Archive | Role Models

Objectified, Sexualized and “Miss Represented”

Besides the certainty of taxes and death, we know sex sells. Americans are bombarded with images of women to sell everything from beer to cars. Meanwhile, young women and men searching for role models may have difficulty seeing past the “sex sells” mentality that ties a woman’s worth to her looks. The nearly ubiquitous publicity […]

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Honored Role (part 22): Valencia de la Vega — Brains in a Bikini

This is the 22nd installment in the Honored Role Series. Fed up with the constant media attention and hyper-promotion of tissue-thin fashion models and beauty queens with little between the ears, Valencia de la Vega entered the Ms. Latina Beauty Pageant in October 2009. This former Army Captain and combat veteran turned Intel engineer decided […]

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Honored Role (part 20): Capt. Jana Fajardo – New Starts

This is the 20th installment in the Honored Role Series. Jana Fajardo grew up wanting to serve in the military, despite the fact that less than two percent of Americans do so. Both her maternal grandparents served in the Armed Forces. Her grandmother enlisted in the British Navy and her grandfather served 27 years in […]

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Honored Role (part 18): 2nd Lt. Taneshina Wright – Body & Mind

This is the 18th installment in the Honored Role Series. Saturday’s graduation at West Point will mark 30 years since the first women joined “the long gray line” of graduates of the storied Military Academy. During the commencement exercises, Taneshina Wright will take the oath of a commissioned officer and become a Second Lieutenant in […]

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