Really, this just seems like a symptom of a greater problem: the sexualization of girls. It seems like it’s happening at a more rapid pace than ever before, and that the target just grows younger and younger. There is a clear difference between teaching girls to understand their sexuality and own their sexual development, and branding them as sexual objects for male enjoyment. What does the phrase “call me” on a pair of underwear really stand for? It’s not about empowering a young girl to appreciate her body. No, it’s not about that at all. It’s clearly directed for the male gaze. At best, it’s a winking nod to the problematic sexual culture we live in that fetishizes young girls, and at worst, it’s actively contributing to taking away a girl’s ability to believe that she exists as more than a sexual object for the opposite gender’s pleasure.

Can we expect more from our marketing and clothing brands? Should we? Or are we just as complicit in this culture that they’re creating? Dressing little girls in adult-like clothing is a relatively recent development, brought in by the advent of teen celebrities lending their name to clothing lines. Since the Olsen twins began the practice, practically every teen star has done the same–Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Taylor Swift. And the clothing marketed towards young girls gradually shifted into mini-me copies of adult outfits. A friend of mine pointed at a dress in Target recently and said how she’d really like to wear it–except that it was marketed and sized for a five-year-old.

When customers buy things, brands will keep on selling them. Most likely, the companies and designers who have been receiving backlash won’t suffer sales in the long run. We live in a world where toddlers parade on stages and television wearing false eyelashes and heels, more makeup and couture than some adult women will ever come in contact with. This is what we celebrate, or at the very least, tolerate–little girls, hardly out of diapers, in clothing and makeup that used to be considered the domain of the adult woman.

So should these companies have to retract their designs and ads that tell teen girls that being objectified is cool? Maybe. But they won’t. They’ll still sell. Every other brand is doing it and profiting off it. Should we still speak out against this culture that tells our young girls they exist for the sexual pleasure of others? Yes. Girls should be able to be just that–girls, without the pressure to look like or dress like fully grown women. But if this is all they’re selling, and this is all we’re buying, and therefore this is all that is being marketed, made, and produced, what are our other options? Sometimes the culture slide seems inevitable. The alternative is to give up and accept that women will be conditioned to be sexy from birth. And I don’t think we’re ready to concede that fight just yet.

Featured image via ShutterStock

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Have you ever been in a car accident? Then I know you feel me. I know I was the epitome of a teenage driving cliche (no, I wasn’t texting or on the phone or looking at the radio, but sh*t happens), but I think even as fully matured adults, car accidents can be one of the most alarming things we experience. It’s a scary thing, especially when it’s serious enough to cause major structural damage, let alone injury. But not all car accidents were created equal – there’s a difference between the fender-bender you might get into coming out of the grocery store parking lot, a high-speed freeway crash, and tapping someone’s bumper as you back out of a space. There are so many variables when it comes to the situations we can get into with our huge, hulking pieces of transportable metal. What if you just side-swipe a mirror off? Can you just hand over cash and avoid the insurance swap? What if you panic and pull a hit-and-run without leaving so much as a note?

It’s important to note than in all these situations, you should be sure to scan for oncoming traffic and be safe when getting out of your vehicle to respond to the accident. That’s common sense, but in the adrenaline-laced moments after impact, something we tend to forget.

Situation: You’ve rear-ended someone

Tactical Response: Depending on the scene (freeways are far different than surface streets), you should try and get photos of the damage before moving the cars. If that’s not possible, do it ASAP. I’ve even been advised that it’s best to keep a cheap disposable camera in your glovebox for emergencies like these, because that way you cannot be accused of altering the photos digitally. I’m not saying that everyone’s so awful that they’ll try and swindle you, but you can never be sure. Also, insurance companies can be sticky about paying for things. Having proper documentation of any crash can be crucial to the insurance process, but especially one where the cars are not irreparably damaged and someone’s going to have to pay for it to be fixed.

