Tuesday, December 11th, 2012
A greeting card discovered by an American writer traveling in the United Kingdom had mothers–particularly mothers of girls–up in arms, prompting Hallmark to issue an apology. The card read, according to The Huffington Post, “You’re 13 today! If you had a rich boyfriend he’d give you diamonds and rubies. Well, maybe next year you will – when you’ve bigger boobies!”
After a Twitter photo and comment about the card generated massive social media buzz, Hallmark UK issued a statement that read:
This card was produced by Creative Publishing prior to Hallmark Cards acquiring the company in 1998. We are as surprised and horrified as anyone else to have discovered that there are still copies in circulation. The card has not been produced for over 15 years and would never pass our own strict guidelines of taste and appropriateness. We would like to assure all our customers that we will do everything in our power to track down remaining copies.
Image: Surprised woman holding greeting card, via Shutterstock
Friday, July 20th, 2012
The state of California is bringing a lawsuit against 16 companies that make jewelry marketed to children because the companies’ products violate the state’s limits on how much lead a product can contain. The Associated Press has more:
State investigators uncovered hundreds of lead-laced trinkets marketed to children and adults, including some pieces contaminated with lead levels more than 1,000 times the legal state limit.
The state was expected to file a lawsuit Tuesday against 16 companies — retailers, wholesalers, suppliers and distributors — doing business in Los Angeles and elsewhere. The companies are accused of violating lead standards and engaging in deceptive practices by falsely advertising tainted jewelry as lead-free.
For the past three years, inspectors at the state Department of Toxic Substances Control conducted spot checks at stores and factories, zapping necklaces, earrings, hair clips and tiaras with hand-held X-ray devices to check for lead. Items with high lead content were then shipped to a laboratory for detailed analysis. Jewelry items containing the toxic metal were mostly inexpensive.
Image: Girl’s bracelet, via Shutterstock.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2012
Girls as young as 6 years old show self-sexualizing attitudes that suggest they identify themselves in terms of “sexiness,” a new study published in the journal Sex Roles has found. From MSNBC.com:
Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., used paper dolls to assess self-sexualization in 6- to 9-year-old girls. Sixty girls were shown two dolls, one dressed in tight and revealing “sexy” clothes and the other wearing a trendy but covered-up, loose outfit.
Using a different set of dolls for each question, the researchers then asked each girl to choose the doll that: looked like herself, looked how she wanted to look, was the popular girl in school, she wanted to play with.
Across-the-board, girls chose the “sexy” doll most often. The results were significant in two categories: 68 percent of the girls said the doll looked how she wanted to look, and 72 percent said she was more popular than the non-sexy doll.
“It’s very possible that girls wanted to look like the sexy doll because they believe sexiness leads to popularity, which comes with many social advantages,” explained lead researcher Christy Starr, who was particularly surprised at how many 6- to 7-year-old girls chose the sexualized doll as their ideal self.
Image: Girl playing dress-up, via Shutterstock.
Monday, July 9th, 2012
Parents in Missouri are angry and disappointed because an area department store is selling a baby onesie designed with the silhouette of a buxom woman’s body wearing a bikini. From The Huffington Post:
Wild Child, a brand manufactured by Bon Bebe, sized the outfit for 18-month-old girls. But mom Cathryn McKee told [Action News 5] news station, “I just think that is a little ridiculous that you would put that on your child.” One father who spoke on camera says he wouldn’t let his daughter wear the “bikini” because “it gives people the wrong idea too quickly.”
Commenters on the Action News 5 website were split. “It’s vulgar [sic],” one posted. To each his own, another argued. “If you do not like, then do not buy it,” John wrote.
The bikini onesie is only one of the Wild Child outfits on Bon Bebe’s website with a questionable message. Another reads “Lock Up Your Daughters” with a graphic of a padlock printed underneath.
Image via http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Wednesday, May 30th, 2012
An alarming report has emerged from Afghanistan alleging that 160 girls and 3 teachers have been hospitalized with poisoning, likely from a toxic spray, that they got while at school. CNN.com reports that the Taliban are suspected because of their objection to girls receiving an education:
“The Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them going to school,” [police spokesman Khalilullah] Aseer said last week. “That’s something we and the people believe. Now we are implementing democracy in Afghanistan and we want girls to be educated, but the government’s enemies don’t want this.”
But earlier this week, the Taliban denied responsibility, instead blaming U.S. and NATO forces for the poisonings in an attempt to “defame” the insurgent group.
There have been several instances of girls being poisoned in schools in recent years.
Image: Poison, via Shutterstock.
