• • Body Politics

  Pole Dancing Doll? For real?!!

  September 10, 2009 • Desirée O

  After days of being swamped with work, I took a little time this morning to check out what’s been happening around the blogosphere.

  I really didn’t expect to come across this…

  

  (I’ve lightened the original pic so you can see it better)

  
  

  The lovely ladies at BUST posted about the Pole Dancing Doll that has surfaced on the internet among huge controversy, and has a great discussion going on regarding this unbelievable toy.

  I could probably go on and on about the issues and implications concerning this doll, but the author of the post at BUST (as well as those who commented) really cover it well. I suggest popping over to check it out.

  All I’ll say is…Wow! And…Huh?!! And…WTF?!!

  What do you think?
  

• • Body Politics

  Plus ça change…

  September 4, 2009 • Mir Verburg

  (Via: feministing)

  In 1986 writer Jeffrey Zaslow asked a class of 4th grade girls if they were on a diet, most said they were.

  Recently Zaslow went back to ask the now 32 and 33 year old women whether they feel it is even harder for girls to love their bodies and avoid eating disorders and unhealthy habits today. He received a resounding “Hell yes!” from his interview subjects.

  How did this happen? I am not surprised by the results of the studies quoted in the WSJ article, but I am disappointed. As a 32 year old feminist who has fought a pretty uphill battle not to hate all 140 pounds on my 5‘4” frame, I had hoped that it would be easier for my younger sisters. That they would not find themselves packed into washroom stalls at lunch hour learning how to binge and purge.

  Guess I was wrong.

  (more inside…)

• • Picks from Planet Venus
  • Playlist

  Blonde Redheads Have More Fun

  September 3, 2009 • Anna Leventhal

  I’ve always really liked Blonde Redhead, but after I saw them live a few years ago I stopped trusting them. They’re just way too attractive to be authentic. It’s like I can picture the boardroom meeting that came up with that scenario: “Okay, we need a really hot female singer, and a hot guy backing her up on guitar… no, make that two hot guys… no, wait, let’s make them TWINS! Jackpot!”

  Anyway, my personal issues aside, when you combine them with performance artist Miranda July and a beautifully simple concept, you have a delicious hors d’oeuvre of perfection, and, like Swedish Berries, who cares if they’re actually real!

• • Arts
  • Event Listings

  AMERICAN EMPRESS: Credit for the Empire’s Troubled Royalty

  September 3, 2009 • Desirée O

  

  If you’re in Toronto this month, you may want to head over to the North York Central Library to check out artist Karen Miranda Augustine’s new exhibition “AMERICAN EMPRESS: Credit for the Empire’s Troubled Royalty.”

  “From Tonya Harding to Lauryn Hill to Amy Fisher, AMERICAN EMPRESS: Credit for the Empire’s Troubled Royalty is a solo exhibition that explores adversity as a rite of passage. Presented as a series of mixed-media paintings, contemporary pop culture figures are transformed into a series of credit card portraits that speak to far-reaching, everyday human concerns: the transcendence of loss, social stigma, mental illness, addiction and personal crisis.”

  Exhibition runs: September 3rd - 27th, 2009
  Opening Reception: Thursday, September 3rd, 6:00 to 8:30 p.m.
  
  North York Central Library
  5120 Yonge Street
  2nd Floor
  Toronto, Ontario

  ARTIST SITE: http://KarenMirandaAugustine.com
  EXHIBITION SCHEDULE: http://KMAugustineNews.blogspot.com

  For more about Karen Miranda Augustine, make sure to check out my interview with her for next week’s Shameless Women post.

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