By Juliana Bello
Hi SPARK fans! I’m Juliana Bello, and I’m a SPARK team blogger. I just want to say a little bit about what I did at the summit. The opening speeches were incredible. I loved when the entire auditorium affirmed together that WE ARE NOT ANTI-SEX! We just want control over our sexuality. So when Justin Timberlake’s done bringing sexy back we’re taking it back, and it’s so cool that just by attending the summit and becoming a little more aware, we’re getting closer to that goal.
Geena Davis spoke about her experiences in high school, in Hollywood, and in motherhood, and how they shaped her into an advocate for promoting a healthy relationship between women and media. Check out www.seejane.org to read more about her cause. She mentioned the idea that when girls “see” themselves in the media (see characters and celebrities who dress/behave like they do), they see it as confirmation that they’re cool. That’s a great statement because it brings up a huge problem in the relationship between girls and pop culture, which is that they forget that they control it, and they have the numbers and the influence to actually create popular culture if they want to! Girls get so caught up in the pressures of advertising that they ignore the fact that it only works if you let it! We as consumers are waaayyy more powerful than media! The costumer is always right, right?
So to all the female customers: when the waiter serves your dinner cold, send it back! When you feel like you’re being sexualized, take a stand! You may get called demanding, or oversensitive, but it’s YOUR steak, and when you’re paying $40 for filet mignon you want it done RIGHT. If you don’t like LMFAO buying you shots so you’ll…um…provide certain services, don’t listen to it! Or, a less drastic option, and probably a more fun one (because who doesn’t love that song?) was suggested at SPARK by a really cool About-Face presenter: just listen with a critical ear. Question everything, and talk about those questions with friends. It’ll be way cool, trust me.
I just want to share a hilarious quote I heard at the summit…this was a reaction to an ad for Victoria’s Secret’s seamless bras. In the ad were several typical Victoria’s Secret models”
“Seamless? Does that mean that their plastic surgery scars don’t show?”
It was pretty funny, to say the least. But it brought up a good point: don’t direct any hard feelings toward the women you see being objectified. Direct those feelings toward making a change. Because as we all agreed during the opening discussion of the SPARK Summit, hating on each other is most definitely not sexy. Stay sexy, stay positive, and stay strong!