Women's Appearances in American Society

On Friday I watched "Katie," Katie Couric's new talk show on ABC. I am an infrequent viewer of the show, mostly because I'm so tired of television by that time of day, but I saw a commercial about Friday's topic: a woman who gave up makeup and hairstyling for a year; so I had to watch!

The show was great--Phoebe Hyde Baker gave up makeup and hairstyling for a year. The entire audience of "Katie" took their makeup off in solidarity and so did Katie, herself! She talked about makeup and how much time and money women in our society spend on it. They also talked about the fact that it is actually important in our society for women to look a certain way to be successful.

As I watched the show, I realized that I've already written about three of these topics.

Katie did an experiment in which one of here staff went on the street all glammed up and asked for directions or use of their cell phones from strangers. Then she did the same thing with sweat pants, no makeup, a big coat, and sneakers on. Was there a difference in the way she was treated? Yes there was--same as the results of my own experiment back in October:
Social Mini-Experiment: Does Appearance Actually Matter?

On Katie's website for a while (I can't find it anymore, for some reason) there was a "Beauty Wealth Calculator" that you could use figure out how much money you spend on your looks each year, as well as how much money you've spent accumulating your "beauty wealth." It was fascinating! It reminded me of another piece I wrote in October:
How Much Do Celebrities Spend on Their Looks?

One of Katie's guests was a woman who has worked in the fashion magazine industry for years. They showed a photo of a model on the runway--and then a print ad of the same model. Vastly different looks! In the print ad they had edited the photo to the point that she looked deformed, she was so skinny. This point, in my opinion, wasn't touched on enough during the show (but, really, they had enough material in that show for an entire week of shows!), so I thought I'd pull this piece out of the archives again. It's the most popular piece I've written to date.
Mini-Experiment: Swimsuit Photo Retouching

I absolutely loved Katie's show on Friday! It was geared toward making women feel great about themselves and learning how to work with what they have in their appearance instead of putting a mask on every day. There were beautiful stories shared about personal victories and growth. There was courage shown by Katie and everyone there with them not wearing makeup. It was fantastic to see women baring their faces on that stage and talking about how we need to overcome so much more than what we usually talk about.

One of the things I was most intrigued by was that this "Au Naturale" show aired the day before the Miss America 2013 beauty pageant. Miss Montana, Alexis Wineman, has Aspberger's syndrome and wants to be an art therapist. Miss Washington DC, Allyn Rose, is getting a double mastectomy to prevent her family's long history of breast cancer from taking her life. Miss Iowa, Mariah Cary, has tourettes syndrome. But Miss New York won. She wants to get a degree in cosmetic and fragrance marketing. And is from Alabama. And doesn't embody "Brooklyn" any more than I do.

It blew my mind that there were (at least) three very real women baring themselves (not only in the swimsuit competition) on that stage who were passed over for a tap dancer posing as a Brooklynite. Allyn Rose (DC), a guest on "Katie" back in the fall (I watched that episode, too!), didn't even make the semi-finals. Alexis Wineman (MT) won the "America's Choice" contest, but didn't make it past the top 15. Mariah Cary (IA) came in fifth.

I think the "Au Naturale" episode of "Katie" can teach us all about how women need to take stock in what they are really about. I think if the judges of Miss America hadn't been interviewing the contestants and watching their routines on Friday but had watched Katie's show instead, the outcome of Saturday night would have been different. Being real and loving who you are is the most important thing, and I think--no, I know--that if more celebrities like Katie bring it into the headlines, this will change. Women will feel less threatened by society to focus so much on their appearances and, as a byproduct, will have more time and money to spend on other things that make them happy and successful.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi

Social Media and Philanthropy

Social media has become a part of what I do every day. I started my ChickOpinion blog in late August. I started my Twitter account somewhere around that time, too. It seemed to be going well, so I started ChickOpinion.com in late October. That is also going well.

Andrew Springer explaining our engagement photo!

I've been going nuts on Twitter lately, trying to get my name (well, ChickOpinion's name) out there. In the last week alone, I've been tweeted by Ginger Zee (meteorologist for Good Morning America), four of the local ABC news anchors and reporters, the local ABC station, CNN Presents, Sam Champion (meteorologist for GMA), a few writers for different newspapers, Anderson Live, Project Runway, Andrew Springer (social media strategist for GMA and ABC News), Tyra Banks, Jo-Ann Stores, Dan Harris (anchor for GMA), The Katie Show, and Lara Spencer. Today one of our engagement photos was on GMA Live because I tweeted it to them. One of my tweets was also on Anderson Live earlier this week, but wasn't read on air.

It's been a little bit insane, but here's why I'm glad it's happened: I want to make a difference. We're coming up on the one year anniversary of my getting diagnosed with fibromyalgia. It has been an interesting year: diagnosed with fibro in January, narcolepsy in April, graduated from college in May, got engaged in June, moved to Florence, KY in July, my fiancé started a new job in August, I started volunteering for the Obama campaign in September, and I've been working on my blog/website all fall. I don't have a job. I can work pretty hard (seated, not standing) for about three or four hours and then I have to take a break. I am definitely not the only one in this position. People all over the country (especially women) struggle with this.

I want to create a nonprofit organization, called "FibroPhilanthropy." One of the best things for my pain is to make and give things to people who need them. Two weeks after Superstorm Sandy, my mom and I sent 15 hats and 25 scarves to the victims in New Jersey. My mom makes adorable little kid hats and I knit and sew, so we got busy! I loved spending my time making things for people I knew would be so grateful for them. It was the best couple of weeks I've had in the last year--I was happy, my pain was manageable because I wasn't having to move around much, and I was helping people. 

With FibroPhilanthropy I want to make it possible for fibromyalgia patients to make things (scarves, hats, blankets, clothes, sweaters, anything else people can make) for disaster relief to send to victims of natural disasters. Patients all across the country can make anything, we can collect the items, and then the second a natural disaster happens, we send everything we have to the victims. Then we start all over again! If it's a nonprofit, we can be exempt from taxes but still take donations, so the materials and postage could be paid for by the organization. I know first-hand that most fibro patients can't afford to do this on their own.

I know I've been a little over the top lately with the tweeting, but it's one way to get people all over the country to see what I already have on my site and, now that I'm posting this, what I want to do in the future. Maybe we can raise enough awareness that we can get the funding we need to start this nonprofit organization and be ready to have a batch of warm items ready to send out by the time the next natural disaster happens.

Please share this, email it, retweet it, favorite it, or whatever you need to do on the social media platform you use to raise awareness of this idea. I would love to get as many people involved as possible so we can help everyone we possibly can!

"Be the change you wish to be in the world." --Gandhi