Friday, August 09, 2013

Sexual Objectification in American Apparel Must Be the Biggest Joke Played On Us EVER!

American Apparel Unisex Flannels...Hey, it's a flannel...button up!
American Apparel likes to push the envelope in their advertising.

And by "push the envelope" I mean they like to see just how much they can sexually objectify women in their advertising to get attention for their brand, but not push it so far as to lose their female customers.

But what I find so interesting is that it feels like they're mocking their customers with some sick joke to see just how glaring they can make their scheme before someone says--What the @#$%?!

Well, Business Insider's "American Apparel's 'Unisex' Ads Portray Men And Women Very Differently," was just enough to push my envelope into the--You're joking, right, American Apparel?!

The blatant sexual objectification of women wearing flannel shirts in all sorts of sexy, come-hither poses is absurd and demeaning next to the shots of male models wearing the same types of shirts all buttoned up and shown in normal day-to-day human activities.

Hey...What did I do with my pants?
They may argue it's "Art," but to me it just seems ridiculous.

Let's smoke and wear pants with our flannels! You know, because we're men!

I can't be the only one like--what are they trying to prove? Why would women buy from a company that thinks it's fine to let men have personalities and women only have sexuality?

You know you want to buy this jacket, ladies...
I mean, come on. Enough already.

Hey dudes, like my keen jacket?
It's got to be a joke, right?

Right?!

Monday, June 17, 2013

This is My Body

Photo of San Francisco protesters by PolicyMic
Some really cool events stirring around in the media this week.

The first was a protest in front of a Victoria’s Secret store in San Francisco by a group called About-Face who promote a healthy body image. Policy Mic’s article, Protesters Strip Down In Front Of Victoria'sSecret To Promote a Healthy Body Image, reported on the event:

The protesters — including one male participant — gathered in front of the storefront and striped down into bras and underwear; their message was that "not everybody needs to be like that in order to be attractive, in order to be awesome in general," said Jennifer Berger, Executive Director of About-Face.

I just love this idea. How wonderful to see the looks of joy and adventure on the faces of those protesting. This seems like the richest way to talk back to advertisements and ideologies we do not agree with—show the truth.

A healthy body image begins with embracing the bodies we have, not trying to fit the ideals created by others.

In line with that, South Bay mother promotes positive bodyimage with Facebook page, is another example of a woman staking claim to her beauty. Jessy Kissinger is a mom who started a Facebook page for moms to post pictures of themselves in their bikinis. No matter what size they wear.

Kissinger told KTVU she is happy and is looking forward to taking her two children to the beach this summer without wearing a cover-up.

Wouldn’t it be radical if we all felt so awesome about ourselves that what our bodies look like would not be our main concern? Just think about how much extra energy we would have for other adventures in life.



Thursday, June 13, 2013

Feminist Stripper!

Photo of Feminist Stripper
I discovered a couple of interesting references to myself.

I've made the big time; I'm in Wikipedia. Pretty funny--that's the site I tell my students to never trust!

I'm included as a "Noted Feminist Stripper" for the Feminist Strippers category. I think I like that title.

Also, I feel enormously proud to be included with this list of amazing recommended women memoirists at Women For One.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Stripper Displays Her Large...Bills

For all you wanna-be strippers out there who read the Huffington Post's piece, Stripper Posts Picture Of Night's Tips To Reddit; Internet Asks, 'Where Do We Sign Up?',don't get all excited by this stripper's take...read the fine print!


"Menagerii" clearly states she worked a double (15 hours in heels, folks!) and that she doesn't usually earn that much.

But if you're interested in learning what it takes to be successful, here is her advice:
"You have to be in good shape, quick witted, confident, and have a pretty face. Everything else follows," she wrote.
I find it interesting to read people's comments following the articles written about this story. It seems most responses fall into one of a few categories: the snarky--Damn! I should be a stripper!, or the superior moralistic--Strippers are nothing more than whores!

I sit and ponder and really wonder...don't we all do some form of work for money, for pay? Why is using one's brain inherently better than using one's body?

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Oscars is full of boobs



Thank Heavens for Jezebel.


West sums up my feelings about the Oscars after being pointed to what they consisted of by a friend.

Must-see video of the "We saw your boobs" song can be found on Youtube.

My favorite comment is probably from the Atlantic

What the jokes were, really, was stupid, boring, and empty: humor that relied less on its own patently sexist, racist, homophobic, etc. content than on admiration for or disgust with the host's willingness to deliver it. So much of comedy is about the shock of recognition, of seeing some previously unacknowledged truth suddenly acknowledged, but the only recognition MacFarlane offered was that some people say dumb things about other peoples' gender/racial/sexual identities. Which, of course, should not be shocking at all.
I guess it’s been a long time since I watched the Oscars and probably now a long time before I ever watch them again.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Should We All Drop Our Tops When We Want To Be Heard?

