These photos of Brigitte Bardot with the oval frame…
Remind me of the intro to The New Girl, with Zooey Deschanel.
Images via The Nifty Fifties.
Tag: women
Power Girdle
It’s quite nice to see a robust female form used to sell foundation garments realistically.
I Thought This Was A Joke!
I thought the old “Tumble Inn” was a joke! But at least one existed, all the way back in the 1910s! According to the seller, Lynnstudios, the photos were removed from a photo album with captions reading “Long Beach NJ 1917”. In this one, she’s consuming what appears to be a turkey leg? The last image is a real photo postcard of a bungalow at the Tumble Inn.
What?!
The first six minutes of my day went like this:
* Wake up; walk to the bathroom. On the way, pass dog poop. Having nothing in my hands to pick it up and having to pee with urgency, I pass it.
* In the bathroom, I find the last person to shower, the teenage daughter, has not turned the water all the way off and so it had been dripping for hours.
* I walk to “my office,” which currently is my laptop on a TV tray in front of the couch. But hubby, who was home for lunch, left his tray out, making a wall of obstacles for me to move before I could even get there.
* Once seated, I find that hubby has left my portion of the day’s mail on top of my closed laptop. It consists of a Lane Bryant clothing catalog (OK, so I’m still fat), and a promotional piece in an envelope — from Beltone Hearing Aid Service. What?! I mean I can hear just fine; I’m not that old. I just can’t believe this is the start to my day.
It’s hard enough just being a woman in this country, what with all the limits, legislational and cultural, on my person. But how do you face them all when you literally wake up to crap and the day spirals away into annoyance after annoyance?
Watch Where You’re Putting That Coke Bottle, Bub
Product placement matters. Accident? Or subliminal phallic ad designed to make men and a few free-swingin’ women take immediate action?
The seller’s description:
[V]intage original 1950s double sided Coca-Cola – Coke soda fountain sign with its original aluminum frame. This is an outstanding antique original example the artwork is of course by Gil Elvgren, a pretty circus pin up girl performer on a trapeze with text that reads “Now! For Coke – Take Plenty of Coke Home”.
They Say Behind Every Great Man…
Is a great woman. But in the case of Anthony Bruno, aka Bruno of Hollywood, his great woman was in front of him — and his camera. Actually, a lot of great women were in front of Bruno and his camera. But in this case, it’s his wife, Angela Bruno. And a Steiff teddy bear. Via Also, ponder this while you think of Angela as the little woman.
“In My Book, You’re Voluminous”
A few years ago, at the first annual Bookmark Collectors Virtual Convention, I met Robin Blum and discovered her fabulous bookmarks, In My Book®. In My Book® cards are more than just placeholders for readers, but markers of relationships as the bookmarks begin as greeting cards — complete with a red mailing envelope.
There are 15 styles, each beginning with the greeting, “In my book…” and concluding with literary pun sentiments, such as “you’re novel”, “you’re top shelf” and, my favorite, “you’re voluminous.” The entire front of the card is perforated, so tearing along the perforations changes the greeting card into a bookmark. It’s more than clever recycling, it’s a great way to give a gift that book lovers will actually love. The double-entendres are an added bonus. *wink*
Finally, we managed to find the time to do an interview…
In a world where people at least fear that physical paper books will disappear, why go into any business based on print books? And with such an ephemeral item yet!
Every so often, we need to reinvent ourselves as the circumstances surrounding our lives change with time and happenstance; I found a new calling at the age of fifty as an entrepreneur with a previously non-existent book-related product called In My Book®.
A bit of background: During WWII my immigrant parents settled in DC as newlyweds and Dad established his own small business, The Kronstadt (Advertising) Agency. Mom was a stay-at-home wife and mother. After attending DC public schools and then GWU with a major in drama, I set out for New York City and what I hoped would be a thriving theater career. I was a stage manager and lighting designer and had a fair amount of success in my twenties working in show biz. My thirties began in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, where I served as the managing director of an amphitheater, the Reichhold Center; that’s also where I met my husband-to-be. We moved back to New York and when our sons were little, I followed my mother’s lead and stayed at home with them, later easing back into work for the children’s book publisher Kane/Miller (Everyone Poops plus many other great titles).
At a crossroads in my life (leaving my part-time job with Kane/Miller and with my children firmly established in middle school), I decided it was time for the next chapter (warning, more literary double-entendres ahead). With a lifelong love of reading and the know-how I acquired in publishing, I established my own start-up, In My Book®, “the greeting card and bookmark in one.”
