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Tuesday, February 28

Crystal Light, What Are You Doing?

I was watching TV last night and saw this Crystal Light Commercial.  Two girls are talking about energy drinks and talk about how one of them is drinking a girly drink. Go ahead and watch.





Then I YouTubed it, of course. I found this other one. Stereotypical story of a girl talking about wanting to lose weight for bikini season and for a man. When a man shows up, which lady gets the man? The one who's been dieting of course!


Come on, Crystal Light. Really? REALLY?! Can you BE more sexist?

That's all for today, folks.

xoxo
CORTNIE

Monday, February 27

Fat Acceptance vs Body Acceptance



Little fat ladies have been running through my mind for WEEKS trying to figure out exactly what my capstone project to get my Bachelor's Degree is going to be. I knew I wanted to focus it around fat acceptance and tie that in with feminism. Research how fat issues should be feminist issues. Ya know. Awesome, right?

It's not that simple, though. I've started interviewing for my research, trying to figure out what it is that people think about the topic. The most recent interviewer said "I prefer 'body acceptance.' Fat is just a piece of a person. It’s a grouping of a certain type of cells. You wouldn’t necessarily say 'muscle-fiber acceptance' if you had bulky-legs," and I completely get it. I do. But I'm torn. Fat is a part of me, but I also claim myself as being fat, so it is -- in a sense, me.  I also think it's more complicated than that, and of course it is, why wouldn't it be?

Let me try to explain my thoughts, bare with me.  In our culture bodies are shamed constantly. Bodies of all types are scrutinized, naturally, BUT what is the one body type that is mostly stigmatized? Fat bodies. How many times do we see a magazine cover where a celebrity is being shamed for their size.. when it's released a few days later that the celebrity is actually like, a size 2 or something? How often do we see the OH MY GOD SO AND SO IS PREGNANT LOOK AT THAT BABY BUMP and it's completely ridiculous because there's practically nothing there? This means that average or normal sized bodies are no longer normalized.. they are fat--in the eyes of our advertisers, popular culture and in turn, the eyes of our people.



It doesn't just stop with our country though, studies have shown that America's advertising, TV shows, and movies have caused higher rates of eating disorders overseas. Even in countries where bigger bodies are considered (or well, used to be considered) more beautiful than thin bodies. If average sized bodies are becoming fat to our culture, then thin bodies are in turn average-sized and it's this wave of terrible shit that just keeps going down and down until a size 000000 is what's considered normal.

THIN --> AVERAGE --> FAT = AVERAGE --> FAT --> SUPERFAT

THIS fact is why I believe the issue IS fat acceptance. Yes, everyone should accept their bodies and love themselves, but the issue isn't of the BODY only. It's of our society finding just an ounce of fat on someone and saying that they are disgusting. It's our society saying that a, say, Zumba instructor can't be fat. It's our country saying that a woman is PREGNANT because she has a pooch.

This has to change or our women are going to dwindle to nothing. And not just our women. Our children. The boys and girls. This is effecting more people than we all think, more people than I can probably even imagine.


xoxo
CORTNIE


ps. I was a guest lecturer in a class today! Women & Activism! It was very exciting and I feel like I spread my fat knowledge through the masses. Well, the masses of 10 or so people. :)

Friday, February 24

Dear Belly

Dear Belly,

You, oh you. You're a plump little lady like me, aren't ya? Last night, before you and I ate dinner, I looked at you. My tanktop was covering you up, but you looked so content in that moment. You were growling, you were a hungry womyn! Sometimes I'm afraid of bathing suits.. especially bikinis! I hope to be as brave as this womyn soon. And I hope to never have to refer to being brave in order to wear a bikini again.




When we shower, I get you all soapy and clean. I make you happy, I hope.

Some days I don't like you much, and I'm trying to change that. I don't know why I ever think negative things about you. You're a pretty cool cat, ya know.  You're cuddly, you're soft. You wear your history on your sleeve, kind of like tree rings and age, I can see what you've gone through. I see your stretch marks, they used to be bright and pink or red when we were younger, but now that we've grown up, they've faded.

