Is this the most colourful woman in Edinburgh? Margaret Anderson has an unrivaled passion for dance – salsa, tango, pole dancing, belly dancing, and even African welly dancing. Don’t know what that is?

Check out my  interview with her, and tune in to the uncut, raunchy version on the Radio Cafe, Tuesday 1st December, 1:15 – part of 45 minutes of flamboyant dance action.

Here’s a fun little video from YouTube talking about the necessity of educating girls. Here in the US we might not have this problem, public education is available and mandated for all children regardless of gender. Please take a moment to think about what it would be like to only value boys. What would life be like without the intelligence and resources of girls? I can’t even imagine, that would just be too dismal. Please take a moment to consider the importance of girls. If you can think of any ways to support the education and support of girls in marginalized societies, please leave a comment.

Kayla Ewell looks radiantly beautiful on the November cover of Beauty Entertainment Magazine. Inside BE!, you’ll see a bevy of hot new stars, celebs and salon people. To subscribe, visit http://www.saloncity.com or http://www.amazon.com. To view November’s digital edition of BE! click on: Kayla Ewell Stars on BE!’s November 2009 Cover!

Jika kalian2 selalu pantengin salah satu serial drama indonesia di Trans Tv setiap hari senin – jumat jam 7 malam, pastilah tahu acara yg dimaksud…dan yang paling bersinar dan membuat tertarik tentu saja salah satu pemeran utamana..

yuks, dia adalah Angelica Faustina…

Cewek blesteran kelahiran 9 Juli 1986 ini memulai debutnya di layar kaca pada salah satu FTV. Bahkan sempat mengisi beberapa sinetron seperti Suci, Doaku Harapanku dan Julia Juleha..akan tetapi dari semua itu dia mengawali karir bukan di depan layar, melainkan di belakang layar…Angel kini masih tercatat sebagai karyawan Trans Tv sebagai Production Assistant Drama…

keterlibatanna di serial Angel’s Diary ternyata ditekuni setelah Angel baru bekerja selama 4 bulan di Trans Tv dan langsung ditawari sebagai pemeran utama..Meski awalnya tidak percaya, dia tetap menekuni bidang tersebut.. Bahkan lulusan London School Jurusan Marketing ini siap repot dan capek menghadapi tuntutan serial yang terus kejar tayang tersebut…

kalo dilihat dari akting di Angel’s Diary sie bisa dibilang lumayan lah dan masih perlu diasah lagi..(mungkin masih baru)..akan tetapi yang menjadi keunggulan tentu saja wajah blesterannya yang bakalan menjadi pesaing artis2 remaja indo laenna macam Arumi, Cinta Laura, dsb…

ya akhir kalimat…

Welcome  Angel…^^ semoga sukses di dunia artis…^^  GBU…^^

Angel dan Dimas (Satria) di sela2 syuting Angel's Diary

]]> http://callmecinderella.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/taking-a-stand-against-practices-that-harm-women/ Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:12:12 +0000 callmecinderella http://callmecinderella.wordpress.com/2009/11/26/taking-a-stand-against-practices-that-harm-women/

About traditions and cultural practices that hurt women. Forced, arranged marriages & genital mutilation among the list.

“GENDER EQUALITY TAKING A STAND AGAINST PRACTICES THAT HARM WOMEN” FROM http://www.unfpa.org/

Throughout the world, practices that undermine the well-being of women endure. But like slavery and foot-binding, they constitute egregious violations of basic human rights.

• At least 130 million women have been forced to undergo female genital mutilation/cutting. Another 2 million are at risk each year from this degrading and dangerous practice.
• Killings in the name of ‘honour’  take the lives of thousands of young women every year, mainly in Western Asia, North Africa and parts of South Asia.
• Forced early marriage of young girls or adolescents is another practice that can cause lifelong psychological as well as physical problems, especially those resulting from early childbearing.

In most industrialized societies, although gender-based violence is officially condemned, it persists, implicitly sanctioned by messages in mass media.

