There is much talk of *sexual* stereotypes/perpetuating myths.
In the 1960's, Australia was largely isolated from the rest of the world. The culture was markedly different to the American lifestyle - and remains so today. I grew up in Queensland country, a remote and vast land of isolation. My childhood memories are of dust, animals, performing the chores, and learning the skills of a boy . I am still a tom boy.
Queensland can be extremely hot, thus people dress accordingly. In Australia swimwear is mandatory. You will find millions of people on Australian beaches every summer. It is quite normal for any Australian to don a swimsuit and to frolic by the beach, a park, a swiming pool, a creek, or even a hose on a clothes-line (water restrictions dependant). I wonder if most Australians would view photos of a woman walking through water on a beach as degrading?. Probably not, as it is part of our national culture and identity.
Put it in perspective, a woman in a swimsuit is not a whore. Actually clothes don't make the whore - these come disguised in all manner of sizes, shapes, and styles.
It is possible that those who view the calendar images as *degrading all women* or its "models being whores" are from a more repressed culture. I respect other cultural views - it is a necessity in as multicultural a society as Australia.
While I understand that swimwear is entirely acceptable in Australia and most parts of Europe, it is not acceptable in many Muslim nations.
I'm mostly unsure about attitudes within the United states, (along with the majority of the world).
My prime motivation for doing the calendar was charity. I never thought it would be anything more than FITT and WIT in Australia selling it to members (female) and their families. None of us ever expected any controversy.
Sonja gave all the girls a set of Hollywood images from which to choose.
Why did I choose Ursula?
For a number of reasons: Given I had just returned from a beach camping holiday in Queensland, and owned a white bikini, it seemed like a logical choice. Ursula was also the closest physical match.
Thinking about it some more, I suppose my curiosity about IT really springs from watching all the early Bond movies about the gadgets and inventions. I only ever enjoyed the Sean Connery Bond movies, and of these my favorite was Dr No.
When I was a child I saw that picture of Ursula (Honey Ryder) coming out of the water and from that very moment I wanted to be an international spy - I thought Ursula Andress was the strongest, most amazing, smartest, sassiest woman in the world. In fact for me, Ursula was an inspirational alternative to the only other female role models on TV when I was a child.... "the secretary", "the shopgirl", 'the nurse" or "the house wife" stereotypes.
The Real Ursula - OMG is that a swimsuit?!! You bet it is - she HAS clothes
It is a beautiful shot of a wet cold angry woman about to kick serious ASS, striding bravely and purposefully to achieve her goal.
YES YOU CAN BE SMART AND SASSY - ITS OK!
I have never viewed her swimsuit as anything more than that. This is because young girls don't have dirty minds - they merely see a wet woman in a swimsuit. Her image didn't make me want be become an actress, go on a diet, become an anorexic alcoholic or get married in Vegas.
Instead I studied, read, immersed myself in music, lived, rode horses, played as many school sports as possible, dived and boxed because I love being empowered. And to be honest, I've never changed my view.
And whenever I see Ursula in those shots, I still find myself thinking,"U GO Grrrl!"
Of course Ursula is not in ICT. Nor is Honey Ryder a real person. But I am - a developer who loves the ICT industry.
*Me* in spoof of Honey Ryder~Dr No - spot the technology!
Whether you like it or not, beauty inspires. The images that saturate our checkout liines are mostly vapid socialites, devoid of any intellect. Many women and girls are addicted to tabloids, and aspire to the lives of the celebrities. (men are largely dis-interested.). Some of these young women may be curious enough to look at this calendar, which may sow a seed that leads to work with mobiles, gaming, video on the net, IPTV or any of the other cool technologies, as they emerge.
The variety of the models and images will hopefully resonate with a broad cross section of people.
On a closing note, each of the models involved in this project are Goddesses, not because of their physical attributes, but because of *who* they are: their passionate, conviction and quiet achievement. I was inspired when I met each of the models for the first time.
Please take the time to explore their stories, and maybe you also will feel inspired to live your dreams . These women are not only an inspiration to me, but potentially to women everywhere who believe in themselves, and will not allow themselves to be limited . These include my 22 year old daughter and all her friends!
3 comments:
I always thought you kicked ass, without ever having seen the Ursula Andress Bond shot :)
This post just proves how right I was to think that. The "What do you *do*?" especially resonates - how lazy is it that we are defined by what we do for a paycheck? Maybe it's important - maybe it's *the* most important thing - but it's not all of it, it's not who we are.
But who has those 15 minutes to listen?
I'm a guy, I like a hot babe as much as anyone. But I like a Smart Kickass Hot Babe far more. It's called the "Total Package" for a reason. It's the Holy Grail. Obviously you want someone you're really attracted to, but in the end you have to talk to each other, and beauty fades eventually. If you're a smart person, naturally you want to be with another smart person - it's exhilarating, it's enchanting, it's just plain fun to bounce ideas off someone else and have them Understand - and bounce them right back at you.
I totally see what you are doing with the Calendar as Empowerment - and I support all of you all the way. You go, Grrrl(s)!
Good on you for hanging tough despite the critisism and controversy. You have my full support.
I don't know any woman who is considered "good looking", working in a professional career of any kind, who hasn't been treated like an airhead because they look ok. It still annoys me that people's jaws hit the floor when you say something intelligent. And I still see it with my daughter. I'm not a very aggressive person by any stretch of the imagination but I'd still like to wallop people who dismiss her abilities because she's a girl (she's a tomboy that lives and competes in a boys world). Fortunately she has a knack for turning her biggest opponents into her biggest fans with no assistance required from me! But she shouldn't have to work that hard for it, she shouldn't have to fight for it every time. :(
I'm astounded by the controversy around the calendar myself. I thought our society was more mature than that. It honestly never occurred to me that it would be in any way controversial - it's a bunch of women having a bit of fun to generate funds for a good cause. Where’s everyone’s sense of humour gone?
It was never the images themselves that were intended to inspire young women, it’s the biographies. Has anyone out there actually read them?
I always thought of the "Goddess" aspect as being in relation to the abilities and careers, not looks. Guess I'm more naive than I thought. These are, after all, real women with real careers, not professional models and I for one resent being judged on the physical appearance alone.
Whilst the outrage has certainly generated more publicity than we anticipated, it would be nice if the attention was about celebrating the ability of women to push through those preconceptions and be stars in their chosen careers, rather than about 2 or 3 shots out of 16 that show a bit of flesh.
I don't think any of us felt we were there for our looks, we were there because we are in the IT industry, both core and peripheral, and we wanted to make a difference for other women coming after us and show them that you can be a woman with a satisfying career in IT without having to be masculine or a stereotypical nerd. There will always be the hard core “nerds”, (and THEY should be celebrated for being themselves) but young girls shouldn’t think that they HAVE to be like that to have a career in IT.
Jane Long
Calendar designer and model
Well said.
Woe betide the women who is allowed to follow her feminine nature - Next these feminsts who so shrilly detract you would have women believe they should never be photographed at all, in case a male demon steals their souls.
There are so few examples of beautiful sexy intelligent women - You should be proud of yourself!
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