What A Girl Wants

The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need

Mayo Clinic: Anorexia Nervosa

Ironically, as concerns grow over the rise in obesity, some people are intent on becoming too thin, sometimes to the point of self-starvation. People with the eating disorder anorexia are obsessed with food and being thin. They don't maintain a body weight that's normal for their age and height. Indeed, they may be skeletally thin but still think they're fat. To prevent weight gain or to continue losing weight, people with anorexia may starve themselves or exercise excessively.

Although anorexia (an-oe-REK-see-uh) centers around food, the disease isn't solely about food. Anorexia is also a way to try to cope with emotional problems, perfectionism and a desire for control. People with anorexia often equate their self-worth with how thin they are.

Anorexia may seem very common because of media attention and television specials, but in truth, its prevalence is hard to narrow down. Some estimates say only about 1 percent of American girls and women have anorexia. Others suggest that up to 10 percent of adolescent girls have anorexia. It may seem particularly common among teens because that's often when anorexia begins, and many teens do experiment with diets. Boys and men also can develop anorexia, but they do so far less often than women.

Anorexia, technically called anorexia nervosa, can be chronic and difficult to overcome. But with treatment, people with anorexia can gain a healthier sense of their self, return to healthier eating habits and reverse some of the disease's serious complications.

Click on the above title to visit the full site for further information and treatment suggestions.

Asking Us To See

I hesitated before posting this picture. To be honest there are some from this same event that I can't post because they are too upsetting and it would feel horribly inappropriate. Even now I feel worried that to post this image is exploitive. She needs her privacy now more than ever. But on some level we have to address that Mary Kate chose to wear this dress to the Golden Globes (Jan. 15th) and is asking something of us. To look at her. To see. And so I say lets honor that request. Lets look. And see. And address that there is a problem here. And she is, in this instance, exactly what the MKA brand has always promised: a real girl. A real girl with a real problem shared by many others real girls.

MKA Kids Choice Awards

They won for best actress. (Singular, not plural.)

So Bad it Hurts

These Girls dont wanta have fun, they just wanta kill me....

Are We Listening Closely Enough?

"We are living in a material world and I am a material girl" - Madonna

"Im coming up, so you better get this party started" - Pink

Both of these songs are covered by Girl Authority on their debut album and I have to say that when I hear tween girls singing these lines it adds a whole new level of meaning for me. One that greatly suits the doc, so that's all good and fine, but at the same time...they also seem like warning signals. These are the clips the advertisers are choosing to highlight in their Girl Authority album ad. They want consumers to cue into these lines. So are we listening closely enough? What is it they want from us? To buy. And to associate all these products (not only the album, but the girls, the outfits, the attitude) with a great big, kick ass party. How cute is Girl Authority when we really get down to it? To me they seem more like a group of little girls being used by some business to manipulate an already insecure and highly encourageable market. Sort of like having a whole gaggle of pre-teen MKAs.

Girl Authority Commercial - "The Hottest New Tween All Girl Group"

TRL: TWEEN TAKEOVER

TWEEN POWER: CANADA

MKA on Cityline (Aug 2006)

MKA discuss future goals and have a mini-fashion show for their latest tween line at Walmart and Claires.

Ive been on Full House for....ever

The Way Good Friends Do...

Most of girls' play, according to a Mattel spokesperson, revolves around best-friend themes. Girls say that what they like about Mary-Kate and Ashley is that they're permanent best friends; they're so close that they even share the same face. "Since they're twins, they kind of like always have a best friend around them," says Christine Chun, an 11-year-old Olsens fan from Los Angeles. "I'd like to have someone who would always be there, like a best friend who lives with you."

360Youth.com

TWEEN MARKETING AT 360 YOUTH
THE POWER TO ENGAGE THE PRE-TEEN CONSUMER

The tween consumer gets older, faster each year. By age eight, today’s kids are beginning to replace dolls and trucks with posters, music and clothing that reflect their individuality…and growing capacity to form lasting brand loyalties and influence family purchase decisions.

America’s tweens independently spend $51 billion, money they get from a variety of sources like gifts and allowances, and they hold considerable sway over the additional $170 billion spent directly on them each year. In addition, they also influence major family purchase decisions—everything from cars to computers, grocery brands to vacation destinations.

However, there are precious few opportunities to reach tweens, who spend up to 50% of their waking hours in school, are increasingly scheduled with homework and after-school activities, are spending more time hanging out with friends and are more deeply involved with video games and the Internet.

Enter 360 Youth.

360 Youth has developed and deployed the industry’s most comprehensive package of programs and services directed at tweens. Always growing and adapting to meet the changing moods and patterns of young consumers, our experience in this specialized marketing arena continues to make us the obvious partner for outstanding companies reaching out to the growing tween market.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Mobile Fashion Collection

The Mary-Kate and Ashley Mobile Fashion Collection is the fashionable way to carry your cell-phone, iPod , digital camera or laptop. Each item combines up-to-date styling with unique "play-through" design.


(Below is an excerpt review from "Shiny Shiny: A girls Guide to Gadgets" website)

Send a fashion girl around a tech event and this is what happens. Laptop bags and bunnies. Still, after all the iPhone madness, you need a bit of light relief. Those Olsen twins get everywhere, don't they? I thought at least at CES I'd be safe, but no, Mary-Kate and Ashley have bought out a range of laptop bags and convertible notebook sleeves aimed at the tween / young teen market (do kids take laptop's to school now?) and they were on show this morning. They're pretty standard fare, in camo canvas with pink linings (everything has pink linings now), and will be available from February. Apparenly MK&A is the most popular girls' brand in the US, but the slightly older range from the same people - Lola - might be more suitable for anyone over the age of 15. It was also on show in quilting, tweed, sparkly brown floral and various other girly prints and colourways, and also hits the shops in Feb.