Got sent this…

An article in Advertising Age (must be registered on AdAge to read, or find it in the press section of bettybeauty.com) describes how Betty came to be: the creator, Nanci Jarecki, first had the idea when visiting a salon in Rome where she witnessed female customers being handed little brown bags, with “such delight,” as they left the salon. In those bags, dye to match their Bettys to their Wilmas. From there, the research and development began with casual studies by a gynecologist, who reported that not one person had matching hair down there, and salon workers, who reported that many customers were interested but had “sensitivity” concerns. via

It is an intriguing idea if you’re into that. My first question was regarding the safety of dying your pubic hair. But also where did Nancy Jarecki come up with the name “Betty” for the product? I also wonder if this is just another example of how women are being cajoled into changing themselves not because they want to but because someone else wants them to.  I don’t necessarily get that feeling from the website.

Definitely food for thought…

Teenage Girls may have made pact to get pregnant:

The girls showed up repeatedly at the high school health clinic, asking for pregnancy tests. But their reactions to the test results were puzzling: high-fives if they were expecting, long faces if they weren’t.School officials in this hard-luck New England fishing town say an alarming 17 girls — four times the usual number — became pregnant this year. And even more disturbing: Some of the girls may have made a pact to have babies and raise them together. via

One conclusion as to why these young women would make such a pact is the glamorization of pregnant celebrities in the entertainment media. “Baby bumps” are treated like a great purse or clutch, an awesome accessory every cool person must have. While this is probably not the only reason these girls decided to get pregnant–if they did–it shows we’re still not on target with discussing the long term circumstances of unprotected sex and teenage pregnancy. Jaime Lynn Spears anyone?

To commemorate thirty-fifth anniversary of Roe V. Wade, it’s Blog For Choice Day!

This year’s theme is why it’s important to vote pro-choice…

Why I vote pro-choice:

• To ensure that we maintain the legacy of American feminism started by women before and after Seneca Falls by allowing women to have complete freedom over their bodies.
• To ensure women have complete access to health care which includes reproductive rights.
• To ensure that there is comprehensive sex education available to women of all backgrounds, ages, races and socioeconomic stations.
• To ensure that women and men know what options are available to them.
• To ensure that Roe V. Wade is upheld by congress and the government.
• To ensure that Roe V. Wade decision is respected by the government.

These are just some of the many reasons, I support and vote pro-choice.

- Ms. Rose

I’m proud to have joined Blog for Choice  Day on January 22, the thirty-fifth anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Yeah!

I saw the movie Juno and have a post to write!

Some article’s on Juno’s portayal of abortion:

A’ not OK: Current U.S. films avoid abortion option offers a close look at the three big pregnancy films this year: Waitress, Knocked Up and Juno. This article provides an in depth look and timelines of how abortion has been shown in films like Dirty Dancing and beyond.

The L Magazine’s I saw Juno Last Night and it Made Me Really Mad is quick to get the real point of it all with this one line: “Um, how come she and her sorta-boyfriend didn’t just use a condom?” This post gets into the real nitty gritty details of the film’s relationship with abortion, safe sex (or lack there or), and all other relevant details.

Entertainment Weekly columnist Lisa Schwarzbaum wishes Juno spent a bit more time on question of to have or not to have the abortion.

The NYTimes claims that Juno and Knocked aren’t anti-abortion they just follow a young woman on a certain path that includes not having an abortion. (Emphasis mine.)

Hollywood’s Got a Case of Baby Fever has an excellent point: it is shocking that someone as articulate as Juno has almost nothing to say about the possibility of an abortion. This also shows a HUGE weakness in the overall plot, Juno’s reasoning not to have an abortion is rushed and does not provide a real explanation as to how she reached that decision.

There is also a slew of articles that claim Juno decided not to have the abortion because of a singular protester outside of the clinic in the film. Um, I didn’t walk away with that feeling at all after seeing the movie.

MY TWO CENTS: The role of the parents in this film was completely unrealistic. They’re upset with her for a minute and then they get over it. The stepmom briefly brings up abortion but then dismisses it when Juno does. The boyfriend doesn’t even broach the subject. What’s going on here? I think what this film offers is a decent look at the OTHER great option: adoption. BUT to have little to zero open and honest discussion of ALL of the options is irresponsible. If you’re going to take on the topic of an unplanned TEENAGE pregnancy like Diablo Cody did, you need to offer the full story. The full story is that people are not only having abortions BUT TALKING ABOUT IT. On the reverse, out of Waitress, Knocked Up, and Juno, this is the only film that even entertains that thought. It’s funny the 16 year old has a more thought out plan than the married woman and career woman in the other films. Ultimately, Juno was a cutesy movie in the vein of films like Garden State with pregnancy as the back drop to a romance story instead of a funeral.