The rear-ender usually gets damaged more than the rear-ended.

Situation: You’ve hit a bumper or side-swiped a mirror in a crowded parking lot.

Tactical Response: If you’re out and about, you can’t always wait lounging against the hood of the car you’ve wronged to explain the situation and exchange information. Common practice is to leave a note describing what happened, and including your contact information. The risky part of this is leaving the note, because you can’t always be sure it’ll be there when the owner returns. Try and slip it through a cracked window, or leave a few in various places to ensure they’ll be able to contact you if need be. Sometimes if the damage is small, they may not even bother, but you should always do everything in your power to take responsibility for it.

With damage like this, the owner may even be okay with just sending you the bill for the repairs so you can both avoid insurance hassle.

Situation: You’ve been involved in a major accident, and who’s at fault isn’t clear.

Tactical Response: When emergency response officials start getting involved, this is a big deal. It’s difficult to be alert and focused in this situation, since you or passengers may be injured. Your first priority isn’t going to be your car, but rather the people inside of it. If you can, it helps to remain calm and cooperative with all the parties involved. If you can’t tell whose fault it was, try and get information from witnesses of the scene who may have pulled over to help. Their statements can be useful to corroborate your story when it comes to ironing out the insurance details.

Situation: You’ve been hit, and the person who did it is acting shady.

Tactical Response: People have all sorts of reasons for being uncooperative when involved in a car accident. The shock sends all sorts of adrenaline through your body, and they may not behave in a rational way. It’s difficult to process the body’s response to trauma, even if it’s not a physically damaging accident. I mean, I’ve been told I’m an unusually calm and rational person in the face of emotional duress, but when I hit someone with my car I was bawling like a baby and could hardly form sentences, let alone write down phone numbers because my hands were shaking so badly. But there’s a difference between being rattled and being downright suspicious. Sometimes people are driving without insurance, they’re using a borrowed car, or they’re just prone to be very, very irritable and generally yell-y. If the other party refuses to give insurance information or contact numbers, don’t let them leave until they do. I’ve known people who have had to call the police to the scene even when there wasn’t any extensive damage, just because the person who hit them wouldn’t cooperate like a reasonable adult. Don’t hesitate to do this, because you shouldn’t be held liable for something that wasn’t your fault. Also, if someone’s being hostile to you because you hit them, it’s okay to get an officer involved to mediate.

Situation: You’ve had a few too many to drink.

Tactical Response: Hopefully, you hit something inanimate and at a low speed. Drunk driving is literally the worst thing you can do behind the wheel of a car. We all know this. But for some reason, it still happens. The people who do this are popularly portrayed as raving crazy alcoholics or irresponsible teenagers, but it happens in the average, general population, to people who maybe thought they were fine to drive or who just didn’t stop to think and count back how many drinks they’d had that night. Drunk driving doesn’t make you a monster, but it can have monstrous consequences. If caught in this situation, the best thing to do is own up to it and accept your consequences. Don’t be that asshole who tried to put up a fight when it’s obvious you’ve done something wrong.

Images via ShutterStock

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All in the Family was such an influential show. Not only was it a major hit, but it also approached issues that hadn’t been explored on network television before by using the portrayal of a bigoted, privileged man and his family’s reactions to his views. It tackled quite a few controversial topics, including racism, homophobia, feminism and war politics. It ran for eight years, from 1971 to 1979, with a spin-off titled Archie Bunker’s Place airing afterwards. Stapleton acted in the spin-off for one season, and then departed. Her role as Edith Bunker was meant to represent the traditional repressed housewife, expected to be submissive to her husband at all times. As the show went on, Edith’s storylines included her breaking out of that role in small doses as she took on opinions of her own.

Stapleton also acted in a few other network sitcoms and did theater work, starring in a few Broadway shows, including Damn Yankees and Funny Girl. However, she is undeniably best known and loved for her work on All in the Family. She was last seen on screen in You’ve Got Mail, the popular Nora Ephron romantic comedy.