In some developing countries, practices that subjugate and harm women – such as wife-beating, killings in the name of honour, female genital mutilation/cutting and dowry deaths – are condoned as being part of the natural order of things. Throughout much of Asia, a preference for male children results in the neglect and sometimes infanticide of girls, or their elimination by abortion in places where prenatal tests are available to determine the sex of the foetus.

And as conflicts among ethnic groups rage, women and girls have increasingly become pawns of war, and face rape and forced pregnancies. FGM/FGC, coerced sex and early marriage are also factors in the spread of HIV to women.

Eradicating long-standing traditional practices does not happen overnight. One way to begin, though, is by information and advocacy that raises public awareness and changes the climate of public opinion.

“Consensus-building around social issues is extremely difficult, because it touches the identity of nations, communities and individuals. Discussion of social questions polarizes viewpoints and may seem to widen the gap between cultures. But in the end, the overriding social purpose concentrates our minds and enables us to bridge all cultural gaps-not because we want to go home with an agreed form of words, but because all of us, each in our own way, want to save people’s lives.”

—UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid

THE TITTLE OF THIS KOREAN MOVIE IS “THE CHILD BRIDE” About a family that is to wed their children in order to keep a promise to their grandfather.

Domestic Violence is well know, but the fact is that there various ugly, horrific types of violence plaguing women around the world. Today is international day stop violence against women & so I would like to celebrate & recognize the cause with some posts.

TYPES OF VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

*Domestic violence

* female genital mutilation

*Dating violence

* Emotional & verbal abuse

*Sexual assault

* War & Militarism produces special environments that allow for increased violence against women.

* Kidnapping, forced Sexual slavery & Trafficking.

* In some societies women are Publicly humiliated, ostracized & punished for deviating from the norm. This may include lynching. These women are considered “damaged goods”

*Women in some societies are punished as well for being rape victims, or HIV positive. They are forced into unsafe abortions.

* Marital Rape

*Sexual harassment in the work place.

* Women are threatened by husband with: deportation, custody of children, and financial power.

Woman stages a demonstration  calling on all of society to protect and respect women’s legal rights and human dignity in Beijing.

Man dangles his girlfriend out the window during a police confrontation. The police were called  due to a dispute between the couple

Rihanna’s “Russian Rullet” says I’ll endure, I’ll stick around. LeToya Lucket’s says ENOUGH!. It’s over. I don’t want it Anymore.

Tomorrow will be International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

“By resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999, the General Assembly designated 25 November as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, and invited governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities designated to raise public awareness of the problem on that day. Women’s activists have marked 25 November as a day against violence since 1981. This date came from the brutal assassination in 1960, of the three Mirabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic, on orders of Dominican ruler Rafael Trujillo (1930-1961). “-http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/violence/

READ THE DECLARATION on THE ELIMINATION of  VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN

“Recognizing the urgent need for the universal application to women ofthe rights and principles with regard to equality, security, liberty,integrity and dignity of all human beings,”

http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N94/095/05/PDF/N9409505.pdf?OpenElement

SUPPORT THIS MOVEMENT & IT’S EFFORTS WEAR YOUR WHITE RIBBON NOV 25

Recently I’ve been getting caught up in the ‘fatosphere’ blogs. Two of my favorites, Shakesville and Shapely Prose, are closely tied to Jezebel, and Jezebel is my online home away from home. In many cases, fat politics share themes with feminism and trans and cis* issues, so I’m lately just as likely to get worked up about a headless fatty picture as I am a gratuitous naked woman or a commercial in which a man protects his wee little wifey from the big bad thunder that somehow relates to diamonds.

I love the fatosphere because I love the bloggers. I love Kate Harding, who is interviewed on fat politics in magazines and on tv, and I love Melissa McEwan who started Shakesville all by her lonesome. I adore the anonymous bloggers who join them. I love them because they are everything that I work on being every day – they are smart and well spoken, they are proud of themselves and willing to stand up for themselves and others, and they do not apologize for who they are.

I’ve written a few posts that address the issue of body image, and I would like to throw in on the comments in some of the postings I read. I never do, though, because I feel like, in that atmosphere, I would apologize for who I am. I am not fat. I have never been fat.