The Montserrat Moms Seated Together For A Publicity Photo (AP)

Two stories in the news have me questioning and really wondering what people think about stripping down as an act of defiance and attention-getting.

Inna Shevchenko, leader of women's movement Femen and “sextremist” discusses her organization’s latest stunt at Notre Dame in Femen's Blasphemy in Notre Dame. Femen is a group of women who strip topless to protest when they see injustices. Their latest performance was supposed to be a celebration of the resignation of the Pope and a rallying cry against the church.

I am one of the first to have issues with the Catholic church and its treatment of women, but at the same time it is a religion and I wouldn’t do something in a place that others hold sacred just to get my own agenda across. Their whole stunt feels tacky and self-serving.

Meanwhile, from Spain, comes another story with women stripping down in the name of something they believe in—Spanish moms strip down to save school bus: Skin to Win! by George Mallet.

In Montserrat, Spain, 10 mothers are showing some serious skin in a sexy calendar being sold to raise money in the face of Spain's austerity measures. The proceeds are being used to restore a reduction in bus service for 600 elementary school students.”

So a bunch of moms weren’t about to stand around while their kids’ school bus was taken away and they did what they thought would raise the most funds—pose for a sexy calendar.

As all the attention both of these stories are receiving shows, sometimes just doing something in the buff can get you the publicity you want to get your side of things out there or save something you need.

So the questions remain…should nudity be used to get attention? Are there some cases where it’s more acceptable and some that are just too risqué and “morally” questionable? Or should we all just strip down when we want to be heard?

Friday, February 22, 2013

What if the stripping Columbia professor had been a woman?


There’s been a lot of buzz about a certain stripping down that happened at Columbia University; the story even made it to The Chronicle of Higher Education’s website: Columbia Freshmen Are Baffled by Physics Professor’s Stripped-Down Stunt by Charles Huckabee.

“First-year students in a “Frontiers of Science” course at Columbia University were shocked and confused on Monday when their professor, Emlyn Hughes, began what was to be a lecture on quantum physics by stripping to his shorts and changing clothes in front of them.”

After his performance, which included video footage of 9/11 and two people entering dressed in all black and stabbing at teddy bears with swords, Hughes states, "In order to learn quantum mechanics, you have to strip to your raw, erase all the garbage from your brain, and start over again."

Being an English major I have to admit I know nothing about quantum mechanics, but from what I can surmise, the professor was trying to shock and confuse students to prepare their minds for opening to what he was about to teach them.

I ‘m not surprised that so many people are balking at his teaching and thinking he’s just a loon and a liberal, but I would think the students would at least appreciate his creative approach.

Here’s a professor willing to look foolish to capture young minds’ interest. This is what lies at the heart of good teaching.

While I would probably never strip in front of a class because that would definitely be perceived differently if a woman did it and because of my background, I do silly things all the time to get the students’ interest (like singing in an opera voice to quiet the class down). It’s impossible to teach if you don’t have a student’s attention.

I am curious though how this dialogue would be different if the professor had been a woman. Would the stripping down and changing of clothes be thought of as more scandalous? Would she be accused of sexual harassment? Would she be accused of using her body to get what she wants? Would she be considered slutty and attention-seeking?

Friday, February 15, 2013

A Modest Proposal for the Page 3 Debate



For Preventing the Feminists of the World from Being a Burden to Men or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Public

For those not familiar with the UK’s tabloid the Sun, the Page 3 Girls are topless women whose photos appear in the daily paper. There have been numerous attempts made by women to rid the Sun of these women most famously by the campaign No More Page 3. 

With the latest headline news coverage of a tweet and its response I feel it is time to put an end to this matter of the Sun’s Page 3 Girls. I am referring to the article on The Huffington Post The Sun'sPage 3 Girls: Has Rupert Murdoch Hinted The End To Topless Feature? by Jessica Elgot.

In a Twitter response to Karen Mason, @Kazipooh, who said “@rupertmurdoch #nomorepage3 Seriously, we are all so over page 3 - it is so last century!”, Rupert Murdoch, @rupertmurdoch, said: “You maybe (sic) right, don't know but considering. Perhaps halfway house with glamorous fashionistas.”

With apologies to Jonathon Swift, who is so three centuries ago, I believe I may have an answer to the problem.

It is quite tiresome to turn on the news and listen to all the bedraggled, overweight feminists raging on about how photos of topless women in the media lead to the degradation of women and even possibly domestic violence.

