Malvina Hoffman

Malvina Hoffman was a brilliant sculptress whose work delved into anthropology. One of her most well known collections is 'The Races of Mankind'. In the 1930's Hoffman was commissioned by the Chicago Field Museum to travel the world and create over 100 bust and sculptures. The collection is currently housed at the Field Museum and the Cedar Rapids Museum. She initially took over 2,000 pictures of her models and then worked from there.

I've just bought her first book, Yesterday & Tomorrow. While some of it is mired in the prejudices of Hoffman's time, the book provides an excellent account of her experiences. Visit the museums and read more about Hoffman.

Fleeting Childhood?

This week Newsweek published an article called 'Generation Diva', discussing how girls in the US [but the trend can probably be extended to a few other Western countries] of increasingly younger ages are feeling the pressure to look beautiful. Now adolescence is over faster than ever and children are catapulted into their 'tween' years, not the Tolkein definition but today's marketing defintion [the ages between 10-12]. This emphasis on the exterior leaves little time to develop mentally and emotionally. Furthermore these girls are likely to grow into women whose sense of self is limited to their looks.

One quote stood out to me the most,
" 'When you have tweens putting on firming cream"—as was revealed by 1 percent of girls in an NPD study—'it's clear they're looking for imaginary flaws,' says Harvard psychologist Nancy Etcoff'".

Are you kidding what in the world would a child need this for?
Who's fault is all this? The parents.

If we keep it up at this rate childhood will be compressed to birth through age five. Wait, that's all ready the case with the 'reality' show Toddlers and Tiaras.