'America's Next Top Model' Creates Stir After 'Bi-Racial' Photo Shoot

During Wednesday night's "ANTM" episode on The CW, Tyra took the remaining six young women of Cycle 13 to Hawaii, where she took pictures of the models after they were transformed into different races.

Tyra told bleach blonde Erin Wagner she was going to be "Tibetan, like the Dali Lama, and Egyptian"; Southern belle Laura Kirkpatrick was put into makeup to look "Mexican and Greek"; Jennifer An, who is Korean, was told she was going to be "Botswanan and Polynesian"; African-American Sundai Love was made to look "Moroccan and Russian"; redheaded Nicole Fox was "Malagasy and Japanese," while blonde Brittany Markert was put into makeup to look "Native American and East Indian."

If we put the black face references aside. Here are my list of questions:

What does race have to do with fashion?
Why aren't we hiring more models of different races?
What is the point of transforming models?

I feel if we had real answers to the above question we would know why were are always trying to transform white models into the "exotic" instead of hiring a more diversified modeling pool.

Girls at "Weight Extremes" Less Likely to Practice Safer Sex

Oh, dear, although this does make sense considering our current cultural climate. Apparently, girls at "weight extremes" in other words overweight and underweight girls who are sexually active are LESS likely to engage in safer sex practices, specifically to demand condom usage, than "normal weight" sexually active girls.

The study (found HERE) finds that sexual risk taking is predictive by actual or perceived weight. Some of the findings include:

• Caucasian girls who believed that they were underweight, whether accurate or not, were more likely to have had sex and to have had four or more sexual partners. Overweight Caucasian girls were less likely to use condoms.
• Underweight African-American girls also were less likely to use condoms while overweight African-American girls reported four or more sexual partners.
• Latina girls of all weights were more likely to engage in a wide variety of sexual risk behaviors -- lack of condom or oral contraception use, sex before age 13, greater than four sexual partners and use of alcohol.

Dr. Akers, the lead researcher, noted: "This study will contribute to sexual health education prevention efforts, which can be tailored to address how cultural norms regarding body size may influence adolescent sexual decision making. Knowing how a girl perceives her weight may be just as important as knowing her actual weight."

Weight and self-esteem are linked, this we know. Self-esteem is crucial for women and girls to insist on safer sex practices and to advocate for their own reproductive health as well as pregnancy planning and prevention. Some might take this study and say "yet another fallout of the obesity crisis" but that's bunk. The answer isn't more pressure to conform to a perfect size (for both the skinnier than average girls and the over weight girls), but to stress self-esteem development, accurate and sensible comprehensive sex education that includes life-planning skills--nothing can destroy a girls educational or economic prospects like an unplanned pregnancy and teen motherhood (less than 3% go on to finish a 4 year college degree by age 30 and only around 33% graduate from High School--teen motherhood is a recipe for poverty).

Of course comprehensive sex education is crucial for both boys and girls, but it is important to remember that girls carry (literally and figurative) most of the burden of unplanned pregnancy and that often the fathers of teen girls children are adult males, men typically five years older than their teenage baby-mamma. So, yes, a very specific kind of sex education that relates to body image needs to be used with girls. I think that separating the sexes in High School for some portions of a sex ed curriculum could be useful when discussing these gender specific anxieties and problems. And after the gang rape of that poor 15 year old girl by 10 boys in Richmond, California (with up to ten more witnesses who did NOTHING), I think that a rape and domestic violence prevention program is necessary in our schools written specifically for males. I'm not saying that the teacher will call all of your precious, darling boy children rapists (which is often the outcry one hears from parents of boys when they hear "rape prevention education" but that rape culture and "boys will be boys" memes should be discussed with young males to help them call out the everyday misogyny their experience/participate in.

Any who--lets hope that this study will help comprehensive sex educators better teach their subjects and that science based sex ed becomes the norm once again. I feel so sorry for those kids today who will (are) facing greater teen pregnancy levels and STD/STI rates due to the ABSOLUTE failure of Abstinence Only Education that had factual errors and lies at its core. Of course I don't want kids to have sex before they are able to handle a healthy sexuality (that means mutual pleasure and respect) as well as STD/STI prevention and pregnancy prevention--and generally I think that is possible after age 18 or so, and Comprehensive Sex Education should cover that (it doesn't mean that Liberals think Kindgarteners should start having origies like some of the Abstinence only people have implied). But most of all, it needs to be accurate and health oriented.

