Politicians Call for Model Gisele Bündchen’s “Sexist” TV Advert to be Banned

Brazilian model Gisele Bündchen has caused uproar amongst politicians appalled at her new “sexist” advert promoting her Hope Lingerie campaign.

Brazilian lingerie label Hope has come under fire from Brazilian Government officials after dubbing their advert starring model Gisele Bündhcen “sexist” with its stereotypical portrayal of women as “sexual objects” to men.

The 5ft 11in model was dubbed “The Return of the Sexy Model” by Vogue in 1999 and is known for her modelling career with fashion company Victoria’s Secret, as well as being named the 16th richest woman in the entertainment industry since 2004.

Ms Bündchen appears in several adverts for the campaign, dressed in provocative clothing while trying to comfort her husband after committing “marital blunders” such as crashing the car or spending too much on their credit card.

In one advert, aired on September 20, Ms Bündchen is pictured in a short, white dress explaining to her husband that she crashed the car when the word “WRONG” appears on the screen. In the next shot, she is wearing red underwear and high heels and explaining to her husband that she crashed the car again, when the word “RIGHT” appears at the bottom of the screen.

“Use your natural charm” can be heard in a voiceover on the adverts as the campaign’s tagline.

A Government official has said that the campaign promotes “misguided stereotype[s] of a woman as a sexual object”, which is ignoring the advances women have achieved in “deconstructing sexist thinking”.

Director of Hope Lingerie, Sandra Chayo, has reacted by stating that the advert “never intended to be sexist” and that Ms Bündchen can testify that the adverts were meant to come across as “jokes about daily life”.

“It would be absurd for us, who make a living off the preferences of women, to do anything to devalue our main consumer,” added Ms Chayo.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of gabriel_marchi ]

Welsh Designer Creates Own “Monkstone Knitwear” Collection

Welsh designer Anna Felton has created her own Monkstone Knitwear collection from her working farm home in Dyfed, West Wales.

Designer Anna Felton has created her own clothing collection titled ‘Monkstone Knitwear’ from her working farm home in Dyfed, West Wales, which is due to be launched online on Tuesday October 4.

Ms Felton lives on Trevayne Farm in Monkstone, Saundersfoot in West Wales, and is using the wool sheared from 70 sheep to create her knitwear collection. Local farmers have also donated wool from their own sheep to help with Ms Felton’s new business, and she is hoping she can pay them back once the business is launched.

The recent demand for wool has been low, but Ms Felton is determined that wool still has its place in the modern fashion industry.

“All of the wool is just washed and spun, without any chemicals at all, making it a really hardy material,” said Ms Felton. “It makes our products the kind that will last a lifetime because of the natural properties, designed to be on a sheep all year around.”

Her university degree in women’s wear helped her to decide to focus on creating knitwear as Ms Felton has worked with this particular material in the past and it was something she “loved working with”.

The 28-year-old has previous experience of working as a designer for Welsh clothing company Howies, and the global clothing company Fat Face.

The “Monkstone Knitwear” range consists of 100% Welsh products and is being created with the help of five hand knitters, and workers at the company Corgi Hosiery, based 46 miles away in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire.

Ms Felton hopes that her work with the local farmers will help to educate people about wool manufacturing, which she hopes will eventually lead to creating her own shearing collection.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of UK pictures

Artists Asked to Donate Work for Women for Women International

Women for Women International have called on female artist to donate their work to help support women survivors of war.

Artists have been invited to donate their art to the Gagosian Gallery by Women for Women International to raise money for female survivors of war and civil strife.

Nadja Romain is the key advocate for Women for Women International, and initiated this year’s project with artist Jenny Saville.

“The idea of the exhibition is to raise awareness,” Nadja Romain told The Fresh Outlook. “We want to establish Artists for Women for Women International as a recurrent project. It might change in its form, but the goal is to keep on raising awareness and funds to support the work of the organisation.”

Nadja Romain and Jenny Saville have co-organised this year’s event, and 23 artists have donated 23 art pieces to the auction.

Jenny Saville is a British contemporary artist and is known for creating paintings of naked women. Ms Saville contributed art last year, and is continuing to support the charity by donating another piece of art work.

Nadja Romain and Jenny Saville united to invite artists to donate their work after hearing a speech given by Zainab Salbi, founder of Women for Women International, at the House of Lords in London. Ms Romain has described the artists’ pieces as “beautiful works”, claiming their generosity is “amazing”.

They both asked female and male artists to donate their work to be auctioned by Christie’s, a saleroom that showcases “extraordinary art”, in their Post War and Contemporary Day Sale during the Frieze Art Fair which will open on October 13.

Ms Romain told us that she is definitely hoping to increase the amount raised last year, and as only five artist donated work in 2010, she has already seen a “big difference”.

“If the auction goes well this will make a difference to thousands of women’s lives, which extend then to their family and community,” said Ms Romain.

The exhibition runs until Saturday October 1 at the Gagosian gallery at 6 – 24 Britannia Street in London and the auction will take place on October 15.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of Carsten Holler]

Saudi Arabia: King Abdullah Saves Muslim Woman from Lashing

King of Saudi Arabia cancels the lashings Shaima Jastaina would have received for opposing the driving ban in the country.

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has cancelled the punishment of Shaima Jastania after it was ruled on Tuesday September 27 that she would receive 10 lashings for driving in the country. The announcement came a day after King Abdullah promised to protect women’s rights and announced that women will be allowed to participate in municipal elections in 2015.

