Photographer Tells Girls They Can Be More Than Princesses

I first saw this on a blog I follow. I love what this photographer does and I tell ya, I don't care if it's aimed at girls, I'd pose for her in a heartbeat if she was located near me. Let me tell you about a new pioneer in photography, a woman who is inspiring young girls through her pictures and how...

From her site:

"The NOT Just A Girl Series started in May 2013 with my daughter, Emma's, 5th Birthday Portraits. From my blog, "I had been searching everywhere for new-creative inspiration for her 5yr pictures. I noticed quite a pattern of so many young girls dressing up as beautiful Disney Princesses; no matter where I looked, 95% of the “ideas” were the “How to’s” of dressing your little girl like a Disney Princess. Now don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Disney Princesses, from their beautiful dresses, perfect hair, gorgeous voices and most with ideal love stories in the mix, you can’t help but become entranced with the characters. But it got me thinking, they’re just characters, a writer's tale of a princess...…an unrealistic fantasy for most girls".

Honoring Susan B. Anthony

I was looking to make a change, do something different that we (Emma and I) could both enjoy. "It started me thinking about all the REAL women for my daughter to know about and look up too, REAL women who without ever meeting Emma have changed her life for the better. My daughter wasn’t born into royalty, but she was born into a country where she can now vote, become a doctor, a pilot, an astronaut, or even President if she wants and that’s what REALLY matters. I wanted her to know the value of these amazing women who had gone against everything so she can now have everything".

This shoot was not just a birthday photo session but also a learning experience with the added fun of dress up keeping Emma engaged and excited to know more about these incredible women she was portraying. "We chose 5 women (five amazing and strong women), as it was her 5th birthday but there are thousands of unbelievable women (and girls) who have beat the odds and fought (and still fight) for their equal rights all over the world……..so let’s set aside the Barbie Dolls and the Disney Princesses for just a moment, and let’s show our girls the REAL women they can be."

Honoring Amelia Earhart

Photographer Jaime C. Moore first shared the Not Just A Girl Series of her daughter, Emma, portraying iconic women of history in May of 2013 since sharing the series they have received hundreds of letters, calls, emails and messages from inspired women and men all over the world. Now they are working hard to expand the Series, with the intent to photograph dozens of girls while reaching out to any and all ethnicity, culture and women of inspiration. To accomplish this, we need your help. Please follow this link for more information before the deadline. 

All photos can be found here.

Help spread the word by sharing this link with your friends and family! Please help us continue the project of NOT Just A Girl. Every share, dime & dollar make a difference. Also, you can go like her on Facebook and follow the project in your feed. 

Let's Start A Revolution!

Last month, I posted some pictures of myself on Facebook. I had attended a function, an award's ceremony, with the husband. I wore a ruffled dress and worried the ruffles made me look fat.

This led to a discussion...

We need to stop this nonsense!!! And I know it's hard...because every five stinking minutes, every single time we turn on the television, every commercial that comes on, in every TV show we watch ***Does anyone watch Fast N' Loud, a flipping cars show? Just this last week the host Richard had a model coming in for a photo shoot and you know what the mofo said to the camera? "I hope she's not plus-sized." So what if she is, you pig?***every time we come online and check our email, Yahoo bombards us with pictures of the Hollywood starlets half naked on the red carpet in their skeleton bodies.

Every 5 minutes, we are told we need to look like this:

What I confessed to myself was: It's really just society's perception of what is sexy that keeps making me feel bad about myself. I need to learn to ignore it, but it gets really hard when all these "sexy" women photos are everywhere on Internet and TV. I swear every 5 min, we are reminded of what society thinks is sexy and I am not it.

No, I am not a size 0. You can't count my ribs. My hair isn't long and and mussed in sexy "I just got ravished" tendrils, my feet are not child-size. But does that mean I'm not sexy?

In the 1940s, 50s, and 60s...the women had curves and it was acceptable. Marilyn Monroe was a size 12. What happened to that? When did Hollywood decide women must be size zeros and about to blow away? And when did we start letting them tell us this? And worse, when did we begin to believe it?