Jean Stapleton died of natural causes on Friday, May 31st, at her home in New York City. She is survived by her two children, Pamela and John, and her grandchildren.
 Photo via The New York Times

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Before you cause lasting damage to your house and therefore decrease the property value, I have a suggestion. Take a gander at this list of things you might be able to eat when your cupboards have been neglected, when your fridge has become a wild wasteland devoid of nutrients, and when your walk-in pantry might as well be a room for a small child with a fondness for climbing bare cupboards in the dark. This is what I’m here for–I’m about to literally save your life.

The following ideas are based off of things you might usually have in stock, the things that are dusty in the back of the shelves, or hidden in drawers of your fridge. Basically, anything that’s left over when you’re in that desperate strait between grocery runs.

1. Poor man’s pizza.

Do you have anything tortilla-like at all? Okay, if so, grab that. Or use a stale English muffin or old bagel. Everyone has pasta sauce in a jar somewhere, so get that pasta sauce out and spread it on the flat circular disk-like food substance of your choice. If you can rustle up some cheese, sprinkle it on top. There might be a can of olives waiting to be opened and drained. Pop the thing in the toaster oven and whammo, you’ve got poor man’s pizza. Alternatively, fry the tortilla as if it is a quesadilla, and you have a rich man’s quesadilla. It’s all about the branding.

Items 2-4: Saltine Crackers.

These little bad boys have a myriad of uses. Here are things you can put on them. Peanut butter and jelly, to make mini sandwiches. Cheese slices. If you have enough, you can really get full with these. And also, butter. Put buttered crackers in the toaster oven and it’s almost like you have tiny pieces of crunchy toast.

5. Anything involving Nutella.

You can seriously put Nutella on any edible item and it will taste amazing. Do you have a jar of Nutella? Bring back the saltine crackers! Or celery. Or bread. Or tortillas. Or just eat it from the spoon. What? It’s totally got protein.

6. Pudding.

You might be able to find a spare pudding mix or cup in the back of your cupboards. It’s often forgotten in the name of more exciting desserts, but trusty pudding is here to save the day.

7. Cereal.

What’s that, you say? Oh, you don’t have milk? Cereal dry from the bag as a munchy snack is perfectly doable and also, depending on the brand, yummy. The best kind for this approach is obviously something sugary, but you can make do with a Cheerio-knock-off. My favorite is honey nut.

8. String Cheese Sandwich.

So you might not have regular cheese, but you can still make a grilled cheese sandwich. Assuming you have bread, get this out by your nearest grilling surface. Pull the string cheese into meltable sections (usually by thirds) and then lay them side-by-side on the bread. Melt that sucker.

9. Tomato Soup.

I love a good tomato soup, but it can be kind of boring to eat plain. Spruce it up by locating a bag of rice, and DIYing the crap out of it by combining the two to make tomato rice soup. Extra points if you can find some spices or herbs to add to it.

10. Pasta.

Maybe you don’t have pasta sauce, but I bet you’ve got at least one carton of noodles hiding out in your house. I would never suggest you eat pasta plain (the horror!) but you can garnish it with melted butter and garlic from a jar. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Images via Shutterstock

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Venue

What if instead of walking down the aisle, you slid? I have two words for you: Waterpark Wedding. Here’s how it would go down: the bride and groom would say their vows at the top of the park’s highest waterslide, and then jettison down to meet their guests at the bottom. Have you ever seen tuxedo swim shorts? This could happen. Rent out the waterpark for a day and let your guests go wild in the summer heat. You could even get really metaphorical about it and hire fire dancers as entertainment (fire, water, natch).

If there’s one reason to get married on a boat, reenacting this pose has GOT to be it. Photo via Shutterstock.

