Naked Carlson: “It’s the intl day of the girl today….1st time ever on cable news.” Today, Real Story anchor Gretchen Carlson gave her fans a queer case of cognitive dissonance. Before her show this afternoon, Gretchen teased, Tweeting, “It’s the intl day of the girl today. What do u think i will I [sic] do to honor the self esteem of our girls? 1st time ever on cable news.” Get nude with a “go-go girl?” Yes, she did! But, not necessarily the way that the reader might hope.
As the final block of her new show started [vid], Gretchen proudly proclaimed, “Well, welcome back, everyone! For the first time in cable news, here I am–make-up free, for a reason, as is my guest today. Sex sells!” Elaborating awkwardly, the former Miss America (1989) continued, “But, [as] to eight-year-old girls these days, it’s not easy to empower your tween daughter to become a confident young woman. Toy companies like Bratz giving dolls hourglass figures, sultry looks, and mini dresses: Abercrombie [& Fitch] designing pushup bikinis for teens. Today, is international day of the girl: So, let’s look at positive role models in the fight to let girls be girls.”
In this segment entitled, “Empowering Girls in a Culture of Sexualization,” Gretchen and her guest Jodi Norgaard (CEO of Dream Big Toy Company) lauded each other for bravely baring, daring to go sans makeup on air. When Gretchen praised Norgaard for sticking up for girls on the national day of the girl, she asked, “What’s the message?” Norgaard answered, “The message is to support girls: We need to [get] girls to concentrate what’s on the inside and not what’s on the outside”: Touting the “Brave Girls Alliance” effort to ask media and retailers “to provide healthy messages and healthy images for girls,” she asserted, “It’s not about being angry. It’s about being equal. And, let’s stop sexualizing our young girls.”
Subsequently, when Gretchen asked Norgaard about her toy company that “focused on science, and technology, and good body image,” she declared, “When I designed the Go! Go! Sports Girls, it really hit home when I saw a doll and the name on the hang tag was Lovely Lola and…she…had a belly button ring and, uh, looked very–something I didn’t want my daughter to play with. So, it’s encouraging girls to use their bodies in a healthy way.” As she did, the camera zoomed on Norgaard’s doll box which was benignly emblazoned, “Soccer Girl Cassie‘s Story: Teamwork Is the Goal” Perhaps, more tellingly, above it was the rubric, “Go! Go! Sports Girls: Dream Big and Go for It!”
“Go! Go! Sports girls”? Go-go “[in the] buff” Gretch!
Carpe Diem 