And I can't help remembering all the film clips shown of Jon Benet Ramsey, a, what ? six - seven year old alluring woman who had all the moves down pat. And that is the direction of present day society in a lot of cases, it seems to me also.

I am not a bible thumping prig by any means and have been known to admire a sculpture of a beautiful naked lady, but it seems to me that there is a time and a place for such things and to a great degree to be done only by a mature woman if she is so inclined and does it in the proper situations.

Oh well, just the words of an old man THINKING IT OVER . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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