Viva la Revoltion!

Oh, Children's Place! What were you thinking, marketing this "back to school" shirt? 

Stop trying to put girls in some crazy box, where we can only like shopping, doing our hair, and glitter. We can like, and be good at, everything! And my inner teacher is screaming, "You can get better at math!"

The good news is, people voiced their concerns over the t-shirt to Children's Place...and they pulled the shirt off the shelves.

This type of action is what we should be doing - working together to improve the state of the world for women. I love it when I see groups of people working peacefully together toward a cause - any cause - because it reveals who we are as humans - passionate beings.

Thank you, Missoula!

Missoula is taking a step in the right direction when it comes to preventing sexual assault with its campaign called, "Make Your Move." The posters (see below) are clear, concise, get the point across, and most importantly, aren't cheesy (because cheesiness can detract from the message). We need this campaign throughout the country - not just in Missoula! The campaign has a website and a Facebook page - so they're working on getting the message out there. 

Thank you, Missoula! Hopefully other communities will follow suit!

Um, yes I can...

This darling hashtag is a newish thing going around on Twitter and Facebook and it's disgusting. C'mon now - we need to be standing up against this kind of drivel, even on the internet. If you don't understand why this is so offensive, take out the word "girlfriend" and replace it with any minority. Then you'll understand.

Maddy Blythe, an incoming sixth grade girl in Locust Grove, Georgia, has just been informed that she will no longer be allowed to play on her school's football team. And, yes, it's because she's a girl.

But it's more shocking than just that.

She will not be allowed to play because (and please note my quotation marks coming up here...yes, a school official actually said this), "Our official policy is that middle school girls play girl sports and middle school boys play boy sports." I'm sorry, what does that even mean? Boy sports? Girl sports? Aren't sports just...sports?

Maddy's mother was apparently told that she can no longer play because they boys are going to "start lusting after her...and male locker-room talk is not appropriate for a female." (No, she does not share the male locker-room, she and her innocent ears uses the female locker room).

Her parents, however, totally rock, and they're going to appeal the decision. They want to show Maddy that "hard work and determination pay off."

Go, Maddy! We'll be watching for your story's development as football season draws near!

Judgey McJudgerson

After losing 100 pounds, Madelyn Shaeffer was thrilled to be wearing a bikini to the Adventure Oasis in Missouri for a day of sun and water slides.

Her fun was abruptly halted when the park told her to put shorts on over her bikini or go home. They determined that she was "inappropriately dressed." In a bikini. At a water park.

Well, she refused, stating that she was dressed the same as others in the park (in string bikinis) and that they were discriminating against her because she had a full figure. So they had the police escort her out. The police? Ridiculousness.

A pretty clear cut example of discrimination - and I think it's a combination of her age (she's not a teenager) and her rockin' body. I've checked out lots of pics on this story, and she's covered as much as a bikini's going to cover. The bottom covers her whole behind, the top does its job, too. Plus, she looks incredible!

Madelyn, rock that bikini, girl!

Check out the video for yourself.

Ahhhhh-mazing!

If you have been following world news lately, no doubt you've heard of the riots in Egypt. What do the riots have to do with women and feminism? Well, mobs of rioters have been attacking and sexually assaulting the female protestors - "at least 91" women have been raped while protesting. And it hasn't been stopped by the military who are on patrol.

The good news is, this information got out. Watchdog groups got a hold of the stories about the attacks and made sure that this was publicized. And talking about it is what we can do to end it.

So, what happened? This:

Male protestors formed a human shield around the female protestors so that they could protest without fear of attack.

Doesn't look like much, you say?

What about this:

Or this:

Faith in humanity: restored.

It's a Barbie world.

This picture of original Barbie next to a "more realistic figure" Barbie has been floating around the internet this morning. I've been watching the comments regarding these two dolls on Do Something's Facebook feed. There's the usual, "Yay! She looks so much better!" and "Now she looks like a bad-ass surfer chick!" to the "Dolls don't define who I am." and "I never looked at my Barbie as a child and felt inferior." Those are very typical comments whenever Barbie comes up - and they're all valid. I played with Barbie for years and years (my play time was extended, I'm sure, because I had a younger sister. So when I probably would have "grown out of" playing with Barbie, I had a younger sister with whom I would play). I really don't remember ever thinking that I would never measure up to her, but I do vaguely remember thinking that she was beyond beautiful - and wishing that I could be that beautiful, too. Although I was young, so I didn't dwell on it.

And as an adult, Barbie doesn't affect my view of my own body. However, I think it's important to note that you can't be what you don't see. And I think that might work in reverse as well - if we don't see a wide variety of body types as a child, we'll never see them as "normal" or "desirable." That includes our own bodies.

No, I don't think Barbie's all that's wrong with the world. Advertising images in print, on television, and on the Internet are much more powerful than Barbie, because they're almost always pointing out a flaw that we have that their product can fix. But I also think it's important that children have dolls that have varying body types so that they can see that they all have value - that there's more than one way to look.

I'd love to see Crossfit Barbie - she would come with her own kettlebell, barbell, pull-up bar, and plyo box. Her thighs wouldn't fit in regular jeans because they are too muscular, and she'd have to wear shirts with spandex so that her arms would fit in the arm holes. I'd model her after my favorite crossfitter, Annie Thorisdottir...badass.

(This is Annie. She totally rocks.)