I started the business in 1999 and sold my first cards in 2000, so the e-book e-ink rage was not yet in full swing.
The ‘fear that physical paper books will disappear’ has been just another obstacle in pretty much a decade of obstacles that I’ve encountered. But then everyone thought Columbus was crazy to attempt to sail to the East Indies.
First there was the dot.com boom, then 9/11, then the rise of chain bookstores and Amazon, then the disappearance of indie bookstores, then the collapse of the economy, then the spread of e-books and the quasi-obsolescence of publishers. I was and continue to be determined to introduce book lovers to the concept of “In My Book” cards and damn the torpedos as they say…full speed ahead.
Any thoughts on the print publishing industry?
I can’t envision a time when people won’t want to collect, read, share and display the books they’ve enjoyed and the books they continue to treasure as the foundation of their personal libraries. Books with illustrations and graphics in particular can never be surplanted by e-ink. The fact that e-books are quickly gaining in popularity does not necessarily reflect what method or mode of reading people will gravitate to in the future. For now, it’s new, it’s cool, it has a certain appeal as the latest thing/ le dernier mode.
What I like best about In My Book is that they are the perfect “Just because” gift. And they are great add-ons when trying to “even up” at holiday time, etc. Oh, and they are a nice way to deliver things like gift certificates. Plus, they are the greeting card too. OK, so that’s more than one thing, but… I love them! When you discover them, it’s one of those, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” or “Why haven’t these always existed!” moments. What was the inspiration?
I had been working in publishing and knew that I could not advance past a certain stage with that organization. I wanted to do my own thing related to publishing and I started with the idea of a unique bookmark. I love paper and I’ve always liked the idea of changing the text on printed greeting cards. As the idea developed, and the bookmark expanded into a greeting card, the concept and format of In My Book® was born (the name was hit upon in the shower). In 2000, I hired a wonderful illustrator, Meredith Hamilton, to do the artwork.
I had a brief, but shinning I like to think, career in writing greeting cards; it’s a lot harder than it looks *wink* Where do you start when creating — with the greeting cards and occasion themes? Or is it primarily book (and pun!) based?
My advice to anyone thinking about starting a greeting card company is think twice. There are so many talented artists and varied styles of greetings available, but if you must follow your muse, be aware that the hardest part of making a success is not in designing or manufacturing the cards, it’s the challenging task of getting the cards sold and distributed in sufficient volume to make it work economically. And you have to do a lot of horn-tooting or be able to pay for someone to do it for you.
With the In My Book line, I defied the popular notion of sending greeting cards for holidays and special occasions. None of my cards are occasion-based; which means, who needs an occasion to send them, they’d ‘work’ for even an ordinary day! The cards could be used for a birthday or anniversary, but senders could also just to write a short note, enclose a gift certificate, give a check or cash (perfect size for that), or send them as a thank you note for a teacher, librarian, doctor or nurse, or as a graduation or promotion card. Enclose a pair of tickets to a show or send a ‘keep the date’ reminder. All of the fifteen styles are literary-oriented, either based on a particular genre (novel, mystery, adventure, poetry), or literary terminology (in between the covers, the last word, the happy ending). All are pun-based and light-hearted, and hopefully will continue to remind the recipient of the person who sent them the card as they continue to use it as a bookmark. They recycle!
Which designs are most popular? Do you think that’s based purely on book genre?
Most popular in terms of sales are classic, novel, rare, happy ending and top shelf. Voluminous is the least popular, although I think there are a lot of people who look at but don’t necessarily buy the beautiful Ingres-based nude. Americans are still puritanical. I hope that buyers select the card based on the person they plan on sending it to…but of course different styles cause different reactions and individuals’ tastes come into play.
Thanks for your time, Robin!
Now that you are sold on the idea of In My Book® cards, you can get them direct from Robin. Or, if you are out and about and wish to support local businesses and organizations, look for them at over 500 independent book and library stores — including at the Library of Congress store.
If you run a bookstore, museum shop, etc. or your historical society or library is looking for a way to raise funds, cards may be purchased at a wholesale rate.
PS More styles of In My Book® bookmarks/cards are presently in the works and will be available in Spring of 2012!
