I get approximately 5,000 pitches a day from people who are trying to get me to tell you guys about boob stickers, or breath mints, or Cash Warren’s boat shoes (seriously just got this one). I mostly ignore them unless I think the product or service is going to be of some use to you. Often, PR people will send us pitches that are super far afield of what The Frisky is about, and I usually just delete them. But then I got the following pitch, and man, I just had to share. Keep reading »
Remember how Abercrombie & Fitch CEO and Biff-a-like Mike Jeffries told the world that A&F clothes are just for cool kids? Or how he explained that A&F lady sizes only went up to 10 because he didn’t want fat women wearing his designs and preferred “thin and beautiful” women buying his clothes? That was awesome. What’s even better? Now Jeffries and the notoriously elitist brand (that hasn’t grasped that its main demo is now insurance sales guys in their 30s) have decided to do something to backpedal on their already damaged reputation. On Tuesday, the beleaguered company announced that they’d sponsor an anti-bullying scholarship program.
“We’ve listened to the conversations and hear the message and as a company look forward to increasing our commitment to anti-bullying efforts,” said Jeffries in a press release. “We are fully committed to fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion – one in which no young person should ever feel intimidated, especially at school, whether for the clothes they wear or because someone perceives them as different.” Hahaha: He said “inclusion.” Keep reading »
Another bullied teen took his life on Monday: Nigel Hardy, age 13, had been bullied due to his participation in an extracurricular activity he loved, cheerleading.
According to The Los Angeles Times, Hardy punched another boy, who was harassing him about cheerleading, which led to suspension from Hillview Middle School in Palmdale, California. On Monday, following the suspension, Nigel Hardy’s father went to authorities after finding a suicide note and his handgun missing.Hardy’s body was later found 20 miles from his home with a gun nearby. Keep reading »
There are no words.
Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old girl from Nova Scotia, Canada, attempted to commit suicide last week after she was allegedly raped at a party and had a photograph of her rape passed around to her classmates. Rehtaeh’s family removed her from life support on Sunday. Keep reading »
Have you ever woken up with the lingering remnant of a once-forgotten memory? Usually it’s a repressed trauma, like an alien abduction or the knowledge that your middle name is Gaylord. In other words, they’re memories that require years of therapy to forget again. One day this repressed memory phenomenon happened to me. Only instead of waking up with the memory of tattooing happy and sad theater masks to my inner thighs, I suddenly remembered that I used to be a bully. A flood of childhood incidents came back to me, each more awful than the last, all of them changing my entire view of myself.
The effect was devastating. So devastating that I immediately purged all of my guilt into a mocha-fueled confession session on my Twitter account, as the Torah requires. Still, the guilt of all those bad acts lingered. According to the one-eyed gypsy I met at the carnival the other day, unless I use my shameful past for good, the guilt of being a bully will haunt me forever. And also my ears will turn to frogs by midnight tonight. So I’m turning my shame into wisdom for all of you. Read more…
Shane Koyczan was bullied as a kid. But rather than internalize that pain, he did something creative and powerful with it. He put together the “To This Day” Project, which enlisted several dozen animators and illustrators to create small segments that would be put together in one 8-minute visual poem. “My experiences with violence in schools still echo throughout my life but standing to face the problem has helped me in immeasurable ways,” Koyczan said about the project. ”To This Day” also offers opportunities to donate, mentor and help. Please watch, and try not to cry. [To This Day Project]
Adults blame victims of sexual crimes and indiscretions, asking “Why was she dressed like that?” or “Why did she drink so much?”
Adults also use the Internet for humiliation, like stocks in the town square.
And lest you forget, children are watching us and mimicking what we do. Don’t believe me? Just read this piece by 16-year-old high school student Temitayo Fagbenle, who explains how slutshaming on Facebook is an “every day” occurrence amongst her peers. Keep reading »
I’d been planning to let the issue of the Nice Guys of OK Cupid blog on Tumblr slide. [NOTE: The blog has since been taken down.] It is pretty depressing from every perspective. I’d squabbled and grumbled about it on Twitter with a few people, and then thankfully the Christmas break pushed it out of my mind.
If it passed you by, the Tumblr scours the dating/social networking site OK Cupid for profiles of men and then posts their pictures (without permission) alongside selected quotes. The typical entry shows a less than attractive guy with a few quotes from his profile proclaiming himself a ‘nice guy’ who is fed up of being ‘friendzoned’ and then a ‘wrong’ answer from the set profile questionnaires such as “Should women feel an obligation to shave their legs? Yes.” Keep reading »
If you thought Jennifer Livingston was the shit before, now you’re going to want to marry her. A video of the Wisconsin news anchor went viral last week when she responded to a random jerk’s cruel email complaining that she’s a bad influence on viewers, especially women, because she is obese. The man admitted he doesn’t even watch her news program, but went out of his way to concern-troll about her body and take her — and all women — down a peg. Livingston responded with both chutzpah and grace — not denying that she is overweight, but questioning the rudeness of this man to tell a stranger she should be ashamed of herself.
Yesterday, Jennifer Livingston visited “Ellen” to talk about her response, bullying, and how one cruel comment is one comment too many. Livingston also said addressing this rude email was never about getting an apology from the man, although he did eventually apologize. It was about showing everyone who gets picked on that the bullies are the problem, not you. “Clearly I am not the shining example of perfect health and I never claimed to be,” Livingston said, “but that doesn’t mean my worth should be [makes small gesture] this big.”
Hear, hear. How rad is she? [Ellen TV]
When I was in elementary school, I was teased constantly and mercilessly about my weight. Classmates called me fat, ugly, worthless, disgusting, and for awhile my official nickname seemed to be “tub of lard.” Pretty much every afternoon I’d get off the bus, wait until it had disappeared around the corner, and burst into tears.
When I saw this video of a Wisconsin news anchor named Jennifer Livingston responding confidently and unapologetically to a male viewer who sent her a fat-shaming email, I found myself tearing up once again–but this time, in a good way. That one viewer’s cruel words could have produced a quick sting and then faded away, but Livingston uses them as an opportunity to shine a light on our culture of bullying and take the power back. I wish my third grade self could have seen this, but more importantly, I want today’s third graders to see it. And Jennifer? You rock. Thank you. [Pajiba]
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