Shaima Jastania was found guilty of driving a member of her family to hospital without permission in Jedda, located close to the Red Sea, in July this year.

There is no law in Saudi Arabia stating that women cannot drive; however, police officers may stop and question Muslim women driving in the country, and will often make women sign a pledge stating they will not drive again before letting them go with a caution.

Princess Amira Al-Taweel, married to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, is an active supporter of women’s right drive in Saudi Arabia.

“No matter how many great things we do [we will] always be judged as a country that suppresses women because we’re the only country in the world where women can’t drive,” said Princess Amira.

In a statement today, Change.org director Shelby Knox discussed how Saudi women have now built an international campaign through their petition, gaining support of thousands including US Secretary Catherine Ashton.

“Using Change.org, the Saudi Women for Driving coalition has exercised its voice and encouraged activists everywhere to stand up in solidarity,” Shelby Knox stated. “Change.org is about empowering anyone, anywhere to demand action in their communities, and it has been incredible to watch the campaign gain so much support and momentum throughout the world.”

Female activists in Saudi Arabia created a petition to stop the punishment, gaining almost 25,000 signatures from people in 150 countries.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of Robert Reed Daly]

Shakira Honoured as Youngest Person to Become Latin Grammy Person of the Year

Colombian singer Shakira has made history becoming the youngest person to receive the Latin Grammy Person of the Year award.

Spanish singing sensation Shakira has been honoured as the youngest person to gain the Latin Grammy Person of the Year award at the age of 34.

CEO and president of the Latin Recording Academy, Gabriel Abaroa Jr, stated that they are honoured to award this “dynamic and socially conscious woman”, praising her talent and charity work for helping many people worldwide.

Born in Colombia, South America, Shakira is known for her song writing and singing voice, and won a Best Selling Single in the UK award for her single ‘Whenever, Wherever’ in 2002. She has also been awarded for her work with charities across the globe.

Shakira supports charities such as Live Earth and ONE campaign and has been awarded with the United Nations Humanitarian Award for helping children in the Barefoot Foundation.

During a speech at a charity event, she told the 400-member audience to help displaced children in her hometown of Colombia.

“This generation has so many ideas and technologies that my parents didn’t have access to, so let’s take advantage of this historical opportunity we have within reach to make this world a better place,” she said.

After hearing of her award, she said that it is an honour to be awarded amongst the “greatest artists and legends of Latin music”.

Previous Latin artists who have won the award include singers Julio Inglesias, Ricky Martin and Placido Domingo.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of sitemarca]

The Weight Watchers Jennifer Hudson Centre Opens in Chicago

On Tuesday September 27, performer Jennifer Hudson opened a Weight Watchers centre in her name, advocating healthy futures for children.

Actress and singer Jennifer Hudson opened The Weight Watchers Jennifer Hudson Centre yesterday in her hometown of Chicago, Illinois. Ms Hudson has been named “Chicago’s ambassador to the world at large” by town mayor Rahm Emmanuel for opening the centre.

After the birth of her son in 2009, Jennifer Hudson lost 80 pounds, and is now promoting the new Weight Watchers points plus programme. She has stated that she wants the centre to encourage children to lead healthier lifestyles.

The new centre has also pledged to donate money to the Hudson-King Foundation Ms Hudson created in memory of her late seven-year-old nephew who was shot in 2008.

Jennifer Hudson rose to fame by appearing on reality television show American Idol after impressing audiences with her singing ability. Ms Hudson has also starred in Hollywood films, and won a Golden Globe award for ‘Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in the Motion Picture’ for her role in Dreamgirls.

She said that when she was growing up she was inspired by the success of other women, and would hope to be an inspirational role model for young children.

“I love to target children, because that’s the thing that makes a difference,” Ms Hudson said. “We hope to do the same thing and start here at home in Chicago with health, with education, with dreams.”

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of Wikimedia commons]

Women’s Summit Held in Chicago to Help Women Advance in their Careers

Jones Lang Laselle real estate firm held their first women’s summit on Tuesday to help women to advance their careers.

On September 27, the first ever women’s summit was held by real estate service firm Jones Lang Lasalle, based in Chicago, Illinois, to help find better ways for women to advance in their careers.

The firm invited 40 female managers from its offices across the United States to attend the training session, as the firm hoped these women would become mentors to young female employees.

After falling pregnant with her second child, Chief Diversity Officer at Jones Lang Lasalle, Angela Roseboro was told she would now be put on the “mommy track”, a career path offering her fewer opportunities to advance in her line of work. Ms Roseboro was determined to prove him wrong.

Angela Roseboro has over 18 years of experience in leadership and in building best in class human resources, diversity and engagement platforms for global corporations.

“Diversity can not be seen as a programme, it must be a strategic enabler,” said Ms Roseboro. “Diversity has to be embedded in process, so when you think about how you hire, how you retain, diversity can not be in a side programme; it has to be in the process all the time.”

According to a survey by Commercial Real Estate Women Network, 36% of professional women in 2005 were working in the commercial real estate industry.

Angela Roseboro hopes that the women attending the session would help each other to reach the “executive ranks” of the company, and hopes that by the time her own children face the corporate world they won’t have to deal with these issues.

“I want to see people be given the opportunity to succeed based on their merits,” she said.

By Bethan Hâf Marsh

[Image courtesy of high performance advocates ]