Month in Review: January 2016

Friday, January 29, 2016

New Year; New Outfits

New Year; New Plans
The new year brings a lot of people feelings of renews and fresh starts.... but for a teacher like myself it is the middle of the school year, so.... not so "new," ya know? Still, I did share some ideas for getting January started off right with this month's Why Don't You... list, and they are certainly taking about beginnings (and- gulp!- very permanent endings) in this month's Dog Eared Page, A Tale of Two Cities.  If you were looking for books that were a bit less grisly, this month's Rec Five is talking about books on Hollywood's Golden Age.  This month's Stationery Wishlist shared some quirky finds to give your desk sartorial pizzazz. If you want more pizzazz to your wardrobe, why not take a glance at how I remixed this vintage inspired skirt, or think about trying one of these clothing subscription boxes! 

New Year; New Finds

I love the idea of capsule wardrobes but wonder if it really works. Fashion Pas shares her struggles and successes on the journey to a capsule wardrobe.

Whoa! Four new elements have been added to the periodic table!

The fascinating history of bone music

Loving this outfit from Melodic, Thrifty and Chic!

A boy invents something to help his best friend who'd been struck by lightening. The power of human innovation and compassion!

What fairytales tell us about language

Infographic about Sexism in Doctor Who

The satisfying symmetry of Hungarian buildings

  A Girl created a new badge for those who learn about American Japanese Relocation Camps.  It honestly scares me that most Americans are not taught about these, especially in light of the intolerance present in today's politics, because those who don't heed history's lessons are doomed to repeat it. 

Star Wars toys leave our the protagonist of their latest movie because she's a girl. They are surprised people are upset. This may seem like a small thing, because its just toys, but this is how sexism perpetuates.


Relatedly Mattel lost the Disney Princesses  toy line. Hashbro's remodeling of the brand focusses on girls' adventures and talents over boys and make-up! Plus, better body portions. One step forward, right?

And, so many toy-related links, but, BUT- BARBIE NOW COMES IN 4 BODY TYPES AND 7 SKIN TONES. Not sure what I think of this. Good? Bad? Too little, too late? (After all, studies show girls who play with Barbie are less aspirational in their career goals). Still, they are cute.


7 comments

  1. Ugh, I can't believe they left out the protagonist in Star Wars! She is so damn awesome. It would make me mad, too. That's just awful. I recently saw the movie (once the hype went down so my friend and I could have the theatre to ourselves) and absolutely loved it. She's such a strong female character.

    And that article on fairytales is so lovely. A lot of my work stems from fairytales and mythicism, so I always love to read and learn more about it.

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  2. I've been so terrible at reading at commenting lately, but I love seeing that you outfits are still fabulous as always! That green skirt is to-die-for.

    So crazy how at the same time that Barbie is *finally* creating dolls with a variety of body types and Hasbro is moving in the right direction, Disney still can't understand how wrong it is not to include Rey in its line of toys. As you said, one step forward!

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    1. I know it is a lot of toy links this month, but I find it so interesting how it is almost a microcosm of where society is at with feminism right now. Plus, it kinda baffles my mind they seemed to think Kylo Ren would be the popular one. Even if he hadn't killed Han Solo, he's still kinda emo and a dude who ran away from a perfectly nice home and school situation to angst. Not sure what is so appealing (unless, maybe, you too are a white dude who ran away from a nice home and school situation to angst...?)

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  3. The pink tunic over the leggings is my fave - I'd love some leggings like that but have never been brave enough to try them! I love how you've styled it with the pink tunic, it really softens the look a lot and really works.

    And thanks for sharing Anna's outfit - I had totally missed that post last month (life has just been busy) and it's a brilliant outfit which I love!

    -Rebecca
    http://mn2nz.wordpress.com

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  4. Hmm, so many thoughts about curvy Barbie! I'm very comfortable being a feminist and still liking problematic things, so a little pushback... I'll have to look it up, you probably quoted a study before about Barbie making girls less ambitious. This seems really hard to measure. Every girl I know played with Barbies, so I'm not sure what the control group would be, or how one would isolate it from the many many other factors. And in terms of conclusion, ambition is just one of many traits. It can be good or bad. And certainly we need more ambitious women, but I don't think every women has to be ambitious, or that every toy needs to teach ambition. A little girl could play with dolls some days and construction sets other days and learn different skills from both of them. Also, many little boys could probably benefit from some doll-playing time...
    Any way, I love Curvy Barbie! No, it's not enough- Mattel should continue the line and add more body sizes, more disabilities, more diversity with everything! But I'm still proud of them for taking a step in a good direction.

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    1. So the study you mentioned I found in an article in the Atlantic (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/11/barbie-girls-careers/414525/). Here was the relevant quote from it: "If only that were how it worked. A 2014 study of 4-to-7-year-old girls found that playing with Barbie actually limited girls’ perceptions about what they could be in the future. Compared to girls who played with Mrs. Potato Head, girls who played with fashion Barbie identified a greater number of careers as ones they could not do when they grew up. The same pattern emerged even when girls played with Doctor Barbie."

      Most of the article though talks about how it might have to do with the way Barbies traditionally look and how sexualized all their clothing are, even for "serious" careers, like being a dentist.

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    2. So, hopefully the more diverse Barbies help to correct that message.

      I really like the dolls to. They are all so pretty and so different from one another.

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