People has released its 2017 World's Most Beautiful Woman issue, and the winner is a familiar face. Even though America's sweetheart has held the honor four times before, Julia Roberts nabbed the title again.
But as to be expected, not everyone is pleased. Some people complained that Roberts' time has past; others pointed to the magazine's lack of diverse choices over the years; and even more argued that ranking women according to their beauty is a bit old-school and uncool.
julia roberts tweet 3
julia roberts tweet 3
julia roberts tweet 4
julia roberts tweet 4
But of course, there was a lot (and we mean a lot) of gross ageism. Because of course:
julia roberts tweet 5
julia roberts tweet 5
julia roberts tweet 6
julia roberts tweet 6
We can see how those concerned about People's lack of racially diverse choices have a point. We can also agree that having a feature solely dedicated to honoring a woman's physical beauty is pretty gross, but we are not — wait, let me clarify that — we are absolutely, 100 percent never ever going to be on board with anyone saying Roberts is too old to hold the title. Because ageism is despicable and ICYMI, it's 2017.
First of all, if we have to talk about a woman and her age, look at her.
julia roberts tweet 2
julia roberts tweet 2
Nothing more needs to be said about that.
Secondly, we don't hold men to these age constraints in the same way at all — People has chosen plenty of older men for their Sexiest Man Alive feature, including George Clooney, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere and Sean Connery. Constantly conflating age and beauty is pretty stale in our books.
Finally, beauty is about so much more than looks. During the interview, Roberts' awesome personality shines through while she talks about everything from her recent charity work to her love of mahjong, her three children and her husband of 14 years Danny Moder.
With this year's title, Roberts has become the only celebrity — woman or man — to win People's title five times; in fact, she's the only person to win it more than twice. After hearing that her friend George Clooney only won twice, she joked, “I’m going to mention that in my Christmas card to the Clooneys this year.” And gosh darn it, she deserves it!
Plus, this isn't the first time People has named an older woman the Most Beautiful of the Year — Brooke Shields held the title in 2008 at 42 years old, Cindy Crawford was named most beautiful in 2009 at 43 years old and Jennifer Aniston was crowned most beautiful in 2016 at 47 years old. Are you saying because they were over 40 they also didn't deserve it? Please.
At the end of the day, Roberts is a pretty incredible woman and the correlation between age and beauty is only skin deep. Roberts says she feels like she's still peaking — and we couldn't agree more.
Moral of the story: For anyone dismissing Roberts because of her age — this is what we have to say:
Thanks to Disney and Anne Hathaway, we all know that the road to becoming a royal is no cakewalk. Turns out, The Princess Diaries wasn't too far off the mark at their look at royal training.
Meghan Markle's relationship with Prince Harry is getting serious, with an engagement expected by summer's end, meaning the actress turned royal-to-be is reportedly getting a crash course in all things royals. But Markle is handling it like a pro. Whereas Prince Harry's girlfriends of the past have spoken out about the pressure they felt amidst royal life, Markle seems to be excelling in the transition if the rumors are true.
But just because Markle is so far perfectly princess-like doesn't mean she isn't putting in some hard work to make her beau and his family proud. We can only imagine these are some of the courses she's being required to take in Kensington Palace's Royalty School.
1. British History for Americans
Yahoo reports Markle, originally from the U.S., is taking lessons focusing on British history, and there's a lot to know. But we created a little list Markle can use as a cheat sheet:
Queen Victoria was given a half-ton of what on her wedding day? Answer: Cheese
How many women were named Mary in Britain in 1811? Answer: A quarter of the female population
During World War I, what was the ingredient soldiers used to create invisible ink? Answer: Sperm
Clearly, we found only the most important things for her to know. And bonus: Now you too are one-eleventh of the way done with royalty school. Congrats.
2. The Science of Dressing
Markle, of course, must receive fashion lessons to learn what a royal should and should not wear. The Queen's royal dress code includes rules like dresses must be below the knee, dresses must have sleeves, no wedges (the queen apparently isn't a fan), no black unless attending a funeral and hats and gloves are encouraged.
This is where I, personally, would draw the line (no crown for me!)... Royals reportedly aren't allowed to eat shellfish. Shellfish!? No king crab legs? No lobster? I'm out. Apparently, it was outlawed because of the fear of food poisoning. Uh, isn't the royal family getting the highest quality of food as it is?
Another weird food rule Markle will apparently have to learn: When dining at the same table with the queen, you are only allowed to eat while the queen is eating. Once she finishes her meal, all others at the table must also finish, no matter how hungry you are. Better hope Queen Elizabeth has a big appetite.
