Black-ish Star Tracee Ellis Ross Talks Hair, Black Standards of Beauty

Last week I published a piece on this site about how a white dude at the opera called me "disgusting" after I refused pull back my naturally curly hair. I wrote that my hair looked "more Tracee Ellis-Ross in Black-ish than Diana Ross's 1983 Central Park performance." Translation: I was having a tame hair day. And now,…
The LA Times Covers Cornrows, the Hot New Trend for White Ladies
Friends, readers, ladyfolk, I believe we are being trolled. I believe we are being trolled by major newspapers and fashion magazines through a series of willfully ignorant and low-key racist articles where they attempt to completely erase black people from the very styles and trends that they created.
The New York Times Is Last to the Big Booty Party
Oh, hello New York Times, it's so nice of you to come! I've been wondering when you were going to show up. Unfortunately, the spinach artichoke dip is a bit cold and the champagne has gone flat. Most of the guests are pretty tired. I don't know if you heard, but the party started about 50 years ago.
Blue Ivy's Hair Is Perfect and You Should Shut Up About It
I cannot believe we have to have this conversation. Although I see it over and over again, I continue to be stunned by the complete lack of respect and utter disregard their wellbeing that is shown towards little black girls. With that in mind, I'm not sure why I expected things to be any different for Blue Ivy Carter.
Wearing This Walkman On Your Face Might Erase Wrinkles
Anti-aging skincare company StriVectin has the newest solution to your search for youth— as long as you're down with wearing a walkman-looking contraption on your face. StriVectin is introducing their first device, a Facial Toner micro-current which was inspired by the treatments given to victims of facial trauma.
Here's Why You're Wearing More Makeup Than Everyone Thinks You Need To
When you leave home ready to face the public having spent five minutes or 50, you have artfully negotiated a far more complex arrangement than can be summed up in a study about how much makeup is the most attractive according to men, women, pets, postal workers, goldfish, or Bangor University students. Nonetheless,…
We Need To Talk About 'Butt Selfie Queen' Jen Selter
I tried to ignore this woman for as long as possible. I really did. The first time I heard the term "butt selfie" and later, "Queen of the Butt Selfie," I knew nothing but frustration and eyerolls would come from me learning more about either of those things. So I drew my mind far, far away from this human and her…
Why We Need More 'Ugly' People On TV
Because I am the most tedious person in the history of dad's-girlfriends, the other day I found myself yelling at a 12-year-old girl, "'UGLY' IS A CONSTRUCT." (Past good-time hits have included, "ALL BODIES ARE GOOD BODIES," "NEUTRALITY HELPS THE OPPRESSOR," "NO, THE PRETTY LITTLE LIARS MAIN CAST ISN'T ALL MOSTLY…
A Message From the Chairwoman of the Itty Bitty Titty Committee
I peaked, size wise, at the age of 10, when I bought my first training bra — that, with a bit of a tug across the torso, could certainly fit my bust line today. Vacillating between the funny gray area of a size 32AA and 32A (depending on the time of the month), as an adult woman my breasts hardly heave, but rather…
Photoshop Gifs Make You Wonder Why We Have Models At All

The gifs from this video just go to show how much creative license someone skilled at Photoshop can take with the image of a woman. Honestly, it doesn't really seem to matter what the model looks like to begin with. She could have been a scribble of a stick figure on the back of a CVS receipt, and we would have ended…
Will Women Ever Have the Freedom to Be Ugly?
Once, on a blind date in my twenties, a guy I instantly didn't like realized this and said something hilariously awful by date's end: "You're a bitch, and you're not even pretty enough to be a bitch." It's funny because I totally was pretty enough. No, it's funny because HE LOOKED LIKE AN AARDVARK. Actually, it's…
Beauty is an Impediment: Julia Pastrana and the Modern-Day Politics of Being Seen
While critics were debating if Lena Dunham gets too naked too often; or if Melissa McCarthy is too fat to be a movie star Julia Pastrana’s mummified remains were being collected from an Oslo medical facility and sent home to Mexico to be laid to rest. In her death, as in life, the subject of Ms. Pastrana's looks…
