5,000 Men Campaign
Through my work with The Pixel Project, I heard about the wonderful organization A CALL TO MEN.
A CALL TO MEN is running a campaign from now until June 30, 2010 in which they are seeking 5,000 men to add their names to a list of men saying NO to violence against women. I invite you to spread the word about the campaign. For more information and to sign, visit http://www.acalltomen.org/the_call.php.
In this blog (sadly neglected of late due to book editing ), I normally talk about the impact of male stereotypes on boys–the the warrior, the nerd, the deadbeat dad and so on. But reading this post from Pigtail Pals, I was reminded again of how female stereotypes can affect boys. Read the post and then I will explain:
http://blog.pigtailpals.com/2010/06/what-the-hell-happened-to-summer-camp/
Clearly, the message sent by the camp ad is not a good one for girls, but what does it tell any boys who see it? Let’s see. Girls like shiny, pretty things. They like to play party host. And they must be very fragile, seeing as they are not allowed any exploring or adventures at their camp.
If it were just an ad for summer camp, maybe we could let it slide. But the same messaging appears in toy ads and in much of the entertainment aimed at boys or a mixed audience.
Toys marketed to girls never allow them to imagine themselves as heroes. Action figures, police and firefighter costumes and rescue vehicles are all marketed to boys, at least by big retailers like Toys R Us and Chapters/Indigo. According to these retailers, pretend play for girls should involve baby dolls, kitchens, cleaning implements and, for those with higher aspirations than “housewife”, princess costumes and tiaras.
On television, female superheroes are catching up to the males to some extent, but in most films the female character is left out of the final rescue. Sam in Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs–a great character–is sidelined by a peanut allergy, leaving Flint to save the day. Ellie in Ice Age 3 goes into labour and cannot help save Sid the Sloth. Fiona in Shrek the Third tries to save her husband but ends up captured, leaving Shrek and Arthur to disarm the evil Prince Charming. Astrid from How To Train Your Dragon, shown as tough and strong at the beginning, quivers with fear on her first dragon ride with Hiccup and snuggles into him to feel safer. In the film’s climactic battle with a monstrous dragon, she (the best dragon hunter in her class) fades to the background, leaving male lead Hiccup to save his village alone.
Is it any wonder sexual inequality persists when boys as young as four see girls presented as frivolous, delicate creatures, incapable of solving problems or doing anything other than cooking, cleaning and making themselves look pretty?
The Pixel Project (http://www.thepixelproject.net) is a global volunteer-led nonprofit organisation working to raise US$1 million in aid of the USA’s National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Malaysia’s Women’s Aid Organisation via an online fundraiser in which a 1-million pixel mystery collage of 4 to 6 globally known Celebrity Male Role Models will be unveiled online as donors “buy” each pixel for US$1.00.
As part of efforts to recruit Celebrity Male Role Models for the mystery collage, The Pixel Project is pleased to launch their first Voters’ Choice Celebrity Male Role Model campaign through which a worldwide audience votes for the actor to be included in our A-list line-up which includes a Nobel Prize Winner and a Pulitzer Prize winner.
The two nominees with the most votes will be invited to donate JUST 45 MINUTES of their time to have their picture taken for the collage and to join the global community in saying “It’s time to stop Violence Against Women. Together.”
The superstar nominee who accepts the invitation will be revealed through the Pixel Reveal fundraiser which will be launched in the second half of 2010.
Voting is open from 17 May 2010 – 17 June 2010 and you are invited to key in your vote and sign the online petition here: http://bit.ly/PixelVote.