Body image and dieting have been a not inconsiderable issue for me at a few different times in my life. I consider it a serious subject. And yet, in this forum, I feel as though I would be the equivalent of a man commenting on a feminist blog. Men can be and are feminists, and they have vital contributions to make to the movement. But most men can only imagine the kind of subtle objectification that many women go through daily, and likely have an even harder time with the sense of vulnerability that we live with. (I know that’s a sweeping generalization, and I allow right now that there are many exceptions, including men of differing sexualities and gender identities.)

I want to help. I want to help counteract the idea that fat = unhealthy and therefore less deserving of respect, just like I want to counteract the idea that being female = needing protection and therefore deserving less respect. Spend three minutes on one of the blogs above and you’ll read about individuals with good blood pressure, good cholesterol levels, and healthy levels of activity who are denied insane things like the ability to graduate from college. I’m not kidding.

I just don’t know how to do it as a thin person. Which means I’m not like the bloggers I admire – I am apologizing for who I am.

Sigh.

*I didn’t know what cis meant when I started reading Shakesville. Now I do and I am glad of it. If you also don’t know, it’s the opposite of transgender – i.e., a cisgender person is one who associates with the gender of his or her body.

A few weeks ago a very interesting thing began to happen…

for the first time in my life, I was “accused” of being a feminist.  I say accused, because the exchanges always treated the word negatively.  It felt a little like I had been caught doing something wrong, but I was convinced that I had been misunderstood.  Now, I’m not so sure.

The root of these conversations led to the name chicindependence…which many have taken to read as “CHICK” independence.  When I chose the name, I had intended it as “SHEEK” independence, but now I think it really doesn’t matter.

As defined by Merriam-Webster, feminism is two things: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes, and organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.

Yes, I do believe in social equality, and will sign my name to the cause of women’s rights proudly.  In my brief research, I’ve found arguments both for and against feminism- feminist theory and history are rich and complex.  Just like any political affiliation, there are those on each side of the spectrum, but united in the belief that men and women are equals.

Under this definition, aren’t most of us feminists?  Food for thought…

Peace and love,

Miss Chic

I made a new thing. A manageable thing. It’s here:

another dwindled dawn

I want you to like it because, let’s be honest, I crave attention and validation. Plus I keep drawing all these tiny pictures that mean weird stuff to me and I’ve got to do something with them. I’m going to try to update every day. This should be eeeee-zay.

So this sickness I’ve been fighting off has been really courteous and has allowed me to feel only marginally ill on very brief occasion at night instead of making me actually sick so that I miss work or whatever. But I think it’s maxed out its agreeability because my nose is just not cooperating.

But the point to blogging today? Music. I had to do a little overhaul on my iPod because there was some unseemly stuff on there and while I did I actually got a look at what was going on. I almost always listen to it on shuffle, but I think there is a method to the iPod madness because the same songs from albums come up (always fucking “House of Wolves”–WHY???).

I have loved some really shitty music. Well, actually, it’s not shitty, but most people would think so and that’s fine because, since it’s an art form, it’s subjective anyway. We might all agree, though, there isn’t a whole lot of substance to, say, a Spice Girl’s song, but that kind of music really shaped who I am now, so it still affects me when I hear it. All that poppy music in the form of girl bands and female solo acts, they are the driving force behind my feminism now. That’s completely crazy, isn’t it? It’s laughable. But to a ten year old who was really looking for something to identify with, the Spice Girls offered me something that no other thing could ever replace. Okay, laugh, it’s fine. I’ll stand by that, though, til I die.

(Those girl groups are also the reason why I squeak when I sing loudly or quickly because I’m an imitator, I have no sound of my own, and they all did that…ugh.)

