Recently in Children Category

There are certain headlines that I really never want to see. This is one of them:

Dora to explore older, racier market

For those who don't know the fabulous Dora the Explorer, she's the character of a top-rated Nickelodeon television show about a little girl who goes, well, exploring while also teaching children Spanish. It's a great show. But apparently, it's not sexy enough.

Dora the Explorer, the wide-eyed cartoon character adored by young children around the world, is facing a makeover amid competition from older, racier rivals.

Nickelodeon, the children's television network owned by Viacom, has been discussing a redesign of some Dora-themed toys and other merchandise that would make the character appear more feminine, say people familiar with the talks. (Emphasis mine)

Oh dear. Dora wouldn't be the first beloved cartoon character to get a sexy new look, but for some reason I find this more depressing than past "makeovers."

You can contact Viacom, who owns Nickelodeon, here.

Thanks to Morgan for the link!

Sad to say that this piece's origin seems to be parenting.com, but we can't be surprised CNN snatched it up for themselves. You had me at "post-feminist world." (Check out the first sentence. Sigh.)

Thanks to Rachel for the link!

Not just leather daddies, haha. Well this does warm my heart on some level, but I am cheesy like that. I have known many gay couples through out my life that have desperately wanted to adopt and weren't able to for legal reasons or because of homophobia.

The cost remains high, and a good lawyer is essential. Yet despite complications, the idea of becoming a biological dad with help from a surrogate mother is gaining allure among gay men as the status of "married with children" grows ever more possible.

With same-sex marriage now legal in California even to nonresidents, and Massachusetts extending its 4-year-old gay-marriage policy to out-of-staters, in-wedlock parenting is suddenly a realistic option for gays and lesbians nationwide, even if their home state won't recognize the union.

Fertility clinics and surrogacy programs report increased interest from gay men, while couples who already have children are getting married -- or considering it -- to provide more security for those kids.

But before I keep doing my happy dance, I have some issues with the framing of "married with kids." The fact that it is a very costly thing to either adopt or have surrogacy, makes it something only elite (white, male, upper middle class-as depicted in the picture above) gays can do. Furthermore, the assumption that you have to be married to have children perpetuates the myth that women who have children out of wed-lock are somehow illegitimate. It is a slippery slope while mainstream gay/lesbian rights groups fight for "legitimacy" in the marriage system, there are many many other types of people engaging in alternative sexual behaviors who's rights are not only overlooked but not met through the fight for gay partnerships and adoption rights.

via CNN.

Thanks to Twanna for the heads up!

So this video is NSFW (not safe for work) and it is very disturbing. Trigger warning! But it is one of the trailers to the new Grand Theft Auto coming out today, and it is reprehensible. All around the country posters for the new GTA have been removed due to their offensive nature. Most of the complaints have been about the violence in the video game. Not one article has been about the blatant violence and misogyny displayed towards women.

If you get through the trailer you will notice that not only are the sex scenes very real looking, most of the women are killed shortly after forcibly performing sex acts. So, many young men are going to have their first (or already have, as this is not new content for GTA) sexual experiences via GTA and then they are going to kill the women they are sleeping with. The implications of that are mind-blowing. It is no question that GTA is merely reflective of the bigger misogyny embedded in capitalist patriarchy, but the question is why is a game that depicts such violence towards women so popular? How is that acceptable?

I think this has two consequences in the land of no child left behind where standardized educational systems have led to a cutback in the teaching of metacognition in elementary schools. What does that mean? Youth don't get taught to think about why they make the choices they do, they are instead force fed information that they must memorize. So it can be argued that they are being force fed heavily marketed violent images (that often reflect the violence in the media, movies, government policy and in their own communities) that become normalized. And not only normalized, but given the popular nature of GTA, it is cool to be violent and kill prostitutes.

The second implication is where does this put young women gamers? How do they feel when playing video games with such violent representations of women?

I can tell you that watching that video was humiliating and I don't play video games, so I never have to see it again if I don't want to.

A lot of issues here. Other thoughts?

A new children's book, My Beautiful Mommy, (being released on Mother's Day, no less) aims to explain to kids why their mom is getting plastic surgery.

It features a perky mother explaining to her child why she's having cosmetic surgery (a nose job and tummy tuck). Naturally, it has a happy ending: mommy winds up "even more" beautiful than before, and her daughter is thrilled.

Okay, I can understand the need to explain to children why a parent is getting surgery, but this...well, it's just ridiculous.

"My Beautiful Mommy" is aimed at kids ages four to seven and features a plastic surgeon named Dr. Michael (a musclebound superhero type) and a girl whose mother gets a tummy tuck, a nose job and breast implants. Before her surgery the mom explains that she is getting a smaller tummy: "You see, as I got older, my body stretched and I couldn't fit into my clothes anymore. Dr. Michael is going to help fix that and make me feel better." Mom comes home looking like a slightly bruised Barbie doll with demure bandages on her nose and around her waist.