You have the cutest button you know. I love our belly button.

You have a lot of nicknames, too! Tummy, tumtum, belly, stomach, pooch, and the dreaded FUPA. Dumb.

Some people hate their bellies, like this girl:


That's ridiculous! Why would I ever get rid of you? I don't want to lose you, lovey tummy.

xoxo 
CORTnie


Thursday, February 23

OH MY GOD DIY PLANNERS

So, if you're around me for even a second of a day, you know that I love love love to plan my life. I feel such a sense of accomplishment when I write crap down. I don't know why. It helps me remember and I just love it!

Being a full-time student (who is, may I add, about to graduate!!), working a job that entails A LOT of different things AND running a blog, you better believe I need to plan my life! I use Google Calendar, random notebooks for blog ideas and I use a Moleskin turned homemade planner. :) My planner isn't that classy, but it works.. I guess. After seeing the posts that I'm about to link you to, though, I kind of want to switch it up. I want everything to be in one place, I don't want to have to find which notebook to pull out!

But lets step back. Why is this on here? Why does Cortnie have a craft day, you ask? BECAUSE! 1) It's stinkin' cute. 2) I've overheard many a conversation about how feminists are mean, old, hairy bitches and don't like cute things, so 3) I'm proving those crazies wrong! So, lets begin.

Here's my planner. I took a Moleskin Sketchbook and basically wrote out the days. That's it. I told you, nothin' fancy. I love the Moleskins because of the cute little bookmark! I don't have monthly days, bummer, and I also couldn't go through the whole year because, well, there weren't enough pages. I do have pages devoted to my blog, but I'd like to have more, so I don't have to have a separate notebook. Duh. So, why don't I like it anymore?



THAT'S WHY.
  • It's messy. It's ugly. I didn't take much time to devote to my little lady and I regret it.
  • It's not organized. If the whole point of a planner is to be organized, then I failed.
  • I don't have monthly pages!
  • I don't have enough space to blab about shit!
  • I couldn't go through the year.
  • Help?
So, I searched for new ideas! I found this AMAZING blogger, Kyla Roma.. who I may or may not suddenly have a hugemongous crush on. 

This one is a better version of my idea. It's so stinkin' cute. Oh my god. Oh my god. Nerdy orgasm.


And if I'm feelin' really frisky, I'd LOVE to try this one! Oh my god. It looks like a little slice of heaven, doesn't it?


I'm in heaven. I want to try these so BADLY. Who wants to craft with me sometime soon
But before I start, what do I need from a planner? 
  • School
  • Work
  • Blog
  • Goals
  • Dreams
  • Diary Section? (YES I LOVE TO WRITE THINGS)

SO, I'm doing it! You know how much better you feel when you're organized? That's not just me, is it?

What are your organizing ideas, ya'll?

xoxo
CORTnie

Wednesday, February 22

My Birth Control Boycott

This may be a bit too much information for you, my blogger friends, but I haven't had a period since last June. Spotting in July. But pretty much, June 2011. What was I doing in June 2011? I was probably enjoying the weather before it got too, too hot. I was working at a salon as a receptionist (barf), I was in my last few weeks of Spring Quarter and I started taking birth control. Loestrin 24 fe

Now, I know after almost a year of not having a period that I should have been responsible and went back to my gynecologist, but I 1) have barely any time, 2) don't mind not having a period and 3) am nervous about what I'd find out. For awhile, I just forgot about it. I don't necessarily miss the cramps, the bleeding for days, the super tampons and I hate that awkward moment when a tampon isn't saturated enough or the string's in a weird place and you sit down and you're all.. uhhh. Anyway.. I forgot about, well, my body forgetting to have a period and I just went on with my days. Taking my pills at night. In this time, I've worked 2 jobs at once, got rid of one, partied, learned a ton at school and went into a new year. 

