To some, she's the savvy spark that reminds drivers to stay safe. To others, she's a degrading stereotype. But everyone has an opinion about 'Bridget,' the sexy face of a Halifax safe-driving campaign.
"We were quite surprised and disappointed with the approach," said Irene Smith, executive director of the Avalon Sexual Assault Centre, a feminist organization in Halifax, the largest Maritime city.
"It just seems to me that it's offensive to many, many women who've experienced any form of sexual violence or harassment or been subjected to sexist jokes and innuendos."
The campaign was launched a few weeks ago by Halifax Harbour Bridges, as a means to curb speeding, tailgating and texting on the two bridges along the harbour, where fender-benders have been known to cause "annoying backups for the thousands of vehicles that cross the Macdonald and MacKay bridges daily."
Enter the fictional Bridget, with smoky eyes and slightly pursed lips, gushing radio innuendos like "a heavy foot doesn't flip my kilt." Not only does her smouldering glaze adorn the bridges' toll baskets, but she even has a Twitter account, with a tweet saying, "You know I like it when you go slow."
The timing of Bridget's appearance—during Sexual Assault Awareness Month—was particularly unfortunate. So far Smith's appeals to have the campaign pulled have been unsuccessful.
The $50,000 campaign funded by bridge tolls was intended to be playful, according to communications manager Alison MacDonald.
"We wanted to have a campaign that's a little humorous, tongue-in-cheek, and we also wanted the messages to come from a person and not an organization," said MacDonald.
One dissenters claimed tossing coins at Bridget's face was like being "in a strip club."
Bridget would seem to have men as her prime target (with the presumption that the only way to get through to them is via their groins). But what about dangerous women drivers out there? And believe me, they are out there in droves. On what level does Bridget appeal to them?
Cheeky and creative, or yet another lazy campaign using sex to sell an idea?
Most studies these days have our kids damned to hell. But not so for researchers at Case Western Reserve University who found that, contrary to popular belief, and in spite of the iPhones and XBoxes, kids are more imaginative today, not less.
In "Changes in Children's Play Over Two Decades," an article in the Creativity Research Journal, psychologists Jessica Dillon and Sandra Russ had their own expectations confounded after analyzing 14 play studies conducted between 1985 and 2008.
Our kids may be busier and have less time for unstructured play. However, it seems their imagination in play and engagement with play activities actually increased. They also showed fewer negative emotions while playing.
Fifth-year doctoral student Dillon was prompted to revisit the data after the 2007 report from the American Academy of Pediatrics indicated that children played less.
By using Russ' Affect in Play Scale (APS), researchers evaluated the 'free' play of children between the ages of 6 and 10. The play is videotaped and later scored "for imagination, expression of emotions, actions and storytelling."
The importance of play can't be stressed enough. Kids with 'good play skills' tend to be better at coping, creativity and problem solving. While there is no link between play and intelligence, Russ was concerned about the decrease in negative emotions.
You may think an increase in positive play is a good for play. Yet a little doom and gloom is apparently good for play.
"Past studies have linked negative emotions in play with creativity," said Russ.
Unstructured play is invaluable for emotional and cognitive development, so we should give young children as much time as possible to let their imaginations run wild, and quite simply, to do what kids do best: play.
It's that time again. The Catch-22: though we were blessed with a mild winter, as many as 1 in 5 of us will suffer from allergies, meaning a head full of cotton wool just when we should be basking in the summer sun with a clear head.
"Coughs that begin on or around the same time every year are often caused by allergies. Seasonal allergy sufferers commonly react to pollen counts that are high from certain trees, grasses and weeds," says Dr. Zak Zarbock, creator of the natural cough remedy, Zarbee’s.
While allergies share similar symptoms with the common cold—including runny or stuffy nose, red, itchy eyes, sore throat and cough—unlike allergies, colds can lead to fever, green or yellow nasal drainage, and general aches.
Consider Zarbock's top tips for fending off allergies:
Reduce exposure to allergy triggers by showering or washing the hair before bed will help rinse pollen from the skin and hair.
Keep car and house windows closed during peak seasons.
Consider a dust filter mask when outdoors in high pollen conditions.
Vacuum carpets and wash sheets and pillow cases on a regular basis.
Frequently change furnace and air conditioning filters.
Use natural remedies containing honey, to calm coughs and soothe and coat sore throats.
Keep airways moist and clear of mucus with natural saline sprays and rinses.
Allergy sufferers: What works for you?
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