Posts Tagged ‘ media ’

Have You Thanked Your Body Today?

October 19, 2011
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Have You Thanked Your Body Today?

I promised myself by the time I turned 40 I would run the Falmouth Road Race. I had watched it as a spectator for years and knew one day I wanted to experience it as a participant. Four years after my deadline, I did it – I ran seven hilly miles on a humid August day. A friend told a mutual acquaintance what I had done and the acquaintance responded, “So then she must have lost some weight.” I had just run seven miles. I had honored a commitment to myself. I had a great time doing it. And she wanted to know about a number on a scale? I started running to avoid taking a medication prescribed by my doctor. I thought my health was the motivation that helped me fit exercise into an already packed day, but when I crossed the finish line in Falmouth, I realized it was more than that. Growing up I never played sports, much less exercised. I was the kid picked last for teams. My nickname in elementary school was Big Foot, a joke about my inability to get on base during Friday afternoon kickball games.  My lack of athletic prowess only bothered [...]

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Tinseltown Turns to Teens

December 20, 2010
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Tinseltown Turns to Teens

A new report from the Parents Television Council (PTC), Tinseltown’s New Target: A study of Teen Female Sexualization on Primetime TV, shows a disturbingly high amount of sexualized image of teen girls on primetime television. The study follows PTC’s report from last November about the increase in incidences of violence against women on television. Teenage girls are becoming Hollywood’s sexualized ideal. Consider these findings from the study: “The presence of an underage female was associated with higher amounts of sexual depictions compared to the onscreen appearance of an adult female. Though an older female character is more likely to have sexual dialogue in the scene, a younger female character is more likely portrayed in sexual behaviors onscreen.” and “Only 5% of the underage female characters communicated any form of dislike for being sexualized.” The study defines sexualized as “the act or process of sexualizing,” meaning making the girl or act sexual in nature. The American Psychological Association (APA) regards a person as being sexualized if: their value comes only from their sexual appeal or sexual behavior they are sexually objectified or sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon them. PTC  identified the top 25 primetime shows for kids age 12-17, and viewed [...]

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Talking Turkey: Polanski, Brown and Woods

November 30, 2009
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Talking Turkey: Polanski, Brown and Woods

Turkeys, turkeys, turkeys. They were all over the news this holiday weekend. First, there was the report that famed film director/infamous rapist Roman Polanski would be released on $4.5 million bail and placed under house arrest to a 19,000 square foot luxury ski chalet in Gstaad. (Remind you of Bernie Madoff?) Several news reports cite French President Nicolas Sarkozy as having been “very effective” in arranging Polanski’s new deal. Sarkozy reportedly never believed Polanski, who is 76, should have been arrested for a crime he committed 32 years ago. Maybe not if the courts were just now getting around to trying him, but Polanski fled the system after being found guilty and before serving his time. What was most infuriating was the reporting by the Los Angeles Times, the AP and others who said Polanski had sex with a 13 year old. I understand Polanski pleaded guilty to this lesser charge, but the fact is he raped a girl. Sad that the media won’t just call the crime by its name. Next on the turkey list was ABC. The network was planning to have Chris Brown, the one who beat up Rhianna, on “Good Morning America.” Supposedly, Brown was to give [...]

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