Antique Japanese Pop Culture For Tourists
A bunch of little gems found in The Club Hotel, Limited: Guide Book of Yokohama, Tokyo and Principal Places in Japan, printed at the “Box Of Curios,” No. 58, Main Street, Yokohama, Japan. There’s no copyright or publication date, but the book is circa 1880s to 1910s.
The people who stamp about the streets playing a double whistle are blind Shampooers, i.e. “Massage” operators by trade.
Japanese baths are generally heated with charcoal, and it is well to be careful of asphyxia from the fumes. The bath-houses with men and women bathing in full sight of each other, are a curiosity to Europeans.
This idea of co-ed bath-houses, or at least visibility in Japanese bath-houses, contradicts everything we think we know about Japanese modesty, i.e. the information on this antique, circa 1915, lantern slide literature piece:
The woman is taught from girlhood to be modest, retiring and obedient as daughter and wife, and as a rule she is almost certain to avoid spinsterhood, so well-planned is the marriage machinery in Japan. Courtship is unknown as we know it. The bringing about of marriages regularly the work of a private go-between, who brings the young people together after the parents on both sides, with additional precautionary inquisitorial go-between, have agreed to a proposed match. Thus girls often select their husbands unknown to the bridegroom himself, for the selection is usually supposed to be and usually is the result of the go-between’s astute observation, the initiative coming from one or the other parents, who says in effect, ‘Pray you good friend, find a spouse for my daughter– or son” as the case may be. In this way even when a young man or young woman has a small purse or a bodily defect some one equally short in cast or corporal perfection is found and the thing is done. The young people meet at a theater or feast; they chat gingerly with each other and final consent is given. No courtship and absolutely no kissing!’
Listed on the same page of this antique Japan travel guide as Japanese Wrestling, Public Libraries, Museums, Places Of Worship — and across from the small map of the Temples of Shiba — are the Geisha or Singing girls, which could be ordered through the tea-house.
In materials associated with this1915 lantern slide of geisha girls, there is more detail on the hiring of the women:
The geisha houses, rather humble, certainly unpretentious abodes, group themselves in certain quarters, and the hiring of the girls is done methodically through a central office. The hiring should be accomplished by the restaurant keeper or by the housewife as early in the afternoon as possible, but not after six in the evening, unless absolutely unavoidable. For the preparation of the Geisha is an elaborate affair from the wonderful coiling and adorning of her hair to the fit of her white, heelless shoes. They are taken in rickishas to the house of entertainment and carried home in the same way when all is over.
In Chapter V, day trips in the area surround Tokyo, Geisha girls — “pleasure boats full” — are also mentioned.
Information on another antique lantern slide depicting a geisha:
The geisha or singing girl to the “Western” mind fills out the romantic ideal of modern Japan. To the native she is simply a sublimated waitress with dancing and singing trimmings, but she is also a chosen vehicle of Japanese romance. Visions of her dressed in showy silken robes waving a large fan, her black hair marvelously coifed, a fixed smile on her face and moving in rhythmic steps with a special flowing elegance of gesture, rise before those who have seen her at her high functions. Ever to the accompaniment of the tinkling strings of the of the samisen and the full beat of the tsuzumi that picture comes back to the foreigner as the flower of his reminiscence of Japan.
The 14th day, suggests the “opportunity of witnessing the theatres,” of which “Danjuro is admittedly the best actor in Japan.” This 1915 lantern slide is presumably the man himself; likely a descendant of this Danjuro.
And the 15th day one must go to the Bazaar in Shiba Park to “see the gamour dancing girls at the Maple Club, (Koyo Kwan) for which you must obtain an introduction from a member, and afterwards go to the No Dances, a kind of ancient opera, held in the immediate vicinity.”
According to Queer Things About Japan, by Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen, 1904:
The most the ordinary globe-scorcher has to say for Japanese theatres is that they please the Japanese — common Japanese. The good-class Japanese do not go to them. They go in for No-dances, which strike the scoffing European as very well-named; not being dances at all, but a sort of religious play, with posturing and singing and declamation.
Additional information that accompanies this lantern slide:
The Japanese love the theater, and it is a thoroughly national institution. You will be told in select circles how up to the Restoration in 1868 the theater was looked down on, and actors in the view of the samurai class were beneath contempt– the offensive manifestants of a degrading kind of exhibition. There was, no doubt, much affectation in this. The popular theater was supposed to clash with the traditions of the Japanese classic drama know as the “No or “No Dance”.
