In Media Control Noam Chomsky writes about the ultimate goal of the public relations industry: to help industries and the government control the public mind. What is big industry is most afraid of? Activism.
Chomsky writes,
People have to be atomized and segregated and alone. They’re not supposed to organize, because then they might be something beyond spectators of action. They might actually be participants if many people with limited resources could get together to enter the political arena. That’s really threatening.
When I first read this, I had a clear picture in my mind: scores of people, nowadays, sitting in front of their computers – reading Facebook, or political blogs – and feeling a synthetic sense of connectedness and activism. Myself included. Writing – or commenting – on a blog post about body image issues or creating a Facebook group to raise awareness on domestic violence does one thing: it raises awareness. But things stop there. You may have hundreds of members joining your FB group, thousands of visitors on your political blog, but the feeling of doing something, I will say this again, is synthetic. You’re sitting alone in a room in front of your computer, typing away. You are “segregated and alone.” And the real world, with all its rules, is often unaffected by that. That is why we need to reclaim the activism of the 20s, 60s and 70s. We need to regroup, to organize, to meet face to face and join groups of people who are actively working on improving issues dear to us.
So, here is a list of some of my favorite organizations, who are doing just that. Because a clever blog post on blog X will only get you this far. Think about joining their causes.
Girls Inc. (U.S.) “Picture the world through the eyes of a Girls Inc. girl. She belongs to a community that empowers her to pursue the biggest dreams she can dream. She is uplifted by the strength of a national organization that is committed to inspiring the leaders of tomorrow.”
Pink Stinks (U.K.) The campaign for real role models. “PinkStinks is a campaign and social enterprise that challenges the ‘culture of pink’ which invades every aspect of girls’ lives.” Their ultimate goal is to “influence marketeers and the media about the importance of promoting positive gender roles to girls.”
About-Face (U.S.) Their mission is to “equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect self-esteem and body image.”
Women’s Forum Australia. A wonderful organization helping women on many issues – from health to body image and work. Their think tank created Faking It, a glossy magazine-style report that “explores issues around the objectification of women and girls in the media and popular culture, with a focus on women’s magazines.”
And the list could go on and on. Will certainly write about other organizations in the future.
Remember the old saying: actions speak louder than words.
Illusionists, step aside. Let’s focus on some “realists.”
In this clip, prominent bloggers discuss the effects pregnancy had on their bodies and their self-image. Their words are surprisingly candid, especially in a cultural climate that idolizes motherhood and stresses the importance of “getting your body back ASAP” (see this previous post about US Magazine’s obsession with new moms and dieting).
Naomi Wolf writes in the final pages of her book The Beauty Myth:
The terrible truth is that though the marketplace promotes the myth, it would be powerless if women didn’t enforce it against one another. For any one woman to outgrow the myth, she needs the support of many women. The toughest but most necessary change will come not from men or from the media, but from women, in the way we see and behave toward other women.
The Body Image Project is an online project searching for women and girls of all ages to share their individual experiences and feelings about their own body image perceptions. The goal of the project is to have women and girls take the brave step of sharing their story, break the hold these perceptions have and ultimately reveal to those who share and those who read the thoughts of others – you are not alone. It is a rare opportunity to share without fear of judgment – share in a healthy manner. We ask that individuals share their age so the reader witnesses the wide-range of ages and the wide-range of issues women and girls are facing (often silently).
Share your story. Keep it short and simple – the impact will be huge.
I’m currently re-reading Margo Maine’s excellent book “Body Wars” – to add useful information to my documentary script.
In the chapter “Barbie Dolls & Body Image” Ms. Maine writes about the group Barbie Liberation Organization:
One group, the Barbie Liberation Organization, formed by a graduate student from the University of California at San Diego, went so far as to swap the speech mechanisms of the Talking Barbies with those of G.I. Joes, causing havoc for the toy stores that received the tampered merchandise. The Talking Barbies were saying things like, “Vengeance is mine,” while the G.I. Joes were saying, “Let’s go shopping.” This political art expresses the distress many feel about the status of women in our society and the symbols that threaten the self-esteem of females.
