Cast your mind back to the media rage over thigh gap - namely, girls and women coveting a prescribed space between their thighs? Well, TGap Jewellery has cashed in on our bodily insecurities by creating bling for your #ThighGap.
Singaporean designer Soo Kyung Bae's creations are all about "accentuating and celebrating the gap." And the tassel jewellery doesn't come cheap, ranging from $175 to $190 apiece.
Panelists on The View had a good laugh about the "golden tampon." But rest assured, it's all hype for a good cause.
When "Find out" is clicked on, the TGap site cleverly defaults to an important messages from knowledgeable people like the Director of Johns Hopkins Eating Disorders Program, Angela Guarda:
"The bone structure defines whether you can have a thigh gap: the shape of the pelvic girdle and distance between the hipbones. Most women have narrow hips that even with little fat on their legs, there is no gap between their thighs."
Thigh gap is not something you can get by starving yourself; it's in your bones. You're either born with it, or you're not.
So, in effect, the jewellery site is a decoy, a lure targeting the very people who may be susceptible to media pressures and so-called thinspiration.
"By using outrageous products, I hope to bring a provocative jolt that leads us to ponder and reflect upon what we are like as a society and the absurd things we value and obsess over - as well as how this creates unnecessary pressure for women and girls," said Bae. Jackpot.
Seeing Whoopi rock a thigh gap chain proves just how ridiculous trends like Thigh Gap, A4 Waist, and Belly Button Challenge are...
I'm not sure that such ploys are enough to prevent girls from finding new and ever more dangerous ways to skinny worship, but it's worth a shot.
Image Source: www.tgapj.com
At a time when most of us are trying to ditch the car culture and encourage our kids to get active, a Texas school has threatened parents who walk their kids home from school.
Because Bear Branch Elementary School is located on a busy stretch of highway, Principal Holly Ray has taken a hard stance about pick-up protocol to ensure the safe dismissal of students. Instead of walking to school or parking to collect their kids, parents are now forced to wait in a pick-up line for up to an hour or to send their kids home by bus.
"It's a ridiculous situation for everyone," said parent Jackie McConnell. "I got here shortly after 2 p.m."
The principal has invoked the help of local police, threatening to arrest those who fail to abide by the new policy. Apparently some parents have already been cited for setting foot on school property.
Parents are so up in arms at the new rule, some have pulled their kids from the school and enrolled them elsewhere. Others are happy to defer to the principal's judgement and wait - and wait and wait - if it means keeping their children safe.
Much like the UK principal who banned parents from wearing PJs to drop off, this story raises interesting questions over boundaries - and how much authority a principal has over the actions of parents.
In cases where pick-up arrangements endanger students, I can see a principal and local traffic enforcement getting involved to come to an agreeable solution. Successful "kiss and ride" programs are set up for this very reason.
Yet to tell parents they cannot walk to collect their own children (even when they live nearby) not only undermines parents' ability to use common sense, it can only exacerbate traffic issues in already congested areas.
While a principal has the ultimate say about what happens on school grounds, when the final bell goes that responsibility must be turned over to parents - whether they are wearing pyjamas or a three-piece suit.
An Indiana student refused to do her homework, and she wasn't afraid to say so.
Instead of dutifully sucking it up, the eighth grader penned an articulate explanation of why she refused to do her homework - which was to figure out her body mass index (BMI).
Posted by MacLeodCartoons on Wednesday, March 30, 2016
The calculation, which gives a rough indication of health by dividing weight by height squared, has well documented pitfalls. And in recent years the BMI has fallen out of favour with the medical community since it is not the most accurate indicator of health.
"How could someone who stays fit, eats healthy, and has a low metabolism be in danger of heart disease and diabetes?" read the girl's essay. "Oh, that's right, because she isn't in danger of obesity and heart disease."
In fact, taken alone a BMI can actually produce misleading results in cases like this one, in which a child has an athletic or muscular build. (Newsflash: muscle is heavy, and a perfectly fit and healthy individual can have a BMI that puts them in an "obese" category when they are not.)
So teachers, take note: it's probably high time to retire the BMI once and for all, and leave the work of assessing healthy weight to pediatricians. Though well-intentioned, in your quest to educate you can do more harm than good.
"My BMI is none of your concern because my body and BMI are perfect and beautiful just the way they are," the student wrote.
Man, I have no clue how this generation of kids became so outspoken and vocal about addressing their needs and views. I know I certainly wasn't that girl.
As parents, we take so much heat for mollycoddling and enabling our kids. Seems to me, though far from perfect, we must be doing something right if we're raising children who are passionate and not afraid to stand up for themselves.
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