My friends and I joke about me not having a period. They laugh. I laugh. I could be pregnant and not even know it, how funny, right? NO. Why was I ever laughing at that?  I know that I'm not pregnant. There's that. But, if I was indeed having sex where I could get pregnant, I could so easily be pregnant and not even know it! I never really thought much of it until a few months ago. I really thought of it the other day when I was watching the show, I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant. It's freaky! These women were pregnant and didn't know it. They all delivered incredibly healthy babies. They all were (miraculously) happy to have babies. But, if I put myself in the shoes of these women.. I wouldn't be happy to find out that I was about to give birth and have my life changed in, basically, a snap or some pushes. 

With laws that are trying to be made in our country right now, birth control and contraceptives could be changed drastically.  So, the pill is on a lot of peoples' minds. But, new abortion laws are also trying to go into effect. Like Virginia's proposed law that any woman wanting an abortion has to have an invasive trans-vaginal ultrasound. Is that fair? Last October or November (I can't remember which) I went to the doctor for my anxiety. They did a blood test and they could have easily tested it and found that I was pregnant. By this time, I'm already in my second trimester of pregnancy, and yeah, you could say I'd be stupid to not realize I was pregnant, but if my periods were irregular or nonexistent, how would I know? The link above also explains the first trimester of pregnancy and the symptoms: headache, sleepiness, peeing a lot, mood swings, weight gain or loss; well SHIT that's not uncommon for me, or for other women! So how would I know? 

I could have been pregnant and drinking. Smoking. Not taking my prenatal vitamins. I would be close to graduating college and I could be having an unwanted baby? Not okay.

What am I going to do about this? I'm going to stop taking my birth control. I want to be healthier, and for me, part of being a cisgendered woman is having a period. I'm not happy about this, and I know I'm going to regret it once I start my period, but I feel weird about not having a period every month! I also feel like doing this boycott will show my support for women's rights in terms of contraceptives and in abortion. I do not want to participate in something that could make it so that women have to be put in the situation of worrying about whether they're pregnant or not, and my taking birth control, which is directly causing me to not have periods, is participating in that. 

So, there it is. I'll keep ya'll updated on my journey. 

What's your experience with birth control? How are your periods? What do you think about the new war on women in our country?


xoxo
CORTnie

Tuesday, February 21

GET OUT OF MY VAGINA


Quick, quick, very quick update: Noticing some changes? I'll be doing more of these in the near future, let me know what you think! Email me or something (email link is up top)! Also, if you're interested in being interviewed and you are in the Cincinnati area OR would be okay with answering some questions via video/email OR if you'd like to guest blog, get up at me! 

Anyway. I'm having issues with getting online and seeing all of this GARBAGE about the extreme rightists trying to make laws to control my pussy. Hence the CORTingVAGINA. GET OUT. STOP IT. This is NOT your's. IT ISN'T. I think I'm channeling my inner Angry Vagina, over here.

Look at these pictures I found, just today.





WHAT THE HELL USA?! What are you doing?! Waging this stupid war on women? WE didn't do anything to you! What did we do? No, really. What was it? Was it that bad? I can't believe the extreme rightists aren't focusing on MONEY, but all in all, what do they focus on that isn't money? Women. Or the gays. There ya go.

ALSO, while Tumbling, look at what ELSE I found.





























UH. WHAT? Taking a stand for what you believe in is a bad thing? I just.. I.. I don't get it!

I'm sorry this post was a little.. whatever it was, but aren't you mad?!


xoxo
CORTnie


ps.
a post will happen soon explaining the idea behind CORTingFeminism along with the idea behind these new day-names. In case anyone was curious or something. Also, have you clicked on the WHY? link up top underneath the header? Go on, get it.

CHANGES ARE ACOMIN'!

