Ann J. Simonton (born 1952) is an American writer, lecturer, radical feminist media and anti-pornography activist, and former fashion model. She founded and coordinates the non-profit group "Media Watch",[1] which challenges what they see as racism, sexism, and violence in the media through education and activism. Simonton has published two autobiographical chapters, I Never Told Anyone and Her Wits About Her. She has also written and produced two educational videos, one of which, Don't Be a TV: Television Victim, received a Silver Apple Award from the National Educational Video and Film Festival in 1995.[citation needed]
Simonton has been arrested and jailed 11 times for committing acts of non-violent civil disobedience. In the 1980s, she and Nikki Craft led the "Myth California" protests, a series of counter-pageants which disrupted the Miss California pageant in Santa Cruz, California and San Diego, California, protesting "the objectification of women and the glorification of the beauty myth."[2] The protests garnered international attention, and were partially responsible for the Miss California pageant eventually relocating from Santa Cruz.[citation needed]
Simonton lectures nationally on university campuses with a presentation entitled, "Sex, Power and the Media." She has been a guest on Dr. Phil, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Larry King Live, Entertainment Tonight and CNN's Crossfire.
Simonton worked as a Ford fashion model in the 1970s, an experience that she said informed her later activism.[3]
Notes
- ^ White, Dan (2003-09-07). "Santa Cruz makes its mark on the world". Santa Cruz Sentinel. http://web.archive.org/web/20030912195648/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/September/07/local/stories/01local.htm. (Archived at Archive.org, 2003-09-12.)
- ^ Bacon, Amity (2005-05-22). "Miss California Pageant united the community and served as a platform for protest". Santa Cruz Sentinel. http://web.archive.org/web/20050524111107/http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2005/May/22/local/stories/03local.htm. (Archived at Archive.org, 2005-05-24.)
- ^ Faludi, Susan. (April 1988). "Miss Teen Covina's revenge". Mother Jones 13 (3): 32–34, 52–55. http://books.google.com/books?id=NOcDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA32#v=onepage&q=&f=false. (Responses by Nikki Craft and Ann Simonton, Mother Jones 13(5):4,7 (June 1988).)
External links
- Media Watch
- Media Watch channel at YouTube
- Radio Interviews by Ann Simonton
- Slow Sex: Moving Toward Informed Pleasure by Ann Simonton, CommonDreams.org, February 9, 2008.
- Sports Illustrated cover, January 28, 1974.
- "The Woman Warrior" by Jill Lieber, Sports Illustrated, February 7, 1989.
- "Radical Body Politics for Women" by Kirsten Anderberg, 2003.
- "Getting results with low-budget media activism" by Michael Stoll, Grade the News, January 21, 2004.
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