When we talk about the upcoming Nina Simone biopic, it feels that two different conversations are taking place: One amongst those who understand how an undercurrent of anti-black racism allowed this to happen, and those who do not.
Decades before the world decided that beauty pageants were “scholarship competitions” that also feature a swimsuit portion (for scholarship reasons), there was a glorious time in American culture when humans felt absolutely no need to pretend that contests of beauty were anything more than putting women on display…
Plus-size modeling is becoming ever more prevalent in the fashion industry, and the forthcoming documentary Straight/Curve is examining it in context.
We haven’t even gotten over #TheBellyButtonChallenge yet and we already have to grapple with a new ridiculous and wholly unsubstantiated standard of beauty: The Collarbone Challenge.
In further proof that Twitter’s memory is goldfish short, controversy erupted last night over the hashtag #FeministsAreUgly, which was invented by two feminists of color all the way back in August of 2014. Last night, it exploded into controversy all over again, in a truly unholy convergence of 4chan trolls, a bad…
News to no one: It costs more to be a woman. We're charged more for goods and services, are more likely to take time away from work to care for kids or aging parents, and live an average of 5 years longer. We also have to do more stuff to maintain femininity. But would cutting back on grooming change anything?
In the glossy pages of Vogue, it's easy to see extreme beauty treatments as a kind of goofy lark. These photos by Australian artist Jessica Ledwich will remind you that, say, injecting fat into your lips or immobilizing your brow with botulinum toxin is actually quite disturbing if you really stop to ponder it.
It seems that obsessions with the perfect body type knows no borders. Case in point: while Americans talk about hourglass figures, or about thigh gaps, while South Koreans talk about S-shaped (curvy) bodies.
You are not the only one whose skin isn't always perfect. But you could get that feeling from looking at the magically pore and blemish-free images we're bombarded with on billboards and in magazines. One photographer inadvertently let us in on the process. Watch the miraculous transformation in our video.
An anonymously-sourced Times Of India account claims Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is in "disbelief" about alleged skin-whitening on her Elle India cover. "If there is any proof of this, she might even take action."
In an effort to disrupt the dominant images about what women's hair should look like, Lauren Boyle and Marco Roso created an alternative aspirational beauty salon poster that offers women a set of hairstyles usually associated with lesbians.
Stars like Kim Kardashian, Dana Delany, and Lisa Rinna are becoming part of a trend: it's now okay to admit that you had plastic surgery, and that you hated it.
"I am a woman with a beard," writes Allison Landa. And so unfolds a story of hair removal that challenged some of our ideas about beauty, body politics, and choices.
We were so impressed with porn star Nina Hartley's appearance in the documentary Exxxit, we had to talk to her more. After the jump, her thoughts on condoms, shaving, and why Who's Nailin Paylin was a victory for feminism.
As I write this, I'm having a little bit of trouble breathing. It's like I have a perpetual cold. But it wasn't always like this — the reason it's like this now is that I feel bad about my face.
"There is such a thing as being unfuckable and female," writes Jessa Crispin. It's a shocking statement, but it also brings up an issue we don't often discuss: what it's like to be not sexually desired, but sexually devalued.
When we posted about Tina Fey's recent Esquire shoot last week, one of our commenters asked, "Am I the only person who finds Fey very traditionally attractive?" Chloe at Feministing has an answer:
• New Jersey health officials report a recent influx in women hospitalized with infections from black-market butt-enhancement injections. ix women from the Dominican Republic were brought in with backsides resembling "moonscapes" and deep tissue infections from the hazardous mixture. •
If you watched Mo'Nique make her way to the stage last night to accept her SAG award, you probably admired how amazing she looked in that dress. But she has a secret under there, and she's not afraid to share.
The mainstream media has finally caught on to what the black blogosphere buzzed about two weeks ago: The premiere of the So In Style (or S.I.S.) line of Black Barbies. But are the dolls going to be an adequate representation?
