Creating Effective Leadership for the 21st Century: Popular Culture and Positive Role Models for Women

and Girls About the Scholarship

Womenetics, U.S. Bank and Discover will award a grand total of $22,000 in scholarships to ten undergraduates this fall. Womenetics recognizes the power of young people. The Advancing Aspirations Global Scholarships (AAGS) are designed to connect students who are interested in the global advancement of women with thought leaders in vital, impactful roles and to provide means for further study. We believe students are the future leaders of womens empowerment worldwide.

Eligibility
To be eligible, an individual must be enrolled as an undergraduate student in an accredited college or university, and be a U.S. citizen or legal resident of the United States. Students who have already obtained a bachelors degree are not eligible. Students are invited to enter both the U.S. Bank and Discover Prizes; however, if selected for one prize, the student is automatically ineligible for the other.

Scholarship Details and Requirements

U.S. Bank and Discover have partnered with Womenetics to encourage future leaders to learn about these topics. We invite college students to discuss one of the following questions in an essay of 2,500 words or less, for the opportunity to win one of ten prizes. In addition, a separate 200-word essay on what you will do with the prize money should you win is required. The prize money is intended to finance education, travel or other opportunities that may lead to further understanding of these important global issues. 1st Prize: Two first place winners (one for the U.S. Bank Prize and one for the Discover Prize) will win $5,000 and an expense-paid trip to attend and be recognized at the respective Womenetics Global Womens Initiative conference. In addition, the winner is invited to attend a VIP Reception with featured speakers and other top business, academic, nonprofit and policy leaders the evening before the event. 2nd Prize: Eight additional essayists (four for the U.S. Bank Prize and four for the Discover Prize) will win $1,500 and recognition at the Womenetics Global Womens Initiative, as well as an invitation to the VIP Reception with featured speakers and other top business, academic, nonprofit and policy leaders the evening before the event. The four finalists for each conference are invited to attend, but are responsible for their own travel costs. To enter, essay and registration form must be received by email and in printed copy by 5 pm EST on Friday, July 27.Essays must be sent electronically to scholarships@womenetics.com, and a printed copy with the completed registration form must be sent to Advancing Aspirations Global Scholarships Attention: Womenetics

99 West Paces Ferry Rd NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30305

All finalists will be notified via email on September 4, 2012. Respective finalists will be introduced and the winner will be announced at the Global Womens Initiative conference on October 4 in Atlanta or on November 1 in Chicago. Questions may also be directed to scholarships@womenetics.com.

About the Global Womens Initiative Conference

On October 4, 2012 in Atlanta and on November 1, 2012 in Chicago, Womenetics will present Creating Effective Leadership for the 21st Century: Popular Culture and Positive Role Models for Women and Girls, a half day conference examining the business impact of prevailing characterizations about womens value and the influence this has on womens ability to lead and contribute. Females are underrepresented in leadership across most sectors of business and society despite being 50 percent of the population. While many factors influence womens ability to lead around the world - education, personal freedoms, role models, individual empowerment and determination - changing cultural perceptions and portrayals of female worth is a critical step to help bolster the number of women who choose to lead. Gender stereotypes about womens roles are pervasive in 21st century global popular culture and 24/7 media. Typically females are poorly represented both in the number of women decision-makers in business as well as in the types of female characters and images of women and girls portrayed in film, television, current popular music and print media. Numerous studies prove that fresh thinking happens when women play a meaningful part in creating solutions and leading efforts. Most importantly, results are better, outcomes are greater and business and communities show more significant and long-lasting improvement. Attendees will hear about solutions to enhance the ability to produce business success in todays global economy and create an environment that taps all available talent and efforts of women and men everywhere.

Atlanta 3: FEMALE SELF WORTH AND BODY IMAGE AROUND THE WORLD Every day girls and women the world over are exposed to what the fashion industry tells them is the standard of beauty: tall and slender, long legs and a narrow waist and a total lack of curvaceous figures. From clothing cuts and sizes to mannequins and runway models, women and girls are constantly told that whatever their body shape and type is, its not the right one. According to the Media Awareness Network, by the time a student has graduated from high school, s/he has been exposed to over 350,000 advertisements selling everything from clothing, cars and food to detergent, technology and travel. Despite the high rates of women who seek higher education and pursue professional degrees, female intellectual prowess is rarely illustrated in media or advertising as valuable and integral to society. Rather, womens bodies often times in unrealistic or fantasized form - are portrayed in the media as most desirable and valuable, and are used more often than womens brains to entice buyers. Media targeted at young women perpetuate through photos, articles and advertisements the belief that women should care more about their looks and their bodies than their intellect. Due to this misconstrued image of the female body, women are left yearning for an unrealistic body type and men are left expecting women to look a way that is unattainable for most of the female population.

Research standards of female beauty around the world, then develop and support a thesis for the underlying messages the fashion industry sends females and males and the impact this can have on observers. Write a proposal for the fashion and advertising industry to embrace women and their natural figures. This should also include ways to educate children and adolescents on the positive aspects of a healthy body image and subsequent characteristics of effective female leaders.