In keeping with the water-based idea, what about a houseboat wedding? Tie the knot (literally) and have everyone dress in a nautical theme. Party on the top deck as you sail around the lake or bay, have food inside, string twinkling lights in all the rails. If a waterpark isn’t your thing, but you still like the idea of an amusement park, think of a wedding held in your local dinky mini-golf-with-a-few-rides-thrown-in park. Ride the carnival rides, hold hands strolling the mini-golf course, and let your guests entertain themselves for hours on end.

Theme

Han Solo’s infamous response to Princess Leia’s confession. Bonus factoid: that line was an ad lib. Photo via Greenweddingshoes.com

Listen, anyone can put on a typical wedding. It takes true creativity to throw a themed wedding. Star Wars? You can dress up as Han Solo and Princess Leia, and walk down the aisle under a lightsaber salute. Pop an Ewok costume on your ring-bearer. A Great Depression themed wedding could also result in lots of great costume ideas. Everyone could dress just really dusty and raggedy. Renaissance fairs are just about as much fun as one can have–get a medieval theme going on with everyone in period pieces, corsets, and of course, men in tights. Eco-sustainable is also a great idea: everything is ecologically sustainable, recyclable, and biodegradable. Bonus points if you only serve your guests vegan food.

Was not kidding about the light-saber salute. People totally have done it, and you can too! Photo via RealPeoplePhotography.co

My favorite idea for a themed wedding is Willy Wonka. This would of course be crazy expensive, or at least crazy time-consuming if you went the DIY route, but think of the pictures. Everything would be edible creations of chocolate or fondant. Think of teacups that you can eat, centerpieces made of rock candy, and the party favor table festooned with brightly-colored candies of all varieties.

Activities

Wedding + polaroid camera + chalk board = polaroid guestbook. Next-level stuff here. Photo via WeddingsABeautiful.com

Take the traditional guestbook well-wishes to the next level with a scrapbook that collects guest’s best marriage memories, and their hopes for yours. Set up a ceramics table where your family and friends can paint and glaze pottery that will later be fired in a kiln, and then you can either accept them as presents for your new coupledom or send them out in the mail as thank-yous. Set out Polaroid cameras on tables so guests can capture their favorite moments, and leave it up to them if they keep the shots or leave them for you to have. Organize a silent auction where all proceeds go to a charity of the couple’s choice in lieu of wedding gifts. Have a table where guests can decorate postcards, and self-address them so you can use them as thank-you cards.

Deathstar Wedding Cake. Included because it HAD to be.
Photo via Rue the Day blog.

 Featured image via Shutterstock

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Today, this gigantic landfill has been turned into the Thurrock Thameside Nature Park. The ground was covered with a thick layer of dirt and natural grass allowed to grow. The goal is to convert all 845 acres into the wildlife restoration area; so far they’ve converted 120. Many endangered bird species can now be found residing in the park. They even have highland cattle. Tours are now given to view the local wildlife that is making its reappearance on this former dumpsite.

Photo: Warren Allott for the Telegraph

To many, this is a very encouraging development. Who doesn’t feel more relieved now that we know landfills can be (eventually) used for good? According to the EPA, the U.S. throws out 250 million tons of trash per year. Most of that ends up in landfills. To put that into perspective, it’s enough to fill up the New Orleans Superdome 1,500 times. Every single day, we dispose of enough garbage to fill approximately 63,000 trash trucks. And you’ve seen a trash truck–those things are big. We have around 13,000 landfills in America, although only around 3,000 of those are considered active (as in, still getting trash dumped into them).

So this means we have around 10,000 landfills sitting around, just baking in the heat and steeping trash into the ground. What if this approach in the UK proves to be really successful? Somehow, I doubt that with the US’s dismal approach to environmental conservationism, we’ll be able to convince our Congressmen to pony up the cash needed to cover our 10,000 defunct landfills with enough soil to make it a safe haven for wildlife and native plants. But what a great idea. We have all this land, it’s just sitting there, and no one can build on it or near it. Perfect for a wildlife preserve, right? But therein lies the rub. Critics of the Essex conversion believe that the toxic gases produced by buried trash will result in poisoned animals and plants, and possibly even mutations. While the trash dumped in the site is not harmful to the level of say, nuclear waste, it is questionable if the land will be safe for the wildlife living above it. The only thing that will prove this idea’s worth is time.