Today there are hundreds of theaters giving popular drama. The “No” is a collection of some two hundred and thirty-two dramatic episodes, mostly tragic, which were collected and given permanent form in the early fifteenth century.
Now That You’re Big, Stop Being A Sexist Pig
Now That You’re Big, by Simon Greiner “with apologies to Dr. Seuss,” is an amusing parody of the classic kids’ books with a twist: Now That You’re Big is about sexuality. Including the one activity that is supposed to make you go blind — masturbating.
At first glance, it’s down-right clever; but then something creeps in and creeps you out… Men are having all the fun in this book, not women.
Ms.JayLynn notices and points it out too:
The Dr. Suess nature of this is great, but unfortunately I have to offer a bit of criticism. You’ve done a lot to reinforce standard gender stereotypes.
The section for guys reinforces the idea that it’s ok to ogle girls, and masturbate. The section for girls is all about “be careful because you might be pregnant. Really? Is that the message you want to be sending?
How about teaching girls that masturbating is a good thing and not something to be ashamed of? And what about teaching guys the importance of being respectful and mature about birth control?
Also, where’s the safer sex message? With the millions of euphimisms about condoms, there’s gotta be a way to put at least one of them in a Dr. Suess fashion. Don’t you think that’s an important message to put out there?
Maybe this was all done in fun and games, and you were just amusing yourself with it. Great! I’m glad you had some fun and put together an awesome piece in the style of Dr. Suess. However, there’s a much bigger picture here as well, and I hope you’ll take a few minutes to consider it.
Be well.
Despite her “Be well,” Ms.JayLynn was, of course, bashed for not having a sense of humor.
Hey, Ms.JayLynn, come on over here where we understand that sometimes inequality just isn’t funny. Sometimes even jokes and humorous pieces when just left to their own comedic devices do more than inspire giggles — they perpetuate the stuff that makes us insane. Like treating women as problems not people entitled to their own pleasures. Like not discussing the health concerns by omitting condoms — but still pointing out pregnancy, as if it were “the worst” and something women are responsible for. Ugh.
As for those leaving nasty comments to MsJaylynn, here’s something for you to consider: Now that you’re big, stop being a sexist pig.
Foot Fashions A La Purple Rain
In the 80s, we used to decorate our boots with chains and wraps, just because we could. Or maybe it’s where we kept our gold, which could quickly be converted to cash — you know, like when when we needed to buy our boyfriend guitars, like Apollonia did for Prince in Purple Rain.
http://youtu.be/sNULIW0dx60
Your desires to buy a sperm-shaped guitar or pull your finances literally up from your bootstraps aside, you might just find these shoe and bootstraps by Lizette quite fetching. They are not only stylish (and retro 80’s style at that!), but practical in that they hold loose shoes, like mules, on to your foot to boot!
What I’ve Been Reading Link Round-Up
Come explore with me!
Beware Pinkwashing at The Girlie Girl Army: All about how unhealthy and manipulative buying “pink” for breast cancer awareness &/or research can be.
At Sociological Images, Google Index of Poor Mothers’ Pain: Using Google to research what poor women with children really live like, what they are in search of, what they need. (See also: Why We Vilify Single Moms.)
Sex Tips For Husbands and Wives from 1894 at Writing Women’s History: A hoot, once you get past the notions of the past that haunt us still today.
Image via Lynnstudios.
Let’s Eat Pretzels! Getting Divorce Papers In The 1960s
Misogyny & Mini-Bowling Alleys
This vintage matchbook was from the Curtiss Tavern, “on Hi-Way 57 at Plymouth, Wisconsin,” Carl Senglaub, Proprietor. If features a cute little pinup, “The High-Way,” on the front cover. (Which also prompts me to make a pun about “My way or the high-way.” But I’ll try to resist!)
On the inside, there’s a promotion for the bar’s sandwiches and miniature bowling alleys — as well as a joke about women:
God made man and rested –
God made earth and rested –
Then God made woman –
Since then, no one has rested.
Their Font Said “Soda Pop” But Their Photo Said Something Else
“For Extra Fun Take More Than One” I think they meant the packs of Coke, not women… Of course, I could be wrong; you know how compelling men find a set of twins. Sublimely subliminal. Via.
This One’s For My Dad
This photo of Suzanne Pleshette reminds me of my dad.
My dad had a thing for Suzanne. He also had a lusty crush on Susan Anton. We used to tease him maybe variations on “Sue” was his real “thing.” *wink*
As a young girl, and then a young woman, those two women were so disparate… And neither resembled my mother.