Quit Makin' Things Up

So, the Obama for America Foundation has a pithy little internet spot up about Palin's lies regarding healthcare reform. Each lie they "call out" is marked by Palin's refrain from her resignation speech, "Quit Makin' Things Up." I agree, quit making things up, Ms. Palin.

October: Vegetarian Awarness Month, Who Knew?

So, apparently October is Vegetarian Awareness Month--who knew? Well, the month is almost over and I would have liked to have posted healthy and yummy vegetarian recipes each week in celebration. Instead, I elect November Flexitarian Month at FFFB and I'll post at least one Flexitarian recipe per week (Flexitarian simply means that you integrate meat/fish into your diet, but you try to limit the amount and you try to use non-meat based proteins in your general diet).

Healthy Food: What's That Again?

So, yesterday I had fast food for every meal--no joke. I've been incredibly busy and I just returned from a long road trip in which I took my eldest niece to visit the cutest college ever (good trip, bad eating). I don't even like fast food that much and I certainly don't feel nourished.

I'm back to faithful food blogging as soon as my camera cord (ordered off ebay) arrives. But in order to get back into the groove of healthy eating/exercise I'll do a written accounting of food/exercise until it comes.

This AM: oatmeal and water. Lunch will be an Amy's original and I'll go to the gym right after work. I need to drink lots of water today to rehydrate. I have hummus and laughing cow in the work fridge, but no veggies or apples to smear it on :( so I'll have to figure out a snack (maybe a granola bar from the campus bookstore? They have some healthy ones over there). Next week, I'll make my meals and bring salad mixings so that they are cut and prepared, but not already put into a finished salad (thus sogginess).

Chaos has abated since the fire, but I don't quite feel "back to normal" yet.

Peace

Taylor Lautner's Shirtless Pics: A Hollywood Double Standard?

So the commentary is Miley Cyrus backless in Vanity Fair versus Taylor Lautner shirtless facing forward in Twilight.

Remember the huge uproar in April 2008, when 15-year-old Miley Cyrus appeared in "Vanity Fair" wrapped in a sheet, with her right shoulder and the top of her back visible, implying that, under the sheet, she wasn't wearing a shirt?

Now, with the premiere of his movie, "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," less than a month away, magazines, websites, and TV are blanketed with images of 17-year-old star Taylor Lautner, shirtless and showing off the body he trained for months to perfect for the role. And yet, none of the cultural critics who turned Miley's photos into a full-blown "scandal" have said a word about the sexualization of Taylor, who, at 17, is just two years older than Miley was during her "scandal" and is also a minor. So, does Hollywood have a double standard?

Well in my opinion all children need clothes on at all time and when need to stop over sexualizing children for "art", because every day neighborhood children are being exploited to full-fill the fantasies created by "art".

Also, teens don't need to be tempted to kill themselves with steriods and eating disorders to try to look like Miley Cyrus and Taylor Lautner. In real life you don't need to be underweight or 'cut' to go to Homecoming or to Chemistry class.

Tiana Arrives at Disney World

Princess Tiana from Disney's upcoming film The Princess and the Frog arrived via horse drawn carriage to the Magic Kingdom's Castle this weekend. The movie opens in December and features Disney's first Black Princess, a needed addition to the pantheon of Disney characters.

Now, I think that this princessification of young girls lives is a bit dodgy and fairly essentialist, but regardless I think that little girls of all races and ethnic groups should have media characters who are heroic, spunky, and smart to look up to in age-appropriate films and TV shows. Mulan saves a nation, Pocohontus bridges the divide between two peoples, Cinderella & the Little Mermaid take charge of their lives by disobeying authority (okay, I'm hard pressed to find anything redeeming in Sleeping Beauty or Snow White's stories), Belle sees beyond a monster's mask to glimpse a man striving for redemption. Tiana, it seems from the trailer, will go on an adventure and will be an active participant in the storyline, not a passive Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. So, dear reader, planning to see the movie?

