Wednesday, October 19, 2005

October 19th - Love Your Body Day

Love Your Body Day 2005 is October 19

Hollywood and the fashion, cosmetics and diet industries work hard to make each of us believe that our bodies are unacceptable and need constant improvement. Print ads and television commercials reduce us to body parts — lips, legs, breasts — airbrushed and touched up to meet impossible standards. TV shows tell women and teenage girls that cosmetic surgery is good for self-esteem. Is it any wonder that more than 80% of fourth-grade girls have been on some form of fad diet?

Women and girls spend billions of dollars every year on cosmetics, fashion, magazines and diet aids. These industries can't use negative images to sell their products without our assistance.

Together, we can fight back.

Love Your Body: What You Can Do

Love Your Body: Get the Facts

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Queen Latifah Encourages Others to Honor Confident, Courageous Women

Queen Latifah Encourages Others to Honor Confident, Courageous Women

Friday September 30, 3:54 pm ET
October 8th Deadline Nearing to Nominate Candidates for Confidence Awards Program

SECAUCUS, N.J., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Each day, inspiring women across the country help other women gain confidence and self-esteem through community education, fund-raising, self-empowerment and volunteer programs. Queen Latifah is reminding women that they have less than two weeks left to nominate these often unsung heroes for the CURVATION PROJECT CONFIDENCE AWARDS, a nationwide search to recognize women who personify and project the power of confidence. Entries for the awards must be postmarked by October 8, 2005.

"I encourage you to nominate a woman who has inspired you to feel more confident by being instrumental in creating or participating in programs that help women embrace the power of confidence," said Queen Latifah, CURVATION® spokesperson, inspiration and creative advisor. "These awards provide a wonderful opportunity to honor someone for their efforts and contribute to their individual program or cause. I'm looking forward to reading the entries about the amazing work women are doing across the country."

Five finalists will be chosen by Queen Latifah and a panel of experts. The finalists will receive a $2,000 grant towards the program or cause with which they are affiliated, so that they can continue their work in building women's confidence. The panel will choose one grand prize winner, who will be awarded an additional $10,000 grant to support her project or program. In addition, Wal*Mart has offered to donate an additional $5,000, adding another $1,000 to each finalist's prize. All finalists will be honored at a CURVATION PROJECT CONFIDENCE AWARDS ceremony, hosted by Queen Latifah, in early 2006.

"I credit much of who I am today to the confidence I was given as a child. Strong, independent women like my mother and grandmother showed me the power of believing in myself. Now I want to pass this message on. By helping women build their confidence, we help them live more fulfilling lives," added Queen Latifah.

To nominate a strong, confident woman, visit http://www.curvation.com or mail in a completed entry form, available by calling 1-800-505-2378.

The CURVATION PROJECT CONFIDENCE AWARDS is part of the multi-year, multi- part CURVATION PROJECT CONFIDENCE initiative, which in turn is part of the extended partnership agreement between the Curvation brand and Queen Latifah announced by VF Intimates in June. CURVATION NATION, another component of CURVATION PROJECT CONFIDENCE, is an online community where women who have embraced the power of confidence can inspire and share their ideas with an ever-widening community. Women who visit the CURVATION NATION website -- http://www.curvation.com -- can opt-in to receive CURVATION® product and event updates.

-snip-

Monday, October 03, 2005

Fat & Choice: A Personal Essay

Fat & Choice: A Personal Essay
by Marilyn Wann

Plenty of people think that I choose to be fat. Currently, it's popular to believe that everyone's weight is a choice, readily influenced by eating and exercise. This is a big, fat lie.

Why would anyone (the government, doctors, advertisers, the media) lie? To make money. Fat hatred -- and fear of fat -- sells. Every year, Americans waste $50 billion on products that promise (and fail to deliver) lasting weight loss. In fact, the ongoing existence of weight-loss methods (plural) is proof that all of them conform to the medically documented 90 percent to 98 percent failure rate; i.e., if any one of them "worked," the rest would be out of business. (Failure is necessary for their business model. Repeat customers, and all.)

With the billions that Americans invest each year in hating our thighs and our abs and our butts (and our fat sisters and brothers), we could feed all of the hungry and food-insecure people in the US, we could build numerous houses for each homeless person in the US, or we could put more than a third of high school graduates through college for free.

-snip-