4. Royal Home Economics
Markle will have to learn the proper etiquette for sitting like a lady, eating like a lady, drinking tea like a lady, greeting others like a lady. Oh, and let's not forget that curtsy.
Don't worry; it isn't just the ladies who have such specific expectations in social settings. Guys are expected to uphold the proper etiquette as well.
5. Procession Etiquette
If Markle is going to fall in line like a good royal, then she's going to have to learn the order of that line and where she stands in the procession. Like, literally.
When it comes to formal affairs like weddings and dinners, the royal family has a strict code of order. Basically, the order follows the succession line for the throne. The queen goes first, then the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Philip), the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (Prince Charles and Camilla), the Prince of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Kate) and finally Prince Harry and, maybe soon, Meghan Markle.
6. Social Media Law
After taking a hiatus from social media once her relationship with Prince Harry went public, Markle is back. But gone are the days of free-spirited, edgy posts. Now Markle is all about inspirational message and royal-appropriate pics.
meghan markle instagram pic 3
meghan markle instagram pic 3
7. The Art of Sacrifice
Becoming a royal inevitably means some personal sacrifices. For Markle, that means she recently shut down her blog The Tig, which focused on lifestyle, travel and fashion. No real reason has been given for her decision to give up the site, but you can be sure the royal family had a hand in making it happen. While Markle's blog was far from inappropriate, it's safe to assume Buckingham Palace is encouraging Markle to maintain a low profile in order to help dissuade the barrage of public scrutiny Markle has received.
meghan markle instagram pic 2
meghan markle instagram pic 2
8. Creating Royal Chemistry
Us Weekly is reporting Markle has the approval of Prince William and Kate Middleton, who have been giving her advice and helping her transition into the royal family. Prince Harry has also been key, of course, making sure Buckingham Palace knows Markle is to be treated just like any other member of the family.
Part of transitioning into life at Buckingham Palace means having the help of royal advisers whenever Markle may need them. Prince Harry has reportedly given her direct access to his advisers, including his private secretary Edward Lane Fox and his communications secretary Jason Knauf.
10. Royals Who Serve
While Markle and Prince Harry reportedly connected over their philanthropic efforts, Markle is now taking her charity focus up a notch. While she's always been an advocate for women's rights and world issues, she and Prince Harry, it seems, are combining their power to do good together.
11. Protecting Royal Reputations
While rumors are swirling that Markle is planning to quit her show Suits and give up acting for the royal lifestyle, as of now she will be filming Season 7 of the show, which will air this summer. Talk about a ratings boost for the series. No doubt, Markle's new public status will have a whole wave of new viewers tuning in. This is a fact the royal family is not overlooking either. E! News is reporting that Buckingham Palace now has a vested interest in Markle's storyline on the show, meaning, say goodbye to any make-out scenes or scantily clad moments.
Despite all the training and transitioning, it looks like Markle is passing the tests with flying colors. And, of course, more important than her public "princess" appearance is the connection she and Prince Harry are developing.
Laura LaVoie from Asheville, North Carolina, makes her living as a writer, so it’s not surprising that she appreciates the importance of language. She knew from a very young age that she didn’t want children, but it wasn’t until the term “child-free” came into wider use that this made sense as part of her identity. “Child-free” put into words how she’d been feeling since a kid, making her feel less frustrated.
“Child-free” also opened up a community to her. As a freelance writer starting out, she noticed “an oversaturation of mommy blogs.” As a group, mom bloggers have been killing it. Fourteen percent of U.S. women with a child at home are blogging, including at some of the most popular websites around, and they’ve formed major spaces for women to share their lives. But that’s left people like LaVoie out of the picture. She wondered, “Where was the voice of women like me?”
This led her five years ago to The NotMom, a website for women who are child-free, either “by choice or by chance,” as the site is fond of saying. As a writer and reader, LaVoie knows this is one place where she doesn’t have to hear people talking down to her or saying (possibly) well-meaning but hurtful things, like “You’ll never see love if you don’t have kids.”
As well as The NotMom, LaVoie and her husband appreciate personal perspectives like those shared in Families of Two, which collects stories from couples committed to not having kids. And she remembers, as a landmark, the 2013 Time magazine article where Laura Scott shared her child-free story.
Over the years, LaVoie says, “The personal accounts have become more important to me… It’s nice to hear real stories,” because the wider culture is so full of stories of inevitable motherhood. Sharing individual stories “really seems to connect people [and] really builds that sense of community” she was looking for when all she found were blogs by moms.