The Spice Girls taught me “girl power.” And they said it in British accents so it made the concept even more believable and desirable. Now when I listen to their songs I kind of hear it in their lyrics through this insane, take-charge sexual stance. Not that it’s insane to take charge, but it was kind of insane that those lyrics were marketed to preteens. But however prepackaged or inappropriate their image was, and however superficially they presented the girl power concept, to the girl I was then, seeing the relationships that I did in my real life, it was the entire world. It was something greater than I thought I could ever hope to be. Something to really aspire to. There are plenty of women in America who are very unmoved by feminist sentiment which is understandable because we’ve got it pretty good compared to the rest of the world (and we’re blind to the rest of the world to boot) or we’ve been led to believe that “feminist” is code for “bitch” and that inequality doesn’t exist in this country because there are words in some document that say so. Sometimes I think that, without the Spice Girls, I would be like this too. Which is kind of nuts. And pretty sweet.

I hope this wasn’t true for just me, but even if it was, it’s still sweet.

And it’s also sweet because it led me to this other music that was feminist like TLC. When Lisa Lopes died that was the first time I ever was affected by the death of a celebrity. And the last. I know, it’s really odd to feel for someone dying that you didn’t know, but her life was tumultuous and I always felt the anger in her lyrics even if I couldn’t understand the racial or economic concepts behind them, so when she died, I don’t know. I was 15. I don’t know, but I mean, geez, she wore a condom as an eye patch! Who can’t love that? And my left eye is lazy and too small and her left eye is too big. It’s kind of nuts.

Anyway, the point is, I love music. I know that doesn’t seem like the point of this post, but it was supposed to be. But more on that some other day when I don’t have work the next morning…which is pretty much everyday.

Actually, I think the bigger point is that the Spice Girls told me I could be and do anything that I wanted to be–anything at all–and I believed them.  And I still do.

Impossible by Nancy Werlin

A good part of being a teenager is the uncovering of mysteries about one’s own self. Lucy has more of a task with this than most teenagers since she is the target of an ancient curse, one based on the song Scarborough Fair. In a contemporary teen setting, Lucy must first discover the nature of a curse that threatens to irrevocably determine an unacceptable fate. Then, with the help of foster parents and a loving boyfriend (as well as the modern advantage of technology) she must try to break the curse.

A little of the supernatural really makes this story of strength, courage, and love sparkle. The obstacles are powerful, the drive for resolution is intense, the strength of love is thrilling. Teenage girls in my eighth and ninth grade classes last year were thrilled with this book. While there is some violence and moderately inexplicit sex, including a slightly surreal rape scene, the overriding theme is the power of love and resolve in overcoming adversity.

Gaby Chapman

Friday afternoon I went to a happy hour with some folks from my company. They’re not people I work with every day, but they are definitely the cool kids of the office. You know, if it was high school they’d be sitting in the back of every bus, running every pep rally, and fighting each other every crown. That’s not to say that I wasn’t in the running for a few crowns in high school – I was in fact in Homecoming Court my junior year. Of course, that’s because there were only fourteen girls in my grade and if you were nominated for Homecoming Princess you couldn’t be Prom Princess. The three  of us nominated were the three that had ditched the class meeting, since we clearly weren’t motivated enough to care about Prom Princess. I didn’t win, btw, Starla did. She was so cool…. she drove a topless Jeep and always had the best… um… stories. Yep, the best stories.

Off topic.

Getting invited to this happy hour was actually sort of a big deal for me – acceptance into the cool kids club bodes well for me both professionally and personally. I went, cracked the de rigueur PBR and dived into the conversation. Turns out that Matt 1 and Matt 2 both got engaged in the last couple of weeks. We loudly insist on hearing the engagement stories (sweet and not particularly original, both of them) and then it surfaces that they both asked the father of their now fiancées for permission prior to the proposal.

I oh-so-casually surveyed the other married men at the table. I wasn’t purposely excluding women, it’s just that all of us there were unmarried.

Side note: the cool kids club is all men. All the women who got a happy hour invite were unmarried. Huh.

Turns out, to a man, they asked for paternal blessings prior to popping the actual question.

I, less-casually-than-before-but-still-casually, asked if any of their wives had had an issue with that. Blank stares. Becoming slightly less casual all the time, I tried to explain that if someone were to propose to me and were to ask my father first, that would probably have an impact on my ability to answer ‘yes’ unreservedly. Blank stares.