Check out the trailer:

Octo-Mom: How I Lost 145 Pounds!

Nine months after giving birth to octuplets, single mom Nadya Suleman is back into her pre-baby jeans after losing a staggering 145 pounds -- without the help of a trainer or plastic surgery.

There, she fits in thrice-weekly midnight workouts (while a nanny watches over her sleeping children) with strength training but no cardio. "I get enough of that with the kids," Suleman, who gets by on three hours of sleep, tells Us.But don't think workouts alone got the 5-foot-7 mom down to 125 lbs. -- Suleman maintains a strict diet, too.

Five protein-packed meals or snacks a day normally consist of "anything the kids are eating." Food staples in the Suleman household? Oatmeal, sushi, turkey, and even homemade baby food. "As long as it's nutritious, it's good to eat," the busy mom explains.

Of all the people in Hollywood. She is the only person I think does enough daily activity to lose baby weight that fast. Durning most photos she is carrying 3 babies at a time.

Fat Girl: A True Story

Fat Girl: A True Story by Judith Moore is a book you can pass on by.

Here is the Amazon Review
Judith Moore's breathtakingly frank memoir, Fat Girl, is not for the faint of heart. It packs more emotional punch in its slight 196 pages than any doorstopper confessional. But the author warns us in her introduction of what's to come, and she consistently delivers. "Narrators of first-person claptrap like this often greet the reader at the door with moist hugs and complaisant kisses," Moore advises us bluntly. "I won't. I will not endear myself. I won't put on airs. I am not that pleasant. The older I get the less pleasant I am. I mistrust real-life stories that conclude on a triumphant note.... This is a story about an unhappy fat girl who became a fat woman who was happy and unhappy." With that, Moore unflinchingly leads us backward into a heartbreaking childhood marked by obesity, parental abuse, sexual assault, and the expected schoolyard bullying. What makes Fat Girl especially harrowing, though, is Moore's obvious self-loathing and her eagerness to share it with us. "I have been taking a hard look at myself in the dressing room's three-way mirror. Who am I kidding? My curly hair forms a corona around my round scarlet face, from the chin of which fat has begun to droop. My swollen feet in their black Mary Janes show from beneath the bottom hem of the ridiculous swaying skirt. The dressing room smells of my beefy stench. I should cry but I don't. I am used to this. I am inured." Moore's audaciousness in describing her apparently awful self ensures that her reader is never hardened to the horrors of food obsession and obesity. And while it is at times excruciatingly difficult bearing witness to Moore's merciless self-portraits, the reader cannot help but be floored by her candor. With Fat Girl, Moore has raised the stakes for autobiography while reminding us that our often thoughtless appraisals of others based on appearances can inflict genuine harm. It's a painful lesson well worth remembering.
--Kim Hughes

In my opinion the root of the author's problems is that she is crazy and not that she is fat. The author seems to never have gotten over the childish notion that "you are the center of the universe and every thing happens because of you". Even for the 196 pages that are the story, I would have had a better perspective on the thoughts of a fat person by reading Vogue Magazine.

As a fellow fat person, who is on a Weight Watchers to not be fat I can identify with fat discrimination. Yet this woman really wasn't experiencing fat discrimination most of the time. She was experience child abuse and that had nothing to do with fat and everything to do with the lack of parenting skills.

Being A Woman: I Am Not a Pre-Existing Condition Campaign

Check out the video above which is trying to call attention to the fact that simply by being a woman often means being charged up to 84% more for basic healthcare WITHOUT maternity coverage included. Healthcare reform is a woman's issue and it is a human rights issue. Check out the campaign and contact your representatives regarding the necessity of the Public Option.

Peace

House Fire: Remember to Check Your Fire Alarms!

So, readers might remember my brother who ran/walked the Mid Summer's Night Run with me in August? Well, his house burned down. They are alive and well and that's the important thing, but I want readers to check your fire alarm battery sometime this week--it might save your life!

Fat Talk Free Week

Fat Talk Free® Week (Oct 19 – 23, 2009) is an international, 5-day body activism campaign that draws attention to body image issues and the damaging impact of the thin ideal on women in society. This annual public awareness effort was borne from Tri Delta’s award-winning body image education and eating disorders prevention program, Reflections: Body Image Program™.