LaVoie is further building that community by bringing it offline. She’s one of the administrators of the NotMom Summit, which will take place for the second time later this year.
One person who will be speaking at the summit this year and also appreciates being part of a community of women who don’t have kids is Rasheda Kamaria. This 37-year-old Detroiter is far from a child-hater. In fact, her life’s mission is to strengthen girls’ capabilities. She runs a social enterprise that holds empowerment workshops and mentors girls and young women. As Kamaria puts it, “I don’t need to have children. I can make a difference to the ones who are already here.”
Kamaria has known for a long time that although she loves children, she’s too busy to raise them. When other girls were family-planning, she was career-planning, she says. Her child-free inspirations are both mega-famous (Oprah Winfrey, Mother Teresa) and more relatable; she loves the Savvy Auntie site, which shares stories of being a PANK (Professional Aunt, No Kids).
Like LaVoie, Kamaria has heard plenty of infuriating comments from people confused about a woman’s choice not to have children. “When you meet the right guy, you’ll change your mind” is one. Another is “What’s wrong with you that you don’t have kids?”
But she’s not fazed. She points out, “Moms aren’t the only ones who make a difference in the world.” And the support offered by online communities and writers’ memoirs, as well as her own circle of child-free friends, helps.
These are resources that wouldn’t have been available even 10 years ago, let alone when LaVoie and Kamaria were growing up. Savvy Auntie has existed since 2008, The NotMom since 2011. As more and more essays are showing, it can be incredibly helpful for readers to refer to the example set by other women without children.
One of the more recent without-children autobiographies is Paula Knight’s graphic memoir The Facts of Life, published in March. The book recounts her experiences with a difficult-to-diagnose chronic illness, which led to multiple miscarriages and then to her and her partner’s decision to stop trying for children. This sparked Knight’s interest in what it means to be a woman who is content with (or committed to) not having children, which the book explores in both historical and personal terms.
As Knight writes, “We are the only species that can choose not to perpetuate our DNA — our consciousness allows it. If this choice is part of human nature, it must, therefore, be natural. So, ambivalence must also be natural… as must choosing against having children at all.”
Together, stories like these suggest that just as there’s no one way to be a parent, there’s no one way to be a nonparent. LaVoie emphasizes that having more support for her own identity isn’t about negating other people’s experiences.
“It’s not us against the moms. This is an experience we’re all having,” she adds.
I've always suspected that supermodels were an entirely different breed of human beings, the equivalent of greyhounds to our Labs and beagles and shar-peis.
Irina Shayk Post baby2
Irina Shayk Post baby2
It's almost impossible not to feel that models are an alien species while watching a fashion show or looking at print ads. I swear their legs are two inches longer, their ribcages two inches narrower. They seem impossibly lithe and sleek.
I've never hated models for these features, however, or even envied them, because it simply seems too preposterous to do so. The gap is simply too large! It'd be like a hedgehog comparing itself to an antelope. There's just too much difference between the two.
The latest example of the alien attributes of models compared to us mere mortals comes from Irina Shayk, who less than a month ago gave birth to her first child with partner Bradley Cooper.
And in case there were any doubt about whether this was a throwback pic, Shayk cleared that up with a simple hashtag in the caption: "#currentsituation."
So, less than a month after giving birth, Shayk, either an extraterrestrial or simply an incredibly gene-gifted human being depending on your tolerance level for conspiracy theories, shows off her #CurrentSituation lounging in a pool, floating lazily on a pair of inflatable lips looking impossibly good in a tiny black bikini.
Do you know what I was doing a month after having my daughter? Recovering from my C-section and hobbling around like an 80-year-old, still wearing (and, if we're honest, loving) those giant pairs of disposable underwear they give you at the hospital. I'm fairly slim, but I definitely still looked five months pregnant. And I would never have worn a bikini — not because I still looked five months pregnant, but because my formerly tiny boobs had grown to such grotesque proportions that I felt obscene wearing anything more revealing than a turtleneck.
Not Irina Shayk, though. Irina Shayk got up this morning, looked at herself and the sunny day outside and thought, "Yes. It's bikini time."
And you know what? Good for her. Let's not waste one moment tearing her down over this or turning it into some sort of bizarre mommy war, OK?
Regardless of how good she looks, Shayk has still gone through the overwhelming transformation we all went through after becoming mothers. She's not sleeping any more than we did (actually that may be what she's doing out there... having a quick pool nap! Genius!) and she too feels like she's drowning at times.
