Get This Issue #25

By Amber Drea
Published: September 1st, 2005 | 2:59pm

BABY’S FIRST WORD: IRONYInfantile.com features children’s clothing designed by artists such as Maya Hayuk, Tiffany Bozic, and Don Clark. Craig Melchiano started the San Francisco-based company with partner Robert Kissinger after shopping for his niece and discovering the frightening fashions forced upon kids. With Infantile’s T-shirts depicting gold-chain necklaces, punk pins, and slogans like “Where’s the Party?” and “Born Lucky,” the little ones can now be just as hip, if not more so, than grown-ups.

BARBIE DUMPS KEN FOR MIDGE Despite all the complaints about anatomically disproportionate dolls that hinder young girls’ development of a healthy self-image, Mattel has yet to remedy the situation. So Stephanie Perdomo has decided to take matters into her own hands. As part of her NYU graduate thesis project, she created Dyke Dolls (dykedolls.com), a brand of lesbian action figures for adults. The first line of dolls is Bobbie, who comes in three looks — the tattooed “Diesel Dyke,” the wife-beater-wearing “Rockabilly,” and the cowboy hat-donning “Doc Holiday” — each complete with baggy jeans and chain wallet. Purchase the doll alone for $49.95 or get the set, which consists of a tiny vibrator, leather strap-on, a dildo, a certificate of authenticity, and two Dyke Doll stickers for a mere $15 more. Turns out that Bobbie and Barbie do have one thing in common: big boobs. A second line of dolls, Baby Dykes, is slated for fall.

AND YOU THOUGHT BEER GOGGLES WERE BAD Researchers at the University of Missouri-Columbia conducted a study that divided 82 young men ranging in age from 18 to 27 into two groups, exposing one half to words such as “liquor,” “whiskey,” and “keg” and the other to words such as “water,” “soda,” and “coffee.” When presented with standard college yearbook photos of 21 diverse-looking women, the men who had viewed the alcohol-related words and expected drinking to increase their sex drive rated the women as more attractive. “What is worrisome is that these expectations we have about alcohol, as well as drugs, can be activated with little or no awareness,” said Ronald Friedman, assistant professor of psychology at MU. “That said, there is the possibility that the same unconscious process is used in determining aggressive behavior.” In other words, women not only need to protect themselves from drunk guys but also from sober guys who can read.

EAU DE YOU The Petersborough, England–based company Fragranceforyou.com uses its Perfume Picker software to design a fragrance that is specific to an individual personality. Calculated characteristics include disposition (moody, sexy, joyous), fashion sensibility (plain, trendy, outlandish), intended use (casual, office, romantic), preferred and disliked scents (woody, oriental, floral), favorite color, and zodiac sign. “No longer is the personal perfume for just the very rich and famous [like] J. Lo or Britney,” CEO Fred Parker said. “Every American woman can have hers, too.” I guess there are only four women in the world since only four different fragrances resulted from my multiple combinations. Apparently, the fragrance that best fits my personality is the same one my friends would wear. I feel so special