Entries from April 2008 ↓

I’m conflicted about this.

Wasn’t the media just lying in wait for the girl to screw up and cross the very fine line between contemporary and provocative?

“Vanity Fair wants to sell magazines,” one newswoman says.

“Exactly right,” another newswoman says,

“Yeah, true,” I say. “But, no more than you want higher viewer ratings and are deliberately competing with Entertainment Tonight.”

Seems everyone wants to capitalize on Miley’s misstep – the news stations, the newspapers are all feeding on the story like ratings-hungry wolves.

I find that just as girl-exploitive as the actual photographs.

Miley has apologized and so has Annie Lebowitz, who shot the photo.

What are you thinking about this?

Throughout the school year Ainsley has harassed me nearly every day for a Lunchable or a tray.

For most of the year she got a whole wheat ham sandwich, a fruit or vegetable and a juice box.

I find my daughter is one of the very few kids who bring a lunch. Some parents are assisted with the free lunch program, some buy their Lunchables with food stamps. Some simply make more money than we do and can absorb the cost easier. Some parents just gave up and found the $35 a month to pay for the school lunch tray to never have this loathsome conversation again. One month’s worth of Maxed Out Lunchable is $60.

Upon examination she claimed it was the drink powder and the piece of candy that made her desperate for the Lunchable.

I went for the homemade Lunchable.

Box of crackers, block of cheese, a crucial misstep with cheap salami instead of ham, FulFill powder tube, refillable thermos and Tupperware and some fruit.

Is she satisfied?

Of course not.

Her desire for Lunchables has nothing to do with the sub-par food that fills the boxes. It has to do with the packaging itself. The packaging is a Kindergarten status symbol – like designer jeans.

She’s the kid who’s Mom erroneously believes she can substitute the real status symbol with a cheap imitation. All the other children probably pity her.

But, doesn’t that build character?

Every time a woman breaks a barrier it opens doors for all girls.

Congratulations Danica Patrick!

This is Gossip Girl’s new ad campaign. The only action I took was to open my email – And I am confronted with images of undressed teenagers in sexual positions. The pop up was strategically placed over my check mail buttons so I had no choice but to scroll over. Scrolling over runs a short soft porn movie featuring teenage kids.

The ad is marketing directly to tweens and teens (and likely DVRed by members of Nambla and other pedophiles) as the hip sex opera for KIDS, Gossip Girl.

We’re not talking about “censorship” of the Playboy Channel here. We’re talking about putting restrictions on what sexual positions the media is allowed to portray children in and how they are allowed to market it. And by sexual positions, I mean, are we to allow teens to be portrayed in doggy style in marketing before we finally get pissed enough to shout NO!

It gets worse. They aren’t even having to pay for all the advertising. I got this widget by following the lures to get teenagers to post this on their own email, personal sites and blogs. Getting children to exploit themselves by posting free advertising that exploits and cheapens their sexuality is WRONG.

If you’ll recall I had an issue with Gossip Girl editing a rape scene together with a consensual sex scene, effectively blurring the line between yes and no – glamorizing and romanticizing rape for their teenage audience. I canceled the CW shortly after. But, they found me. As I’m sure they are finding all kids – regardless of parental attempts to shield our children from adult content. It’s email – how many kids, tweens and teens get email?

This is unacceptable. One of the only tools we have is parental outrage.

Please join me in writing a letter to CBS - The CW’s parent company – and express your disappointment and outrage in their marketing strategy for Gossip Girl. (click on “feedback” button in right sidebar).

Gossip Girl and R-A-P-E
When is R-A-P-E Hot?