3 out of 4 teen girls feel depressed, guilty and shameful after spending just 3 minutes looking through a fashion magazine.

Time to take a stand. 

From Go Daddy commercials during the Super Bowl to a billboard at a bus stop in New York City, hashtag #NotBuyingIt has been used by tens of thousands on Twitter to challenge brands and companies which rely on misrepresentations of gender and extreme sexual objectification to sell their products.

Now we're taking it to the next level! 

We're putting the power back in the hands of the consumer. In a media environment where women continue to be valued primarily for their youth, beauty and sexuality, it's time we took a collective stand.

With this app users will be able to upload sexist or inspiring media they see, scroll through images posted by others, and immediately let brands on Twitter know how they feel! 

SAMPLE IMAGE:

The app will connect individuals to an international network of committed supporters, so that anyone - whether they have 10 or 10,000 Twitter followers - can start and win their own campaigns. With the click of a button you can easily target #NotBuyingIt messages towards companies sending sexist and damaging messages and recruit people around the world to support you - making certain your voice is heard!

Using GPS technology we will pinpoint where the worst advertising is coming from and which communities are most active in fighting back. You'll have the ability to document all the billboards and posters impacting your local community, putting pressure on brands and local officials to respond. 

Our scoreboard will keep track of progress in real time, ranking which products are deemed most sexist by the community and which ones we support.

SAMPLE MAP and SAMPLE SCOREBOARD:

The #NotBuyingIt app will gather the passion and energy of people worldwide to end sexist and limiting portrayals of gender in the media! We've already seen companies change their practices after receiving a few hundred tweets, but by bringing us all together, this app will put us in a position to truly shift media culture.

For too long mainstream media has been a one-way stream of images and information. They create, we consume. But with modern technology it no longer has to be that way: we have the right and opportunity to talk back and influence the media we buy.

Sexism sells because it's what's being sold. We deserve more and better options. And with this app we will show the media that there is a way to make money without demeaning more than half the world.

Graphic by LoveSocial for MissRepresentation.org

Today's American teenagers consume nearly 11 hours of media every day. And too many of those messages and images portray women in a degrading light, perpetuate unrealistic body ideals, or use extreme stereotypes of masculinity to define men.

Time to call it out and make a change.

Thanks to early support from the Jacki Zehner and the Zehner Family Foundation, who pledged $6,000 towards this app, we only need $20k more to make it happen!

We estimate that we need $26k to be able to develop and release a #NotBuyingIt mobile app to empower millions worldwide to call-out sexist media wherever and whenever they see it. About 90% of the funds will go directly to the developers designing and creating the application, and the rest will help us market the completed product to the general public.

We promise you that every dollar you contribute will go towards this project, and the more we raise beyond the $26k goal, the better and more effective the end product will be!  

Other Ways To Get Involved:

Spread the word about this campaign! Share this page far and wide. Click below to tweet:

Then join the conversation on Facebook, where nearly 100,000 people are debating issues of gender representation, body image and the consequences of harmful media daily.

And use #NotBuyingIt on Twitter whenever you see sexist media!

Some of the exciting and unique gifts available to donors:

• #NotBuyingIt Stickers - to help you tag sexism in the real world!
• Limited Edition MissRepresentation.org Jewelry
• Official MissRepresentation.org Youth T-Shirts
• A personal video message from Second Lady of California, Miss Representation (2011) Director and CEO/Founder of MissRepresentation.org, Jennifer Siebel Newsom
• One-on-One mentoring sessions with Newsom or a member of the MissRepresentation.org team
• Miss Representation (2011) memorabilia signed by Jennifer Siebel Newsom
• A seat at the creative table behind the #NotBuyingIt App

During the 2013 Super Bowl - the most watched and tweeted about media event of the year - the #NotBuyingIt hashtag was used by thousands to reach over 4 million people on Twitter with a critique of sexism in the commercials. Go Daddy alone received over 7,000 #NotBuyingIt tweets during the game. It was an astounding display of what we’re capable of when we come together as a community to challenge misogyny, gender stereotypes and related harmful messages in the media.

Imagine what more we could do (and say) with this easy-to-use app at the fingertips of passionate and caring people worldwide! If 10,000 tweets during the Super Bowl can reach 4 million+ people, how much noise could 100,000 people with the #NotBuyingIt app make?

Here are some of the past successes this hashtag has had on Twitter:

• Pressured Amazon.co.uk to remove a line of t-shirts promoting rape in under 24 hours
• Forced America’s leading Halloween costume seller to change how it markets girls’ costumes
• Pressured a solar company to rescind a sexist ad campaign and delete their Facebook page
• Helped get Hallmark to remove a sexist greeting card in under 24 hours
• Helped get two children’s books that promoted gender stereotypes removed from the shelves of Harrod’s in London in under 24 hours

Emer.ge's "Body Image Voice" web application will serve as a guide and inspiration for our new mobile design: 

About MissRepresentation.org:

After directing the award-winning Sundance documentary Miss Representation in 2011 - which premiered on the Oprah Winfrey Network and exposed how the misrepresentation of women in the media is leading to the underrepresentation of women in positions of power - Jennifer Siebel Newsom created MissRepresentation.org to empower ordinary individuals to continue challenging sexist media in their own lives.

About Emer.ge

Web & Mobile Apps / Games That Aim To Improve Health

The word “health” means something different to everyone. No matter how it is defined, for all of us, our health is significantly impacted by our own choices. Body image is a major influence on our choices. Emerge takes evidence-based programs that improve body image, eating disorders, and weight management and adapts them into interactive media and technologies aimed at transforming thoughts, perceptions and behaviors. Emerge programs aim to empower individuals to seek health and thriving as the desired endpoint, rather than unattainable appearance goals.

These unattainable appearance goals are often perpetuated by the media - appearance ideals are promoted and products are sold to glamourize those ideals and/or help individuals realize those ideas..no matter how harmful. The impact of harmful media exposure that glamorize ideas for body image, size, shape, youth, and optimum fitness, on body image and eating disorders is well documented in scientific research studies. Emerge seeks to develop apps that focus on the role that media and advertising play in shaping our ideals for health and beauty and gives consumers a voice in what media they find helpful and what media they find harmful.