…Well, maybe my mother was a bustier Pleshette, with a more dulcet voice.
But anyway, my point is, my daddy taught me early on that men can be attracted, simultaneously, to many things about women — that there wasn’t necessarily a “type,” either for one man or mankind. That’s the sort of thing a woman needs to know. And it doesn’t hurt to know that such crushes or affections do nothing to demean or diminish the loving and lusty committed relationship one’s in, either.
I was reminded, again, just how important dads are to girls when hubby and I helped dad run his booths selling antiques at Cedarburg Maxwell Street Days this past weekend. Dad’s sort of got a carnival-barker-meets-stand-up-comic style to his manning of his booths. (Another thing I’ve picked up from Dad!) One woman, drawn in by Dad’s quick wit, was instantly charmed — not only by my dad, but by my relationship with him.
“It’s clear you love your dad,” she said. Tears formed in her eyes — and mine — when she said, “I lost my dad 26 years ago… Dads are so important in their daughters’ lives…”
Damn right they are.
So here’s to you, Dad. Enjoy Ms. Pleshette. Thanks for being you.
Forever indebted,
your daughter
Man’s Best Friends
I’m not sure
A vintage Ken Colgan cartoon:
A man’s best friends are his wife, his back, and his dog. The back, however, has a reputation of not being as faithful as his other two friends.
Well, at least women were considered faithful — even if they were compared to dogs and “things that work for men.”
Care Of The Back, Industrial Edition, William K. Ishmael, M.D., F.A.C.P. and Howard B. Shorbe, M.D., F.A.C.S., Distributed by Safety Department with Approval of Abbott Skinner, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Great Northern Railway Company. Cartoons by Ken Colgan, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Delores Hung Out In Turnpike Rest Rooms
Found in a vintage Pennsylvania Turnpike System brochure (circa early 1950s), this photo is actually captioned as follows:
“Freshening up” in a comfortable rest room
Make Your Children Feel Pretty By Making Fun Of Presidents (Or I’m Giving Away Atomic Religous Beauty?)
Perhaps today’s right-win conservative evangelists are only following the advice of Dorothy C. Haskin in God In My Kitchen: Fifty-Two Thoughts For Homemakers (copyright 1958, Warner Press, Anderson, Indiana)…
In chapter three, Beauty, we find the following:
Sheer physical good looks do not necessarily go together with excelling character or outstanding achievement. Our most handsome presidents were perhaps Warren G. Harding, James Buchanan, Franklin Pierce, and Chester A. Arthur. None of these are rated by historians as among our top national leaders. The presidents most praised by historians were not handsome men. George Washington was pock-marked. Abraham Lincoln’s rugged features are well-known and Theodore Roosevelt was bristling in appearance. Parent will do well to mention these things, because many children worry about their looks.
So I guess, by the laws of logic one should be voting for “ugly” candidate?
But that depends upon your definition of beauty; thankfully, Haskin helps with that.
Beauty is something which every girl can have. A young girl was praised for her beauty. Privately her father told her, “People are not praising your beauty, but your youth. You can take no credit at all for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, you can be proud of it, for it will be your character which has made you beautiful.”
Way to connect with your daughter, dad. Yeah, there’s some truth in that, but talking about her future old crone status is sure to help her in high school — because you know every high school kid thinks they’ll be dead before they reach the old age of 30. Sixty? What the hell is that?!
But I’ve shown poor character and interrupted Haskin again.
True beauty shows when your face is in repose. The natural expression reflects character. It may be fretty, quarrelsome, or reveal a spirit at rest with God. Another time that true beauty may be seen is when you greet someone. If you are self-centered, your greeting is without feeling and does not light your face. But if you are genuinely friendly, your greeting of others will bring a radiance to your face.
A Quaker woman’s recipe for beauty was:
“Use for the lips, truth… for the voice, prayer… for the eyes, pity… for the hands, charity… for the figure, uprightness… and for the heart, love.”
Because everyone talks about how beautiful Quaker women were! Seriously, I’m not a religious person (shocker!), but most of that sounds pretty nice and pretty sane to me — get it, pretty nice? Pretty sane? lol
Anyway, because I’m not religious — and because I’ve had my fun’s worth of this book, I’m giving it away.