Its everywhere from promos for Larry King on CNN about Star Jones having gastric bypass surgery.  I know that doesn’t necessarily count as plastic surgery, but the point is that society is obsessed with improving appearances no matter what.

I watched a few episodes of Dr. 90210 the other night.  The show follows three different plastic surgeons.  It details cases with patients from a playboy tv star who wants new breasts to a girl who can’t breathe through her nose.  But it also centers on the plastic surgeons personal issues like trying to break into the reality tv star business and troubles at home.

While the show does try to normalize plastic surgery, it is difficult for the viewer not to assume that its just a “LA thing” not affecting the smaller cities and towns.  In Q: Who Is the Real Face of Plastic Surgery, it discusses how people are financing their plastic surgery the way they plan for a mortgage or vehicle.

“I just wanted to proportion myself out and look like I did before I had children, simple as that,” said Ms. Cornier, 33, who is married and works for a government agency. She took a loan for $10,800. “I did not want to wait two or three years to save up for surgery.”

Its funny you would think that shows like Dr. 90210 depicting real surgery, with blood, guts and all, would deter people from seeking out medically unnecessary surgeries.  I know it has deterred me from seeking it out though I’e never wanted it myself.

What worries me the most is that more and more people are looking to plastic surgery instead of trying to lose weight, diet wisely and make other lifestyle choices.  But that seems to be the larger struggle a lot of us are dealing with, choosing easy fixes that don’t work as well as the choices that lead us to longer endeavors which lead us to better results.

and I can’t figure out if its true or a half true or what…

Owner of Curves a big contributor to anti-abortion groups?

From here:

In 2003, Heavin and his wife gave away $10 million — 10 percent of their company’s gross revenues — to charities. At least half of that money went to three Texas organizations to fund “pregnancy crisis centers” supported by Operation Save America — the same organization that blamed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on God’s retribution for abortions and whose purpose, as described on its Web site, is to “unashamedly take up the cause of pre-born children in the name of Jesus Christ.”

But then there are some corrections to the article that state:

The column specified that the money went to “three Texas organizations to fund ‘pregnancy crisis centers.’ ‘’ Only one of the recipients, Care Net, operates pregnancy crisis centers that are designed to dissuade pregnant women from having abortions while offering other support services to encourage adoption. Heavin has pledged to give Care Net $1 million over the next five years, according to a Curves spokeswoman.

So what gives?

I found this while perusing some feminist blogs. Its a few years old but I had NO idea that this even came up in the media. Guess I had my head buried in the sand for that one.

Happy Birthday Pill!

Totally learned this from feministing.

This is an awesome guide by Christine Stansell (who wrote one of my favorite books, City of Women) to books about the history of abortion in the US, a subject I’ve written and presented on.

This past Sunday’s Modern Love (NYTimes) was particularly touching.

Suddenly Spock has a soft spot for the social acceptance of obese women.

And unfortunately fewer women are getting mammograms.

Is It the Woman Thing, or Is It Katie Couric? Oh no her ratings are down!

Punishing the woman for her abortion. Television helps determine how gender roles are portrayed in culture and vice verse. It’s a subject I’m particularly interested in regarding women and feminism. Abortion is a controversial issue that sparks debate and strong feelings. When it’s depicted on TV, all sorts of feelings fly. These feelings usually don’t sit along the seemingly rigid lines of pro-choice and pro-life.

Unfortunately storylines that feature abortions are portrayed in black and white ways. One storyline that is recycled concerning abortion is that women who have them are continually punished for having the procedure. Women who have abortions often find out they are sterile after having the procedure.

This pattern was revisited on last week’s Grey’s Anatomy when the character Addison discovered she couldn’t have children after a trip to a fertility clinic. It was revealed earlier this season that she aborted a pregnancy that the result of her relationship with an unreliable womanizer.

When another character on the same show, Christina, considered an abortion, she ended up having a tubal pregnancy that cost her one of her fallopian tubes and her chance to become pregnant in the future. Grey’s Anatomy is sending a mixed message to its viewers. It seems to unapologetically feature women who are not afraid to show their sexual sides yet when the consequences of sex are brought up, characters are permanently scarred.

Exploring a woman’s decision to choose is a realistic scenario, yet by not showing that a woman is unable to become pregnant after an abortion is medically unrealistic. Funny for a show about medicine but then again Grey’s Anatomy is known for its sex and drama NOT its accurate portrayal of the medical world.