I love my father. He’s a cool dude and when I do get married, I certainly hope that he and my husband get along. As a matter of fact, if he had some strong objection to someone I was dating, I would hear him out and weigh his contributions against my experiences.

But when do you ask for permission to do something that relates to another person? When you were little, you’d ask Timmy’s mom if he could come out and play. If you need someone in IT to drop everything and focus on a new project, you ask her manager. If someone is sick or unconscious and a decision needs to be made, you ask whoever he designated to make that decision.

In other words, you ask the person who is in charge. Do you see my problem?

My friends when pressed declared that it’s a sign of respect, and I have no doubt that they see it that way. I’m sure most fathers see it that way as well. If they’d asked both parents, I probably be objecting less strenuously - then at least they’d be quietly declaring that they didn’t see their girlfriend as someone independent, rather than that they think patriarchal approval is paramount.

These are smart, well-educated men. My industry does have an culture of ‘old boys club’ (as you can see by reading any other post categorized ‘work’), and this would probably be different if I’d asked a roomful of male teachers – if, you know, I could find one. Even in that case, though, I have no doubt that at least some men did this before they got married.

If your wife or girlfriend doesn’t mind and it makes you feel good, then by all means propose to her dad before you propose to her. Just please be aware that you’re perpetuating the idea that we as young women aren’t in charge of ourselves. You probably don’t still call Timmy’s mom when you want to head out to the bars, right?

Rant over. Needless to say, most of this went unspoken at the happy hour and has been banging around in my head all weekend. Ahhh – much better.

P.S. Dear Dad, if a boyfriend of mine ever comes to you asking for my hand in marriage, please tell him it’s my hand and he should be asking me, not you. Then smack him upside the head. Love, Emma

Gratuitous David Duchovny picture. 'Cause I can.

There’s no bigger satisfaction & triumph, no greater high than shattering the status quo.  And so, Today we celebrate & pay tribute , to  the Tomboy LifeStyle. The dictionary defines Tomboy as :a girl who behaves in a manner usually considered boyish.  Tomboydom has always been a pretty controversial subject. Back in olden times women where bounded & restricted by inflexible rules laid out by society. Women were expected to explicitly conform to a definite form of dress & behavior that was deemed suitable & pleasing to society.

The slightest deviation was considered, disturbing, scandalous, & most certainly immensely reprehensible.  Now a days while things have come to change & advance gradually over time, there are still countries  in which straying  from a set feminine model is strongly discouraged.   In some societies it is still intolerable & offensive for a  woman to : wear pants, work, participate in sports, have a career (especially those fields which are mainly comprised  by men), be a student, ….  & The list goes on. The main goal behind all this to keep a woman in a defenseless, submissive, lesser state & rank. The motive? A mistaken belief that women were by law of nature born to be less, because they are the weaker sex.  Believe it or not there are laws that are specifically design &  adamantly , and fervently  upheald to make sure women remain affixed , and confined to a preset label & all that comes along with it. While some countries are not subject to  such laws they still struggle with the heavy influence of stereotypical female standards & ideals.

Though,  in the end in the latter countries it is up to the individual to make up their own mind on how they should dress. Some times being a tomboy can mean being stigmatized  as  : unsightly , odd, dirty, crude, irrational, & of course unfeminine.  The true inspiration  behind the tomboy vibe is,  a very unique, bold , and cool attitude. Those who embrace & represent the tomboy style believe  that a girl should be able to feel & project strength.  They reject the ideas that: exhibiting your body  is indispensable  to being  & feeling  attractive, sexy .  Or that you have to display overtly or gratuitously girly behavior to  validate your  femininity. They denounce the thought that a woman’s most practical, and useful tools are her looks . Tomboys are those with enough self esteem to say ” HEY!  Take a second  look  & realize what is really before you. This is a woman.”  The TomboyLife style wants to break free from the fiercely  propagated stereotype of a “girly girl” who loves to shop, who’s thoughts have little value or merit. Who is easily frightened,  who’s mind , body , & psyche  is meek, feeble and weak.