I think we can all agree that the aging and let’s be frank, shall we, ugly women who think women should not expose themselves in newspapers are tedious and so out-of-touch with what young, beautiful women want. It is not even just these so-called “feminists” that I have a proposal for, but in fact, all women of the beauty ideal age that society deems pleasing to look at.

I have thought long and hard on this subject and believe that for women to truly learn their correct position in our society that not only should the Page 3 Girls not be removed from the Sun, but that they should, in fact, be added to every print publication in existence.

The number of women deemed attractive enough for print will dictate the number of pages needed to be added to publications, hence possibly causing the need for Page 4, 5 and 6 Girls at times.

I am assured by the number of tits-and-ass-loving gentlemen of our current society that there will be ample space for all women of the correct age to be photographed, which I will go out on a limb and suggest to be between the ages of 18 and 24.

I shall now therefore humbly propose my own thoughts, which I hope will not be liable to the least objection.

Every woman who comes of age in our society shall have to pass through a screening process of pre-selected men who will choose which women will be deemed attractive enough to be photographed topless and shared with popular culture for the betterment of male-kind and also for helping to concretize women’s proper place on the totem pole of gender hierarchy.

Many other advantages for our society will include: the reordering of our gender identities back into their rightful places, the reminder to women that men are the ones in charge of deciding who and what is considered beautiful, the monetary reward for the models who might go unemployed otherwise, the reassurance to men everywhere that their urge to see women half naked at their convenience is not only a right but a necessity.

I can think of no objection that could be raised to this proposal other than some incessant Twitter chats begun by uppity and uncooperative womyn who may argue that this proposal is sexist and degrading and that they cannot be made to strip for others’ enjoyment. To them I would say that any other recipes for redressing women’s complaints about sexism and female degradation have failed, often at the hands of women themselves: women cannot agree even that they themselves are beautiful, but rather write endless blogs of how to boost body image and self-esteem; feminists fight amongst themselves as to what is actually “feminist” or not; women wish to be seen as equal to men, but still insist on being the ones to bear children; the beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that proves women are concerned about one thing and one thing only—becoming a Page 3 Girl.

I confess that I have no personal gain to be made from this proposal as I am way past the age of ideal beauty and would most definitely not pass muster with a pre-selected male committee deciding the value of my beauty.

Monday, February 04, 2013

Free Breasts Contest for Flat-Chested Women


Q102 radio station in Philly wants to help out an unfortunate woman this year. A woman unfortunate enough to have been dealt the serious blow of being small-breasted.

DO YOU NEED COSMETIC BREAST SURGERY? 
Are you looking to make some big changes in the New Year? Need a lift after the holidays? Then listen up! All you need to do is submit a tasteful picture of yourself showcasing your tiny ta-tas.

How fabulous is a contest like this for women’s self esteem? If you have small breasts, there must be something missing from your life. If you do not have the body of a porn star, there must be something wrong with you.

Photo of Q102 contestant
Who would pass up this opportunity for a new pair of free breasts?

As I flipped through the photos of the contestants I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful they already are.

Why must we continually push women to want to be something other than what they are?

While I think every woman needs to make her own choices for what is right for her, it still feels pretty disheartening for people to actively be implying that a woman’s body is flawed or somehow imperfect if it doesn’t match the standards of our culture.

When are we going to say enough is enough?

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Celebrate Strength and Beauty, Not Plastic Surgery

Photo from www.Jezebel.com

I feel completely unnerved by reading I Can’t Stop Looking at These South Korean Women Who’ve Had Plastic Surgery by Dodai Stewart on Jezebel.

I thought that America would have the highest percentage of plastic surgeries in the world, but apparently not.

One in five women in Seoul have undergone some kind of procedure. Most popular: Eyelid surgery, to make the eyes "more Western," and getting your jawbone shaved or chiseled down for a less-square and more V-shaped look.

I find it hard to imagine happily living in a society where getting plastic surgery is considered on par with wearing makeup.

Yes, it is wonderful to feel beautiful, but at what price?

I want to raise my daughter to define her own beauty, to embrace her own sense of style and uniqueness. To do that, I must work on living that for myself every day.

I want to model for my daughter that I am not afraid or ashamed of who I am today or yesterday. Who I am is beautiful. Who she is, is beautiful.

We define for ourselves what is beautiful.

And with that said, I am happy to announce my new website’s, This Is My Beautiful, first beautiful woman--Cherry Red Rachy
Photo of Cherry Red Rachy
 Please share and help all women celebrate their inner and outer beauty!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Nadya Suleman Returns to Stripping

Phot of Nadya Suleman, Octomom, by Reality TV Magazine

Donna W. Martin writes for She Knows’ Reality TV Magazine: OctomomNadya Suleman Takes to the Stripper Pole, Again.