Featured image via Shutterstock

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Dave knows all about eating insects, too. Except Dave is not five years old like my sister was when she went through that phase. He’s a grown man who really enjoys consuming insects–but don’t worry, he totally freezes them to death first so it’s more humane.

In honor of Dave and all the other adults, small children and conniving older sisters out there, here are ten insects you can (reasonably safely) consume. Out of the almost one-million-strong number of insect species on the planet, about fifteen hundred of these guys have been confirmed safe to eat. However, it is advisable to avoid brightly-colored insects, because they might contain poisons. Also if you’re allergic to shellfish, don’t eat bugs. Like Dave says, shellfish are basically the insects of the ocean. Makes sense.

Go ahead, indulge! But please just remember, if you end up calling poison control, I didn’t dare you to do anything.

photo via Shutterstock

1. Grasshoppers.

Seriously, from all accounts, grasshoppers are a real delicacy. They’re meaty, and you can grill ‘em. Americans love meat AND grilling things! What’s not to love?

2. Crickets.

Similar to grasshoppers in species, crunch, but not in preparation. Crickets are best paired with something spicy and a good beer. Just like beer-battered fish, but like, cheaper!

photo via eat.bees.net

3. Scorpions.

Good news: you can totally eat scorpions, as long as you cook them first! Squeamish about poison? Don’t worry, it basically goes away once you cook the suckers. It’s science. But if you’re really worried, chop that stinger off and dispose of it safely. Lay it over a bed of steamed asparagus and present it to your dinner guests with a proud flourish.

4. Potato Bugs.

Use them as garnish on–wait for it–baked potatoes. Enjoy the (literally) delicious irony.

5. Ants.

Little-known fact about ants: They have a delectable peppery flavor. Out camping and run out of spices to use on your fried eggs? Just gather up a few local ant residents and boom, you’ve got seasoning. I mean, probably don’t eat red-hot-fire-ants. But normal household ants oughta be fine. Just be sure to cook them first.

6. Worms. 

photo via Shutterstock

Have you run out of creative salad ideas? Toss some worms into the mix. Maybe chop them up into little pieces first, I don’t know. However you like your worms.

7. Termites.

Listen, if termites are good enough for chimpanzees, they’re good enough for us. Right? That’s how this works?

8. Tarantulas.

I mean, if eight fuzzy legs sounds appealing to you… best paired with copious amounts of a nice Merlot, so you can hopefully forget that you actually did this by morning.

9. Leeches.

The only problem with eating leeches…well, I mean, the main problem with eating leeches is that their slimy texture can trigger the gag reflex, and you wouldn’t want to eject your tasty lunch of leeches, now would you? Especially after you went to all the trouble of gathering them. Grind them up into a paste, bake the paste, and you will enjoy your Crisps De Leeches much more efficiently.

photo via Shutterstock

10. Beetle Larvae.

I don’t know how you’d go about acquiring beetle larvae. I mean, that’s your business. But once you get it, it’s best to eat mashed up inside of something else. Maybe mac’n’cheese? I’ll let you try it and get back to me.

Featured image via TLC

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Anderson Cooper v. Star Jones

The situation is this: Jones criticized Cooper for coming out publicly, claiming he only did it to boost ratings. Cooper lashed out, saying if he’d done it for the ratings, it would have been a huge episode rather than the casual admittance that he was a gay man. He then said his mom (who is a freaking Vanderbilt) asked “Who is Star Jones?” Ouch.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck v. Barry Manilow

When starting to write this piece, I said to myself, “There has GOT to be at least one really great feud involving Elizabeth Hasselbeck.” And lo and behold, there was. Apparently, Manilow took exception with Hasselbeck’s politics, and refused to perform on The View if she was present. He never did.

