Recently, I bought a pair of edgy, tight-fitting jeans. I was feeling pretty confident in them until my hand happened to brush against the fattier part of my hip on the edge of my jeans. Immediately, my media-brain set off its sirens: “Muffin top alert! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a muffin top! Please evacuate… Continue Reading →
The revolution is now (and the warriors are naked)
Finally it seems like we’re at a tipping point regarding the unrelenting (and totally bogus) pressure placed upon new moms (make that all women, actually) by the incessant chronicling of just how fast celebrities manage to drop their baby weight and somehow look even better than they did before having kids. First, Ashlee Wells Jackson,… Continue Reading →
A Black Female Heroine Goes 3D
Something amazing is happening, and it only took until 2014! (Is the sarcasm on that last part translating here?) In November of this year, DreamWorks Animation Studios will release Home, the first 3D animated film with a black female heroine. The only thing that makes this news even better? Pop star Rihanna is playing the… Continue Reading →
If Lorde is the future of girl-power pop music, I’m excited.
Since I first heard her now-inescapable hit song “Royals,” I have been a fan of New Zealand-born musician Lorde. And now that I’ve seen her live and followed what she has to say, I’m even more impressed by how she’s shaping up as a young feminist role model. At a mere 17 years old, Lorde… Continue Reading →
Pharrell vs. Beyoncé: Have feminists let men off the hook?
Are feminists forcing women to achieve a higher standard than men? Pharrell Williams, wearer of Arby’s-shaped hats and the artist behind one of the biggest hits of the moment, Happy, has recently declared himself a feminist and received a fairly warm welcome compared to his fellow feminist, Beyoncé Knowles. Celebrity feminists like Williams and Knowles have… Continue Reading →
Why humor surrounding mental illness is either the best or the worst thing in existence
“I’m really OCD about my notes being organized.” “Gosh I’m so dyslexic; I can’t believe I made that typo!” “My daughter is being really anorexic lately; she won’t eat anything.”. “Sometimes I can’t stand how bipolar that woman is.” Welcome to the modern world, where we’re exposed to messages telling us that it’s okay to… Continue Reading →
When thin is fat and fat is thin
Has anyone else noticed that when it comes to popular media, some celebrities are praised for their apparently unbelievably fantabulous bodies and amazing physiques, while others who look pretty much exactly the same in terms of size and weight are criticized for their curves? Or how sometimes “real” – as in, real bodies – is… Continue Reading →