Check out a video on the topic Here.

What Healthy Habits Do You Enjoy?

An apple a day? Flossing after every meal? Taking the stairs at work? What healthy habits do you enjoy the most? Or, at least do the most regularly? Let us know in the comments!

Dr. Spaceman's Medical Advice--Don't Do Any of This At Home!!!

Three Deaths at the NYC Marathon

CNN mentioned last night that there were three deaths associated with this year's NYC marathon. Bloomberg says two HERE and they mention that there were three other cardiac arrests at the event. These were the first reported deaths associated with the famous run since 1994.

This sad for all involved and my condolences to their families and friends.

In an earlier post I noted a study showing that the after-effects of running a marathon (according to blood panels) looks a lot like a heart-attack. A marathon is a serious undertaking and there are risk as well as rewards. As with any exercise regime, its important to check with your doctor to make sure that you are healthy enough to engage in the activity.

Marathon and triathlon competitions seem to be gaining more of a mainstream focus, as our general activity and fitness levels drop overall. It seems to be another symptom of the extremes American culture is predisposed to. I think that setting fitness goals (and sometimes using a race is helpful in that endeavor) can be a good thing, but running a marathon at the peril of your life is not worth it.

So, dear reader, let's set reasonable fitness goals for this week. I'm going to the gym Monday & Thursday and I'll walk Friday and do Pilates Saturday. If I get home in time, I might do a bonus Pilates workout Tuesday (business trip that day and Wednesday I teach until 9:00 p.m.).

BlackFace French VOGUE Cover: High Fashion or Racist?

In the October issue of French Vogue, which is dedicated to "Supermodels," there are no black models. No Naomi Campbell, no Tyra Banks, no Iman, no Alek Wek, no Liya Kebede, no Chanel Iman. Instead, Dutch model Lara Stone appeared in a 14-page editorial in blackface.

I personally think this was done to drag away attention to the weight issue in the modeling industry.

I personally thought the pictures look nice. I thought it was high fashion. The model didn't look stereotypical even in blackface. Should it have been done maybe not.

Yet, since it was French Vogue and not American Vogue. I will give this topic a passing comment instead of a boycott call. Since I know very little about French History and Culture. Maybe they don't have the same offensive history with blackface that we have in America. If you check out the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University. You can see why American get so upset with blackface.

Sarah Haskins is a Genius, That is All

Best Line evar: "So don't worry if you can't afford Botox, cosmetic surgery, dermabrasion, or a personal trainer. Just because you're not wealthy doesn't mean you can't get pretty...in five easy installments." Yep, pretty much nailed it.

Photoshop of RIDICULOUS

Just as an update to LisaD's post regarding Ralph Lauren's firing of Filippa Hamilton for being "too fat," I'd like to post the crazy photoshopped images of her (above) and another model (below) which are completely non-human looking. So, now Barbie Doll images aren't enough, you have to be a Bratz Doll? With freakishly large heads and stick-thin figures? Great, what's next? It is Halloween season, maybe let's go for the full-fledged skelton-chic? The thing about these images is that they are SOOOOO poorly photoshopped that you can tell how ridiculous and non-representative they are, but the majority of photoshopped images that are marketed to women and teens are a bit more subtle and therefore even more insidiously dangerous to our collective psyches regarding beauty industry standards and reality based beauty (or normalacy). Ralph Lauren will not get a dime from me--not that I could afford or fit into his clothes, but he does household goods (towels, shower curtains) and paint. So, dear reader, if you are fed up by the tryanny of the photoshop wand, consider avoiding RL products or drop them a line HERE.

Size 4 Model Fired for Being Too Fat

A 5'10", 120-pound model is claming she was canned by Ralph Lauren because she was deemed too large.

"They said I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," Filippa Hamilton, a size 4, said on the Today show Wednesday.

Filippa Hamilton may haven't been fired for being to fat. She is not. I am fat. She is under weight.

But I feel that having a sample size under a size 6 is a crazy trend and uncalled for. I think the industry needs to changes, so people don't have to risk there health to keep a job. Just like we protect other people in other industries. We need to protect her.