There are many ways to enter; options. But you need only do one, if that’s all the effort you wish to put into winning… And no, I don’t care if you want this vintage homemaker’s book for ugly or pretty reasons. Just enjoy it!
To Enter:
* Follow me on Twitter: @DPopTart. (Please leave your Twitter username in your comment so I can check.)
and/or
* Tweet the following:
I entered @DPopTart’s contest to win a FREE copy of God In My Kitchen http://bit.ly/n7fIhz
(Remember to come back here and leave a comment with your tweet for me to verify.)
You may tweet your entry once a day.
and/or
* Friend me on Face Book: Deanna Dahlsad. (When making the request, note that you are entering the contest.)
and/or
* Post about this contest at your blog or website — if you do this you must include in your post to this contest post or Kitsch Slapped in general.
(Please include the link to your blog post in the comments section so that I can find your post.)
and/or
* Post your entry as a comment — if you do this, please make sure I’ve got your email address, because if you’re the winner I’ll need your email address to contact you regarding your shipping information.
Here’s the giveaway fine print:
* Giveaway is open to US residents only
* Be sure that you leave your email so that I can contact you
* Contest ends October 10, 2011; entries must be made on or before midnight, central time, October 9, 2011. Winner will be contacted by October 11, 2011, and has 48 hours to respond; otherwise, I’ll draw another name.
The Bachman Pretzel Bikini
Hey, edible underpants, you had competition… The Bachman Pretzel Bikini.
Just $2.50 for a “classy” and “sassy” two-piece bikini of “velvety non-woven material.” I can’t imagine you could swim in it. Nor can I imagine wanting a crunchy edible item of apparel — which the words “pretzel bikini” rather imply. Perhaps non-woven means edible? Plus the obvious “good enough to eat” cliche, which the pretzels then lend to the women, and kids, who wear it…
In any case, what’s the use of such a novelty item that “can be worn several times before you discard it”? Pure schtick promo, that’s definitely in bad taste no mater how you look at it.
Via this post at Found In Mom’s Basement.
Make Up For Breasts?
No offense to Mr. Vargas, but I think he misunderstood the task… This vintage ad was for “Twin Make Up,” not makeup for “the twins.”
The original artwork by Alberto Vargas goes up for sale at Heritage Auctions on September 30, 2011.
ALBERTO VARGAS (American, 1896-1982)
New Jergens Twin Make-Up, advertisement poster, 1943
Mixed media on board
18 x 14 in.
Signed upper left
Sexism In The Royal Canadian Air Force Fitness Plans?
Here’s a little gem: the Royal Canadian Air Force Exercise Plans for Physical Fitness booklet.
This edition is the forty-third printing of the revised U.S. edition of the official RCAF fitness plan, published in 1962. It’s two books in one, as it contains both XBX (Ten Basic Exercises), the twelve minute a day plan for women, and 5BX (Five Basic Exercises), the eleven minute a day plan for men, which were previously published separately. (Note, the “X” in XBX does not refer to the two x-chromosomes of women.)
The plans enable you, the common folk, to get fit just as the fancy airline folk do — by yourself, at home, in your spare time, at your own rate, without any equipment.
I can’t speak to the effectiveness of the fitness plan; however, the exercises, created by Canada’s “pioneer” of physical fitness, William A. R. Orban, look like the general movements, tasks, and poses I’ve found in so many publications over the years (none as bad as beating your fat against a wall). But I can and will speak to the quirky fact that the two fitness plans differ greatly in terms of how the exercises are depicted by gender.
The women’s exercises are shown with step-by-step photographs of women in leotards:
While the men’s are shown with cool, graphic, iconic, illustrations:
While it’s true that the men’s fitness plan predates the women’s by a couple of years, I still find the differences striking… Was one gender thought to be confused by less-than realistic images? Is the female form just more acceptable, if not titillating, when shown in photographs? Or was continuity broken because greyscale printing became cheaper or otherwise de rigueur?
Before you decide, let me just show you one more thing…
While the men get a great phallic graphic, we women are sans a powerful ovarian homage.
In Which Gardasil & I *Almost* Make The News (Or, Ethics In Medicine & Media)
Last week I watched The Republican Debate at the Reagan Library. I found myself astounded by the fact that these people with limited intellectual reasoning, if not limited intellectual functioning, were in positions to actually be running for President of the United States of America. I’ve more to say on that subject (expect another post soon), but for now, I’m just going to focus on the one subject in which I found myself even more shocked: the one time when I found myself agreeing with some of the things the potential candidates said.
