NationStates Jolt Archive

The Wyoming Libraries have come up with a cute promotion -- bumper stickers!

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/rotating/Cold-dead-fingers-bookmark.jpg

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/rotating/Other-Card-bookmark.jpg

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/rotating/Use-the-Library-bookmark.jpg

And my favorite...
http://www.wyominglibraries.org/images/mudflap-girl-bookmark.jpg
Of course, the last one has bred some controversy (http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/03/23/news/wyoming/69c31bfa590e466d872575810074fad7.txt).

Mary Kay Wardlaw, a nutrition and health educator in Laramie, said she appreciated the effort at creativity, but found the use of the female image inappropriate. Wardlaw, who submitted a complaint the library, said she's worked to promote acceptance of different body types.
"People do unhealthy things to try to look like those images that are portrayed," Wardlaw said.

What do they do, paint themselves completely white? That shouldn't be dangerous, as long as they use latex.

Please, who go to libraries nowadays when everything can be found on the internet?!
*whispering*
What?
*Whispering*
Lies, on the internet?
*whispering*
Surely you Jest!

:p

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/rotating/Cold-dead-fingers-bookmark.jpg


I likez this one.

library's are for poor people who can't afford clean books so naturally they would appeal to the lowest common denominator :tongue:

I really don't get the other card one...

library's are for poor people who can't afford clean books so naturally they would appeal to the lowest common denominator :tongue:

I really don't get the other card one...
It's a play on the sticker "My other car is a [pick something better]".

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/images/mudflap-girl-bookmark.jpg
Of course, the last one has bred some controversy (http://www.trib.com/articles/2009/03/23/news/wyoming/69c31bfa590e466d872575810074fad7.txt).

What do they do, paint themselves completely white? That shouldn't be dangerous, as long as they use latex.
No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

Really should've stuck with a different silhouette.

It's a play on the sticker "My other car is a [pick something better]".

but then you would have to stick it on the back of your credit card or something :confused:

I'm complaining to this library.

No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

I agree everyone knows (flat chested) hot chicks can't read

No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

Really should've stuck with a different silhouette.

Im actually getting really sick of the whole "portray different body types!"

Of course theyre going to go with what most people find attractive. Thats what gets the most attention.

Um.......picking a different silhouette would have ruined the parody. You guys do understand parody right?

Um.......picking a different silhouette would have ruined the parody. You guys do understand parody right?
This is NSG, we only do literally.

This is NSG, we only do literally.

:facepalm:

Im actually getting really sick of the whole "portray different body types!"

Of course theyre going to go with what most people find attractive. Thats what gets the most attention.
First, the "different body types" thing is PC and I'll bet Wardlaw is a cow.

Second, I don't think the mudflap girl is that skinny. Not compared to a local news anchor that lives up the road. She looks like death warmed over in person, but reasonably thin on TV.

:facepalm:
Seriously, do you think many NSGers have ever seen a mudflap?

Seriously, do you think many NSGers have ever seen a mudflap?

Most of them avoid where I live like the plague so probably none of them? I am at the "crossroads of America" though......I see more 18 Wheelers than I do cars on any given day.

Seriously, do you think many NSGers have ever seen a mudflap?

Any American who has driven on a highway has seen a mudflap, man:p

No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

Really should've stuck with a different silhouette.

This one?

http://fatmudflapgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sticker.jpg

Um.......picking a different silhouette would have ruined the parody. You guys do understand parody right?

Stop hitting the point on the head! :p

This one?

http://fatmudflapgirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/sticker.jpg

but think of all the poor skinny girls who will do unhealthy things to look like this.

Please, who go to libraries nowadays when everything can be found on the internet?!

You can get a printed book from your computer screen?

Impressive.

No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

No, no she really doesn't.

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/rotating/Cold-dead-fingers-bookmark.jpg


This is my new favorite quote.:D

What do they do, paint themselves completely white? That shouldn't be dangerous, as long as they use latex.

nah, she's afraid they will hand on behind the rear wheel tire of those big rigs.

