Women's Views on News |
- Plastic surgery apps not just for young girls
- New law would put women at heart of overseas aid
- Big run for end of domestice violence
| Plastic surgery apps not just for young girls Posted: 22 Jan 2014 07:52 AM PST
Two mobile phone apps which encouraged children as young as nine to ‘operate’ on a cartoon ‘Barbie’ with scalpels and syringes have now been removed from the iTunes and Google Play stores. The apps, called ‘Plastic Surgery’ and ‘Plastic Surgery & Plastic Doctor & Plastic Hospital Office for Barbie’ caused outrage on Twitter when the images were shared by The Everyday Sexism Project. Campaigners encouraged people to tweet iTunes and Google Play with their thoughts on the apps, which showed a female cartoon character undergoing surgical procedures to become thinner and prettier. "This unfortunate girl has so much extra weight that no diet can help her. In our clinic she can go through a surgery called liposuction that will make her slim and beautiful," went the spiel with the iTunes app. After more than 4,000 retweets, both Apple and Google removed the offending apps from their stores. Speaking to the Times, Laura Bates, from the Everyday Sexism Project said: "It's hugely damaging that this app sends the message to girls as young as nine that being skinny is the holy grail, their looks are the only thing that matters and the only way to [become skinny] is plastic surgery. "It just contributes to a culture that tells young girls that they need to change themselves to be acceptable to society." A quick search of the iTunes store and I can find 236 plastic surgery-related apps. Granted most of them are not aimed at children, but there are a few which are just too pink and fluffy to be targeting adults. ‘Celebrity Little Nose & Eye Face Doctor’ even claims to be a ‘plastic surgery makeover game for kids and girls’. "What’s wrong with these celebrities?" it asks. "Well, they need some help and some surgery!! Become a doctor and help these crazy fun celebs!!" On the one hand we could be applauding the fact that this app is encouraging girls to ‘become a doctor’, but the disturbing reality – aside from the excessive use of exclamation marks – is that it is a)trivialising some very serious medical procedures and b)blatantly and unashamedly sexist (!!). The app is free, but you can rack-up the in-app charges with some nice add-ons. Extras include botox for a bargain 69 pence and lip fillers or an eye lift at just £1.49 each. What’s more, you have to buy the top celebs to operate on – Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Harry Styles and Lady Gaga are all available, placing this game’s target audience in the pre-teen demographic. There are also a whole load of apps you can use to give yourself a nip or a tuck; just pick your favourite selfie and ‘enhance’ it with the Plastic Surgery Simulator (‘use it to simulate real plastic surgeries’ and ‘approve your appearance on social networks’) or iPlasticMe (‘The app distorts photos for beauty purposes such as plastic surgery, weight loss, muscle growth etc.’) And then there are the apps that target specific parts of the body such as iAugment which, you guessed it, can give you bigger boobs at the shake of your phone. These app makers are cashing in on a culture which places a woman’s worth solely on her appearance. But it’s really no surprise. Sexism is so ingrained in our society that it has become part of ‘normal’ life; from catcalling in the street to sexualised images popping up on your Facebook feed, most women have to ‘put up’ with low-level sexism every day of their lives. They also have to put up with the constant pressure not just to look good, but to conform to society’s accepted ‘norms’ of what constitutes beauty; slim waist, big breasts and pert backside. The incessant stream of media images depicting beautifully airbrushed women is having an affect on girls of a younger and younger age. According to a major survey by Girl Guiding last year, 87 per cent of 11-21 year-olds think women are judged more for their looks than their ability, and three quarters think that boys expect girls to look like the images they see in the media. One in five primary school aged girls admits to having been on a diet, and anyone who knows a 12-year old girl will know that she has been under pressure for at least the last five years of her life to be thin and pretty. It shouldn't be a huge shock therefore that these girls are lapping up apps that help them to conform to the beauty ideal that we’ve created; they’re on a constant diet of doctored and airbrushed images that are distorting their body image. The question is, how do we stop it?  |
| New law would put women at heart of overseas aid Posted: 22 Jan 2014 03:44 AM PST