According to E! News, Suleman will return the pole Thursday Feb. 14 through Saturday Feb. 16 at T’s Lounge in West Palm Beach, Florida where she will give four 15 minute shows and bartend.

After Nadya Suleman’s foray into porn and stripping last year she seemed set up for awhile to take care of her children. Unfortunately, that money did not last long and she has now found herself needing to return to stripping once again to get off welfare.

Welcome to the wonderful world of stripping that I remember only too well.

When I first started stripping at eighteen I had a goal—save enough money to move to New York City to be an actress. I thought I would be stripping for only a year, but what happened instead was that stripping became my way of earning money when I felt I had no other options.

I would come and go back to it for over six years. I believe Suleman has fallen into the same trap, but on a larger scale, especially since she has so many children to take care of.

Once I had it in my mind that stripping was my fallback for fast cash, it was always there. Waiting. Calling me.

Photo of Sheila Hageman, aka Kirea
I cannot judge what Suleman feels she needs to do now because I know the feeling of thinking there is no other answer. And she is being offered a large sum of money, too, which would make this decision even more difficult.

Who are we to judge her choice when she sees returning to stripping for a few days as a way to care for her children? And who knows that we might not make the same choice if presented with it and in her situation?

And, perhaps, just perhaps, Suleman actually enjoys the attention and the acknowledgement of her worth even in a form that most people judge as wrong.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

From Porn Star to Teacher to Unemployed

PHOTO BY ANTHONY PLASCENCIA, STAR PHOTO, FILE

A teacher, Stacie Halas, has been let go from her job in California because of her porn past. This has been an ongoing story for the past year.

“An eighth-grade teacher in Oxnard who appeared in adult films for the money before she became a teacher was deemed unfit to teach, a three-member panel of California state administrative judges has ruled,” reported NBC News.

In this day of the Internet how do say our past is past when our “past” can still be purchased on the web? Is it fair to judge people for what they did in the past when what they want to do in the present is teach?

I guess it’s not about fair, but about what people perceive about our pasts.

Being a porn actress is not illegal, so why should it take away the opportunity to do good in the present?

I obviously can see how it could be distracting for students to know they can see photos of their teacher naked, but these are middle-school students. They shouldn't be surfing the web for porn at this age.

And if they do happen to see their teacher naked, so what? If Ms. Halas is willing to deal with this added burden as she teaches, why should it be a matter to fire her for?

If it’s true that she lied about her past, I can’t say that I blame her. She was probably just trying to avoid this situation.

For all I know, I may not have received certain teaching jobs because of my past and my vocal-ness of discussing it.

Do you think ex-porn actors and models should be allowed to teach?

Monday, January 14, 2013

This Is My Beautiful Website Launch

Photo of Sheila Hageman by Keyvan Behpour

Introducing my new website project--This Is My Beautiful.

This Is My Beautiful is a safe space to share and celebrate our diverse beauty as women, a place to proudly say to the world—This Is My Beautiful!

We live in a world where what is considered to be female beauty is often predetermined and shaped for our consumption. Let’s change that by celebrating beauty in all its shapes, sizes, colors and subtle nuances.
Break the cycle of body shame and self-hatred!

Our life stories and dreams can be found in both our inner and outer beauty. There is nothing wrong with celebrating our physical beauty—our outer uniqueness! And we all are beautiful.

We need practice as women saying This Is My Beautiful and I’m proud. Too often we believe it’s egotistical to recognize and discuss what makes us beautiful on the outside. Sayings like “Beauty is only skin deep” lead us to think that being aware of our outer beauty is shallow and rude. But if we look around ourselves we are able to see and celebrate beauty in others and the world.

A beautiful sunset can remind us of a deeper beauty that lies beneath the outer container. Physical beauty can represent the beauty, the love, the passion that lies inside our hearts and souls.

Capture your beautiful, your sexy, your confidence. Nourish your soul by proclaiming to the world that you are allowed to own your beauty. Let’s affirm for each other our Beautifuls that may never have been noticed or affirmed before.

Share a photo of yourself where you exhibit your beautiful and tell us why the photograph creates that feeling for you. It can be a close-up of one of your toes or a long shot of you standing holding your child—whatever photograph you look at and feel proud, happy and in love with yourself in some way.

Please visit This Is My Beautiful and share your photo and story today!

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Not Over Until the Fat Lady Sings (Or Strips)


An excerpt from Stephanie Howell’s essay Stripper Role Sparks Artist's Body Acceptance on Women’s enews is going to be my inspiration for the New Year.

Howell explains how when she was cast as a fat stripper in Gypsy that she couldn’t “escape” anyone or her body. There were mirrors, actors, audiences and she was forced to deal with her “fat” body.

