Angelina’s Right Leg is Meme, Twitter Feed

Sunday night's Academy Awards will be remembered as the night Angelina Jolie's leg became a star of its own. Less than 24 hours after the ceremony, Angie's right gam is all the rage.

For those who missed the Billy Crystal-hosted event, Jolie caused a ruckus by wearing a black dress with a thigh-high slit. Her right leg was on display whenever she walked or posed (which was often -- just check out this collection of photos from BuzzFeed).

The leg's big moment came when Jolie presented for best adapted screenplay. Angelina stuck out her leg in a flaunty pose. The move was then mocked by writer Jim Rash who, along with Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon, won an Oscar for his work on "The Descendants."

 But Rash's joke was just the beginning. Angelina's right leg is now the meme that won't die. Its been digitally edited onto the Statue of Liberty, and into scenes that include The Last Supper, Darth Vader, Betty White, Abbey Road, Jeremy Lin, and, by the time you read this, about a million other things. Check out this collection of leg-bombing photos from Pinterest. We're still waiting for the one with the lamp from "A Christmas Story."

Fake photos are cool and everything, but as anybody who spends way too much time on the Internet can tell you, you're nobody until you have your own Twitter feed. Angelina's right leg has one and it already has more than 20,000 followers. A sample tweet: "Left leg and I talked -- everything's cool. Next Oscars, she gets the slit."

The Good Body

In the midst of a war in Iraq, in a time of escalatingglobal terrorism, when civil liberties are disappearingas fast as the ozone layer, when one out of threewomen in the world will be beaten or raped in herlifetime, why write a play about my stomach?

Maybe because my stomach is one thing I feel Ihave control over, or maybe because I have hopedthat my stomach is something I could get controlover. Maybe because I see how my stomach has cometo occupy my attention, I see how other women’sstomachs or butts or thighs or hair or skin have cometo occupy their attention, so that we have very littleleft for the war in Iraq—or much else, for that matter.When a group of ethnically diverse, economicallydisadvantaged women in the United States wasrecently asked about the one thing they wouldchange in their lives if they could, the majority ofthese women said they would lose weight. Maybe Iidentify with these women because I have boughtinto the idea that if my stomach were flat, then Iwould be good, and I would be safe. I would be protected.I would be accepted, admired, important,loved. Maybe because for most of my life I have feltwrong, dirty, guilty, and bad, and my stomach isthe carrier, the pouch for all that self-hatred. Maybebecause my stomach has become the repository formy sorrow, my childhood scars, my unfulfilled ambition,my unexpressed rage. Like a toxic dump, it iswhere the explosive trajectories collide—the Judeo-Christian imperative to be good; the patriarchal mandate that women be quiet, be less; the consumer-stateimperative to be better, which is based on the assumptionthat you are born wrong and bad, and thatbeing better always involves spending money, lots ofmoney. Maybe because, as the world rapidly dividesinto fundamentalist camps, reductive sound bites, andpolarizing platitudes, an exploration of my stomachand the life therein has the potential to shatter thesedangerous constraints.
This journey has been different from the one Iundertook in The Vagina Monologues. I was worriedabout vaginas when I began that play. I was worriedabout the shame associated with vaginas and I wasworried about what was happening to vaginas, in thedark. As I talked about vaginas and to vaginas, I becameeven more worried about the onslaught of violencedone to women and their vaginas around theworld.
There was, of course, the great celebration of vaginasas well. Pleasure, discovery, sex, moans, power.I suppose I had this fantasy that after finally cominghome into my vagina, I could relax, get on with life.This was not the case. The deadly self-hatred simplymoved into another part of my body.
The Good Body began with me and my particularobsession with my “imperfect” stomach. Ihave charted this self-hatred, recorded it, tried tofollow it back to its source. Here, unlike the womenin The Vagina Monologues, I am my own victim,my own perpetrator. Of course, the tools of my selfvictimizationhave been made readily available. Thepattern of the perfect body has been programmedinto me since birth. But whatever the cultural influences and pressures, my preoccupation with myflab, my constant dieting, exercising, worrying, is selfimposed.I pick up the magazines. I buy into theideal. I believe that blond, flat girls have the secret.What is far more frightening than narcissism is thezeal for self-mutilation that is spreading, infectingthe world.
I have been to more than forty countries in thelast six years. I have seen the rampant and insidiouspoisoning: skin-lightening creams sell as fast as toothpaste in Africa and Asia; the mothers of eight-year-oldsin America remove their daughters’ ribs so theywill not have to worry about dieting; five-year-olds inManhattan do strict asanas so they won’t embarrasstheir parents in public by being chubby; girls vomitand starve themselves in China and Fiji and everywhere;Korean women remove Asia from their eyelids. . . the list goes on and on.
I have been in a dialogue with my stomach forthe past three years. I have entered my belly—thedark wet underworld—to get at the secrets there. Ihave talked with women in surgical centers in BeverlyHills; on the sensual beaches of Rio de Janeiro;in the gyms of Mumbai, New York, Moscow; in thehectic and crowded beauty salons of Istanbul, SouthAfrica, and Rome. Except for a rare few, the womenI met loathed at least one part of their body. Therewas almost always one part that they longed tochange, that they had a medicine cabinet full ofproducts devoted to transforming or hiding or reducingor straightening or lightening. Just about everywoman believed that if she could just get that partright, everything else would work out. Of course, it isan endless heartbreaking campaign.