The UK parliament is currently debating the Gender Equality and International Development Bill. If it becomes law the Bill will force the Secretary of State for International Development consider the role of women in all government supported overseas aid initiatives. It would place a statutory obligation on the UK government to consider the impact of its overseas aid spending on reducing gender inequality. The Bill was introduced to Parliament by Conservative MP Bill Cash who believes women are 'prime movers' in poorer parts of the world. ‘On a visit to India a few years ago… in the slums and among the ragpickers, it is women who are the driving force behind efforts to improve sanitation and water in Delhi and Mumbai. ‘Dividing up the slum areas into sectors, they raise one or two rupees from these desperately poor people, including themselves; but because of the scale of those in deepest poverty, weekly and monthly they raise millions of rupees, which are then invested in localised water and sanitation projects,’ Cash wrote recently in the New Statesman. The Bill is supported by Water Aid, Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) and the Gender Rights and Equality Action Trust (GREAT) Initiative, a foundation to promote gender equality globally, established by writer and broadcaster Mariella Frostrup, her husband Jason McCue and others. Writing in the Huffington Post last week, singer and GREAT Initiative co-founder Karen Ruimy argued that gender inequality held back development. "For instance early marriage and teenage pregnancy put a stop to the education of girls which means they cannot enter the workplace, which in turns slows down economic development. "We also know that overseas aid can address or exacerbate gender inequality. "For instance, a democratisation programme which fails to address the representation of women may lead to free and fair elections but may also lead to a male-dominated parliament. "Women make up only 21 per cent of parliamentarians globally and it is critically important to address this. "By considering the different needs of women and men in emergency situations, like the crises in Syria or the Philippines, or anywhere around the world that needs our provision and security, we can ensure that our aid is more effective and targets the most vulnerable in these situations, which is so often the women and girls." She told the Guardian, “In theory, gender equality should already exist, but we need to work on it every day,” and she hopes the bill will inspire other European politicians to assess their legislation. The Bill has crossparty government support so is likely to become law. It is believed to be the first to enshrine in law a commitment to reduce gender equality through aid disbursements.  |
| Big run for end of domestice violence Posted: 22 Jan 2014 01:09 AM PST
From 26 January to 1 February television presenter Charlie Webster will be running 250 miles and visiting 40 football clubs to raise awareness of Women’s Aid and encourage football clubs, players and fans to unite in the fight against domestic violence. She came up with the idea of this Challenge last year whilst trying to think of a way to engage both sexes in standing up against domestic abuse and educate on what is so commonly referred to as a ‘women’s issue’, she explained. Women and men, she added, need to speak out together to end domestic violence and set an example for the next generation that will make up our society. Webster recently revealed that she was sexually assaulted when she was a teenager. Saying she was waiving her right to anonymity to “break the taboo about abuse as a whole”, she said the assaults were carried out by her running coach when she was 15. She told BBC Radio 5 live’s Phil Williams, "I got quite close to the running coach because you do.” “You start to trust them when you’re a young kid, and he started to take me for a few private sessions because he said I was good and I could do with some extra sessions because that would really help. “He took me into a private situation where no one else was… and then he abused my trust… he very, very manipulatively and very slowly sexually assaulted me." Webster said she did not tell anyone because she did not know then it was something she could report. She said that it had been another, younger girl who began to record the abuse and took it to the police. Webster said that sexual abuse at the time was “one of these taboos, like domestic abuse is now”, that wasn’t spoken about. “That’s why I’m here (on the radio) as well," she said: "It might help someone else bring it to light. I want to break the taboo about abuse as a whole.” The man was later jailed for 10 years and put on the sex offenders register for life. Webster has been training every day for months for this challenge, on a gruelling schedule that would test the mettle of professional athletes. Charlie's Big Challenge combines two of her passions, running and football, as she completes at least a marathon a day to run to 40 football clubs between Liverpool and London. Watch this film, produced by creative agency The Minimart, to find out why Charlie is pushing herself – both physically and mentally – to the very limit. Click here to find out where Charlie will be and when, and you can go along to show your support. Charlie has put a tremendous amount of work into this epic Challenge, both in training and by gathering support from clubs – all this to help raise awareness for Women’s Aid. Keep up with her efforts on Facebook and Twitter #charliesbigchallange. Help her raise money by going to the Just Giving site. And of course you’ll be able to follow her progress during the Challenge itself.  |
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