• The Woman is dead.

    Throughout the streets of America, Canada, the UK and pretty much everywhere where there are streets - the haunted, hollow and used-up remains of what was once a human stare out at everyday people from dolled-up billboards.

    Women. Within that one word, what can be described? Ask someone from half a decade ago and they will no doubt tell you that a woman was the glue of a family, the nurse, the teacher, the comforting hug, the strict word. A woman was a figure of dignity, respect and high-strung morals.

    Women. Within five simple letters strung together over millenia, what can be seen? Ask a girl today and she might simply say "a toy." Or perhaps someone might say "attractive" or maybe "skinny" or maybe "blonde". Or, as the ads I've seen here on Gaia have shown, maybe even "Bimbo".

    I will not say "I'm sorry" - I will say "Excuse Me?". Excuse me, but BIMBO is a woman who has no sense of pride in herself, or in her body. She is a person who will gladly hang off the arms of someone else - someone who only knows how to measure her success by her cup size, blonde-shade, bust-waist-hip ratio, sex count and the number of friends she has on an online social networking site.

    Miss Bimbo? Since when has being a loose, usable toy been something all young girls should aspire to be?

    You wonder why so many young girls become anorexic, bulemic or find starvation-level diets attractive? You wonder why so many young men are becoming more and more sexually assertive? Why sex-parties are the new drinking-parties? Why thousands of Americans under the age of 18 lose their virginity each day?

    Maybe you don't wonder those questions - how about these?

    Why does crime rate go up? Why are there so many more stupid high-school drop-outs? Why can't you get a good job? Why, despite your record of good behavior, do your potential employers have a bad impression of you? Why does the statement "Kids these days" hold such contempt?

    Think about it - if sex is glorified beyond belief, if young girls and boys are told that if they sleep together they'll be popular and have all they want, if children learn how to pole-dance at the age of 9 and how to "make 'love'" at the age of 12, when do they learn Lamaze Breathing?

    If young kids are taught that their bodies are worth only one thing - sex - but are not taught that the consequences to that action, what happens when they become parents when they've just barely cleared Junior High school?

    If you don't care about the kids who became parents (and I have to say, I don't care about them in the least) - then you need to think about their kids. If a kid is born to parents who weren't expecting it, don't want it and aren't prepared for it - then what are the chances that the poor kid (who doesn't have a choice as to whether he's born or not) is going to develop some sort of complex or psychological scarring?

    There are numerous studies out there which prove that educated parents give birth to children who are less likely to engage into crimincal conduct. 8 years of mandatory schooling is NOT enough education to have a kid!

    What happened to the kids who would think about playing a game of basketball/volleyball/hockey/soccer after school? Why do they all think about the kids who would like them if only they had blonde hair, had big boobs, had a small waist, slept with Johhny?

    What happened to the kids who would talk about careers, futures, social change, activism, demonstrations? Why do they all run off to read celebrity life magazines, articles on how to please a man, books on things even their parents don't read?

    What happened to the kids who actually had dreams for themselves, who knew what they wanted and worked hard to get it, who measured success based on improving their minds and working towards health and fitness in all aspects? Why do they all obsess over whether or not they can get into the next "Bimbo meeting"? Why do they all think that their bodies are only to be used in one way?

    When did it ever become right to teach little girls that their bodies exist not for themselves, but for the enjoyment of others?

    Don't get me wrong - my intent is not to change the role of women back to Chief-bottle washer and Diaper-changer. My intent is to bring about something fundamentally radical - the re-establishment of a positive body image for young girls.

    I'm not meaning to say that girls should never aspire to be liked by a boy, or that they should refrain from keeping an attractive figure - they should be encouraged to keep their bodies healthy, fit and toned (for their own sake, as well). The key difference is that they should be motivated for themselves. Not for the sake of having someone "take" them. But for the sake of having something to "give" to someone they deem worthy and special.

    A girl should not be told what to do with her body - she should be the one controlling what she does and forming her own opinions.

    What a woman does, she should do for herself.

    Woman. What can be described in that one, powerful, historical word?