'Gwen'

Each American Girl Doll comes with a book about the particular doll. Recently a new doll named "Gwen" has caused contriversay. Gwen is homeless. Some feel the new theme doll is a good idea which helps educate girls about the reality of homelessness.
One of the reasons people are concerned is that the doll sells for $95, which would make it doubtful a homeless child could affort to purchase one. Also, no percentage of the profits go to the aid of the homeless, although American Girls has donated $500,000 since 2006 to Home Aid, which helps the homeless find housing (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/09/26/earlyshow/saturday/main5343132.shtml).
I believe children need to be aware of the hardships some of their friends and classmates deal with, although, I certainly don't believe the children should be pointed out. Reality is, homelessness is a serious matter facing many families in this day.
I applaud American Girl for taking the risk of contriversary to bring an ignored situation to the forefront.

Thank You Dove

What an amazing message. Dove is doing a great service to the women of America. We need to be proud of who we are, not what we look like. Beautiful girls are feeling self conscious about their bodies like never before. Even litle girls are anorexic. Marilyn Monroe would be considered fat by todays standards.

What is the Media Telling Young Girls?

After watching a Dr. Phil show about teen girls having oral sex in school I was interested to find why there are no inhibitions about being sexually active.
According to the USA Today, "Kids who said they watched more sex-oriented programs at the beginning of the year were more likely than others their age to become sexually active during the next year." Rebecca Collins of RAND Corp , in a report on Pediatrics online journal, says the more sexually oriented scenes they saw, the more likely they were to become sexually active.
Why are TV programs starring teens, and about teens, so sexually charged? There are several TV shows that involve sexually active teens, here are a few: The Secret Life of the American Teenager, One Tree Hill, Degrasssi: The Next Generation, The O.C., and Gossip Girls. Very seldom does the media show the consequences of sexual activity like pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the vagina, the anal area, and the mouth.
Sharlene Azam has written a book and a documentary film titled Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss. She appeared in an interview on Good Morning America in June 2009 and said the youngest girl she interviewed was 11! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj8p94a81ZE

The NFL Will Support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

All Nationhal Football League teams will support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink coins will be used for the toss, the goal posts will be wrapped in pink padding, and coaches will wear pink caps and pink ribbon pins. Tanya Snyder, the wife of the owner of the Washington Redskins, will be the face of Breast Cancer Awareness Month for the NFL. Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals will be assisting her. Fitzgerald's mother died of breast cancer. Mrs. Snyder is presently battling breast cancer.

Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans will be wearing pink shoes and pink gloves. He is looking for a pink mouth gaurd to finish off his look. Johnson said, "Pink isn't the color most people think of in connection with football or the NFL." Johnson doesn't have a personal connection to the disease. He said it doesn't matter if pink isn't a "manly" football color. To him it's all about breast cancer. He wants to support the women going through the illness and remind all women ages 40 and up to have their mamograms. (http://www.heraldtribune,com/article/20091001/APS/910011918)

Mrs. Snyder said one of the players actually came up with the idea about wearing pink. She did not release the name of the player.

I am impressed that the NFL would show that "real men" can wear pink! It's refreshing to see that women are sometimes taken seriously.