With the publication of our September/October 2010 issue, New Moon Girls magazine turns 18 years old. Wow!

In celebration of New Moon’s birthday, we’ve added a special birthday page to NewMoon.com. At this page, you can

• See a list of girls with recent birthdays (and add your own!)
• Send special birthday stickers
• Send birthday ecards
• Upload pics or drawings from your own birthday celebrations

Adding your own birthday pics to the site is easier than ever, too. All you have to do is include the word “birthday” in your image title when you upload it to Your Stuff, and it will automatically appear in the birthday image gallery when a moderator approves it.

So stop by the birthday page today—wish an old friend Happy Birthday, or meet a new one. I can’t wait to celebrate with all of you!

Love,

Luna

P.S. You can find the birthday page any time by searching the words “birthday” and “happy birthday.”

P.P.S. Learn more about birthdays and New Moon’s history here!

Over the past few months, we’ve talked a lot about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. You’ve shared your concerns about how the spill affects ocean life and local families. Now, people all over the Internet are teaming up to help fishing families affected by the spill.

Thousands of families rely on fishing to earn money. But since the spill, many of these people haven’t been able to fish. That’s why the organization Citizen Effect has chosen Wednesday, August 25, as Citizengulf National Day of Action. On August 25, cities across the U.S. will host fundraising events to help fishing families affected by the spill. The money will go to education for children in these families.

You can help, too! Here’s how:

• Donate at the CitizenGulf website.
• Vote for the Gulf Coast Benefit on Pepsi Refresh.
• Join BloggersUnite.org and spread the word by blogging!
• Share this post with others you know! This is important because the main way people are spreading the word about this is online.

To learn more about the gulf coast oil spill, you can check out my first article about the oil spill and the most recent update. And share your thoughts! What have you or your community done to benefit those affected by the oil spill? Will you be participating in a fundraising event on Wednesday? Leave a comment below to let me know!

Love,

Luna

Most people are familiar with the show America’s Next Top Model, Tyra Bank’s nationwide search for the next supermodel.  Recently the program released a controversial promo featuring a 6’2’’ contestant whose waist is extremely thin.

 http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/americas-top-model-contestant-ann-shows-off-shockingly/story?id=11396447

Tyra apologized on her website about the advertisement.

“On behalf of the entire ‘Top Model’ team, I am truly sorry for the style in which the ‘Top Model’ promo clip was presented…I can assure you — that cut has been removed from the CW airwaves, and the message conveyed in that video was NOT intentional, and is certainly not ‘Top Model’- or Tyra-approved.”

Tyra ended the apology saying, “I want the media and viewers to continue to challenge perceptions of beauty, but to understand that BEAUTY comes in all shapes, sizes and proportions. I have always celebrated uniqueness, and encourage women, myself included, to accept and embrace their own bodies — flaws and all!

Jada’s Side of the Moon (J.S.O.M.)

Videos and commercials like this make me so angry.  The media is constantly teaching girls’ there is only one type of beauty, which is far from the truth. 

America’s Next Top Model has aired 14 seasons.  Originally, the modeling industry only featured extremely thin girls.  People are even retouched in photos to look skinnier.  ANTM reflected that theme of perfection and did not choose “plus size” girls.  Since then, the show has become much more open-minded.  Whitney Thompson became the first regular sized woman to win the show in Cycle 10.

Even though Tyra is trying to change the distorted view of beauty in the media, being a supermodel has already affected her thoughts of beauty.  For example, at the end of the quote she talks about embracing your own body “flaws and all”.  Why do they have to be flaws?  Different body types make everyone unique; people are beautiful because of their differences.

What do you think of the video?

Is ANTM making the effort to change the media’s perception of beauty?

What’s your side of the moon?

Post your thoughts here on the message board!http://www.newmoon.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=8415&sid=45a8b828feadde39c92b3fbdc93d6f2e

How much do you think physical appearances affect people? New research shows that physical appearance is more important for females than males when applying for a job. Women others consider “attractive” are more likely to get higher salaries than “less attractive” women. But being seen as attractive can also get in the way of women getting certain kinds of jobs.

For example, “attractive” applicants are more likely to get positions where they have a lot of face-to-face contact with customers, clients, and other workers.  But “attractive women” are less likely to get careers that fall under a masculine stereotype, such as jobs in finances and engineering.

Why do you think women’s appearances are judged in the hiring process more than men’s? How important should looks be when hiring? Are there ways we can make sure people are not discriminated against for their appearances? How do you feel about the results of these studies?  Vote here, and leave your thoughts below!

Love,

Luna

Whether or not you are a “Brownie” or a Girl Scout, you may be familiar with Girl Scouts’ delicious boxes of cookies, stamped with the famous Girl Scout logo.  The Girl Scouts just unveiled a new logo, along with some other changes.  For example, they’re creating, “What Did You Do Today?” a campaign they will promote through the Spanish media in hopes of reaching out to Latina girls in the U.S.

The Girl Scouts of the USA has been around for almost 100 years.  Through the organization, girls work with adult volunteers on projects in the community.  Not only has this group grown to more than 3.4 million members, but the USA Girl Scouts Overseas has expanded to over 90 countries!

Are you a Brownie or Girl Scout? Can you think of ways to reach out to more girls about becoming leaders in their communities?

To see the new Girl Scout logo, click here. What do you think of it? You can also take our poll on Girl Scouts here!

Love,

Luna