barbie, fiona, avril, & lil' kim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTpvjNn2BUM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2eUCfREAbw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrDIlVsUmK4



after watching these videos, i was a little disturbed with some of the images i saw. first off, i thought fiona apple looked very sickly, almost like she had an eating disorder or a drug addiction. i feel like she was giving the impression to girls that being this skinny will get the boys to notice you. i also feel as though it is telling boys girls that are considered 'attractive' are indeed this thin. i personally thought it was disgusting. i have never been considered fat in my life, but never skinny either, & i have never had a problem with my body. but after watching this video, i can see why girls might want to be this thin. i also thought she was being rather provocative. she was in bed with what appeared to be a naked man, moving around in a sexual sort of way, trying to get attention from the viewer. she also does some stripping, not revealing her naked body, but showing her taking off different layers, down to her undershirt. gross. she looks like a slut in this video. i never really liked her music either.

avril's video, i thought, was the most tame. i like her music, and i like how she is different from most girls in the way that she dresses & carries herself. she is not coming off as a slut, to me, however she too is in bed with a boy. she is showing herself fighting with him too, which can give the wrong impression to young couples. they might think it's ok for them to hit each other... until someone gets hurt. i would hate for boys to think it's ok to hit their girlfriend, when she is pissing them off. the violent parts of this video were the only parts that made me nervous.

now on to the lil' kim video... oh man. the only words i can think to describe this video are disgusting, appalling, slutty, sexual, and vulgar. she is swearing left & right, showing off her boobs & opening her legs in sexual manner, & i find all of this inappropriate. i don't think kids need to see this type of behavior, because it will give girls & guys the wrong impression. girls should not be acting like this in middle school or high school. in college, you are an adult, & you can what you please. but if a young girl were acting like this, i would be mortified. this behavior is wrong to me, & needs to be spared from children.

a point that stuck with me from the barbie article, was the fact that the magazine depicted girls as being the typical 'housekeeper' role, by giving them craft ideas like cooking, sewing and needlework. i loved these type of crafts as a young child, & my mom was never worried about me. she never thought i would be doing only these activities for the rest of my life. i was still a very athletic girl, participating in softball & cross country. i never restricted my activities to those that were only for girls. i tried to do boy things as well, it was just that i loved many of the girls activities. i don't think this should be taken too seriously, if girls like doing them. obviously it is a different story if they feel they are forced to due to their gender.



i have also heard that the image of barbie gives the wrong impressions to girls. first of all, that she is white & blonde, which is telling girls that this is what they should look like. if barbie is another ethnicity, she is not just barbie, but native american barbie, or hawaiian barbie. it's frustrating for many girls. i also think they put the stereotypical dress on these barbies.
i also think her body image is telling girls they are only desireable by guys, only if they are thin. her measurements (38-18-34) are not even possible if you were to put them on a actual human person. i have heard barbie has caused many girls to develop eating disorders, which makes me sad. girls should be happy with the bodies they are given... since each & every one of us is beautiful in many different ways. :-)