By Maya Brown
This has been a busy week here at SPARK! Hot on the heels of our fantastic meeting with LEGO is a new petition (gotta love ‘em) started by SPARKteam girl activist Julia Bluhm. This fab 14 year old is calling out Seventeen Magazine on their overwhelming usage of photoshop. Julia is asking the magazine to commit to one photoshop free spread per month to celebrate real girls, because we all want to see regular girls that look like us in a magazine that’s supposed to be for us.
And (what a shock) we’re not the only ones who think like that! Julia’s petition has 13,000+ signatures already and it’s moving fast! How’s that for girl power?!
The petition has raced past every goal we’ve set and the press is taking notice (Huffington Post & The Daily Mail, anyone?!)
But we’re not stopping there. Once again, SPARK has started something amazing! We’ve got our bold, girl-supporting partners standing with us. We’re going to make sure Seventeen Magazine listens to us and we need your help!
Here’s what you can do:
First, if you haven’t signed the petition, get to it! Then ask all your friends, family members and obscure, distant relatives to sign it too. Tweet it, Facebook it, share it on Tumblr, the whole shebang. If you want more info on Seventeen Magazine, check out this blog by SPARKteam-er Izzy Labbe.
Next, head on over to our fantastic partner, Powered By Girl, to spoof this month’s Seventeen Magazine cover. Download your spoof to the PBG gallery and share it on Facebook. Don’t forget to tag SPARK Summit, so we can admire your culture jamming skills.
Then, check out our You’ve Been SPARK’d post-it action. Grab your post-its, a marker, and let Seventeen know what you think. Don’t forget to take a picture and post it to our Facebook page! The more images they see and voices they hear the better! Love this action? Please support our Indiegogo You’ve Been SPARK’d campaign! Donate, donate, donate! We can’t continue to do this work without your support. There are some awesome prizes up for grabs, so check it out!
Last but not least, for all you New Yorkers, or dedicated road-trippers, come join us and Julia as we visit Seventeen Magazine headquarters and demand that they listen to our request. We’ll be there at 11 o’clock, Wednesday morning May 2nd. The more the merrier!
As Julia says, “For the sake of all the struggling girls all over America, who read Seventeen and think these fake images are what they should be, I’m stepping up.” So are we. Join us!
[…] Bluhm—and the Spark a Movement website—have launched a petition to support their cause, which has already garnered over 20,000 signatures. They also plan to visit Seventeen headquarters tomorrow (Wednesday, May 2nd) to express their views and fight for their cause. […]
You are AMAZING hunny! I just saw tonight on the news about a 13 yr old who was bullied due to a typical stereotype and commited suicide 🙁 heartbreaker…. but young ladies like you make all the difference, I am in the works of skin cancer awareness and i love how you are telling young girls that they dont need to look like that, “it’s fake!” props to you hun, you inspire me and i’m twice your age! <3 XOXOXOXO
[…] can also check out the activist group Bluhm belongs to, SPARK (Sexualization Protest Action Resistance […]
Julia – if they are going to ignore a petition….perhaps you and your crew should take the next step to make your voices heard – a GIRLCOTT!
Make it visible ask people to refuse to buy all of of HEARST Corporations publications….JUST KEEP UP THE PRESSURE – and use the momentum you have FAST by announcing plans for the GIRLCOTT!
In any case – WONDERFUL WORK – DO NOT GIVE UP!
It’s HUGE what you are doing!
[…] 14-year-old girl is currently battling an age-old problem: photo manipulation. Julia Bluhm has petitioned for Seventeen magazine to “commit to printing one unaltered—real—photo […]
[…] May 4, 2012 Julia Bluhm is one bad-ass 8th grader. You may have heard about the petition the SPARKteam activist recently started, calling on Seventeen magazine — in the effort to include real girls in […]
Whybother getting Seventeen at all?
1:47 AM EDT
May 08, 2012
I am a 26yr old female and I never thought the magazines were bad to view even when others said it before. However, I do now because I agree it is more dangerous then drugs. This is because I am an addict who has been through recovery and let me tell you I did drugs to fit in at the fun parties with all the popular people who read the magazines as I did; meaning we thought we must look and act the part. Hence what better way to stay thin then do drugs so ya I think photoshop in seventeen or all magazines should be banned personally. I have struggled so long and never trully grasped my eating disorders throughout my life until this year probably due to many comments of how thin I had become but also in maturity. I feel this ban would save so many girls and boys. Thats right boys to deal with this. I am so glad ABC ran this because I see it so clear now and hope things change. I wanted and maintained the facade for a very long time and still stuggle as will always because as an addict to drugs, dieting, shopping, gambling whatever you never stop being one you just live day by day and believe me magazines don’t help with photoshops or displays of drugged models. I hope the government would at least make a bill stick for this and believe me it would help families dysfunctions caused by false images and the cycle can be broke in families who deal with eating disorders passed through generations brought up as if it was normal. It is not normal for children to worry so much at what they eat or have adults act in such ways they learn it just as easy as they see it in magazines. Thank you for this and I applaud these teens.
