Little Miss Saving-the-World

The Paradox of Porn May 25, 2009

Burning, glue-like liquid is applied onto the skin and then, ripped off in an effort to thin any outcoming hair. It’s unnatural and painful yet, waxing similar to other industries, continues to bring in millions of dollars from unneccesary and over glamorized procedures, specifically in the bikini region.

Thanks to salons all over the country and in the UK, girls as young as 8 are now permitted to get their, “virgin” hairs removed, even for a discount in places like Wanda’s European Skin Care Center, a waxing salon in New York. The owner of this salon claims, in accordance with the Divine Caroline that,

‘Virgin hair can be waxed so successfully that growth can be permanently stopped in just two to six sessions. Save your child a lifetime of waxing … and put the money in the bank for her college education instead!’

Rather than not spending the money to begin with, we’re supporting an industry that allows for fully grown women to look pre-pubescent. And along with this industry, full of painful muslin pulling identity crushers, is the industry of porn. Taking in the prepubescent image a step further, are women who are anything but. They’re countless acts of “naughtiness” serve as  contrast to the child like image that their pubic areas bring. It’s yet another way that our culture serves to hypersexualize young women.

What I learned from Wrestling May 22, 2009

Looking back at the Hih School wrestling photos I notice that the entire team consisted of boys with the exception of myself. I quickly recall the difficulties of fitting in, the ignorant comments, the jokes that made even me laugh but most importantly I recall the insight that those four months gave me, not only into myself but also into the minds of my 14 male team mates.

I want to say I was inspired by their courage, their constant pushing to go down a weight class. I want to say that in a way, their tears and frustration were eye-opening- and yet, I hesitate. The truth is that I was astounded by their willingness to change for someone else, to push themselves to a point of no return. I was hurt by their inseciryties and seemlingly low self-esteem because I had come to realize that I was in the same boat. Practices pushed us to sweat like pigs in a sauna and to think like a team. But I couldn’t think like a boy, my mind was in a pretzel wondering if my social experiement was costing me more than I gained, more than the insight I had craved. As I heard the “locker room” talk I remember playing the role of the police woman, ” Hello?!” wondering where all the vagina talk came from, asking questions, searching for answers and trying to avoid becoming the pinup girl for our school’s all boy team.

I never really did find them though- the answers that is. However, I did realize that the roles we pretend to play-male and female, they’re not black and white. I had seen teenage boys become as self-conscious as the “average” teen girl trying on her prom dress amongst a room full of mirrors. But these roles are also not grey. The simple realization I had come across is that gender isn’t a matter of attitude or state of being. It’s a matter of pure physiological endowment and the rest is left up to us.