I’ve been stuck when it comes to inspiration lately. That’s why I haven’t posted at all this month.
But I’m back baby!
I receive a “blog challenge” email everyday from Matt@30dayblogchallenge.com and decided to give one of his tips a try.
The Tip
“How to give REAL value (and not rehashed content)”
“And since it’s so important, I’ll give you a tip to make sure you’re truly valuable to your audience: Know their problems.” – Matt 30 Day Blog Challenge.
I got a question from reddit.
Following Matt’s tip for bringing value to my audience by finding what matters to them. Reddit is great source to find out what people are talking about.
The question is “should women be able to walk around topless like men do?”
It brings to the table, why aren’t we “allowed” to walk about topless? What have we created as a society that makes women’s breasts unacceptable to be shown when not portrayed in a sexual way?
It’s so odd to me. We see sex scenes (Game of Thrones) that graphically show women’s breasts used for intimacy. But when we breastfeed our babies, we get shit on? Progression of mindset needs to come before any real change can occur.
I am an advocate for women’s rights. Ever since I brought a daughter into this world, I have been hyper-aware of the sexualization of women in the media. I am fiercely passionate about women having the right to show their bodies for their own reasons. Not for the “male gaze.”
I have witnessed my female friends become depressed and insecure due to the unrealistic beauty standards our society adheres to.
Some positive progressive changes have been implemented by women running big businesses. An example is CVS. Helena Foulkes, President of CVS and Executive VP for CVS, runs shit. She has made some drastic improvements to derail unrealistic beauty standards for women. She gets it. I’d love to sit down and have a drink with her.
Here is what Helena had to say about her new “CVS Beauty Mark” campaign:
“CVS Beauty Mark” to be Introduced to Highlight and Celebrate Unaltered Imagery” – CVS health
“The connection between the propagation of unrealistic body images and negative health effects, especially in girls and young women, has been established. As a purpose-led company, we strive to do our best to assure all of the messages we are sending to our customers reflect our purpose of helping people on their path to better health.” – Helena Foulkes, President of CVS Pharmacy and Executive Vice President, CVS Health
Quoted women and men from reddit:
“As Sarah Silverman points out: clevage (sp) is okay. You know, the meaty part that men like that you can use to sandwich a h*** c***(my edit not theirs). That’s fine. But the life giving nourishing nipple is obscene and must be hidden and removed from dolls.” – livingthedream666 reddit user
“Plus this weird way that we Americans over sexualize things. Boobs are okay to show on television, just as long as you blur out those areolas.” – Theeflipper reddit user
“It’s ‘coz (sp) the sexualization of breast in women. They are not genitalia but are treated as such by everybody. That mindset needs to change before any progress can be achieved.” – EverySister reddit user
Tons of reddit users shared that breastfeeding in public is stigmatized. Most felt strongly about breasts natural purpose, and agreed on the intended purpose which is to feed their babies.
Society is moving in a more progressive direction however. As CVS’s new beauty campaign launches, we can stay active in promoting healthy body image, boobs for food, and protect our women/girls.
authenticope 