TOMBOY GALLERY

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We adore our First Lady Michelle Obama (a strong, intelligent, capable woman who actually wants to DO something in the White House?? Shocker!) so we’re not about to disagree with anything she says—but we would love this girl-power initiative whether Michelle gave it her stamp of approval or not.

Girls Write Now is an amazing program set up specifically for high school girls to help them develop their own creative voices through writing. From their mission statement:

Girls Write Now provides guidance, support, and opportunities for New York City’s underserved or at-risk high school girls, enabling them to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy choices in school, career, and life.

On November 4th, Girls Write Now was awarded the 2009 “Coming Up Taller Award” by The First Lady and the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

We can’t even express how cool we think this program is. Both Girl T and myself have always been avid readers and writers throughout our lives but we were also fortunate enough to have good teaching and schools afforded to us. The idea of a young girl not only getting a mentor but a mentor that encourages her creative ability is amazing.

We personally think one of the hardest things facing teenage girls today (of ANY race or economic class) is finding their own voices and developing a personality independent of the peer pressures surrounding them. And that’s even harder if you’re not getting the attention you need and deserve from the adults in your life. Learning to listen to  your own thoughts by putting them down on paper is an invaluable skill—and it’s no surprise to us that the girls coming out of this program are succeeding tremendously. From the Girls Write Now website:

For the past five seasons, 100 percent of mentees who have completed our program as seniors have been accepted into college, many with significant scholarships.

Amazing! Major kudos to founder and executive director Maya Nussbaum, all the mentors, and all the mentees involved in the program. We heart you!

Visit GirlsWriteNow.org for more information.

Her er Vibe på Studiestræde i dag. Ingen tvivl om hvad jeg kom til at tænke på da jeg så hende…

Så Vibe fik lov at gøre ekstra rent i dag, alt den power skulle bruges!

Hov, måske jeg skulle have lavet en quiz? -Nu er der for sent, men næste gang får i lov at gætte.

Køb dragten her

It is definitely the year of the girl in horse racing. First with Rachel Alexandra winning the Preakness and now with Zenyatta winning the Breeders Cup Saturday at Santa Anita. Zenyatta is the first filly to win this race in its history. This win brings her to 14-0 for the season and she did it by coming from dead last to making a surge at the last turn and edging the boys out at the post. It was brilliant and no matter what the nay sayers think, girls can race with the boys and leave them standing in the dust. Both Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra are being considered for Horse of the Year honors later this year and if one of them wins they would be the first female to receive this award.

“That’s the trouble, a sex symbol becomes a thing. But if I’m going to be a symbol of something, I’d rather have it sex than some other things we’ve got symbols of.”

Marilyn Monroe, blond icoon van de jaren 50 met een verscheurd leven. Opgegroeid met een psychisch labiele moeder, voor het eerst getrouwd op 16-jarige leeftijd, affaires met regisseurs en getrouwde mannen, uiteindelijk zelfmoord met een overdosis aan slaapmiddelen. Toch ga ik hier geen negatieve post van maken. De vrouw die werd geboren als Norma Jeane heeft ons ook een geweldig repertoire aan films achtergelaten, en was een voorbeeld van een moedige vrouw die doorzet. Hier volgt de lijst ‘dingen die ik geweldig vind aan Marilyn Monroe:

• Ze schopte het van half weeskind tot wereldster en staat nog altijd in ‘Forbes magazines list of top earning dead celebrities’. 

   

  

  www.brooklynmuseum.org

• Zij was met haar maatje 40 de belichaming van het schoonheidsideaal. Ze gebruikte haar uiterlijk om haar talent aan te vullen en te bereiken wat ze wou. Marilyn had haar ster op de walk of fame al sinds het ontstaan ervan in 1960.

• Ze showde decolletés, poseerde voor Playboy en speelde sexy rollen in een tijd dat seks taboe was.

• Door een tache de beauté aan te brengen en het haar blond te verven bracht ze een evolutie in het vrouwelijke uiterlijk en de emancipatie.

• Ze zocht haar hele leven naar liefde maar weigerde haar carrière of succes op te geven voor een jaloerse man of slecht huwelijk.