Chris Brown v. …Everybody

Seriously, at this point, who hasn’t Chris Brown been pissed at? The infamous brawling with Drake, the time he Twitter-rampaged against comedian Jenny Johnson, his fight with Frank Ocean and his feud with the queen of everything, Oprah herself. But perhaps the oddest object of Brown’s fury is country star Miranda Lambert. She criticized the decision to let him perform at the Grammys, scant years after his assault of Rihanna, saying that she believed it was “not cool” to act like his violent beating of a woman “didn’t happen.” Brown took the route of responding via Twitter-spree, saying that his Grammy was the ultimate “f**k off” to his haters. Yes, because winning an award for your music totally erases your checkered past as a violently abusive person. I mean, at some point, maybe he’ll realize “it’s not you, it’s me” in regards to taking offense at every person who criticizes him, but we’re not holding our breath.

Vanilla Ice v. Justin Bieber

Can we call this a feud, technically, if all that transpired was Vanilla Ice criticizing the longevity of the Bieb’s career? Aside from the delicious irony that is Vanilla Ice critiquing anyone’s career, apparently everyone’s favorite baby-faced crooner never responded to Ice’s burn (sorry I’m not sorry, that pun was unstoppable).  But the Bielibers came out in force against good ole V-Ice and therefore, an ultimate decision has been reached: it’s a feud.

Rita Ora v. Rob Kardashian

These two had a fearsome feud indeed. The details are messy, but the lone male Kardashian accused Rita of cheating on him when the two were dating. Rather than refute his claims, Ora mocked him openly on Twitter. Gross insults about sex were traded back and forth. Nobody’s voting for these two to get back together anytime soon.

Elton John v. Madonna

This one has been widely-publicized and lasted ages. But the weird part is… why? Sir Elton is the knight apparent of classic pop, and Madonna… well, she’s doing her own thing, and is legendary in her own right. It’s just strange that the two of them found themselves at odds, so often, and for so many years.

Donald Trump v. Rosie O’Donnell

Against all odds, Rosie actually started this one. She criticized the Trumpster for his handling of a Miss USA pageant scandal, and in return, he did what Donald Trump can always be counted on to do. Taking the mature route? Not so for this billionaire. He called her a “big, fat pig.” Way to check off every item on the list of qualifications for Sexist Billionaire 101.

Eminem v. Mariah Carey

Mariah Carey is perhaps famous for her diva-like behavior that often results in feuds with fellow celebs, but the onus for this event is all on Eminem. The details? He claimed they had a sexual relationship, and she was basically like, Ew, no, never happened. The spiral has resulted in several call-outs of each other in respective song releases. Methinks these two need to go at it Glee style and have an ultimate sing-off to decide who forever gets the last word.

Kourtney Kardashian v. Teen Mom Cast member

So this one Teen Mom cast member tweeted a cry of dismay upon learning the elder Kardash was pregnant once more, asking, “Has she learned nothing from the show?” Somehow, Kourtney failed to connect how getting pregnant at 32 and while super rich was at all related to the plight the girls face on Teen Mom, and she said as much on Twitter. Things culminated in this Teen Mom saying that she wished Kourt would spend more time with her kids than working on her fame. Pot? Kettle? Who’s to say.

Drake Bell v. Justin Bieber

Poor Biebs just can’t catch a break. This time, it started with Drake Bell tweeting sarcastically about what Bieber brings to the songwriting process, and in response to the outcry from Beliebers, he posted a Twitter-rant. Included in his jabs? Laughing at Bieber’s height, his stage-makeup, and how Bell can’t tell the difference between photos of Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber. Keep it classy, Drake Bell. Keep it classy.

Featured image via Wikipedia

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