“It was through performing Mazeppa and embracing fearlessness that I was able to construct a new understanding of "fat" and the "performance of fatness" in my live performances. I made the conscious decision that I didn't have to hate my body anymore. I didn't have to hide my body anymore--I didn't have to be ashamed of my fatness. That's not to say that newfound acceptance of my fat body happened overnight--it didn't. This was a slow, slow process. A slow process that began with me being grateful that I had a working and functional body--I hadn't damaged my physical body through my own abuse.”

I think when we focus on body acceptance we want it to be an instant fix, but as Howell points out, a change like this takes time to really take hold.

“Through this appreciation, I was able to see my body in a different light. Fat didn't mean "bad," "unworthy," "unlovable" or "undesirable." I began wearing clothing that fit close to my body. I wanted people to see my fatness. I would no longer be invisible. This appreciation of my fatness sparked my professional work.”

This sense of acceptance is what I strive for everyday. An acceptance of my less than perfect parts.

I wonder if stripping, in its literal sense, is a healthy act for women in this context. If we could all be forced to play the role of a stripper and end up having such a positive experience afterwards, it would be totally worth it.

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Erotic Ballerina Addicted to Drugs Finds Memoir


From xo Jane: Caitlin Thomas writes in WHAT IT'S REALLYLIKE: I'M A DRUG-ADDICTED STRIPPER: Empowerment comes in the front door when I can make rent in a singular evening. Yet, it leaves through the back door when I blow it all on pills.

I like this woman’s honesty, but it does make me wonder what the correct response is from the reader.

Should we be happy that she’s coherent enough to string together words?

Should we rub our hands together with glee because we knew all along that strippers were all a bunch of druggies?

Should we think it’s so cool and edgy to write about one’s own vices while in the midst of them with that oh-so-cooler-than-thou-attitude of superiority?

Or do we examine the role of memoir as it is used here to hopefully enable this woman to see her demons out in the open and perhaps start dealing with them before it is too late?

Personal writing can be used to help people in the midst of traumatic experiences process the experience and see it for what it is. Thomas’ simple act of reflecting on her experience, which she admits is stereotypical in most people’s eyes, will hopefully allow her to understand herself better and deeper. 

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Stripping Down: A Memoir - Free for Kindle!

Pink Fish Press is doing a special holiday giveaway of all their titles. 

If you don't have my memoir, Stripping Down, here's your chance to get it for free for Kindle! 

Here's a look at all the other great titles from Pink Fish Press!

Just head over to Amazon and they all can be yours for free!




TAKING FLIGHT
      by Adrian R. Magnuson  
Jeremy Walsh's parents assume he's been abducted by the elderly man he met on a cross-country flight, but it's the other way around.   
Share in the journey of two unlikely companions who meet in midair: 13-year-old Jeremy, sent against his will by his career-absorbed father to spend the summer with his bipolar mother in New York, and Harry Herndon, elderly, one-legged and afflicted with mid-stage Alzheimer's, who escapes the confinement of home for what may be his last adventure. Outcasts of sorts, they begin their cross-country getaway, trailed by Harry's wife and Jeremy's parents, each of whom threaten to cut their journey short. The story that follows is a race against time and circumstance as the two quickly bond over their mutual love of birding while experiencing the joys and growing pains of Taking Flight in their own, very different, ways.

STRIPPING DOWN
      by Sheila Hageman
"I feel the weight of the hammer from the dusty workbench in my sweaty palm and hit the padlock. My heart thumps in my bony chest. I listen for the humming sound of my mother's car backing into the driveway. I hit again. I listen. The lock pops open."  
At twelve years old, everything changed for Sheila with the discovery of her estranged father's porn collection. Found locked away in a corner of the basement, the glossy images ignite in her an unrelenting desire for attention and adoration. Now, reflections on her past as a stripper permeate her thoughts as she takes on the new roles of mother, caregiver and wife. While helping her baby daughter take her first steps, she nurses her mother through the final stages of breast cancer. This powerful and beautiful story is a moving meditation on a woman's life through her body, motherhood and loss.  
Spiraling through memories and torn between the woman she is becoming and the woman she has been, Sheila Hageman is continually Stripping Down.

THESE THINGS I KNOW
      by Jessica Karbowiak
Jessica Karbowiak's beautiful short stories and essays chronicle the narrator's growth from a space of victimization, to observer and ultimately redemption. Its theme of learning how to live in the world covers the author's own personal tragedies, historical accounts, surreal short stories on acceptance and self-worth and finally becoming whole—even as a damaged creature.  
The collection is gorgeous, challenging, peculiar and experimental. As much about the writing as the narrative, the author bends perception by lyrically manipulating her words and their meanings into a unique reading experience. These Things I Know is equal parts art piece, narrative and memoir, and will fill readers with a sense of wonder and hope as they turn each page.

