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Monday, November 10, 2008 - Barack Star

I spent two and a half hours in line the other day to cast my vote. I was shocked and inspired by the amount of people stretching around a tiny church in downtown LA to make their voices heard. The diversity was overwhelming; old, young, rich, poor, every shade of color, varying languages fluttering around, and yet we were all there with one purpose, to be heard. Regardless of who you were voting for, or what propositions you strongly agreed with or adamantly disagreed with, there was a respect that you were exercising your right, your privilege.

The rest of the day was spent glued to the television. This was our walking on the moon, our Dream speech, our crumbling wall. Along with my closest friends, we gathered around our television set and watched as history was made before our very eyes. When they announced who had won the Presidency, we clinked champagne glasses and had %!!+% streaming down our faces as we listened to one of the most poetic speeches anyone in my generation has ever witnessed. While we all understand the current state of the nation; the debt, the war, the economy, etc., our weak spark was engulfed into an unbridled bonfire of hope.

For the first time my friends fought for something they believed in, they carpooled to swing states, made phone calls and went door to door to promote a presidential candidate they believed in. Then, as though not really understanding the influence they had or all that was riding on this heat, their horse won the race. All the hard work, all the time and energy and blind faith paid off and when Obama won, they won. Regardless of your politics, or which party you claim, this was a monumental moment for America. Not only were the voting numbers higher than ever before in history, but a country once divided by race has leveled the playing field and provided hope for all. Black, white, yellow, purple; Barack has shattered an archaic mold, an unfair paradigm and in doing so has inspired a nation.

We are this country. Our voices were heard. Our actions were rewarded. And we have a new president. The road will be long, but hope will be our lamplight along the path, our warmth in the cold and our sustenance in the face of hunger. I believe in this country, but more importantly, I believe in the people who are the fabric of this country because I am a part of that fabric as well. It's an honor, an opportunity to participate in the rebuilding of this precious nation. Sometimes it takes hitting rock bottom to trigger a panic button big enough to take action. We hit that bottom, and in doing so, we are responding, full throttle ahead.

Wednesday, November 05, 2008 - A Bellist Sensation

BELLISM- (bel-i-sm)-
noun-
1. A doctrine focused on recreating society's definition and construct of beauty
2. An organized social movement for the attainment of such definition of beauty

BELLIST- (bel-ist)
noun-
1. a person who promotes and lives the ideals of Bellism

We decided as a company that while we are promoting a 21st century feminism, none of us are comfortable with the "F" word. Not that we don't believe in what it stands for, we absolutely do, it's more the negative connotations associated with it and the heavy reputation it carries. However, it's important to acknowledge the noble and necessary pursuits of the feminist movement, untainted by its muddied reputation as well as acknowledging that its goals have not fully been achieved; equality, confidence and unwavering respect. However, in this short lifetime, I believe we have to choose our battles and while we can support our feminist sisters, we at I am That Girl are dedicated to fighting another battle. Because, rather than be confused with the bra burning, man-hating stereotype, we decided to coin our own word to describe our generation of women. We believe this "third" wave of feminism as would be described in any gender college course, is long in coming and if not us, then who?

I feel that feminism in the past was about creating equality between men and women. While we have SO much to thank our "foremothers" for taking a stand and providing the opportunities that my generation now revel in, I believe we have a different mission set before us. Rather than it being an "us" vs. "them" and having men and women opposing one another on a battled field, we're now on the same team fighting for a common cause. Thankfully, we aren't forced to decide between our strength and our femininity. Yet because we have never seen this kind of woman, we cannot promote her in a context that no longer applies to her. BELLISM is our new movement, our passion filled cause and our battle cry. Bellism is the promotion and dedication to redefining our culture's narrow definition of beauty. Rather than just broaden it to "all shapes, sizes and colors," we are taking it a step further and saying that it's about magnifying all the intangibles (passion, creativity, integrity, confidence, resilience, intelligence, etc.) and making our physical beauty but a sliver of the pie that makes a woman truly beautiful.

Historically Stalin forced his prisoners of war to build train tracks that had no destination, served no purpose and would never feel the sensation of a steel belly graze its tracks. The project, known as "The Dead Road" lasted from 1947-53 and took an unprecedented amount of lives. I believe our current definition of beauty is just as detrimental to girls. Women are completely consumed with training for a race they will never win, a gerbil on an endless wheel. If 98% of people who move to LA never achieve their dreams because they fall victim to their day job, the same must be true for girls who fall victim to trying to attain an unattainable definition of beauty instead of pursing their real life's purpose.

While feminism was the study of and vehicle by which to promote equality between men and women, Bellism is the study and vehicle by which we will promote and recreate our society's definition of "beauty" so that women have the confidence to dream big and focus on attaining the tools to make those dreams come true. As Bellists, we are men-loving, confident, classy, intelligent girls who are able to maintain both a strength and a grace about us. We unapologetically want to be taken seriously and look good doing it.

So hop on board with us and let's all fight for the Bellist movement, we need more women willing to stand up and blow the whistle, to demand change and to silently inspire those around them. Before we know it, Bellism and being a Bellist will be the new buzz world, hotter than Beyonce's "bootie-licious" and Paris Hilton's "that's hot."