Just wanted to let everyone know, your favorite blog is going to go through some changes in the near future. :] I REALLY hope that everyone is enjoying my writing. PLEASE give me feedback, I'd love to hear what you have to say! What kind of stuff do you want me to write about? What would you like to read? What is on your mind? Is something happening that is pissing you off? What about the Republican candidates just deciding to have a war on women while claiming that Obama is having a war on religion? What about that commercial where the woman is so happy that her friends think she got plastic surgery.. when really it's orange juice? What about gay rights?!

TELL ME ABOUT IT! 

Would you be interested in being interviewed for CORTingFeminism?
Do you have something you want to say? EMAIL ME ASAP. I have some thoughts, ya'll. :]


I LOVE YOU ALL. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING A PART OF THIS JOURNEY WITH ME.

xoxo
CORTnie


ps.
here's a creepy old picture for you.

Monday, February 20

Polyamorous Relationships.

HEY!

Today, I want to talk about polyamory (click here for the Wiki page if you're unfamiliar).  I've always been curious about this sort of relationship, where you can date more than one person at a time, because well.. our culture isn't used to it. We don't know how to react to it. Our society is used to the husband and wife kind of thing, ya know? Our culture can barely accept the fact that two women or two men might want to marry.. could you imagine what those opposing marriage equality would say about polyamory? This shouldn't be mistaken with polygamy, where a man has more than one wife or polyandry, where a woman has more than one husband.

So, polyamorous relationships are relationships where all members have consented and agree to the other parties having other relationships. This means that everyone knows that there could be other people, either the possibility or the existence. These aren't necessarily super committed, but they also aren't necessarily solely sexual either. And, they don't have huge orgies and whatnot. It's a way to show your sexual love to more than one person, to not.. hold it back, so to say? Polyamory gets a little confusing, doesn't it?

The Wiki page says that gays are more comfortable with the idea of polyamorous relationships than heterosexuals.. I wonder why? Isn't that interesting? 

So, what do you think? A feminist thought on the subject would be that you should be allowed to do whatever makes you happy.. with consent and everything. We should have freedom to be whoever or whatever we want to be. So.. should people be allowed to do whatever they want to do? Should they have to worry about being judged for it by our culture? Do you think things would end up getting WAY too complicated? Jealousy? Wanting more? Could YOU be polyamorous?


Let me know in the comments below!


xoxo
CORTNIE

Friday, February 17

Fat Lady Blabbing About Adele

Okay. Well, Adele's the talk of the week because of her Grammy wins, but a lot of the talk is about her weight and her image. Lets start out with the thought or conspiracy theory if you will that Adele didn't really have throat surgery, that she had weight loss surgery. Look at this tabloid picture. Apparently now she has an eating disorder, too!


K, so there's that. Lets look at another picture ...


Now, look what else I found!


All of this in about 5 minutes on Tumblr.

SHUT UP. For real. Adele has sold how many records? How many have you sold? That's what I thought. 

Okay. I get it. Ya'll are saying that Adele's a liar, that she doesn't really love her body because she lost weight. GET OVER IT. She grew up! Also, her hair is different, her MAKEUP is drastically different, too. I know that I PERSONALLY look different than I did a few years ago, too! Need proof? I might regret this.. but whatever. I'm proving a point.


From 2009. I was then 20 going on 21.
I look different.. WE CHANGE. That doesn't mean I don't love myself, it doesn't mean I changed because of society. It means that as we grow we learn what looks better on our bodies, what we're more comfortable in and we grow UP.
I'm sure if I had a million Grammy's and a damn team of stylists I'd maybe look 10 pounds lighter, too!

I'm ashamed to say that I'm following someone on Twitter who said something along the lines of, why didn't Adele get gastric while she was out for her throat surgery?

And people are talking about her Vogue cover. How she was photo-shopped... Are we surprised? It's VOGUE for Christ's sake! We should really just be happy that a bigger woman is IN Vogue! Even though they squeeze her into corsets and make her look thinner, at least she's there! Magazines make EVERYONE look thinner, didn't you know that that's what AMERICA DOES?