I can also almost guarantee that this serene pool moment was cut short by a crying baby or a need to breastfeed or pump or mix formula, to change a diaper or simply because she missed her child, as we all do.
And I'd be willing to bet that she too feels the inevitable isolation new motherhood can bring. The loneliness, the sense of your own self being subsumed by someone else. Being a supermodel doesn't protect you from that. Nor does looking better a month after giving birth than most of us ever will.
If Irina Shayk posted this picture to remind herself (and us) that she's still desirable, good for her. If she needed to be seen for a moment as a woman and not a mother, good for her. If she looked at her body in the mirror and marveled at the fact that it was capable of creating life and bringing it forth into this world of ours and wanted to capture that awe, good for her.
And even if she's been dieting and working out (like she might have to do, given the fact her body is her livelihood) and if she took this picture because she's proud of the results, proud of how much time and effort she's put in to look this toned so soon after having a baby, good for her.
What new mom doesn't want to feel like a woman again, sexy again, fit again after having a baby?
Irina Shayk may be impossibly different from most of us in every physical way possible, but motherhood irrevocably changes us all and that, at least, we have in common.
When the announcement came down last year that there would be a new doctor checking into General Hospital, we were a little skeptical — but the second we caught a glimpse of Matt Cohen's baby blues, we knew that Dr. Griffin Munro would be welcome in Port Charles forever.
And now that he's been a resident for over a year, we're just as in love with him now as we were when we first laid eyes on him. But Cohen's good looks aren't the only thing we love about the guy. Dude's got personality for days.
Was anyone else freaking out when they heard Cohen would be recurring on Season 2 of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders? I mean, sure, we're happy that the guy is getting work, but after jumping from daytime to nighttime TV, actors typically leave their soap gigs. Thankfully, that hasn't been the case yet for Cohen. And we have to admit, watching him play a completely different character at night is pretty fun.
2. He's smart
He’s a college graduate who studied business at Florida State University. He enrolled in acting classes in school and moved to Los Angeles after graduation.
3. He was a teen heartthrob
He got his start in the entertainment industry as Aiden Dennison in the teen show, South of Nowhere. The show aired on The N from 2005-2008.
4. He's taken, ladies
Matt Cohen insta 3
Matt Cohen insta 3
He married his costar from South of Nowhere, Mandy Musgrave. She's also familiar to soap audiences as Chelsea Benson on Days of Our Lives in 2004-2005. The couple married in 2011 and had their first child in April 2015.
Most of his Instagram posts feature inspirational quotes. He always uses the hashtag #You before each one.
In a January 2015 interview with SPNSurvivors.com, Cohen explained the meaning behind the hashtag.
"It started with me talking to myself. I would get sad or depressed or discouraged and I would find a quote that was inspiring or uplifting and I would post it to #you, being me," he said. "It was and continues to be my way of self-motivation and self-happiness."
6. He takes care of himself
Matt Cohen insta 4
Matt Cohen insta 4
The former high school athlete played football and ran track, but you're more likely to find him in the boxing ring to stay in shape these days. After a good workout session, you might just find him detoxifying his skin with a seaweed mask.
He has recurred as Young John Winchester on Supernatural since 2008. Not only does he participate in the fan conventions, he engages in karaoke parties and often sings with Louden Swain, the house band for Salute to Supernatural conventions.
8. #DadLife
Matt Cohen insta 2
Matt Cohen insta 2
His social media posts prove not only is he a proud dad, but he’s a hilarious dad. He relishes his role as a father and the pictures prove that he takes it all in stride.
Originally published January 2016. Updated April 2017.
The nonprofit organization SickKids Foundation raises funds for children's health, research and care. On their website, their message states, "SickKids is fighting to make every kid a healthy kid. And we need you to join us in that fight. The last 10 years have opened up tremendous possibilities in children’s health. There have been huge advances in genetics, regenerative medicine, robotics, medical imaging, and information technology. SickKids has been part of them all."
But it's the moms of seriously ill children that SickKids is focusing on this coming Mother's Day. The SickKids website says, “For every kid in hospital who’s missing childhood, there’s a mom staying strong.”
We know that's the truth. But we also know many of these quiet warriors keep their pain close to the vest — the life behind the scenes with a very sick child is a burden that not everyone sees.
This ad makes the invisible visible — and invites the viewer to remember these moms this Mother's Day and reach out to them instead of turning away from their struggle.
sick kids moms
sick kids moms
The Huffington Post reported that the ad features actors as well as real mothers of sick children. Whatever the case, the message is heart-wrenching and completely unforgettable. You'll want to hug your kids close... and hug any mom you know who is fighting for the life of her child while trying to live her own at the same time.
