The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Want to learn our top eco-kinky tips for ‘greening up’ your sex life? How about the top 10 ways to take action against AIDS?  Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie:

Annie Lennox & Top 10 Ways to Take Action Against AIDS

Somewhere Over the Rainbow: American Idol & Yip Harburg

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Nicole:

Top 10 Ways to ‘Green Up’ Your Sex Life

Top 10 Global Warming Myths Debunked

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Giulia:

Mortified Makes Movies

What a Bunch of Boobs

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Gina:

Top 10 Immigration Films

Boarding Gate’s Empty Adventure of Capitalism

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Say Hello to Our Guest Bloggers!

Jon Popham wrote:

Young At Heart Hits the Silver Screen

Death and the River

Andy Kondrat wrote:

Top 5 Things You’ll Love About Planet Green

Leonardo DiCaprio Does Everything For the Environment, Ever

V2O nightclub in Long Beach has been holding a “Spring Break Breast Augmentation Contest Series” where six finalists go head-to-head in an apple-bobbing battle royal dubbed “Bobbing for Boobs.” The winner will receive a free breast augmentation from plastic surgeon Dr. Karl Nguyen.

The promoter explained “We just thought that the No. 1 reason people come to the club is, of course, girls,” he says. “So how would we attract that demographic? Plastic surgery. It’s what they’re into.” [LA Times]

OMG, that’s totes right! Girls are like sooooo into plastic surgery. And of course money, ice cream, boy bands, kittens, shiny objects and US Weekly.

And now for more heart-waring quotes from the article…

“One, a tiny young woman named Tracy Boi who accompanied her spirited limbo techniques with gracious kisses blown to the audience, seemed particularly excited. “It’s always nice to get free boobies,” she gushed before being whisked onto the dance floor by her friends.” Another, who would identify herself only as “Lanle” and who appeared to have something nearing a C cup, explained her reason for joining the competition. “To get boobs. More self-esteem,” she said. [LA Times]

Here’s the thing (and apologies in advance if I am going completely against all I learned in my feminist theory classes here) I understand the fascination with

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The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. We brought you some excellent top 10 lists this week on art, technology, director Errol Morris, and naughty celebs who should rethink their eco-lifestyles. Don’t forget to catch up with some of our other most popular articles of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites.

Katie:

Bush’s War: PBS Frontline Brings the War to a Computer Near You

Inverted Areola, Asymmetrical Breasts, & the Miss Bimbo Game

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Nicole:

Where the Wild Things Are: Top 10 Art Blogs

Dark Water: Artist Explores Consequences of Three Gorges Dam Project

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Giulia:

A Pregnant Man?

Is the Lebron / Gisele Vogue Cover Racist?

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Gina:

Top 10 Technology Blogs

Errol Morris’ Top 10 Films

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Kerry:

Top 10 Celebrities Who Need a New Cause

Dead Bats Flying: Mysterious Fatal Illness Alarms Scientists

Chloe Marshall, a 16-year-old beautician in training, is the first size 16 girl to make it to the final round of the Miss England contest. This story caught my eye for mixed reasons.

Katie’s post about the tragic death of a teenage girl who went under the knife for cosmetic breast surgery, and that beastly Miss Bimbo game rewarding tween girls for aspiring to the depths of Paris Hilton, made me kinda sad. When I read about Chloe Marshall, I did like the fact that she’d broken through the stereotype of thin=pretty by defying the ’size negative 1′ beauty pageant standard.

At the same time, would Ms. Marshall still feel as beautiful as she does now if she hadn’t made it through the first round? Beauty pageants, after all, don’t exactly have a reputation for encouraging healthy female values.

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Inverted Areola and asymmetrical breasts were what made Stephanie Kuleba have breast augmentation, which caused the malignant hyperthermia which killed her. After the procedure, the 18-year old cheerleader from Florida died as a result of  malignant hyperthermia, a condition that can be triggered by certain anesthesia where the body heats up to dangerous levels. Obviously, this is a personal tragedy. The death of a young person during surgery is tragic. But what makes this more tragic is that the operation which killed Kuleba was an “elective” cosmetic procedure. I say “elective” because the “choice” to undergo an operation to conform to unfair and unrealistic standards of beauty is, perhaps, a choice in name only. Even more tragically, more and more women and young girls are getting breast augmentation: according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the number of women 18 and younger who have had breast enlargements has risen nearly 500 percent over the past decade (the number has risen by only 300 percent among all age groups). Breast augmentation, which costs on average $4,000, is the most popular plastic surgery.

What makes so many women and girls do this, you may be asking your self. I was wondering about that myself and accidentally found part of the answer.

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