Are you “sleeveless ready?”

If you have no idea what the heck that means, Dove defines it for you as “Naturally comfortable with the look and feel of your underarms” or “Possessing the confidence to wear underarm-baring fashion.” On the sleeveless-ready web site you can even take a quiz to find out how armipit insecure you are and then, of course, find out about a product that can rid you of your pit-shame and sleeveless-unreadiness.

My favorite part of the quiz? They ask you if you shave your underarms, and if you respond with a preference to go “au naturel” the quiz replies: “Your choice is as individual as you are. We invite you to try a free* sample of Dove Ultimate Clear. In just five days, you’ll have softer, smoother underarms… naturally.” Yah, um.. thanks for letting me know.

What exactly does an unready pit look like, anyway? I have no idea, but Dove offers a “five day challenge” where I can learn just how awful my current pit state is.

Thank goodness they are constantly coming up with brand new things for me to hate about myself, because what would I spend my money on if I actually liked myself? Once I get over my armpits hopefully Dove will help me develop hatred of my big toes, my bellybutton, my earlobes…

Do you know Allison Stokke? Hundreds of thousands of internet users do. Up until recently, if you did know Stokke, it was probably because of her athletic accomplishments; she’s a high school senior with an outstanding track and field record and an athletic scholarship to a state university. But now those accomplishments have arguably been overshadowed by a picture of her from a year ago that was posted to the internet. It’s not even a particularly notable photo; it’s just Stokke fixing her hair at a track meet. But because Stokke is a fit and attractive girl, the photo got the attention of bloggers and forum posters, and within days Stokke’s picture was everywhere. Now she’s hounded by attention from photographers and media outlets all because of the photo:

“Even if none of it is illegal, it just all feels really demeaning,” Allison Stokke said. “I worked so hard for pole vaulting and all this other stuff, and it’s almost like that doesn’t matter. Nobody sees that. Nobody really sees me.”

We’ve gone over this territory before. It’s easier than ever for an embarrassing photo or a private video to be plastered across the web in a matter of days, and sometimes the side effects of that aren’t pretty. The issue is widespread enough that the Ad Council, an advertiser-supported non-profit advocacy group in the United States, created a public service ad campaign warning teens of the potential downsides to posting photos, videos and other personal information online. But the particular case of Allison Stokke seems slightly different.

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I’ve really been meaning to write about this for a while but sadly readers, I’ve been a tad under the weather and bowing down to the gods of prescription painkillers, so it slipped my mind up until this point.

The Tories have decided Stripper Visa no more, proposing a law that would prevent foreign workers from coming into the country on a “stripper’s visa.” The industry has always talked about a shortage of dancers in Canada, but despite their protests Bill C-57 has been created to (cough) “protect women” from being exploited:

“What we’re trying to do here is protect vulnerable foreign workers, ones that could easily be exposed to sexual exploitation, harassment and abuse,” said Immigration Minister Diane Finley.

I’m not really convinced that this is exactly what is going on here:

“Keeping foreign exotic dancers out of Canada will not address the issue of exploitation,” Annie Temple, who runs NakedTruth.ca, told The Canadian Press. “If the Conservative government is truly concerned about exploitation of exotic dancers, then they should focus on ensuring health and safety standards exist in strip clubs.”

Just to gain an idea of how many foreign women seeking immigration to Canada this effects, in 2004, when Liberal Paul Martin was prime minister, there were 423 visas issued for foreign exotic dancers. Since Conservative Stephen Harper took over in early 2006, 17 permits have been issued — seven so far this year.

This worries me for a multitude of reasons, primarily because it seems to target the rights of sex workers while hiding behind a false message that it is “protecting them.” The rights of sex workers will certainly not be protected by keeping foreign women from becoming sex workers in Canada.

Good intentions? You decide.

Not to turn this blog into my personal diary or anything, but I just have to say I’m really excited about how nicely my Sontag is growing in. If you haven’t the slightest of what I’m talking about, The Sontag (a.k.a. Shooting Star) is the streak of grey hair starting at the temple that many women develop, named for writer, critic and feminist Susan Sontag. I started getting grey hair when I was seventeen, and after an initial panic attack and a lot of tacky jokes about walkers and orthopoedic shoes, I am now stoked to be counted among the “prematurely” silver.