NO ONE EVER ASKED ME THAT: Conversations on the Afterlife
      by Catherine Levison
What are the purposes of imagination? Catherine Levison was intrigued by topics like this from an early age. Seeking more meaningful conversations, she developed a series of questions to bypass small talk and enable others to speak comfortably on deep issues. Not only did her approach generate unforgettable conversations, it had a profound effect on those she spoke with. This book compiles interviews, held over the course of more than a decade with a diverse group of people, from monks, to teachers, to dish washers. The results are thought-provoking, often surprising and you will find yourself wondering why no one ever asked you that.

GUIDEBOOK FOR WORKING WITH SMALL INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS
      By Terry Persun
There are only a handful of corporate publishers and literally thousands of independent presses. For authors looking to publish, the choices can be daunting. This guidebook explains the pros and cons of making the choice to work with small publishers, explains the independent press process, and offers a valuable sample marketing plan. With years of publishing experience, author Terry Persun helps navigate the world of small, independent publishers in this concise and illuminating guidebook.



Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Arne Duncan Strips Down to Save Our Kids' Education!



Even the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, is Stripping Down now, but it’s in the name of paying for kids’ education, y’all!

Saying it was his only real option to earn much-needed cash, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters Tuesday he had been forced to start working as an erotic dancer at the local strip club Peaches in order to put the nation’s students through school.

Ok, yes…this article appears in The Onion. But they really got the stripper dialogue down!

“Taking off your clothes in front of strangers isn’t for everyone, but I’m confident in my body, and regardless, I need to get the money somehow,” said Duncan, who performs under the stage name Velvet. “I’m not planning on doing this forever, just until all 49.8 million kids in our public elementary and secondary schools can graduate. Then I can go back to my regular job.”

There really are strippers out there in the clubs saying this very thing with just a few slight differences.

As a former stripper I can sit here and say that yes, a lot of us strippers can justify our jobs even when we don’t especially like what we are doing. Hey! We’ve got to support the kids, right?

Of course, I would think that goes for most people who don’t like or don’t feel 100% great about their work.

This brings up a real issue when it comes to strippers and a great place for the rest of us to practice compassion—if we were to imagine strippers (or insert a person/worker who you think is doing something immoral) as moms trying to put their kids through school, feed the family and support the household, could we have more compassion and understanding for them?

Perhaps we all “Strip Down” in some way in our lives when we need to—and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Friday, November 23, 2012

Ban on Public Nudity Needed?


As a woman who has posed nude in public places and gone close to nude on public beaches, I understand people’s desire to be free of clothing. And I also understand the whole freedom of expression angle.


CNN reports on San Francisco’s ban on public nudity: San Francisco approves public nudity ban; protesters strip down.

“Supervisor Scott Wiener, who introduced the ordinance, disputed claims that the measure violates freedom of expression.
 "We're a city that believes in freedom, and we've always believed in freedom and free expression," Wiener told CNN affilite KGO. "But taking your pants off at Castro and Market and displaying your genitals to everyone, that's not free expression."
 But some nudists have filed a lawsuit claiming the ban violates their First Amendment rights.”
I can understand why public nudity could be a problem when there are kids around or when people are abusing the right, but overall I don’t have a problem with it.

If a person really just feels more comfortable nude and they’re not out there swinging things around or anything, what’s the big deal? Nude is our natural state after all.

I don’t think there are too many people who really want to go around naked in public anyway.



Do you think there needs to be a ban on public nudity?

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Dressing Up is the New Stripping Down



There’s so much to love about this article on NBC News: From farmer to supermodel: China's latest fashion sensation is 72-year-old granddad.

It seems Liu Qianping, a retired farmer, was having fun trying on some of his granddaughter’s clothes for her shop when she decided to take some photos. What got passed around in fun turned into a viral sensation.

Now Grandpa is the model for his granddaughter’s online store.

“Most special is that I could do something for my little granddaughter. I feel fulfilled," Qianping said.

I love seeing people having fun with life and trying new things and not caring what others think. And when those people end up being celebrated and “seen,” it just makes me light up.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Stripping Down for the Camera

Cameron Diaz from STV

 According to STV, Cameron Diaz enjoys stripping down and posing for the camera.

She told The Sunday Times newspaper: ''It's empowering. I'm not some young girl with the photographer going, 'Will you take your clothes off?' I'm like [mimes stripping], 'How does this look?'

That is an interesting difference to point out. As a former model, I do know that I felt more comfortable posing in the nude for some photographers than I did fully dressed for others. The sense of empowerment comes from doing what I felt comfortable with and what I felt empowered to do.