Superhero, huh? I suppose that should come as no surprise, given the book is written by a Florida-based plastic surgeon, Dr. Michael Salzhauer. Now, I'm certainly not going to sit in judgment of those who get plastic surgery - but do we really have to teach our kids that we need it to "feel better" and be "beautiful"? Ugh.

Thanks to Alexis for the link.

From The New York Times: "New Jersey moved another step closer on Monday to becoming the third state in the country to give employees the right to take paid leave to care for a newborn or a sick relative."

For more information on why paid leave for new parents is so important, check out Moms Rising.

A forewarning: This is about as bad as it gets.

A Maryland man with bipolar disorder with a history of suicide attempt murdered his children this weekend after a court refused to submit a permanent restraining order requested by their mother partly because she was still "having sex" with him in fear for her and her childrens' lives.

While the psychologist's report claiming that Mark Castillo was not someone of harm to his children was a factor in the decision, Amy Castillo said that her husband told her "the worst thing he could do to me would be to kill the children and not me so I could live without them," which she wrote in the petition for the order.

Nonetheless, Judge Joseph A. Dugan Jr. said, "I am not satisfied that indeed there is clear and convincing evidence of abuse in this case." And brought up the fact that Amy continued to "have sex" with her husband, including "twice on the day he allegedly talked about killing the children," despite Castillo testifying that she was - very understandably - scared of him and worried that if she didn't, he would suspect she was taking action against him.

This is beyond horrid. To discredit a woman for being raped to save her and her childrens' lives is unbelievably heinous. I wonder if Dugan has that on his conscience now that her children are dead. Fucking horrible.

Thanks to Sarah for the tip, who is from the same neighborhood.

This is too gross. An online game, Miss Bimbo, encourages girls (as in under 10 years old) to buy their avatars plastic surgery - face lifts, boob jobs, you name it - in order to be the "hottest, coolest, most famous bimbo in the whole world." Yeah.

Children are given a naked virtual character to look after. They compete against other players to earn "bimbo" dollars so they can dress her in sexy outfits and take her clubbing. They are given missions, including securing plastic surgery at the game's clinic to give their dolls bigger breasts, and they have to keep her at her target weight with diet pills.

Perhaps even worse than the sexist and dangerous messages being sent to young women, is the cavalier response of the Miss Bimbo creators (both men, btw).

[Chris Evans says,] "But there are lots of positive lessons that replicate messages in real life."

While feeding your bimbo too much chocolate has added virtual pounds to the animated girls' hips, feeding her fruits and vegetables will improve her health, Evans points out.

That and diet pills, apparently. Evans also claims that the game is just aiming to be realistic: "The breast operations are just one part of the game and we are not encouraging young girls to have them, just reflecting real life." You know, the kind of real life where nine year-olds get boob jobs. Charming.

Reason magazine topped its article on the "we need more white babies!" movement (and its accompanying film, Demographic Winter) with this great headline:

Best EVER! But seriously, the article also makes the excellent point that people don't choose to remain childless for some weird or nefarious reason. Some of us, uh, just don't want kids, and have decided our lives will be just as happy or happier without them.

When I think about my happiness and my lack of desire to have babies, I'm reminded of the Simpsons episode in which Marge starts a crusade against "Singles, Seniors, Childless Couples and Teens, and Gays," and she has the following exchange with childless activist Lindsey Naegle:

Bart: Mom, I locked your keys in the car.
Marge: Then wait in the shadows!
Bart: Also, Maggie puked in your purse again.
Lindsey Naegle: Poor me… all my purse is full of is disposable income.

Of course, you should feel free to have lots of babies if you like them and they make you happy!

Now this is an awesome campaign.

The New York State Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence is running a campaign developed by the Family Violence Prevention which is attempting to redefine the meaning of "manhood," by raising young boys to become leaders in the fight against domestic violence. In a society where notions of masculinity has become so distorted and, to a degree, contribute to violence against women, making "manhood" (as much negative connotation may come with the word) into something positive is all good with me.

The post Katrina housing crisis is one that we know about but is failing to get as much national attention as it should. It is an ongoing problem and the structures that are supposed to be fixing up housing, providing and protecting the residents and working to "bring New Orleans back," have failed to keep their promises. New Orleans has been flooded with bad policy decisions in the last 2 years that has left thousands of people homeless.

This week has been an eventful one in New Orleans as activists fight against the city of New Orleans and US Department of Housing and Development who have plans of demolishing four public housing developments, that is 5000 units of public housing, and replace them with newly developed "mixed income" housing. Mixed income is one of those terms that sounds harmless, but really means, push out the poor, women of color and single mothers, poor families and families of color and replace them with higher income folks. The people most affected by displacement and possible demolition plans are women of color.

According to the Times-Picyune, most of the demolition plans are going ahead full force with the exception of one of the developments that the Historical Conservation Committee decided to preserve in response to activist demands.

