Actress Danielle Brooks is making waves in Hollywood. Best known for her role as Tasha “Tastee” Jefferson on the Netflix series Orange is the New Black, Brooks is now enjoying a level of professional success that few actors get to experience. And she recently revealed that she’s enjoying another kind of success, one that is… Continue Reading →
Harriet Tubman on the new $20 bill?
What would the United States be like if we had Harriet Tubman on our $20 bills? Depicted on current and former US dollar banknotes are George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, Ulysses S. Grant, Benjamin Franklin, William McKinley, and Grover Cleveland. Yes, they are all men. And yes, all white men…. Continue Reading →
Living in a manic pixie dream world
She wears floral skater dresses. She rocks oxfords and grandad socks. She’s unbelievably quirky, ebullient, and has a tendency towards petty theft. She is a manic pixie dream girl. First coined by Nathan Rabin in his review of Elizabethtown to describe the bubbly flight attendant portrayed by Kirsten Dunst, the manic pixie dream girl (MPDG)… Continue Reading →
Tina Fey and the bare truth (about shapewear)
The other night, actress/comedian Tina Fey stripped down to her underwear on The Late Show with David Letterman. Ostensibly, it was to “honor” the talk show host ahead of his imminent retirement. But what Fey really did was show the whole world just what it takes for some women to wear a form-fitting dress and… Continue Reading →
My wish for Mother’s Day: A break from the sexism aimed at my kids
I’m raising two boys, and it is exhausting — but not for the reasons you might expect. It’s not because they’re “gross” or “loud” or “stinky” or “roughhousing” all the time. All kids can be those things at any given moment. What is truly exhausting is always running into sexism and violence in toys, TV… Continue Reading →
“You look too young to be a 51-year-old!”: Unhealthy beauty standards at the White House
Recently, the unquestionably accomplished First Lady Michelle Obama spoke to a group of children in the East Room of the White House for Take-Our-Daughters-And-Sons-To-Work Day. Few people are better representatives of hard work than Ms. Obama, and, as one could reasonably expect, she was direct about the effort she put into achieving success. Ms. Obama… Continue Reading →
Why I love Amy Schumer’s new music video, “Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup”
The other morning, while eating my breakfast, I found this: comedienne Amy Schumer’s new music video, “Girl, You Don’t Need Makeup.” I watched it thinking it would be a silly remake of some song. I was wrong. It is so much more. I have since sent this to all of my best girl friends. I… Continue Reading →
We need to change more than clothes in the dressing room
Brace yourselves, everyone. I’m about to make a huge confession. I’m about to astound and confuse millions upon millions of people. I’m about to dispute the core of beliefs of department store marketers and romantic comedy writers. I’m a 22-year-old, warm-blooded American woman who does not enjoy shopping for clothes. Shocking, right? I’m a young… Continue Reading →
Why so many celebrities are “waist training”
So yeah, um, no to the whole “waist training” thing that every celebrity alive seems to be trying these days. In the recent past, actress Jessica Alba raved about how wearing a waist trainer day and night for three months helped her lose baby weight. And now we’ve got Scout Willis (daughter of Bruce and… Continue Reading →