Do most women think it’s okay for other women or themselves to pose nude or in a provocative way as long as the woman feels empowered by it?

Diaz went on to explain ''I think every woman does want to be objectified. There's a little part of you at all times that hopes to be somewhat objectified, and I think it’s healthy.''

What do you think about what Diaz says? I’m not sure that I would agree that “every woman” wants to be objectified. I think I understand what she is trying to say though—that many women want to be seen as beautiful, which might be different than wanting to be objectified.

Is there a way for women to have it all when it comes to feeling beautiful for themselves and being objectified by men?

Can these two desires actually work together? Or are those two different ends that cannot meet?

Friday, November 16, 2012

A Girl's Need to Feel: Purposeful, Accomplished and Special



I was a huge fan of Little House on the Prairie when I was a girl; I read all the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and then watched and rewatched the television series.


Melissa Francis played Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on the hit television series. In an excerpt from her book, Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter: A Memoir, she talks about her childhood and her relationship with her mother.

“The day I won that part may have been the highlight of Mom’s life. Our two years on Little House on the Prairie were without question her happiest. There was no reason for me to talk back, or for her to take a scissor to my favorite shirt in front of me in response. I cried on cue, the adoration on the set enveloped me. Rebukes from Mom were short-lived, lest I show up for work uncooperative. But in truth, we were both so happy there was nothing to struggle over. She woke me at 5 am to make an early call and we worked well into the evening, but I loved the sense of purpose an acting job gave me, as well as the sense of accomplishment, and, of course, feeling so very special.”

What strikes me is how much what she says in the final line resonates with what I have written about and how I have described my experience in my teens: but I loved the sense of purpose an acting job gave me, as well as the sense of accomplishment, and, of course, feeling so very special.

Reading this in someone else’s words just makes me realize how important those needs are for some girls. And I’m wondering what we can learn from this description of young womanhood.

How do we give our girls ways to meet those needs, but in healthy ways?

How can we help our daughters to feel purposeful, accomplished and special through age-appropriate and beneficial rituals or activities?

I am not knocking acting for young girls; I think there are many good aspects of it. But I want to find ways for my daughter to feel all these empowering feelings without having to “perform.”

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Baring All For Our Children


Please visit Alicia Kamm's new website, Born Ready Baby. She interviewed me for a piece, Mom Bares All: Now & Then.

Baring all, stripping down, seems like such an important task for women today. Especially as mothers. I want my daughter to not enter the world without knowledge or to be stunned when she loses her innocence.

It's a wobbly line I walk as I figure out how and when to talk to my daughter about my past. But I know it's so important to be honest and to present her with a good role model.

Celebrity Baby Scoop reports on actress Melissa McCarthy about how she deals with talking to her own young daughters about her issues in Melissa McCarthy: I Don’t Want To Pass On Negative Body Image To Daughters.

Mom-of-two Melissa McCarthy opens up about her weight in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping. ”Sometimes I wish I were just magically a size six and I never had to give [my weight] a single thought,” the Bridesmaids star admits. 
“But I am weirdly healthy, so I don’t beat myself up about it – it wouldn’t help, and I don’t want to pass that on to my girls,” she adds.

As moms we are so hyper-vigilant about not passing on our issues to our daughters, which I think is good.

If we're aware enough to understand what will probably affect our children, hopefully we're conscious enough to also be working on our issues for ourselves, too.

Are there any issues or bad habits that you worry about passing on to your children?

Monday, November 05, 2012

Proud to Be Wearing Clean Underwear

When it comes to positive body image advice, it sometimes seems like there's nothing new under the sun to add.

While that may be true, you never know when someone will spark a new can-do attitude in someone who's never come across that idea before. Or sometimes, just the way someone else presents a time-tested tip can be just what you need to hear.

Here's a  list of helpful hints from Yahoo Shine: 15 Ways to Get a Killer Body Image.

I like number 1:
1. Before you leave your apartment in the morning, take a moment to strike a ridiculous (-ly attractive) pose in the mirror. It's silly, but it's good to take a moment and remember how hot you are when you're just out of the shower and freshly primped for the day. 
Except I don't know if I always feel that attractive in the morning. Especially not when I'm just throwing on clothes to get out of the house on time with three kids.

And today I have a cold, feel depressed and achy. Let's see if I can somehow make myself feel beautiful even when I feel like crap and my primping consisted of putting on clean underpants and brushing my teeth.


What can we learn from the above photo of me as compared to the model in the pretty blue sweater at the start of this blog?

Well, first of all, I really need to wipe off the kids' fingerprint smudges from my bedroom mirror. And secondly, I may not look so "hot" in this photo. But seeing as I managed to clothe myself, deliver my kids to school, and come home to a heated house, I guess I'm feeling pretty good about myself today.

