WAMPOW believes it is time for a major shift in the way women are portrayed in the media. WAMPOW values women for their abilities rather than their attributes and believes that it is detrimental for women and for young girls in particular, to be continually bombarded with unrealistic media images of what we should look like and be like.

WAMPOW believes in the power of women to cause societal change through their actions.  Specifically, through the power of our purchases and our combined voices, we can change the way the women look in the media and promote more healthy images for our society as a whole.

WAMPOW provides information to assist women (and men) to take action. 

What can we do? We can use our purchasing dollars to support magazines, movies and products that use advertising promoting healthy and strong women and those that focus on the product rather than the female form.  We can also support magazines, movies, TV shows and products that promote the idea that women should be valued for their abilities (being capable, efficient, effective, and/or smart) rather than what they look like. We need to let companies know that we support what they are doing and are specifically purchasing their products because of it. All products exist because there is a market for them.  If a product's ad is offensive, women should not buy the product. But we must also go further and let the company know we are not purchasing their products because of their advertising. Similarly, we must be aware of the content of magazines, TV shows, movies and video games and refuse to purchase or view those that continually portray women in an unrealistic, negative or harmful fashion.

The first step for each of us is to be more aware of the images we are being bombarded with each day.  What do they say about women?  More importantly, what do they say to young girls?

WAMPOW's Objectives 

• To increase knowledge and awareness of theimpact of media images upon women, girls and society as a whole.
• To change attitudes regarding the way women are valued in our society (it is more important to be capable, effective, or successful than it is to be thin, or have large breasts).
• To instill a belief that women have power, through our purchasing habits.
• To provide support for initiating societal change
• To promote responsible advertising.
• To provide a forum or an outlet for discussion regarding these issues and their impact on individual lives.
• To stimulate influential people in large corporations to make necessary changes by increasing their awareness and knowledge of the problem and by affecting their bottom line through product boycotts.
• To inform, educate and shift attitudes.
• To increase the amount of media coverage on the problem and also to create positive solutions.
• To place the issue of representations of women in the media on the public agenda.
• To alter social norms regarding women, weight and beauty.

 NEWS and CURRENT EVENTS: 

1. Check out http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/the-plastic-surgery-a-model-needs-to-http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/dear-every-woman-i-know-including-me-2583736/look-like-barbie-2584798/

2.  Check out http://missrepresentation.org/ 

3. Check out Nancy Upton at http://extrawiggleroom.tumblr.com/archive