The body of Katoucha Niane, one of the first African models to reach international stardom, and a vocal opponent of genital mutilation, was found today in the Seine. The 47 year old Guinean-born mother of three, known as Katoucha, had been missing since she left a party on February. There is no evidence of foul play, and the police suspect she may have slipped and drowned on the way to the house boat on the Seine she lived in when she stayed in Paris.

The ritual genital mutilation she suffered would change Katoucha’s life forever. As she explains in her autobiography, Katoucha, In My Flesh, her life went from one of complete happiness: “I grew up surrounded by hibiscus and ylang-ylang flowers,” to trauma:

One day, mother said we were going to the cinema. And I found myself the victim of a horror movie…. An unimaginable trauma that I had never managed to talk about, until I found love and wrote In My flesh…. I will never get the incomparable pain out of my head.

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Looks like green is the new purple in royal circles these days; Prince Albert of Monaco is following in Prince Charles’ royally restrained carbon footprint and using his princely powers to promote sustainability through the Prince Albert II Foundation. Albert created the foundation to support “projects and solutions for the environment” and promote “sustainable and equitable management of natural resources.”

Prince Albert’s foundation recently honored three individuals for their outstanding contributions in the fields of climate change, biodiversity and water, as TreeHugger reported yesterday:

Alain Hubert, the Belgian explorer and co-founder of the International Polar Foundation, won in the Climate Change category. Jane Goodall won in Biodiversity for her life-long commitment and pioneering research into chimpanzee behavior, which has transformed scientific perceptions of the relationship between humans and animals. Finally, Sunita Narain, the writer and environmental campaigner, received the Water Award for her work highlighting the need for water security and the use of rainwater harvesting in India.

Now, if I could just compile a list of eight more ecologically righteous royals, I could do a Top 10 Monarchs Who Make A Difference post.

Learn more about the Prince Albert II Foundation’s efforts on behalf of biodiversity, climate change, and water here.

The Oscars honored several films which highlighted several worthy causes worth paying attention to and taking action for.

If you like the Oscars and taking action, then follow this Top 10 list of actions inspired by the films, the speeches, the parties, and the outfits featured during the Academy Awards.

1. Julie Christie, who was nominated for her amazing performance in the amazing film Away From Her, directed by the Amazing actor/filmmaker Sarah Polley, wears an orange ribbon, representing the “campaign to close Guantanamo,” which Julie says is “a very, very important issue… It’s affecting the whole world.”

with Amnesty International’s online interactive Tear It Down campaign.

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Put down that Friday afternoon cocktail and read “Smashed: A Story of Drunken Girlhood.” Written by Koren Zaickas this book so eloquently tells the tale of “socially acceptable” binge drinking. Through being poetic rather than preachy, Zaickas shares the story of her relationship with booze while exploring the social, physical, emotional and mental dangers associated specifically with female drinkers.

As described on her site:

Zailckas leads us through her experience of a terrifying trend among young girls, exploring how binge drinking becomes routine, how it becomes “the usual.” With the stylistic freshness of a poet and the dramatic gifts of a novelist, Zailckas describes her first sip at fourteen, alcohol poisoning at sixteen, a blacked-out sexual experience at nineteen, and total disorientation after waking up in an unfamiliar New York City apartment at age twenty-two, when she realized she had to stop, and all the depression, rage, troubled friendships, and sputtering romantic connections in between. Zailckas’s unflinching candor and exquisite analytical eye get to the meaning beneath the seeming banality of girls getting drunk.

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While most of my Boston pals are still healing from the Patriots SuperBowl loss, some folks in Nicaragua and Romania are actually enjoying the Pats defeat. Well enjoying the gear given to them after the Pats defeat.

Thanks to the NFL and WorldVision( to learn more!) championhip gear meant for players didn’t go to waste, instead goods were shipped to needy children.

Some of the recipients were the smiling children at a school in the San Gregorio neighborhood in the town of Diriamba.

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Thanks Feministing.com for directing us to this awesome video by the fabulous comedic duo Mark & Ari. It gives love to everyone’s favorite video-game feminist, Ms. Pac-Man and gives a thumbs down to breast cancer. Enjoy!

For more on breast cancer awareness visit http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/

One thing I’ve always had trouble with is my joint identity as a female and as a cinephile. Many films and directors I like, even love, often treat women in ways that either objectify them or seem to promote the mistreatment of them. But my anger at this is usually brought back down by the little voice inside my head screaming “but it’s such a good movie.”

On that note, yesterday, I noticed that Radar Online posted their take on the “decade’s most misogynistic movies.” Their picks ranged from Mona Lisa Smile and Wedding Crashers to She Hate Me and 13 Going on 30 and while in many cases I agree with their assessment, the list still troubles me. The fact is, despite their misogynistic nature, a lot of folks, women and men alike, went to see these films - and to me then, the questions becomes why? As long as people go to the theater, Hollywood will continue to make these films.

Of course, some might argue that people only see what’s put out there, what they have access to. With that, I present with an opposite list of sorts - “some of the decade’s more feminist movies” if you will - or to be less political about it all, films from this decade that portray real women, dealing with real issues, often showing how awesome, strong, complex and special women can be.

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Hey movie fans - Chicago 10 opens today! There’s no better way to spend one’s weekend then revisiting the powerful past that was Chicago in 1968. I really enjoyed the film when I saw it a few weeks ago - it re-energized me politically which is important with elections around the corner. This isn’t to say the movie is perfect, but it’s been far too long since I’ve seen something like Chicago 10 on the big screen, something that speaks to revolution and the forces that try to stop it. It seems that I am not the person who felt this way though:

In Chicago, J.R. Jones at the Chicago Reader has this to say about the movie:

Chicago 10, an electrifying new “mash-up documentary” by Brett Morgen, vividly reconstructs the battles on the street and in the courtroom, and it couldn’t come at a more opportune moment.

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I’ve been a vegetarian for about 7 years now and in that time I’ve also been a vegan for 2 - although I’m not now, my doctor said I needed to eat dairy :(. I don’t necessarily think everyone should stop eating meat, but I do think people eat too much and also that the meat industry is disgusting. It is with that that I give you the subtle comic stylings of Stephen Colbert interviewing the president of PETA , proving that comedy can make a point:

and learn more about PETA

In honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week (February 25-March 1) I wanted to compile a long list of amazing, life-changing films that deeply examine eating disorders and body image, but sadly there simply are not that many films like that available. There are especially very few recent films covering the topic (note to filmmakers, please make some poinant films about eating disorders)

None the less, here is a list of the top 9 ( I couldn’t find a 10th!) films about eating disorders. (Unfortunately some of the made-for-TV-films are hard to find.)

Thin Eating disorders affect five million people in the U.S., and more than 10% of those diagnosed with anorexia nervosa will die from the disease. Seeking to put a human face on these sobering statistics, acclaimed photographer Lauren Greenfield went inside a Florida treatment center to tell the stories of four women who are literally dying to be thin. The devastating HBO documentary THIN reveals what she found there - and explores the issues underlying their illness.

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