You can get a printed book from your computer screen?

er...yes

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ian_Hay/The_First_Hundred_Thousand/

and if you want to be anal just press print :p

No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

Really should've stuck with a different silhouette.

a) she works to promote different body types, but takes issue with this one?
b) it is a parody of the mudflap girl (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Mudflap_girl.svg/180px-Mudflap_girl.svg.png). Using a different silhouette would kinda ruin it.

You can get a printed book from your computer screen?

Impressive.
Well, yeah. It takes a few days though. (http://www.amazon.com/)
Or you could just stick with ebooks or the free materials available all over the place. In some cases, the only available additions of books are the electronic ones (The Lucifer Jones stories, for instance, have been out of print for 10-15 years, and good luck finding them at a library).

I don't like libraries that much. It has all the hassle of owning a hard copy book (it can be damaged, it is unwieldy), without the chief benefit (libraries tend to be upset by people scribbling, underlining and taking notes all over their books). Also you have to return the book, and I am a very clingy person.

Im actually getting really sick of the whole "portray different body types!"

Of course theyre going to go with what most people find attractive. Thats what gets the most attention.

I disagree completely with this - there is a good and compelling reason why there need to be more women on TV, on magazines, in commercials, etc. who are not unhealthily thin. That said, in this particular case, a "different body type" would have been stupid, given that they kinda need to use the established "mudflap girl" image for the joke to make any sense. Some totally different girl reading a book would have just been a girl reading a book, and no one would have understood what the point was. Some people make controversy in really dumb places.

I still like the promotional bookmarks Waterstone's give out, with famous literary quotes about reading; the best being (of course) Groucho Marx's:

"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside a dog, it's too dark to read."

I disagree completely with this - there is a good and compelling reason why there need to be more women on TV, on magazines, in commercials, etc. who are not unhealthily thin.

Agreed. But I find the people who complain often suggest that we should use fat people as some sort of "female ideal".

Which is an awful idea from a purely marketing standpoint.

No, the issue is how thin the woman looks, and the objector has a point, a point I agree with.

Really should've stuck with a different silhouette.

Because only fat losers read, right?

Because only fat losers read, right?

Umm....yes? :p

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/images/mudflap-girl-bookmark.jpg

I need to go to the library.

Does the last bumper sticker mean they hired strippers to replaced the librarians ?

Does the last bumper sticker mean they hired strippers to replaced the librarians ?

Best library idea ever.

Does the last bumper sticker mean they hired strippers to replaced the librarians ?

Wow... I really need to go to the library.

Best library idea ever.

You know... they wouldn't even need to get an hourly/salary pay. They'd be getting ones all day long.

Wow... I really need to go to the library.

Best library idea ever.

Might not ever get around to reading the books. But I would be there. Also the tips and what not the Libraries would be a money maker.

I for one have always had the dream of becoming a miniature cowboy riding a book but have been unable to achieve it for some time. This series of advertisements attacks my already negative body image and now I will resort to extreme measures in order to achieve my dream. I demand it is pulled and that I receive compensation.

Agreed. But I find the people who complain often suggest that we should use fat people as some sort of "female ideal".

Which is an awful idea from a purely marketing standpoint.

I've never seen anyone actually suggest that.

I've never seen anyone actually suggest that.

*shrug* I have. Whether you believe me or not is totally irrelevent to me.

Please, who go to libraries nowadays when everything can be found on the internet?!

Um, no. Thousands, perhaps millions, of books, articles, etc. cannot be found on the internet.

Might not ever get around to reading the books. But I would be there. Also the tips and what not the Libraries would be a money maker.

.... not if the clothes were printed material...

and the only way to 'remove it' is to finish reading it...

sorta like turning the page... :p

Libraries cause anorexia! Ban all libraries.

I've never seen anyone actually suggest that.

