Gal Pal Post Volume 3 Edition 2

Gal Pal Post Volume 3 Edition 2
”Service is our Rent for Living”
Contents:
I. Quote of the Week
II. The Inner Diva-word factory
III. She Speaks

Quote of the week:
"Game over. I had to accept the fact that in life some women are simply better, and no amount of shoes or lack of pastry or making of pies will change that. I will never be the woman with the perfect hair who can wear white and not spill on it, and chair committees and write thank you notes, and I can't feel bad about that." Carrie (Sex and the City)


The INNER DIVA-word Factory

Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues has gone in a new direction, but it is not that far from the tree. In her current work she is talking about body image. It is interesting that I found out about this in an article in the BACK of a Glamour magazine. This article was of course right behind articles like “rid your rump” etc. (Please laugh here.) Body Image continues to be a struggle for all women.
According to this timeline provided by thesite.org, mainstream media is off the hook:
1900’s-1950’s
At the start of the 1900s, slenderness became more fashionable. There was an increasing interest of women in athletics and physicians began to see body weight as a 'science' of calorie counting, 'ideal weights', and weigh-ins. At this time the physically perfect woman was 5'4" tall and weighed 10 stone.
By the 1920s, the Victorian hourglass gave way to the thin flapper who bound her breasts to achieve a washboard profile. After World War I, active lifestyles added another dimension. Energy and vitality became central and body fat was perceived to contribute to inefficiency and was seen as a sign of self-indulgence. By the 1950s, a thin woman with a large bust line was considered most attractive. The voluptuous (size 16) Marilyn Monroe set a new standard for women who now needed to rebuild the curves they had previously tried to bind and restrain.
1960’s-1990’s
By the 1960s, slenderness became the most important indicator of physical attractiveness following the arrival of model Twiggy. She weighed in at a shapeless six and a half stones, and had the figure of a prepubescent boy.
Despite an American public with increasing body weights, Playboy magazine increased the promotion of slimness between 1959 and 1978. 'Miss America' contestants were also found to be thinner over time, and winners of the pageant after 1970 consistently weighed less than the other contestants. In 1975 top models and beauty queens weighed only 8% less than the average women. Today they weigh 23% less, a size achievable by less than 5% of today's female population. Between 1970 and 1990, there was an overall increased emphasis on weight loss and body shape in the content of a popular women's magazine, as well as a shift to using thinner less curvaceous models in their photo shoots. The 1980s beauty ideal remained slim but required a more toned and fit look. Women could no longer just 'diet' into the correct size; there was a new pressure to add exercise to achieve the toned look. The 1990s body ideal was very slim and large breasted, think Pamela 'Baywatch' Anderson, an almost impossible combination for most western women.

I place all this here to demonstrate the way history, media, and our ownselves play a part in this unattainable beauty myth. And sure there are some cultural differentiations that play a role in this for women of color, but the measuring device is still tied to the american idealogy of the white female. 5% of women can attain the “ideal” body. Out of approximately 3.5 billion women, that is about 2 million women. How can we break that down practically? Well, I enlisted some help



SHE SPEAKS
Marian Wright Edelman is probably one of the most influential women in my life that I have not met. Below are the 25 lessons that she has about life that is mentioned in her short book called the Measure of Our Success. I think that everyone should read the book, but due to time, here is the excerpt from the book and I hope that it touches your heart like it always does mine:
There is no free lunch. Don't feel entitled to anything you don't sweat and struggle for.
Set goals and work quietly and systematically toward them.
Assign yourself.
Never work for just money or for power. They won't save your soul or build a decent family or help you sleep at night.
Don't be afraid of taking risks or of being criticized.
Take parenting and family life seriously and insist that those you work for and who represent you do.
Remember that your wife/husband is not your mother/father or servant, but your partner and friend.
Forming families is serious business.
Be honest.
Remember and help America remember that the fellowship of human beings is more important that the fellowship of race and class and gender in a democratic society.
Sell the shadow for the substance.
Never give up!
Be confident that you can make a difference.
Don't ever stop learning and improving your mind.
Don't be afraid of hard work or teaching your childen to work.
"Slow down and live."
Choose your friends carefully.
Be a can-do, will-try person.
Try to live in the present.
Use your political and economic power for the community.
Listen for "the sound of the genuine" within yourself and others.
You are in charge of your own attitude.
Remember your roots, your history, and the forebears' shoulder on which you stand.
Be reliable. Be faithful. Finish what you start.
Always remember that you are never alone.

Announcements:
I am in the fabulous vagina monologues again, and if you want to come and support me and some fabulous young women please go to the Drake Union at OSU ticketmaster and tickets are 5 dollars for students, 7 for non students. All the proceeds go to charity.
Email or call me with questions.