But on to my all-time FAVORITE picture of Adele EVER.


Anyway, leave it to our culture to scrutinize someone on their image. On their weight. Even though she's got a killer voice and has made an amazing life for herself, lets just sit here and call her fat.

I've added this video for your viewing pleasure (and mine, two hotties in one video? oh, I need to fan myself):



So, keep on doing whatcha doin', girl. I love you. You're truly an inspiration to us all!




xoxo 
CORTNIE

Thursday, February 16

Things-I-Love Thursday // LETS CHANGE THE WORLD & Rachel Maddow

Okay, for some reason... today sucks but it's also SUPER AWESOME. Wanna know why? I woke up to an amazing Facebook notification! My coworker and friend, Amanda (who took my 'Why do I do this?' Angry Vagina Picture seen here) tagged me in an ultra super awesome post!
Sometimes I feel like it would just be easier to live in a happy state where women's rights weren't being taken away and equality is granted... I could remain oblivious to all the hate & discrimination by law makers. But alas, advocacy and education are needed here. We must keep fighting the good fight.


THANK YOU AMANDA! I feel like we can actually make some change in this screwed up world, ya know? YOU RULE.

I feel like we could do something here. How long have we been working for it, though? How long do we have to fight to just be as equal as other people? This isn't about race. This isn't about gender. This isn't about ethnicity. This isn't about sex. This isn't about sexuality. This isn't about religion. This is about being human beings and caring for each other. Sometimes it seems like we get so far ahead and then take 23892038 steps back. Errr. It's so close.. so close.. but so far away.



 Anywho, what did I find today? HEY GIRL, IT'S RACHEL MADDOW!


Here are some for your viewing pleasure, but you should so totally go to the Tumblr!


Apparently, heaven isn't too far away.

This week has been a tough one, I think I'm having a mental hangover from last week. Bluh. Ugh. Ahh. How's everyones' week been? How do you feel about the government attacking it's people? It's nice right? I'm tired of this shit, and some of this shit. SO OVER IT. 



I need a drink.


xoxo 
CORTNIE

ps
a few things I need you to know and check out. See the tabs above? Go on, scroll on up there and just come back when ya ready. Okay, see 'em? Those are here to help you out! The tabs include stuff about me, my favorite blogs, links to my Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and new Pinterest account for CORTingFeminism along with links to some of my favorite blogs. ALSO, I've added a 'Schedule & Tags' tab that could come in handy if you come to my blog only to read certain days, like many of you come to just read my Fat Friday posts. Click there! Click around, enjoy yaselves. PLEASE LIKE THE FACEBOOK. I'm starting to post more stuff on there, so get on it please. Uh.. bye.


Wednesday, February 15

PETA WHAT



WHAT THE FUCK PETA. WHAT. You think it's okay to do this? How is this okay?

Everyone take a minute to watch the video below, please.

I can just imagine the filming of this.

Director: Okay, makeup needs to be dark and bruised.
Makeup: Okay, styling needs to be undies and jacket.. a la her boyfriend was beating her and she had to run out of the house as soon as possible.
Stylist: Okay, how about a neck-brace? Yeah?
Everyone: YEAH!

WHAT THE FUCK. Violence isn't okay, in any instance.

You want people to be vegan, treat animals better, trust me.. I UNDERSTAND. I was veg for YEAAAARS.

BUT I'D NEVER MAKE A GODDAMN COMMERCIAL WITH A BEAT UP WOMAN IN IT SO THAT PEOPLE WOULD HEAR MY MESSAGE. FUCKERS.

Don't even get me started on the fact that her ass is just hanging out, super sexy like, while she's all beat up lookin' and all vegans are sexy, sex obsessed, sex fiends.