[…] too young to begin activism. Confronting photoshopping and the perpetuation of toxic body images, 14-year-old Julia Bluhm petitioned Seventeen Magazine to print “one unaltered photo spread a month.” (Damn, Bluhm makes me feel like a slacker!) The […]
[…] look like (Editor’s Note: This father of young women agrees). A blogger and member of the SPARK Movement, Julia set up a petition on line that quickly gained the attention of the Huffington Post and the […]
[…] too young to begin activism. Confronting photoshopping and the perpetuation of toxic body images, 14-year-old Julia Bluhm petitioned Seventeen Magazine to print “one unaltered photo spread a month.” (Damn, Bluhm makes me feel like a slacker!) The […]
I was one of the first to sign the seventeen Magazine petition..horray…it is so important, I am so happy it is doing so well. My petition is very similar in intent..it has not enjoyed the success of your petition….with only 16 signatures in 4 days, i could really use your help.
stop killing our daughters modeling agencies!
FORD, AND ELITE MODELING AGENCIES
Created By
Debra Poulsen
STOP HIRING ANOREXIC MODELS FOR RUNWAY AND MAGAZINE ADS
Greetings,
I just signed the following petition addressed to: FORD, AND ELITE MODELING AGENCIES —————- STOP HIRING ANOREXIC MODELS FOR RUNWAY AND MAGAZINE ADS Friends,
My daughter’s best friend is eleven years old. She was recently hospitalized for anorexia. She wanted to be “pretty” like the models in magazines, and on TV. She wouldn’t even eat a gummy bear,( only smell it) for fear that it would make her fat, and ugly.
Unfortunately, she is not alone. Anorexia is now considered a psychological disorder,and is one of the leading causes of death among young women. The ads target younger and younger girls with unhealthy images of women and girls Using anorexic models in ad campaigns has to stop! It all begins with the modeling agencies who hire anorexic models.
I just created a petition: “Stop killing our daughters modeling agencies!,” because I care deeply about this very important issue. I am asking America’s top modeling agencies to stop hiring anorexic models. These images of pin thin models, proclaiming to be the ideal of beauty, are dangerous, even deadly to our daughters, women, and even men. I’m trying to collect 100000 signatures, and I could really use your help.
To read more about what I’m trying to do and to sign my petition, click here: http://www.change.org/petitions/stop-killing-our-daughters-modeling-agencies?share_id=HihWGDHZvTpe=d2e
It’ll just take a minute!
Once you’re done, please ask your friends to sign the petition as well. Grassroots movements succeed because people like you are willing to spread the word! Thank you! Debra
my story of anorexia: I AM RECOVERING FROM ANOREXIA.. THE START IF IT ALL WAS A MAGAZINE AD OF KATE MOSS WITH ALL OF HER RIBS SHOWING. SHE WAS THE LATEST, ICON OF BEAUTY FOR WOMEN. MY FRIEND AND I PUT THE PICTURE ON THE REFRIGERATOR, AND VOWED TO LOOK JUST LIKE HER. WE ACCOMPLISHED OUR GOAL, AND NEARLY KILLED OURSELVES IN THE PROCESS. wE WERE 23–COLLEGE GRADUATES. IF THAT CAN HAPPEN TO US, IMAGINE THE IMPACT THESE MODELS HAVE ON YOUNG, IMPRESSIONABLE GIRLS!
TWENTY YEARS LATER, I STILL BATTLE THE MEDIA’S IMAGES TO BE ANOREXIC. AS A MODEL MYSELF, I MUST BE A SIZE 4 TO WALK DOWN A RUNWAY. . AT 5’11 THAT PUTS ME AT A DANGEROUSLY LOW WEIGHT. SIZE 4 IS THE MAXIMUM SIZE FOR RUNWAY. I ASKED A FEW DESIGNERS ” I NEED TO BE A SIZE 4 , 2 ,0, 0R 00,TO MODEL RUNWAY….WHY?” THEIR RESPONSE WAS ‘SIZE 4 IS THE LARGEST SIZE THE CLOTHING SAMPLES ARE MADE.’ WHAT A LAME EXCUSE! PLEASE HELP STOP KILLING OUR YOUNG GIRLS, AND WOMEN, AND SIGN MY PETITION. THANK YOU, AND GOD BLESS! —————- Sincerely, Debra
[Your name]
Change.org
Change.org is a social action platform that empowers anyone, anywhere to start, join, and win campaigns to change the world.
English (US) �
—
*Debra Ann Poulsen*
Hi just discovered SPARK today at change.org.
i have belonged to a thin called dads and daughters for a long time-
started to help girls stop worrying about diets and getting anorexic.
also about-face is an excellent place to go. it’s addressed to women,
but works fine with what you are doing. they identify the offensive
ads and make funny snarky comments. have a gallery of offenders,
and also one for people who are doing it right.
About-Face is one of our partners! And one of our staff members used to intern there–they’re great!
Julia, thank you for doing what I didn’t know how to do at your age. I remember being frustrated at the photoshopped images and feeling negatively towards my body after reading any teen magazine. I think you are a wonderful leader and cannot wait to see what you will bring to the world in years to come.
[…] was inspired by 14-year-old Julia Bluhm, a SPARK activist tired of toxic body images. She petitioned Seventeen Magazine to print “one unaltered photo spread a month.” The overwhelming support of her petition led to […]
[…] art: Though Julia Bluhm has a medium tale, she is partial of an activism organisation called Sexualization Protest Action Resistance Knowledge (SPARK). SPARK has set adult a competition on a Powered By Girl website that allows supporters of Julia […]
[…] is no way that before this petition, started by Julia Bluhm, that Seventeen thought their altered photos and unrealistic images were doing no harm. There is no […]
[…] creating opportunities, developing programs, and providing services that empower girls and women. Through a petition drive, social media campaign and an eventual meeting with publishers, these three young women convinced Seventeen Magazine to stop digitally altering the models in […]