The Hormone Diet: 5 Overlooked Reasons You’re Stressed Out
Alleged Boston Bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev (Now Dead) Was An Amateur Boxer
Cherry Blossom Extract: Just Another Sham Ingredient
Jennifer Aniston Caught With Cupping Marks…But What IS Cupping?
Sleep Paralysis: What Rapid Eye Movement and “Demons” Have in Common (Nothing)
Complaint Free April: Complaining About Something Small Made Me Realize I Actually Have Nothing To Complain About
When I think of Cosmo, the first — or second, or 36th — thing that comes to mind isn’t “female empowerment.” But a new study on the effects of women’s magazines on sexual attitudes finds the lady mag we most love to hate may prime women to prioritize their own sexual pleasure. Could all those “576 Ways to Please Your Man” articles be secretly subversive? More
Over on our sister site, The Gloss, there’s a series of images that Barneys commissioned for the holiday season, in which adored Disney characters like Minnie Mouse have been turned into “runway models.” Translation: they have been stretched within an inch of their cartoon lives, and, it seems, given an eating disorder. If this seems familiar, it’s because it just happened to Ursula the Sea Witch. A few years before that, it happened Strawberry Shortcake. But why? Why does every character need to slenderized and sexualized, just to be modernized? And, more importantly, can we collectively agree to knock it off? More
• Ladies, it’s time to stop saying you’re sorry for being beautiful (HuffPost Women)
• Hooray! A big step forward in the treatment of autism (The Stir)
• When to throw away hair brushes, running shoes, and other items that are prone to grossness (YouBeauty)
• 16 surprising uses for bananas (Divine Caroline)
• What to do when postpartum depression threatens to ruin your marriage (YourTango)
• How to sneak veggies into every meal and snack (FitSugar)
You know that yoga has become a commodity when there are yoga-related products that have absolutely nothing to do with yoga. Like the new Yogaga collection from Essie, which is actually more fitness-themed than yoga-specific and also kind of problematic. Designer yoga mats and $90 butt-hugging leggings are one thing, but yoga-themed nail polish that also places emphasis on looking hot and being skinny? Pass. More
If 18-year-old weightlifter Zoe Smith, who broke British records yesterday by lifting twice her body weight, ever decides to take a break from being a super-strong Olympian, I’m pretty sure she could have a career in writing about feminism, athletics, and the female body. In a personal blog post, Smith addressed trolling and the criticism of female athletes (who, since her appearance in the BBC documentary Girl Power – Going For Gold, have called her all kinds of mean names and basically been horrible) in a pretty bold and awesome way. Also, if she’s got an opening for a new best friend, I’d like to apply. More
There’s been a lot of harping about the problem with Photoshop lately–most notably, that excessive retouching has made it nearly impossible for women to feel good about their own porous, flawed, dimpled, freckled selves. But according to one actual photo retoucher who spoke with Buzzfeed, Photoshopping is just as prevalent as you think, and it’s one of many ways that art directors and advertisers create the impossible standard of beauty that women struggle not to compete with. More
In a world where Kate Upton is a “fat cow” and Vogue‘s idea of being more body-positive is photo spreads of skinny women smoking and models instead of female athletes, it’s no wonder women have completely distorted relationships with their own bodies; we are being set up, over and over again, to fail. But just how poorly do we feel about ourselves? According to one small survey in the UK, most women are worried about being fat multiple times a day. More
These are my actual toes. As you can see, they’re not exactly slender. Or attractive. Actually, they’re kind of gross. But you know, of all the things on my body I’ve ever felt self-conscious about, these little piggies have just never been on the list, because these feet work really hard to help me run, dance, do yoga, and walk around. But apparently, plenty of women do feel uncomfortable about their toes, because toe-slimming surgery is reportedly on the rise. Or at least, that’s what a doctor who makes a living convincing women their feet are fat told ABC News. More
Blogger Autumn Whitefield-Madrano, of The Beheld, isn’t looking in the mirror for a month. The former women’s magazine staffer originally went on a “mirror fast” for a month in May 2011, and she’s decided to do it again this year. Could you go mirror-free for a month? More
True Or False: Marathoners Can Eat Whatever They Want
Why Don’t More Women Talk About Masturbation?
Clueless Mom Gives Birth on a Bike Without Realizing It
The Sweetest Twitter Marriage Proposal You’ll Ever See
8 Things You Shouldn't Do Before Bed
Yesterday, 19-year-old Holly shared a personal story on Proud2BMe, a really great website for young women about body-positivity and confidence. Her tale? About how she finally stopped hiding behind her beach towel at the pool. Her candor struck me–but what really hit home was the fact that I do this. We all do this. And I think it’s time we stop. This summer, let’s drop our beach towels. More
After mounting pressure from awesome teen girls and organizations like SPARK to quit airbrushing teens (at least once per month) and use a more diverse range of body types and appearances, not to mention plenty of resistance from the magazine itself, it seems as if Seventeen magazine has finally started to listen. Or at least, that’s what a letter from the editor in this month’s edition says, according to Kaye Toal’s article on Upworthy. But unfortunately, the letter smells an awful lot like Vogue‘s recent batch of empty promises, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to be more business as usual. Bummer. More
It’s not just real human models who have to slim down to be part of the fashion world; sometimes, even fictional characters, like Ursula the Sea Witch, are just too fat to sell beauty products. But luckily for Ursula, she didn’t have to crash diet or logs hours in the gym to get her newly-svelte figure up to par for the new Disney Villains Beauty Line. Which is fortunate…but doesn’t really make the decision to lighten her skin and give her lipo a particularly responsible one by Disney. More
Apparently, Vogue China’s idea of celebrating the female form and trying to be ambassadors for positive body image is removing a model’s leg. The whole let. But let’s give them the benefit of the doubt; maybe the leg in question just had a really long, hard day and was looking like it had an eating disorder, so the photo editors of Vogue China just told it to go home. More
Today, a page on Upworthy.com featuring scary statistics about American girls, disordered eating, the media, and body image has been making the Internet rounds–and for good reason. The facts, which are part of Miss Representation‘s Keep It Real campaign and in partnership with LoveSocial.org, SPARK, and I AM THAT GIRL, are reminders of why it’s essential to call out practices like the excessive use of Photoshop: because regardless of what critics say, consistently being exposed to images of unattainable “perfection” is bad for girls and women. More
