Ann J. Simonton (born 1952) is an American writer, lecturer, media activist, and former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

. She founded and coordinates the non-profit group "Media Watch", which challenges what they see as

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers pri ...

, and violence in the media through education and action. 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.

Biography

Simonton began as a fashion model in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and vaulted to the top of the modelling world in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the early 1970s. On June 24, 1971, she was

gang raped Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

at knifepoint in Morningside Park on her way to a modeling assignment. This event informed her activism to help end sexual assaults on women. Simonton became a radical feminist activist, and has been arrested and jailed 11 times for committing acts of non-violent

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". H ...

. In the 1980s, she and

Nikki Craft Nikki Craft (born 1949) is an American radical feminist activist and writer. Activism 1970s In 1975, Craft presented the Rockwell International board of directors with "...naked doll splashed with blood-colored paint" to protest their B-1 bo ...

led the "Myth California" protests, a series of counter-pageants which accused the

Miss California The Miss California competition selects the representative for the state of California in the Miss America competition. The pageant began in Santa Cruz in 1924 and was held there in 1925. During the years 1926 through 1946 in years when the Mi ...

pageant of contributing to "the objectification of women and the glorification of the beauty myth." Simonton wore various meat outfits in these protests: one of baloney in 1982, skirt steak in 1985, and turkey slices in 1987. In 1987 she shaved off all her bleached blond hair in front of the pageant venue in San Diego to protest "racist attitudes" in the pageants. The protests garnered international attention, and were partially responsible for the Miss California pageant relocating from Santa Cruz to San Diego, California. Simonton lectures nationally on university campuses with a presentation entitled, "Sex, Power and the Media." She has been a guest on ''

Dr. Phil Phillip Calvin McGraw (born September 1, 1950), better known as Dr. Phil, is an American television personality and author best known for hosting the talk show '' Dr. Phil''. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology, though he ceased rene ...

'', ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicago, Illinois. Produced ...

'', ''

Larry King Live ''Larry King Live'' was an American television talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was the channel's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly. Mainly aired from CNN's Los Angeles ...

'', ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aus ...

'' and CNN's ''

Crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. S ...

''. Simonton worked as a

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

in the 1970s. (Responses by Nikki Craft and Ann Simonton, ''Mother Jones'' 13(5
4,7
(June 1988).)

Selected publications

Chapters in books

References

External links

Media WatchMedia Watch
channel at

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Radio Interviews by Ann SimontonSlow Sex: Moving Toward Informed Pleasure
by Ann Simonton, ''CommonDreams.org'', February 9, 2008.

January 28, 1974.

by Jill Lieber, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'', February 7, 1989.
"Radical Body Politics for Women"
by Kirsten Anderberg, 2003.

by Michael Stoll, ''Grade the News'', January 21, 2004. {{DEFAULTSORT:Simonton, Ann Living people American feminist writers American women's rights activists Anti-pornography feminists Radical feminists 1952 births Female models from California Models from Los Angeles * Activists from California 21st-century American women