Hatred Does Not Equal Health

“I stand for a life free of shame for all little girls.” “I stand for happy, healthy children–no matter their size.” “I stand against social stigma and the right to be happy just ...Read More

H&M Whittles Down Acceptable Body Types To Exactly One

I hope that years from now we’ll look back and laugh at the time when female clothing models were all expected to conform to a very narrow and specific range of body types. If so, we’ve ...Read More

A Vulva Looks Like THAT? Demystifying Female Genitalia for Teens

A few weeks ago, New York Times Magazine carried an amazing article–Teaching Good Sex—that uses a Philadelphia private school’s approach to sex ed to illustrate a simple but controversial question: ...Read More

Japan’s Yaeba Trend and Cosmetic Infantilization

Benjamin B. alerted us to a New York Times story about a new trend in Japan: yaeba. Some young Japanese women are now having dentists artificially enlarge their incisors so as to achieve a look ...Read More

#NoShaveNovember Raises Hairy Gender Questions

When Ms. magazine asked me what I thought about #NoShaveNovember, I had never even heard of such a thing, and I couldn’t quite grasp its point. Maybe this is because I participate in something ...Read More

Hot Chicks, Cold Sexists and Occupy Wall Street

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, students of magic battle a boggart, a creature that manifests itself as your worst nightmare. With a flick of their wand and the word “Riddikulus,” ...Read More

Wasp Waists and Anorexia

The cover of Vogue Italy’s September issue–timed to appear during the Sept. 21-28 Italian fashion week–featured Stella Tennant, the striking 40-year-old super model and mother of ...Read More

Culture-Jamming Sexist Ads

From Sociological Images: Reader Tara C. sent in a great excuse to revive an old post featuring public resistance to marketing that sexually objectifies women. As I wrote back then, this resistance ...Read More

The Wisdom of Recovery From Eating Disorders

In recent years, science has established that eating disorders are biologically based mental illnesses. We know that DNA determines who’s likely to develop an eating disorder and who’s not. And ...Read More

Click! A Chubby Ballerina Gets Wise

I was maybe 8 or 9, my chubby self stuffed into a brand new pink leotard and tights. I was not happy in this outfit, largely because my little body did not “fit” the ballet-body type–a fact ...Read More

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