Who knew that Australia's toy of the year would contain gamma hydroxy butyrate (GHB), a drug commonly used to sedate rape victims. Crazy.

Since a number of children were recently hospitalized after eating beads from Aqua Dots, or Bindeez as they're called in Australia, their products are now frantically being pulled off of all store shelves internationally. The chemical can cause seizures, a coma and even death, if enough is ingested.

I've admittedly seen others take GHB for "recreational" purposes back in the day and to be frank, that shit was terrifying. The fact that it was being sold not only in a toy product, but in beads out of all things (probably the most ingested inedible material out there), is pretty unbelievable.

O'Reilly appeared on Good Morning America yesterday to talk about his new book on the youth of today. I am scared that O'Reilly actually was near young people. But I remember teachers like him, the ones that did it to really set these kids straight. They sucked.

But now he has a book out about young people and how to control them and how they act in school. I wouldn't normally pay attention this, but this got me. O'Reilly claims that wearing a burqa/hijab/veil, is an imposition of religion onto OTHER people. Huh?

O'Reilly and host Diane Sawyer are in agreement that today's youth are unacceptably dressed. Indicators of this include the flaunting of low-hanging pants and burqas. Burqas, O'Reilly says, are an imposition of one's religion on others. He alludes to such an expression of religion as a path to "chaos in the classroom" and an acceptable loss at the discretion of school administration.

Oh, I see, low hanging pants AND burqas. So too much exposure, bad-too little exposure, bad. No wonder kids are so confused and angry these days. All they get are mixed messages. And what do these two fashion choices have in common? It is probably young brown kids wearing them, so of course they shouldn't be wearing them to school. My god, how did they even let them IN the school?

And you have to love the hypocrisy. First he chides the school district for firing a teacher to have the students pray and then demands that wearing a burqa in school creates chaos. Obviously for him, it is only an imposition of religion if it is not one that he adheres to.

(Oh and he hates on Colbert, so boo to him. AND, what is up with Diane Sawyer all, "thanks for saying I am pretty?" Barf.)

via Raw Story.

via AP.

J.K. Rowling, author of the mega-selling fantasy series that ended last summer, outed the beloved character Friday night while appearing before a full house at Carnegie Hall. After reading briefly from the final book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," she took questions from audience members.

She was asked by one young fan whether Dumbledore finds "true love."

"Dumbledore is gay," the author responded to gasps and applause.

She then explained that Dumbledore was smitten with rival Gellert Grindelwald, whom he defeated long ago in a battle between good and bad wizards. "Falling in love can blind us to an extent," Rowling said of Dumbledore's feelings, adding that Dumbledore was "horribly, terribly let down."

The part of my brain that determines sexuality was mildly shut off while I read Harry Potter. But thinking back, the characters in Harry Potter were frighteningly asexual or heteronormative.

Maya Nussbaum (right) with author Tayari Jones at the Girls Write Now 10th Anniversary Friendraiser on October 18. Photo taken by Nana Brew-Hammond.

Founded by Maya Nussbaum, Girls Write Now is the only East Coast nonprofit that provides all-girl mentoring and creative writing training for high school girls. Based in New York City, Girls Write Now matches young aspiring female writers with a professional female writer to serve as her mentor and writing coach.

Founder and Executive Director Maya Nussbaum reflects on the past 10 years and why girls need to write. Here's Maya...

The latest Dove ad dealing with women's body image issues is called "Onslaught":

The commercial is indebted to Jean Kilbourne's pioneering "Killing Us Softly" series, which was one of the first video explorations of how all these images of women's bodies we see in advertising really add up and influence how we view women's bodies in real life.

What I find fascinating about this Dove ad is how the fashion/beauty industry is finally portrayed like the drug it is. I mean, the whole, "Talk to your kids" message is usually used for things like weed or cigarettes or drunk driving. It's not often associated with the portrayal of women in mainstream advertising, which also has an extremely destructive influence on girls (and boys) who consume these ads. It's a powerful message.

Of course, as with all of these "body-positive" Dove ads, this message is coming from a company selling beauty products. A company that wants you to believe your thighs need firming and your underarms need "fixing" so that you'll buy their shit. A company whose parent corporation, Unilever, has pledged not to use size 0 models, but also makes products like Axe eau de asshole and skin-whitening cream. These things are hard to reconcile.

via Jezebel.

We are still fixated on the girls like pink and boys like blue thing. Seriously?

A new poll says that one in five women are deciding against having children--or delaying having one--because of the high cost of child care and preschool. The poll, which was commissioned by an anti-crime organization, recommends increased funding and support for quality child care and preschool programs like Head Start.

It's kind of amazing how a country that just lurves to tell women that we need to be having children (so long as we're white, of course) is so damn crappy at providing the resources necessary to have kids and not go broke. Sigh.

If you want more information on the care crisis, this article is a must-read. Also check out Legal Momentum's Family Initiative.