So at 8am this morning, AMP will be revealing the winner of the “Breast Summer Ever” contest. A contest I’ve been fighting against since they announced it and I wrote my open letter. I still feel exactly the same about this contest as I did on June 13, but I know so much more now.

This contest has brought to my attention the epidemic of rampant sexualization in our media. My eyes have been opened to the effect it has on every one of us, man, woman and child. I have met some amazing people as a result of my campaign and learned some staggering statistics.

So the contest is over, now what do I do?

Should I lick my wounds that I couldn’t get the contest cancelled? I don’t think so. What this experience has taught me the most is the power of one. I am not claiming that I have brought the media to their knees in some David-and-Goliath type victory, far from it. What I am claiming is that one person can make a difference. One person can ignite the passion in many and convince them to do something instead of standing idly by. One person can initiate change.

So with all that being said what do I do now? I can’t go back to the ignorance of not realizing how much we are being manipulated by the media and marketing gurus, you just can’t un-ring that bell. I see the glaringly obvious (now) signs in every bus ad, magazine and commercial. Do I try to take on the entire media? All the fashion magazines that airbrush and photo-shop their cover girls into oblivion? Maybe I should go after Hollywood for how poorly they represent women in their movies.

That might be a bite bigger than I can chew.

What I can do, is support organizations like the Canadian Women’s Foundation Girl’s Fund.

So here’s my plan, I designed this shirt and put it up for sale on Zazzle. I have a few more shirts in the works that I will add to the store as they are ready. My thought is to donate the proceeds from the sale of the shirts to the Canadian Women’s Foundation.

I hope to raise awareness both in the people that buy these shirts, as well as the people that see them. The proceeds will benefit the Girl’s fund, which runs camps for girls teaching them critical thinking techniques, leadership skills, self esteem and self confidence.

The t shirts are available in pretty much any style or colour you could want, including kid’s sizes.

I’m also dedicating Wednesdays on my blog to women. A dedicated post each week (hopefully!) to raise awareness and promote ideas and people.

Thanks so much for staying with me so far, and I hope you’ll stick around to see what’s coming.

I’m so happy today to have Melissa Wardy as a guest blogger today. She is an amazing lady who manages to juggle her own family, business and blogs as well as taking companies like Submarine Kids to task. I actually think she might be Wonder Woman.

It is not the stories that became a part of this contest, or their reasons for wanting new breasts. It is not the ten faces of the already beautiful women who gave this contest life. It is not the judgments we place on women who want to change their bodies in this way.

My issue with this contest is the way that 90.3 AMP Radio is exploiting the insecurities of these ten women and running it under the guise of helping women feel better about themselves. And worse, taking what these women feel lowest about in regards to their body image, and turning it into a contest. Air wave meme floating on the bogus notion they are “helping” women because perfect fake tits really is what makes the world go round.

Of all the ridiculous summer contests I’ve heard to keep ratings up, to be the ‘next big thing’…. this has to be the most offensive of them all. Why didn’t station management listen to the intern who suggested they give away puppies? Or jet skis? Jet-ski riding puppies? No, sloths! Jet-ski riding baby sloths. Now there is a radio contest I can get behind. Saline breast implants was unanimous? That was the best idea they had on the table? And if this isn’t about sexism and profiteering off of women’s body insecurities, I can be assured we’ll see “Cock & Balls Christmas: AMP Radio Gives You Inches During the Giving Season. Fa la la la la” and ten grand for penis enlargement, right? No, of course we won’t.

I wonder if DJs Kelsey Moore or Katie Summers feel pangs of ass-hattery as they chat up the contest during their shows? What are the demographics for AMP listeners that are girls or women ages 5-65 years old who are also under relentless pressure from other media sources to fit into the very narrow Beauty Ideal, and how does this contest directly feed into that? Did AMP station management give more than ten minutes of thought to this and how it would be received by the public? Does Promotions Manager Emma Harding really think it is in the best interest of the station to publish complaint letters and poke fun of them on the station’s Facebook page? Is that really the best way to engage the public using social media? I think that action makes the contest look more sophomoric than it already did. Unless, of course, you read the station’s Contest Rules, which seem to have been written by someone’s 4th grader clever enough to copy and paste and little legal jargon in there….there’s nothing professional about it, and I would be embarrassed to advertise with them.

Some of the stories of the ten women were compelling, but that doesn’t give any validity to this contest. Hey AMP, why not leave women’s bodies alone, and instead have a contest that pays off debt or buys a new home or give away eco-vacations to Costa Rica or Sno-Cones for life?

At the end of the day the schtick will be up, AMP’s listeners will have forgotten about this contest in a month, and the only boobs left around are the people of AMP 90.3 FM. The only thing that will leave a lasting impression is one more message to women and girls that our bodies are here to be judged and graded by others, and that we’ll never be beautiful enough.

 

Melissa Atkins Wardy owns Pigtail Pals –Redefine Girly, an apparel company for girls, and writes for the Redefine Girly blog, fighting gender stereotypes and sexualization in girlhood. You can find her at www.pigtailpals.com.