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The F Word & Coming Out Online

The other night I was watching Sixteen Candles yet again (I can't help myself) on HBO. I was stunned to hear the word "faggot" spoken by characters at least once if not twice.

Juxtaposed against the recent uproar conservative provacateur Ann Coulter caused recently by calling John Edwards the same word, you can see how far we've come in terms of our sensitivity to the reality that words can hurt.

We've also come amazingly far when it comes to the visibility of gay and lesbian teens. Gay/straight alliances have proliferated in high schools across the country and popular teen dramas like The O.C. and South of Nowhere (and others) have had gay or lesbian storylines. But as visibility has increased so has harrassment and bullying of gay, lesbian, bi and transgender youth at school.

Paris and Nicole go to Fat Camp

The media is buzzing about the new season of The Simple Life in which scary skinny rich girls Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton take on the role of camp counselor, including counseling kids at a fat camp (or as E! prefers to call it, a weight loss/ fitness camp).

From the Boston Herald: "So what on earth will Richie, who has admitted to having weight issues, promote to the roly-poly kids? Bulimia? Anorexia? And the only fitness Hilton seems to get is walking the red carpet."

Disney's New Princess

OK, so probably almost every parent of a girl under 5 is getting pretty tired of the whole Disney princess phenomenon. How many tiaras and sparkly wands does one child need?

But when Disney announced last week that it created its first black princess -- the star of the New Orleans-based animated musical The Frog Princess, we said: Phew. It's about time.

TV's Wifey Fetish

This article was written by Sara Libby and originally appeared on the Popandpolitics.com blog. It is reprinted here with permission.

From the catty and vacant girls on shows like America’s Next Top Model and Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll to the sexed-up, lingerie-clad corpses on C.S.I., women mostly get short shrift on TV. A new trend is making females even more one-dimensional. The names of the shows say it all.

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Prime-Time Torture

Before 9/11, fewer than four acts of torture showed up on prime-time television each year, according to Human Rights First, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization.

But over the last five years, the number of scenes of torture and abuse our kids see has grown into the hundreds, with regular appearances on TV shows like 24, Lost, and Heroes -- which are watched by millions of teens and tweens.