Get the fuck out of here, okay?


xoxo 
CORTNIE

Tuesday, February 14

Valentine's Day Lingerie Advertising With Titties

I thought for awhile to try and figure out what to blog about today and then WABAM. I HAD IT. Valentine's Day Tittie Advertising!

So, I headed over to the Victoria's Secret, Torrid, and Lane Bryant.

Lets see what the websites' Valentine's Day advertisements look like!


We have Victoria's Secret's website. We see a very thin woman throwing her hands in the air.. so excited to be in lingerie for her lover on V-Day. To the left, we see where the shopper can choose to be 'Sexy, Romance, Flirty, Dreamy or Luxe'. So many options, so little time! If you click around the website, you'll see the Flirty is also Sexy, well the whole website is Sexy. We see lots of skin and very little fabric. We see moist lips (on their faces, people) and photoshoooopppp. Look at those titties! NEXT!


You know, if I was shopping on Lane Bryant for lingerie, I'd end up saying forget it! For real. These models are so NOT sexual in this lingerie.. Why? They MAKE clothes for plus sized women, so what the fuck is with these damn frumpy pajama outfits and these shots of either bra or panties, no full body shots for us. Could the fat models not fit in the camera or something? I call bullshit on you, Lane Bryant. I guess those titties are okay?


And Torrid is EVEN WORSE. They only have models in the pictures of tights or leggings; the teddies and panties aren't even put ON a model. How am I supposed to know what they look like? I see no titties!

So what did we learn today? I learned that plus sized women are just composed of specific body parts, and that we don't want to see each other in teddies because maybe we won't like what we see and we'll end up NOT shopping there. We learned that thin women are the happiest, and the sexiest.

We also learned that anyone shopping for Valentine's Day lingerie (at these three websites) is white. STUPID.

xoxo
CORTNIE

Monday, February 13

The Politics of Sex


Can you have sex with someone who has different politics as you? Can you even DISCUSS life events, situations, pop culture, inequalities, privileges or oppressions with someone that you love? Does it make sense that you feel like someone can love you for who you are but hate you for who you are at the same time? Can you ignore differences that are MAJOR and focus on a relationship when what you do with your life is unavoidably political? If someone is trying to prove their point and it makes you feel stupid, is it because you automatically assume that their opinion is wrong? Why do we think the way that we do?

How can people ignore politics when sex is involved? Why do people think when you are talking to them about something, that it is just because you want to TEACH them something or prove them wrong? When in all actuality, you used to be in their shoes and you know how much your own mind changed when you finally learned about the things that our schools don't bother to teach us?

I am proudly in support of equality in every aspect of the word. You cannot say that the people in our country have equal opportunity when there are about 20 empty houses per every homeless person here because of foreclosures. You cannot say we are equal when LGBTQ people do NOT have the same rights as straight people, or when women STILL do not make as much money as men when they have the same credentials. You cannot say that someone born homeless has the same opportunity as someone who is born into a mansion. This is NOT shaming the person that was born into the mansion, it's just recognizing that once you're at the bottom.. it's nearly impossible to be on an equal playing field with the rest of the country.. or world.

Do you want to have sex with me?


xoxo 
CORTNIE


ps here are some links for your viewing pleasure.

Friday, February 10

F YOU SMASH

"Why do I have to be sexy all of the time? 
I wish I was fat."


THIS PISSES ME OFF. THREE MINUTES AND FIFTY-THREE SECONDS INTO THE SHOW, THE MAIN CHARACTER SAYS THAT. ALREADY, PUSHING YOUR FAT SHAMING SHIT DOWN OUR THROATS. FUCK YOU.




xoxo 

CORTNIE

Thursday, February 9

Lezbo KStew Wins My Heart

What do I love? I love procrastinating, apparently. Here are some of my favorite things this week.


Shit Mitt Says

This beautiful tattoo, maybe minus that tongue.


Lesbian KStew

Um, I'm not okay with ANYTHING about this video. NOTHING. Blackface? Really? And the black man acting 'white' is classy... WHAT.