Here's what I'm proposing: I want to start a revolution. I want us women to STOP believing this crap and start believing we are sexy the way we are. It must start with YOU and ME.

AND QUIT LETTING MEN OBJECTIFY YOU. The more you struggle with your appearance, the more you play right into their hands. I'm not saying to quit doing your makeup or whatever. You just do enough that when you look in the mirror you say, "Oooh, you sexy beeyotch!" Not, "Shoot! I don't look like Beyonce yet."

KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE BOOB JOBS. Increasing the size of your tits does not increase your value as a person or a woman. STOP doing things just to please men. 

Now, many women say, "I did it for ME." 

If you did it because having men stare at your chest makes you feel better about yourself, did you really do it for yourself?

If you need men ogling you to feel valued, that needs to stop too. *I do understand women who have breast cancer or health problems that deform or cause their breasts to sag too soon getting implants. This is aimed at those women who look in the mirror and say, "OMG! My breasts are too small! Men won't find me attractive."

And before I end my essay, what's up with Victoria's Secret ? Their Bright Young Things line or whatever it's called is targeting 13, 14, 15 year olds. And of course, the young models look as though they are about to blow away in a second. All skin over bones. Is this what we want our young girls to strive to be?

Don't get me wrong; there's nothing wrong with a young girl wanting hot pink panties, but I don't like the image/message VS is sending out with their young I'm-bout-to-blow-away girls modeling the stuff. Girls have enough self-esteem issues.

I'm going to sign off with a quote from my bestie Amanda because I really can't say it better:

"The problem is that there is one defined perception of sexy and it f's up so many women. There are so many women out there of all sizes that are amazing, sexy, and beautiful but nobody can admit it because of what people consider as the norm. I've started learning that it's soooo much easier to love myself no matter what than it is to hate myself and not be able to look in the mirror."

Thoughts?

Strong is Sexy Woman of the Past: Lola Rodriguez de Tio

Her name isn't bandied about much, at least not in the States, but in Puerto Rico, they know who she was.

She fought for the rights of women, slaves, the island itself, and did this often through her words.

Born in 1843, she was a bit of a renegade, even going so far as to wear short hair when that wasn't done on women.

She was a writer and so outspoken in her beliefs, much of it against the Spanish government, that they exiled her. Hey, never say the written word doesn't have power. Her poems apparently caused a ruckus. She lived in Venezuela, New York, and Cuba while her heart was still with Borginquen.

She is responsible for the revolutionary song/poem La Borinquena. I'm not sure I can post it on a blog though. The Spanish and English versions, both, can be read on Wiki.

Rumor has it that she is also responsible for the Puerto Rican flag. It was her suggestion that the island she so loved have the same colors, reversed, as the other island which adopted her: Cuba.

What I appreciate about this woman...how to say this? Normally I feature women that fly, fight in wars, work as spies...but strength and fight and passion and bravery come in many forms. You can fight with words too.

Picture was a free download.

Votes for Vixens Giveaway

This month I'm celebrating the release of Votes for Vixens.
I'm touring with Sizzling PR:

5 – Guest Blog @ Erotica for All

6 – Interview @ You Gotta Read

7 – Spotlight, Giveaway & Review @ Steamy Reading

8 – Guest Blog @ Sizzling Hot Books

13 – Interview @ Bonnie Bliss

14 – Spotlight & Giveaway @ New Age Mama

15 – Guest Blog @ Two Fantasy Floozies

19 – Guest Blog @ W. Lynn Chantale

28 – Review @ Rosa Sophia

AND giving away a lovely handcrafted necklace from Sassy Ginger Creations as well as a replicated Votes for Women postcard, unused. An extra bonus: a $5 Starbucks Gift Card so you can drink your coffee while you read your own ebook copy of Votes for Vixens.

All items will be sent to ONE lucky winner. Must be a follower of Book Babe and a U.S. resident. Thank you and good luck to all! 

Contest runs through the month of November.

a Rafflecopter giveaway