Sometimes body image takes a backseat to being proud of ourselves for just getting up and out there even when we're not feeling so "hot."

Saturday, November 03, 2012

Yoga Girl

I stumbled on this video Yoga Girl, which brightened up my day when I was feeling stressed.

I've just been trying to figure out where yoga fits in with my life in the world today and how to modernize it and make it more applicable to my own life and myself as a woman.

This is a pretty funny take on a lot of the issues I have about yoga and women.

 

Dj Dave and Barney Kook bust an R and B inspired ballad dedicated to Yoga Girls all over the world.

Friday, November 02, 2012

Model Poses in Sandy's Destruction


Do people have no shame anymore when it comes to publicity?

Wait...this doesn't surprise me at all.

Publicity is all about doing something that gets attention. Model Nana Gouvêa got attention. Posing amid Sandy's destruction.


I like the Internet Memes that have sprung up showing Gouvêa inserted into different tragedies.

Alas, that just gives her more free publicity, which is probably what this was all about.


If this had been done in the name of Art (with a capital"A"), would it have made a difference?


Perhaps if there was a vision or a message being sent, I would think, yes.


What do you think? Can and should Art be made from devastation?



Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Lap Dancing is Not an Art Says New York Court


The AP reports that the courts have decided and the verdict is...lap dancing is not an art!

I had a feeling that his might be the finding, but what surprises me is how close the vote was; the vote was split 4 to 3.

It looks like Nite Moves strip club is going to have to cough up the back taxes they owe or get to choreographing those lap dances better. Maybe throw a few tutus on the dancers. You know, high-brow it up a bit.

What do you think? Should stripping or lap dancing be considered an art?


Wednesday, September 26, 2012

The Sun's Page 3 Topless Women Issue


Can you imagine the outrage if an American daily newspaper decided to start publishing photos of topless women inside their pages?

The UK's Sun has something called Page 3 Women, which is just that. Every day. Every page 3. A topless woman.

It seems like such a sad representation of our society that in this day and age topless women would adorn a news daily.

And I'm not a man-hater or anti-topless women. I think the nude body is a beautiful thing.

But I think there's a place for everything. And a daily newspaper that little girls might pick up and glance at is not the place for representing women as simply objects.

Check out my blog for the UK's Huffington Post on this issue: Former Topless Model Advocates Highlighting Women's Talents and Abilities in the Sun.


Friday, September 21, 2012

Living with Depression

Image of Sheila Hageman
Depression can be a very serious illness, which affects so many people in different ways.

I'm so relieved when I see depression being spoken about more openly in the news. The more we learn about depression and open the conversation to everyone, the more research and help will become available.

Here is my ireport for CNN on depression and how to live with depression we need to stop fighting it...

Read the story here...

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Sexual Contracts Open Up the Conversation



My segment from Huff Post Live on sexual contracts ended up on the homepage of AOL.

Check out my interview: Has She Found the 'Key to Better Sex’?: Sheila Hageman claims a small relationship technique will lead to life-changing improvements -- and it can work for anyone. Method supposedly reinvigorates marriages

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Stripping as Art? Life as Art!

I had a fun interview with Thom Hartmann on The Big Picture about whether stripping is an art.

I absolutely think that stripping can be an art, I really do.

There were times when I would really get into character and feel incredibly sexy and beautiful and put on an amazing performance.

But there were other days, other stages, where I felt belittled and demeaned where I could barely move my body.

I do think stripping can be done as an art, just as anything can be actually.

Unfortunately, we're all so busy just trying to earn our salary and make a living that we often lose touch with approaching living itself as an art.

Life can be done as an art. That is what I strive for.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

When and Where is Breastfeeding OK in the Public's Opinion?



I wrote about Professor Adrienne Pine's breastfeeding in class for the Huffington Post: Breastfeeding Professor's Non-Incident Makes Headlines: When Will Moms Be Allowed to do it all in Order to Have it All?

Yahoo's headline made me think this professor was using the classroom as political statement: "Feminist Anthropology Professor Blasted for Breastfeeding During Class," but nothing could be farther from the truth.

Professor Adrienne Pine had a dilemma on the first day of her Sex, Gender and Culture class at American University in Washington, D.C when her baby had a fever and couldn't go to daycare. She didn't want her students to miss the introductory class, so she brought along her child to it. Her child did fine for awhile, but when she got cranky, she breastfed for a few minutes until the baby fell asleep.

Professor Pine never meant to make a statement. She was just trying to teach her class. Unfortunately, some students went to the college's newspaper, where they were all too eager to make it a story. Despite Pine's attempts to explain the situation and show what a non-issue this was, it has turned into headline news...

Read the rest at The Huffington Post...