While I haven't seen people suggest that we use obese people as an ideal, I have seen a lot of suggestion that since the average Australian woman is now a size 16 (a few years ago it was 14, before that 12), that is what we should use as our ideal. As a formerly painfully skinny person (I was 43 kilos and 169 cm), I can attest to the fact that the constant criticism of these body shapes being presented in the media as "unrealistic" caused me a lot of anguish. The super-skinny body type was realistic for me. Perhaps the lobbyists should recognise the damage that they do to women who do have this body type by suggesting that they are, by definition unhealthy.

Alice Burdieu (Winner of Australia's Next Top Model) is someone who represents a perfectly healthy but extremely thin body type. She was bullied quite badly by the other girls, and accused by the media of being anorexic or bullimic, none of which was true. She was simply naturally willowy and thin.

When women's groups blather on about accepting all body types, I too regularly find that they only mean larger women, or those that society currently deems to have "healthy" body shapes. There is no such thing, and super skinny or extremely slim does not automatically equate to mentally ill.

While I haven't seen people suggest that we use obese people as an ideal, I have seen a lot of suggestion that since the average Australian woman is now a size 16 (a few years ago it was 14, before that 12), that is what we should use as our ideal. As a formerly painfully skinny person (I was 43 kilos and 169 cm), I can attest to the fact that the constant criticism of these body shapes being presented in the media as "unrealistic" caused me a lot of anguish. The super-skinny body type was realistic for me. Perhaps the lobbyists should recognise the damage that they do to women who do have this body type by suggesting that they are, by definition unhealthy.

Alice Burdieu (Winner of Australia's Next Top Model) is someone who represents a perfectly healthy but extremely thin body type. She was bullied quite badly by the other girls, and accused by the media of being anorexic or bullimic, none of which was true. She was simply naturally willowy and thin.

When women's groups blather on about accepting all body types, I too regularly find that they only mean larger women, or those that society currently deems to have "healthy" body shapes. There is no such thing, and super skinny or extremely slim does not automatically equate to mentally ill.

As someone who tried to force-feed herself during puberty in order to look less like a toothpick (as the other kids sometimes called me mockingly), I definitely know where you're coming from, and I get very angry when people start in on the "she's a freak/she's a stick/she doesn't look like a REAL WOMAN" crap. That said, however, you also have to recognize that the media at the moment doesn't just tend to portray being very thin as an attractive shape, but as pretty much the one-and-only ideal, and for a great many people, being that thin would be unhealthy. When we start seeing more size 16 models treated as if they're just as hot as the size 0 models, when women who are naturally size 16s stop feeling pressured to look like size 0s, there's going to be a lot less presumption that any size 0 person is unhealthy. Right now, unfortunately, an awful lot of them are, and so people jump to hurtful conclusions. I'd really love to see our collective physical ideal based much more around "healthy and proportionate" than "big tits, tiny waist, whether either of those are natural or not," because "healthy and proportionate" is the sort of guideline that (accurately, IMHO) concludes that, for example, both of these celebrity women are beautiful, despite having very different bodies:

http://upload.moldova.org/movie/actors/c/calista_flockhart/thumbnails/tn2_calista_flockhart_2.jpg

http://illakiyaa.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/queen_latifah_01.jpg

library's are for poor people who can't afford clean books so naturally they would appeal to the lowest common denominator :tongue:

I really don't get the other card one...

My guess is the first card is a driver's license.

.... not if the clothes were printed material...

and the only way to 'remove it' is to finish reading it...

sorta like turning the page... :p

This could all happen if only we just privatize the libraries.

Um, no. Thousands, perhaps millions, of books, articles, etc. cannot be found on the internet.

That post was also meant to be humorous... if you read the rest of it.

http://www.wyominglibraries.org/images/mudflap-girl-bookmark.jpg

After seeing the original mudflap girl, I just don't get why the controversy. Obviously the librarian doesn't get the reference.

No, what they need to do is put out a bumper sticker that says they have the Kama Sutra on file. Or something that says Library nerds have all read the Kama Sutra.