Some of the monologues in The Good Body arebased on well-known women like Helen GurleyBrown and Isabella Rossellini. Those monologues,which grew out of a series of conversations with eachof these fascinating women, are not recorded interviews,but interpretations of the lives they offeredme. Some of the other characters are based on reallives, real stories. Many are invented.
This play is my prayer, my attempt to analyze themechanisms of our imprisonment, to break free sothat we may spend more time running the worldthan running away from it; so that we may be consumedby the sorrow of the world rather than consumingto avoid that sorrow and suffering. This playis an expression of my hope, my desire, that we willall refuse to be Barbie, that we will say no to the lossof the particular, whether it be to a voluptuous womanin a silk sari, or a woman with defining lines of characterin her face, or a distinguishing nose, or olivetonedskin, or wild curly hair.
I am stepping off the capitalist treadmill. I amgoing to take a deep breath and find a way to survivenot being flat or perfect. I am inviting you to join me,to stop trying to be anything, anyone other than whoyou are. I was moved by women in Africa who livedclose to the earth and didn’t understand what it meantto not love their body. I was lifted by older women inIndia who celebrated their roundness. I was inspiredby Marion Woodman, a great Jungian analyst, whogave me confidence to trust what I know. She hassaid that “instead of transcending ourselves, we mustmove into ourselves.”Tell the image makers and magazine sellers andthe plastic surgeons that you are not afraid. Thatwhat you fear the most is the death of imaginationand originality and metaphor and passion. Then bebold and LOVE YOUR BODY. STOP FIXING IT. Itwas never broken.

About Pride & Diversity

The Pride & Diversity Project was initially funded by the
Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care.
The City of Monash continues to fund this project that
provides a service to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender
and intersex young people in the City of Monash. Pride &
Diversity focuses on enhancing the quality of life for samesex-
attracted and transgender young people.
The Project provides a co-ordinated and responsive
service for same sex attracted and transgender young
people, including:
• A social support group for 14 – 21 year olds who identify
as gay, lesbian, bi, transgender, intersex or unsure.
• Individual support for young people and families.
• Coordination and collaboration amongst support
services to improve access opportunities for same-sexattracted
young people

How to reduce thighs? 4 Simple, Best exercises to reduce your thighs in Weeks, right at the comfort of your Home

Reducing thighs is one of the main concerns for people who are fat, especially those who have excessive fat deposits around their mid-section and lower body. Since thighs form the major part of the lower body, it is very important to keep your thighs free of excessive fat. Excessive fat in your thighs is an indication of obesity and and is also an unhealthy factor. Most people try various exercises to reduce their thighs but end up in vain. This is because they often follow wrong or ineffective workout practices, which not only prove useless but also lead to cramps and muscle injuries. Lower body maintenance is very important for everyone since it bears the weight of the body and also plays a major role in balanced metabolism in our body. While exercising to reduce thigh fat, one should also ensure to workout the buttock muscles since fat deposits in your butt may prevent you from effectively burning the fat in your thighs. Hence, it's essential to forumlate an exercise regimen that will workout both your buttock and thigh muscles

The exercises described below in this hub are simple, but powerful workouts which can reduce your thighs in a short span of time. You need not go to the gymnasium or require special equipments to these exercises, these can be done right at the comfort of your home just watching your television or listening to your favorite music

Following are 4 best exercises to reduce your thighs in Weeks, right at the comfort of your home:

1. Standing Free Squat:

This is a simple, but a very effective exercise to get rid of Thigh fat. This can be done at your home without any weights or special equipments.

Start in a standing position, with your feet about shoulder width apart. Keep your back straight, and start slowly bending at the knees, pressing back with your butt. As you do this, you will naturally start to lean forward, but don't lean excessively. Go down as far as you can but ensure that you don't lift your heels. Then slowly raise to the initial standing position. Repeat the same

Workout schedule: 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions each

2. Lunges: A very effective exercise to get your thighs into great shape. Lunges target the gluteus medius and, to a lesser extent, the gluteus maximus and the hamstrings. There are so many versions of lunges, you're certain to find one you can tolerate, if not fall in love with. This drop-knee version is the most basic lunge and, surprisingly, one of the harder versions. Here's how to do it:

1. Stand in a split stance, with feet about 3 feet apart. You want both knees to be at about 90-degree angles at the bottom of the movement, so adjust accordingly.

2. Hold weights in each hand or place a barbell behind the neck for added intensity(optional)

3. Bend the knees and lower the back knee toward the floor, keeping the front heel down and the knee directly over the center of the foot.

4. Keep the torso straight and abs in as you push through the front heel and back to starting position.

5. Don't lock the knees at the top of the movement

Workout schedule: 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions each

3. Lying Butt Bridge: This is perhaps the most powerful and effective exercise to get rid of Thighs and buttocks fat. It is difficult to perform but results are amazing

Lie flat on your back on a mat with your knees bent pointing up to the ceiling and your arms at your sides. Simply raise your pelvis up toward the ceiling to a point where your body will be at a about a 45 degree angle relative to the floor. At the top of the movement, be sure to really flex your butt for a one-count. Return to the start position and repeat

Workout schedule: 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions each

4. Back Kick: A simple but very powerful exercise to shape your thighs and buttocks. It also increases your lower body strengh and boosts stamina to your legs

1. Looking straight ahead, stand and balance on one leg, and kick the other leg out slightly behind you.

2. Maintain a very slight bend in the knee throughout this exercise.

3. Now start to bend forward while simultaneously pushing the butt and hips back and keeping a flat (not rounded) back.

4. While bending over and pushing the hips back, kick your other leg out behind you and reach down with your hands towards the toe of your foot that's planted on the ground and try to touch it. You should feel a stretch in the hamstrings as you get to the deepest part where your back is parallel to the floor.

5. Then, focus on squeezing the butt muscle hard while you reverse the movement and bring yourself back to upright (all the while maintaining that flat back)

Workout schedule: 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions for each leg