That's all, ya'll. Love you.




xoxo
 CORTNIE

Wednesday, February 8

WHAT THE FUCK

WHAT THE FUCK YOU STUPID STUPID WEEK.
WHAT THE FUCK TO THIS DUMB ASS, BITCHY WEEK.
MIDTERMS. PAPERS. WORK. SCHOOL. VAGINAS. AND HAVING A PERSONAL LIFE?!
I LOVE IT ALL BUT GOD DAMNIT HOW THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO FIT ALL OF THIS SHIT INTO ONE FUCKING GOD DAMN WEEK?




SHITFUCK.




xoxo
CORTNIE

Tuesday, February 7

Female Bodies.. Named



Do you like the word Titties or does it offend you? This got Amanda and I thinking today.

There are an awful lot of nicknames for female body parts. We have nicknames for breasts, vaginas, crotch areas in general. Sidenote: it pisses me off when people refer to the entire crotchie region as a vagina. Anyway. What do males have nicknames for? Their penises. That's it. Why don't we nickname our arms.. legs.. noses? I guess we do, I should give some more credit. We have schnoz. Sniffer. Whatever. Still, it's weird isn't it?

What does that mean then? Does it further prove the objectification of women? Or, it is just as simple as the fact that maybe women have more parts that are deemed 'private'? Why is that?

What do you think?


xoxo
CORTNIE

Monday, February 6

Sex Sells - Super Bowl Commercials

(we'll come back to the fat dog later)


This is a term that is near and dear to many of my scholarly peers' hearts. And it is ALL OVER this article (linked above) as well as tons of Facebook conversations about the Super Bowl commercials from last night.

What is heteronormativity, you ask? Heteronormativity--in Cortnie-terms, is when your society is under hegemonic-ly heterosexual values. Therefore, the NORM is that everyone is straight and that every woman likes men and every man loves hot women. How is our society heteronormative? The advertising, among other things, of course!

Sooo, did you watch the Super Bowl? Did you see how drunk Madonna seemed? That's besides the point. It would be sad to me if anyone thought that I wasn't watching the game to critique the commercials. Of course I was. Specifically to point out the blatant sexism.

So, NPR posted an article today (linked above) about hidden themes of the commercials. They named their first two hidden themes (I'll talk about one of them later) and the third is, undoubtedly, sex. They then posted two out of the MANY commercials:



I saw a TON of threads today on Facebook about the commercials, so I can't necessarily quote where I saw every single mention, BUT there were people jumping for joy that David Beckham was being sexualized in a commercial, saying things like finally it's not just women! Women aren't the only ones being objectified! Woo, we've won. Um, no. Women are objectified in random ass commercials, like fucking yogurt commercials or commercials for salad. How, you ask? The women in those commercials are just so damn excited about yogurt, all smiles, which feeds into the notion and popular idea that women should just constantly be smiling. How bad could it be to be a woman?

I digress. Whatever the sexism, this article really pissed me off. Underneath the David Beckham video, the NPR article writer, Linton Weeks, says, "Some of this year's spots are steamier than a pot of lobsters. H&M appeals to women with this David Beckham ad." Um..  huh? I'm sorry, no I didn't mind the commercial, it's a nice change from only seeing naked women (even though NO ONE should be objectified or hypersexualized) BUT I have this strange, thumping feeling that maybe, just MAYBE some gay men watch the Super Bowl and maaaaybe.. just maybe H&M knew that and was appealing to not just women but also to men that like men. Maybe? Also, in saying that H&M was appealing to women with their ad, does that mean lesbians aren't women? Do you have to like men to fully be a woman? Think about that.

Another thing I want to talk about is the Volkswagen Fat dog commercial. 