No, what they need to do is put out a bumper sticker that says they have the Kama Sutra on file. Or something that says Library nerds have all read the Kama Sutra.

As hilarious as that is for those of us who get it, how many people actually know what it is (not sarcasm)?

Heh. I approve of those bumper stickers, even if the last one is iffy. Many, many people rely on libraries for books, computers, journals, and media, even if some of us can afford to buy new books and magazines and use libraries' remote log-ons from home to access databases. Immigrants are increasingly using free ESL workshops at libraries, and kids and adults alike use libraries to their great advantage in building literacy. It's really a benefit to just about everyone. Almost any publicity is good. :)

As someone who tried to force-feed herself during puberty in order to look less like a toothpick (as the other kids sometimes called me mockingly), I definitely know where you're coming from, and I get very angry when people start in on the "she's a freak/she's a stick/she doesn't look like a REAL WOMAN" crap. That said, however, you also have to recognize that the media at the moment doesn't just tend to portray being very thin as an attractive shape, but as pretty much the one-and-only ideal, and for a great many people, being that thin would be unhealthy. When we start seeing more size 16 models treated as if they're just as hot as the size 0 models, when women who are naturally size 16s stop feeling pressured to look like size 0s, there's going to be a lot less presumption that any size 0 person is unhealthy. Right now, unfortunately, an awful lot of them are, and so people jump to hurtful conclusions. I'd really love to see our collective physical ideal based much more around "healthy and proportionate" than "big tits, tiny waist, whether either of those are natural or not," because "healthy and proportionate" is the sort of guideline that (accurately, IMHO) concludes that, for example, both of these celebrity women are beautiful, despite having very different bodies:

http://upload.moldova.org/movie/actors/c/calista_flockhart/thumbnails/tn2_calista_flockhart_2.jpg

http://illakiyaa.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/queen_latifah_01.jpg

I would agree completely. I never said that there wasn't an overproliferation of super slim body types in the media. I merely said that some women's groups tend to ignore the fact that skinny women are just as healthy in most cases as larger or more average sized women. I agree that we need to see an era where women are celebrated for demonstrating a healthy body image, whether their personal body shape is the former or the latter of your two images.

Please, who go to libraries nowadays when everything can be found on the internet?!
*whispering*
What?
*Whispering*
Lies, on the internet?
*whispering*
Surely you Jest!

:p

Show my a link to Le Testament Politique de Richelieu ou le règne terrestre de la raison in English.

After seeing the original mudflap girl, I just don't get why the controversy. Obviously the librarian doesn't get the reference.

Maybe theyre actually fighting against the stereotype of Librarians being unattractive...

Maybe theyre actually fighting against the stereotype of Librarians being unattractive...

I always though they were hot at least when under 30.

I always though they were hot at least when under 30.

tbqh, Ive never met a Librarian under 30 :(

Although, strangely, a Librarian closer to my age sounds very attractive, lol...

tbqh, Ive never met a Librarian under 30 :(

Although, strangely, a Librarian closer to my age sounds very attractive, lol...

I don't know what it is but the Liberians on my campus are all younger then me.

I don't know what it is but the Liberians on my campus are all younger then me.

Well, im 20, hard to find someone who can become a Librarian younger than that, lol...

er...yes

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ian_Hay/The_First_Hundred_Thousand/

and if you want to be anal just press print :p

Now I can familiarize myself with the writings of the eminent 20th-century Russian-American philosopher Ayn Rand (http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/Ayn_Rand/).

Okay, okay, so I'm wrong about this specific portrayal. I apologize for missing the point of the parody. I'd never even heard of the mudflap girl before.

Because only fat losers read, right?

Are fat and extremely thin the only possible body depictions?

I don't know what it is but the Liberians on my campus are all younger then me.

Well, 43% of Liberians are under 14...

sorry I had to

Are fat and extremely thin the only possible body depictions?

Apparently. I don't think there's anyone on NS who's "normal."