Exercise & Self-Esteem

Great news, a new study shows that no matter your fitness level, engaging in a fitness routine helps to boost your self-esteem!

"This is an important study because it shows that doing virtually any type of exercise, on a regular basis, can help people feel better about their bodies," said Kathleen Martin Ginis, a kinesiology professor at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada. "With such a large segment of the population dissatisfied with their physiques, it's encouraging to know that even short, frequent bouts of lower intensity exercise can improve body image."

I know that this is true for me--the act of exercise produces feel good neurotransmitters, but it also helps remind you that you do have the ability to alter or improve your body--you do have some control.

Drew Barrymore: Body Fuzion

Drew Barrymore hosted SNL this past weekend, but none of the skits were quite as funny as this "Body Fuzion" homage to 1980's exercise classics. Enjoy!

Splitsville: Madonna and Tracy Anderson

Former BFF's, Madonna and her controversial trainer, Tracy Anderson

So, apparently Madonna and her controversial personal trainer, Tracy Anderson have parted ways. The break-up comes after criticism of the pop icon's highly muscled arms and charges that she has become obsessed with exercise, working out 4-6 hours per day at times. It is also rumored that Madonna was not pleased with the Philippe van den Bossche, former director of her Raising Malawi Charity, leaving the post to join Anderson in New York as her new boyfriend.

Following the break-up, Anderson is now being sued by a former partner, Glynn Barbar, for $1 million dollars. He alleges that she swindled him our of $1 million in initial investments in her business and despite her evident success, she has not returned any of the venture funds to him. In the NY Post article, his English seemed a bit broken, so I hope he has contracts and documentation to back up his claims.

I'm not celebrating the demise of Ms. Anderson's business--and of course she still has her #2 client, Gwyneth Paltrow, at least two studios, and a DVD business. In previous FFFB posts, I've pointed out that Ms. Anderson claims that anybody can look like Madonna, which is patently false and which dismisses the value of body diversity. We've also called Ms. Anderson out for her size 0 perfection worship and the promotion of fitness routines that might fall in the exercise-bulimia category. Its crucial to remember that sometimes these media empires, particularly those that are predicated on flash-in-the-pan exercise fads are sometimes a house of cards. Ms. Anderson's fame and fortune seems to be just that. So, instead of trying to find the right exercise guru to fix our problems, let's all make a commitment to do something reasonable today. Thursday I went to the gym and got on the elliptical machine for 30 minutes (after having taken a mile walk as part of a campus Wellness activity), Friday and Saturday I helped a family member move (that's cardio and toning!), Monday I took a 50 minute walk outdoors, today I take another walk and I'll do a Pilates DVD (its Fall break, so I should be able to squeeze both in).

Reminder: Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Do you remember to do your monthly breast-exams in the shower after your cycle? I don't--well, I seem to during Breast Cancer Awareness Month and then again, I remember in July near my birthday. Well, two out of twelve months isn't good enough! This year I'll remember to do it at least every-other month. How about you, let me know how superior you are to me in the comments!

Also, check out the Susan G. Komen Foundation for information about local Breast Cancer Awareness activities near you!

Tori Spelling: I Weigh 107 Pounds!

Tori Spelling is slamming a Star cover story that alleges she collapsed and had to be rushed to the ER for being drastically underweight at 95 pounds.
Tori Spelling says:

"Star Mag...LIES!" she posted Thursday. "Literally not 1 factual thing in entire article. And, come 2 my house & weigh me Star! I'm 107lbs. if you care about FACTS?!?"

Tori Spelling is 5' 6" . Also she is 36 years old. So even from a height/weight chart standpoint she is still underweight at 107.

What is your shape?

Above is a graphic of the different body shapes. The above shapes are also known by other names such as:

• Apple (triangle downward)
• Banana or straight (rectangular)
• Pear or spoon or bell (triangle upward)
• Hourglass shape (triangles opposing, facing in)

What is your shape? Let is know in the comment section. I am a Spoon. My exact measurements are 47.5 -42- 51.5.

Here is a link about how to dress these body types when they are also plus sized.