The subject was mandatory use of the Gardasil HPV vaccine; something I’ve long considered dangerous — especially as it’s equated with crony capitalism. Now, to be clear, I’m not one of those who thinks that preventing a disease which is linked to sexual behavior is akin to giving young women (or anyone) a Go Out & Screw card; you should know by now I’m not that kind of silly. But I’ve been concerned for a long time about the dangers of Gardasil, a drug pushed through quickly and forced upon young women and their families who are kept ignorant of the dangers — including deaths — of the vaccine. However, as I was soon to be traveling, I decided I didn’t have time to write about this subject again. Until…
Not long after I arrived home last night, my father in law called me. A reporter, Kristin Helgeson from Valley News Live, had left a message for him, asking if he was related to a Deanna Dahlsad. Yes, he is; yes, I called the phone number Helgeson left, and left her a message. But it wasn’t until this morning that the reporter and I connected.
Seems Michelle Bachmann stepped in it again, this time taking one individual and unverified comment and making the claim that “Gardasil led to mental retardation,” and Helgeson, having found my coverage of Gardasil at my other blog, wanted a comment from me. However, now that it was the next day, the story is “over.” While Helgeson was interested in pursuing the information I had, her boss, News Director Griff Potter, felt new and more accurate information wasn’t warranted — at least not enough to continue the story on air. Instead, Potter feels that I should just add a comment to the news story on their website.
It’s here that my story turns, for the moment, from one of the dangers the Gardasil vaccine, to that of the problems of The Media.”
In Valley News Live‘s coverage of the story, they reported:
On their website, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has a review page for this vaccine. None of the serious side effects have been linked to the vaccine and there have been no reports of mental disability. In fact, the most serious side effect they found was fainting. They now ask patients to sit down for 15 minutes after they get vaccinated.
This may be true — but it’s clearly not the whole story! As I’ve uncovered, there are deaths linked to Gardasil — in the US and India. While Valley News Live may not find their omission “retraction worthy,” surely they should present the other information that the public ought to be informed about. And they should do so in the same format as their original coverage. One hopes that the folks at Valley News Live know that their television viewers are not necessarily those who will turn to the Internet and look for updates on earlier stories (or trust the comments left by some “kook” like me); if there was something important to add to the story, they’d show it on the news right? Wrong.
I want to be clear here and state that Helgeson wanted/wants to proceed with the story. And I did call Mr. Potter to voice my concerns too; as of this writing, he has not returned my call. I hope he is out to lunch in the literal sense, not metaphorically, and that I will hear from him — or from Helgeson, saying Potter has reconsidered. But until then, this whole thing just makes me so angry.
How long will the arbitrators of news continue to dismiss the issues in this story? How long will they continue to discount women — not just as part of their audience, but in general? For cutting or ignoring the facts from stories like this only perpetuates the problems of poor ethics in everything from medicine and politics.
For more, see my other related posts, at varying sites:
Is Medicine At Odds With Women’s Health?
Controlling Parts Is Controlling The Sum Of Its Parts
What If Everything You Knew About The Corset Was Wrong?
And do see my Gardasil coverage.
Why Long Nails Are Sexy
Fingernails have long been symbols beauty — specifically as indicators of wealth. The cleaner, the longer, the more well-manicured, the more they distance the wearer from manual work. Long nails, even if natural fingernails, are unnatural — and the really long “dragon lady” fingernails are sexy because they are so removed from the norm they become exotic.
We may no longer be digging roots out of the ground, grinding corn by hand, or banging laundry against rocks; but (most of us) still wash dishes, scrub floors and type on keyboards — all which wreak havoc with our nails and manicures. And so, whether we “do less work,” pay for our manicures, or just wear gloves to protect our hands, manicures, and pretty hands in general, remain “beautiful” because they and/or the high maintenance of them indicate wealth.
Image credits: Chen-Yu Nail Polish for Vogue, 1939; photographer Horst P. Horst. Via.
Read. Writhe. Respond.
In the last link round-up, I wrote this:
The first two posts that rather address a backwards feminism post at HuffPo: One at BUST and the other at A Slip Of A Girl. Why should I add anything when they’ve both done so well?
