Twitter celeb brouhaha of the day: Meghan McCain, in a bid to show how dorky she’s becoming in her old age, posts a photo of herself, curled up at home on a Wednesday night with a book—in a tank top that shows off her very ample bosom (and super push-up). She gets called a slut, claims to be hurt, apologizes to whoever she’s offended, and, in the meantime, gets more than a hundred thousand views. The tweet is the new drunk dial—something easy to do without thinking, and all but impossible to undo—and celebs have gotten endless flak as of late for baring their...
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The women of the world—or at least, those who can't put down women's magazines—have apparently found a friend in the September issue of Glamour. Editor Cindy Leive wrote a post on the mag's website ( thanks, Jezebel! ) saying that the mailroom has been inundated with letters from effusive readers who were thrilled to spot a photo of a model—nude—smiling as she bared her (possibly stretch-mark-lined) pooch to the world. "This photo made me want to shout from the rooftops" said one letter, the mass of which Leive describes as "full of joy." ...
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With Hillary Clinton launching her African tour today, including a stop in the war-torn eastern Congo—dubbed the rape capital of the world by the UN—the New York Times is running a big story about rape in the Congo: rape, that is, of men. Hillary had a bit of bad fortune in being upstaged as she kicked off her campaign to bring attention to women's rights in African countries by her husband's rescue of two women journalists in North Korea. But no hard feelings, Bill. Because nobody would have paid any attention anyway. As much as it seems right to be appalled...
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Bad news for girls who love to fake bake: Tanning beds, the darling of prepping-for-prom high schoolers, have been placed in the same category as arsenic and mustard gas by the WHO. They may give you a bronze glow, but they also boost your risk of getting skin cancer by 75%. Being pasty in pink is looking better and better. It's scary stuff, but probably not scary enough. Teenagers aren't exactly the poster children for cautious behavior, and melanoma sounds like the problem of 48-year-olds to the ears of kids three decades younger—who, in many cases, would rather be hot now, hospitalized...
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I'm boning up on my French, because a slew of just-released polls and studies make one thing clear: If I want to live longer I'll have to move to Paris. Call it quits on your marriage, and you're 20% more likely to be saddled with chronic health problems. And since nearly 30% of Americans (poll No. 1) say the recession has stressed/strained/killed their marriage—the highest of any country polled—emigration (complete with a ready supply of Bordeaux) looks more and more synonymous with longevity. But even if the demise of our marriages doesn't kill us—news flash—our...
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Apparently, we really think Katherine Heigl is annoying. Sarah Ball devoted a whole piece to the topic in Newsweek, and our summary, detailing how Heigl's "me, me, me" attitude deep-sixed her sweetheart glow, was the most read Newser story of the weekend. I'm no fan of Heigl's—her rom-com appearances don't even merit a slot on my Netflix queue. But I can't help but bristle at how ready we are to label her a "diva-like shrew"—bitch, basically—and revel in picking her apart, while, once again, letting selfish, diva-esque males off the hook....
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Photoshop got a flogging yesterday, with the New York Times reporting on a backlash against manipulation of pictures of models and celebrities on the covers (and in the pages) of magazines. It’s an old argument —that these images are too thin and too perfect, and especially too fake, to be healthy models for teenage girls. The surprising thing is that the Times ran the story (again) on the same day news broke about what’s really happening to American women: Two-thirds of women of child-bearing age are overweight; a third are obese and at risk of...
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