For those of you who aren’t lucky enough to be sprouting salt-n-pepa yet, curb your jealousy - Toronto artist Paige Gratland can supply you with your very own Sontag, as part of her “Feminist Hair Wear” project.

I’m sure most of you now know that the Food and Drug Administration south of the border has approved Lybrel, a birth control pill that would eliminate a woman’s monthly period. The ability to limit your period is not new, but Lybrel would mark the first time a method is intended to be utilized to cease it completely. Already the debates have started, both here and in the States where the drug is readily available. It does indeed bring up a variety of issues, some sane and others completely insane, but I’m interested to know what readers think of the idea.

As someone who has been on the birth control pill for almost a decade and has ocassionally taken it continuously to avoid my period for an event, vacation or (cough) “tryst,” I am not necessarily opposed to the idea. Also, as someone who experiences a reasonably painless period, I don’t think I’m in a position to state that it is “wrong” for a woman to want to eliminate a painful period from her life.

Having said that, I am slightly uncomfortable with some of the rhetoric around the pill - it seems to promote a sense of shame around mensturation that I can’t abide.

Thoughts?

And for your amusement, care of The Onion:

Wow. How much do I want to see this movie?

Check out the trailer here.

This is a little late, considering that this continent’s biggest floral blow-out (apart from Valentine’s Day…) was last weekend, but better late than never…

The international floral industry is well-known for its transgressions of workers’ and human rights. This is particularly pertinent for women, I think, because we are often the ones who purchase or receive flowers (damn social conditioning) and also because over half of floral workers in Colombia and Ecuador - almost all of whose flowers get shipped straight up to North America - are women.

The website Fairness in Flowers has some pretty upsetting stats and info about how these workers are treated, including the fact that workers are continually prevented from unionising, shockingly high rates of sexual harassment (the website says over 1/2 of Ecuadorian floral workers were victims of sexual harassment), forced pregnancy testings, as well as poor standards of safety and occupational health. Really puts a damper on that old bouquet, doesn’t it?

Read on to find out what you do!

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I had the amazing experience today of sitting on a panel at the Converge Collective’s annual conference at Ursula Franklin Academy in Toronto. Converge is a chance for queer artists and activists in the community to meet with LGBT high school students to facilitate discussion, workshops and learning. The energy around the event is phenomenal and I was really blessed to be in the company of so many fantastic creators and performers and inspiring young people. Converge is organized solely by volunteers, so it’s amazing to see the results.

Among the presenters was the star of a brand new take on the Dove campaign that’s been widely debated on this very blog. Created by 26-year-old filmmaker Daina Hodgson, the film is an amusing but very meaningful look at both the controversial campaign and the way we perceive ourselves. At the end, it asks the question “Who defines you and why do you listen?”

I highly recommend checking it out. Click here to see the video.

About a month ago we got a very nice email from the people at Sex, Etc. asking us to post about a contest they’re currently holding…and I think we totally forgot!

In the hopes that this makes up for our absent-mindedness:

Sex, Etc. is an award-winning American magazine and website on sexual health that is written by teens, for teens. It is part of the Teen-to-Teen Sexuality Education Project developed by Answer (formerly the Network for Family Life Education), a leading national organization dedicated to providing and promoting comprehensive sexuality education. Answer is part of the Center for Applied Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey.

Theyre currently running a competition called I’M TABOO, which gives teens ages 13-19 the opportunity to publish their own videos and stories about the importance of comprehensive sexuality education (and win prizes) The campaign that springs from the idea that by denying teens comprehensive, honest sex ed we leave many who have questions feeling “taboo.” The campaign calls on teens to “make the unspeakable, speakable” and gives them a platform for self-advocacy, so they can spread the word about their need for and right to comprehensive sex education. The campaign runs through May 20, 2007.

Enter here!