Well, there’s more to the story. I found the link in this week’s Girlie Girl Army newsletter (shouldn’t you be subscribed?), which is too cute to read, even if the update (at BUST) is even more confusing…
Like cupcakes, Hello Kitty, and wearing dresses on occasion? Then this girl hates you. Ps. She’s a baker. Pps. She’d definitely hate us. Ppps. We sort of love parts of her article.
Read. Writhe. Respond.
Bombshell Manual Of Style Giveaway!
I’ve decided to part with my copy of The Bombshell Manual of Style
In a previous review, I wrote this of the book:
A fast fun romp through the lives of bombshells. No so much on the ‘how tos’ of makeup or fashion, but a funny & fresh look at what makes a girl glam! Covers excuses, words to live by and how to throw a tantrum – you know, the stuff you really want to know. A great book for reading as you soak in a champagne bubble bath!
There are many ways to enter…
To Enter:
* Follow me on Twitter: @DPopTart. (Please leave your Twitter username in your comment so I can check.)
and/or
* Tweet the following:
I entered @DPopTart’s contest to win a FREE copy of The Bombshell Manual Of Style http://t.co/vJp33Va
(Remember to come back here and leave a comment with your tweet for me to verify.)
You may tweet your entry once a day.
and/or
* Friend me on Face Book: Deanna Dahlsad. (When making the request, note that you are entering the contest.)
and/or
* Post about this contest at your blog or website — if you do this you must include in your post to this contest post or Kitsch Slapped in general.
(Please include the link to your blog post in the comments section so that I can find your post.)
and/or
* Post your entry as a comment — if you do this, please make sure I’ve got your email address, because if you’re the winner I’ll need your email address to contact you regarding your shipping information.
Here’s the giveaway fine print:
* Giveaway is open to US residents only
* Be sure that you leave your email so that I can contact you
* Contest ends September 15, 2011; entries must be made on or before midnight, central time, September 14, 2011. Winner will be announced/contacted on September 16, 2011. Winner has 48 hours to respond; otherwise, I’ll draw another name.
Dube Du Special Panties?
These retro red nylon panties would be lovely… ‘Cept I’m not wearing anything embroidered or otherwise marked “Dube Du Special” until I know exactly what that means.
Via eBay.
Cheap Thrills Thurdsay: Free Cherry Earrings (Late Edition)
At Listia (if you don’t know what it is, check out my review), you can get these adorable handmade cherry earrings for free — yes, FREE, including shipping! (In the USA.) How’s that for a cheap thrill?
Signs Of The Times: Parades of Yesteryear (1940s)
So much to absorb here… A sexist display of Native American stereotypes, awesome funky neon signs that appear to highlight the pinup on parade here (“Stump” Hardware, the heat of the Holland Furnace Company, and a V.F.W. post), a big ol’ tuba and an even bigger car… And does that sign mean this display was to promote voting for a senator?
(Vintage photo via Lynnstudios.)
Kitsch Slapped Link Round Up, Slappin’ It Feminist Style
Let’s walk — and read — shoulder to shoulder, my sisters…
The first two posts that rather address a backwards feminism post at HuffPo: One at BUST and the other at A Slip Of A Girl. Why should I add anything when they’ve both done so well?
At Silent Porn Star (yup, that means this next link is NSFW), my fellow “nutty Egyptologist” pal discusses brotherly and sisterly love — in terms of etymology, fictive kinship, marriage of kin, and DNA evidence — in ancient Egypt. Interesting food for thought for this armchair anthropologist.
In No Sex, Please, We’re Literary!, author Karen Essex discusses the double-standard which goes past the roles and experiences of the characters, to the limitations of the authors. Here’s a quick snippet; but please go read the rest.
The point of my books is to give voice to otherwise voiceless females from history and myth; to unlock what has been secreted away in women’s hearts and minds for thousands of years; to express what has been unutterable. Historically, women have either been reduced to nothing but their sexuality, or stripped of it entirely; the Madonna or the whore. Are those two options not more degrading to a female character than allowing her the full range of human experience?
Karen Essex has also just earned a permanent link on the blogroll for that post; but she’s an achiever. You should also read Women: Is it our own fault? — which is in response to her earlier post, Take Back The Tit, which also rather addresses the icky HuffPo post too. See? Now we’ve come full circle!
Image credits: Katharine, Marion and Peg Hepburn photo taken by Martin Munkacsi, August 1939, via.
Big-Eyed Art Is Sexy
Big or sad-eyed art was sexy enough for this vintage pinup photo-shoot. My thoughts on this are rather covered here. (Image via.)