Awesome for this.. dog.. wanting to get into shape to chase this car. But, in the beginning, Volkswagen is giving off the impression that you're supposed to want to laugh when this fat dog is trying to work out. Even I giggled. What's wrong with that picture? Fat dogs (or people) aren't supposed to work out because well, they're fat, and when they try to maybe improve their mobility or health.. people in better off conditions just laugh? That's probably the top reason why many fat people don't go into gyms or walk on the streets for simple exercise, that's at least true for me. There's something else irking me, I'm not sure how to pinpoint it... but.. this dog's life is apparently SO MUCH better after it loses weight. Even though Volkswagen isn't blatantly saying GET THIN GET THIN, it seems like their trying to say something. 



So, there ya are. What do you all think?


xoxo
CORTNIE

Friday, February 3

Who's to say what's Fat?

Today is just going to be a big ol' word vomit, so be prepared.

I've been trying to come up with a Fat topic all day long. For some reason, I'm having issues.

Who's to say what's Fat? Who's to say who is healthy or unhealthy? Why do we constantly have to critique people?

Where does the position of Fat start and the position of Thin begin? Do I need to lose 145 pounds to be considered thin or do I need to lose 146 pounds? Does that one pound make a difference? To some people--people with eating disorders or body image disorder, it does.

What does this do to us? Us as individuals and us as a society? It makes us look at each other, it makes us obsess, it makes us look at ourselves and go on and on and on.

I found myself talking to friends today about what to blog.. and I was saying, who say's what Fat is? And I was saying: to someone who is 600 pounds I may be thin, but to someone who is 100 pounds, I may be fat. BUT that's wrong of me to say. Maybe the 600 pound person still sees me as fat, or maybe they see themselves as not fat. Maybe the 100 pound person is trying hard as hell to gain weight, but has a super high metabolism and can't and they yearn for my body? Or maybe they have issues with eating disorders and consider themselves to be fat and aim to be smaller. It's a whole huge ordeal. And by saying what I was describing, I was immediately putting a label on the 600 pounder to be fat and the 100 pounder to be thin.

It's interesting.

What do you all think?


xoxo
CORTNIE

Thursday, February 2

Things-I-Love // RANDOMS

Hey, ya'll.

Here are some things that I'm lovin' this week.

First of all, I'm NOT loving this stupid Susan G. Komen crap but I AM loving all of the outrage people are expressing about the Komen funds being taken away from Planned Parenthood. Here are some examples:




THIS IS WHY I LOVE TO WORK WITH SOCIAL MEDIA ACTIVISM. LOOK WHAT WE CAN DO IN ONE DAY! Who HASN'T heard about this nonsense? Very few people that have internet access, I'm sure. Lets keep putting a good name to Planned Parenthood, WOOO!

I also love this because it's just fucking awesome:


AND I love this new Cincinnati video:


"Why do cops hate black people?"

Serious issue in our city that I'll talk about another day. :)

What are you loving this week?

xoxo
CORTNIE

Stupid Car Places



So, yesterday I went to Tire Discounters to get an oil change. I hate going to car places because I have tits and they always treat me like a fucking idiot. So, I get the oil change, right? Mom and I walk back in from eating and the guy goes, 'didja bottom out?' I'm all, huh? He's like, 'Did ya hit a curb and just ... not realize it? Ya know, women do that.' He goes on to say that I must have hit something because my radiator had been pushed back? He didn't offer to show it to me and he didn't answer any of my questions about how serious it was or about what would happen if I didn't fix it right away. He didn't even tell me if it was like... I don't know... DEADLY.

See, this is why I don't go to car places. I used to take Jay with me. They offer all of this shit and say all of this shit's wrong with my car just because I have boobs. And I talked to friends today and one said that she has to butch up before she goes in so that they don't sell her stuff. HOW IS THIS OKAY?!

Luckily, I know a man's man and he looked at my car and basically said that they were full of shit and ALSO that it didn't even look like my oil was very clean! WHAT THE FUCK?

So, moral of the story? WHAT THE FUCK car places, STOP treating me like a fucking idiot.

xoxo
CORTNIE