Female Talk

Sexual RealitySusie Bright, known by many of her adoring fans as "Susie Sexpert", which is maybe the coolest nickname EVER to be bestowed upon anyone, recorded her interview with Camille Paglia, noted Women's Studies academic, in Susie's book, "Sexual Reality".

To say that Camille Paglia is outspoken is like saying that Shaq is a slightly large man. Camille Paglia's views seem to be meant to incite anger and rile up the lesbian masses. As Susie Bright calls it in her chapter on Camille, Camille Paglia is harshest on other lesbians and men, but has a slight reverence for straight women mainly because they can put up with a man's "virility".  Read more

Breast AugmentationThe word is out. American women want bigger boobs and we want them now. At least some of us must, because we spent roughly $1.5 billion on breast augmentation surgeries in 2007. To put it another way, Americans spent about $5 for for every American citizen. I don't even want to figure out how much that is per breast. Women (whatever their reason for wanting the surgery) need to look at the safety of the operations available.

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Governor SanfordCheating (on your spouses or significant others, not on tests) is responsible for a large number of break-ups in the US and by some reports, is actually the second leading cause for divorces in the United States. The NY Times recently had a short commentary piece examining a video of some of my favorite people: Gov. Sanford, Mitt Romney, and Graham who were all guests on "Meet the Press" talking about extra-marital affairs and Governor Sanford's in particular. Read more

The Mystery of a WomanIn yet another study trying to determine who among the female population can and can not achieve "heavenly bliss" (and no, I am definitely not talking about the feeling you get in church), researchers at King's College in London surveyed 2,000 female twins about their sex lives. The results indicated that the higher the IQ and EQ of a woman, the more orgasms that woman will have.

Needless to say, I think this study is likely a crock of she-ite.

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Hello Kitty

Source: the 3786 cups of water via Flickr

We've covered a lot of interesting facets of Japanese culture. However, I noticed that one of the most influential cultural good from Japan has yet to be featured – the incredibly cute Hello Kitty!

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The word “traffick” conjures images of bumper-to-bumper taxi cabs, women applying lipstick in smudgy lines, and men screaming obscenities at whatever unfortunate creatures that happen to be deadlocked in front of them. After the award-winning fillm Traffick hit theaters, the public may have become more aware of what the word can really mean. But human trafficking, the most heinous form of the word, is the third largest industry on earth, just behind the arms and drug trades. (Hopefully Liam Neeson's latest hit movie Taken will alert the public as Traffic previously did.) Read more

Awaken the Giant WithinIs Anthony Robbins a Psycho-Quack cheese-master or does he actually have something useful to say? This is my true story of how Anthony Robbins made me a functioning member of society again.

A few years ago, I was afflicted with the often-undiagnosed Supermarket Anxiety and as-yet unrecognized disorder on the DSM. It hit me abruptly and without warning. After years of leisurely strolling through the aisles, I became panicky at the Grocery Store, just wanting to get the F out of Dodge. If i went with a friend, I would wait in the car. If I went alone, I walked quickly and with my head down, as if in a trance. The situation became so bad that I started dissociating at the drop of a hat. (If my mind left my body, I was not cognizant enough of where it went to be able to enjoy the experience.)
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I have not read the Twilight books nor seen the Twilight movie.  I have a long standing policy of not criticizing things that I haven't watched or read myself.  However, I've heard enough about the Twilight series, from a number of sources that I trust, to feel like I have a pretty good grasp at what's going on.  (I'm certainly qualified to comment on Buffy and Angel issues, having watched every single episode of both.)

This mash-up video, created by a group of Buffy fans, sums everything up nicely.  Edward is creepy, Bella is a passive loser who thinks that his stalking is somehow attractive, and Buffy is a sensible girl who would kick Edward's ass.  And rightly so.

There are a lot of interesting discussions that come out of comparing Buffy and Twilight.  It's not nearly as clear-cut as "Buffy is awesome and Twilight sucks."  Buffy, too, fell in love with her stalker (Angel).  One difference between them is that the show recognized the error of Buffy's ways, while Stephanie Meyer does not.  By all accounts, Meyer essentially celebrates and honors stalking and general creepiness as a way of showing affection.

Then again, we can't fully have this discussion if we're going to continue to pretend that "that episode" of Buffy, the one with the "incident" with Spike, didn't happen.  Hey, I understand why you'd want to pretend that.  The show was a lot less problematic if you overlook "that episode." 
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Berlusconi and his WifeWhy is it that powerful men always seem to screw the wrong woman at the wrong time? (and by this, I do not mean to imply that there is a right woman at a right time.) The latest sex scandal to hit Europe is centered in Italy, and has embroiled Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi.

Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi looks much younger than his 72 years. This is probably a good thing if the rumors are true that he has not only been cavorting with beautiful young women, but paying them to attend "private parties" as well. Unfortunately for Mr. Berlusconi, he may be in jeopardy of losing his job. Read more

Prozac NationI've never had much sympathy for Elizabeth Wurtzel of Prozac Nation fame (She wrote the book that later became the movie starring Christina Ricci) and after reading her latest article in Elle magazine, I have even less. She writes about being the beautiful child, who turned into the beautiful teenager, and then the beautiful young adult. Now, at the tender age of 41, she is regretting her choices as a capricious 20-something-year-old and worrying that she is old.
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