Want to reach out and make a difference for a struggling family? You can donate to SickKids on their website, and you can even give a Mother's Day package to the mom of a very ill child (or buy a gift for any child, with the proceeds going to the organization). Pretty great ways to help, no?
SickKids says, “This Mother’s Day, stand with moms who stay #SickKidsMomStrong. And help their kids get back to just being kids.”
What do you think of when you hear the word "cannabis"? A vape, a tincture, an edible? The eight states (and counting) that have already legalized recreational marijuana? Cannabis culture is in the midst of a major transformation, and the "green wave" is fast becoming part of mainstream America. Jessica Assaf, a Harvard Business School grad, entrepreneur and cannabis activist, knows it and wants to help empower women to capitalize on and benefit from the trend.
That's why Assaf launched an organization called Cannabis Feminist, which aims to create a community for women to safely explore cannabis and its benefits. Fittingly, today, on 4/20, Assaf is also launching a new line of wellness products, Magu, which according to the tagline offers "cannabis-infused elixirs for the female mind, body and soul."
"I want to reach women who haven’t yet considered that cannabis could help them, who still think it’s a drug and not a health product," says Assaf. "We need to cross the barrier of judgment and bring people together in a safe space where we can have an honest, open discussion about cannabis. With Magu, I want to make cannabis a part of women's wellness, spiritual and relaxation rituals."
Intrigued? Still skeptical? Assaf gets it. And she's here to explain why she believes that cannabis will soon be an integral part of women's lives, whether it's as a physical healer, mood booster or a business opportunity.
SheKnows: How and why did you get into the cannabis and wellness industry?
Jessica Assaf: I've been a clean beauty advocate since I started wearing makeup and reading product labels at age 12. After graduating from business school last year, I realized that clean beauty as a trend is already thriving, but cannabis in terms of wellness isn't, so I had the chance to get involved while the industry is underdeveloped.
A lot of people at business school didn’t take me seriously, categorizing me as the biggest stoner girl there. I remember giving a presentation to a room of people, and one man said, "Your body language is too girly; you should practice in front of a mirror." I want to show women that you don’t have to fit into a certain mold to create something new; nor do you have to go by the way things have traditionally been done.
Image: Cannabis Feminist
SK: What do you hope to accomplish through Cannabis Feminist?
JA: I want to bring women together in a space where we get high together and have an honest, open and responsible discussion about our lives, businesses and health. I created cannabis networking events for people to connect on a comfortable, safe spiritual level. As women in the space, we have the opportunity to change the conversation around cannabis. There’s all this confusion and concern about what’s OK, but at the end of the day, it’s about your well-being, and I think it's ours to define how we use it.
One of the biggest misconceptions I'd like to change is that you can’t generalize how cannabis affects you. Anyone who says it makes them feel lazy or anxious or tired is talking about a specific strain of cannabis, not the plant as a whole. I get frustrated hearing from people who say they don't like it, and instead use alcohol or other drugs to self-medicate — I want to give them the opportunity to try more products before writing it off.
Either way, you have to give it a few tries before making any judgment about your experience. Whether you use sativa or indica or something else, it can function as a thousand different medicines that you have to experiment with to figure out what works best. Many people who use cannabis safely and in moderation argue that it helps you get a bird's-eye perspective on any situation, giving you some healthy distance and empathy at the same time. In my opinion, it's like a little confidence boost — like having your best friend with you.
Image: Magu
SK: What's your vision for Magu, your cannabis beauty line that launches today?
JA: I've been wanting to launch a cannabis-derived beauty line for the last five years, but there were limits on what I could do legally. I moved to California and was doing all this research and came across this character called Magu, who's the goddess of cannabis in Chinese mythology. She's the symbolic protector of women and life, associated with transcendence and immortality. I decided to name my beauty line after her to bring that idea and positive perception back to life.
Magu Beauty is a line of organic products activated with whole-plant extracts including CBD, aka cannabidiol, the compound found in cannabis that has anti-inflammatory and other medical benefits, without the psychoactive effects. We're designing the entire supply chain so that every piece is controlled by women, from the farmers to the lawyers, so that female consumers will have more trust in what they're using. I believe that women should be the ones creating products for women, as well as the standards we uphold.
While most of the evidence for CBD's health benefits is anecdotal rather than research-based, it's said to help with pain, sleep, anxiety and even antiaging. Magu will offer topical herbal sprays, single-ingredient facial oils infused with CBD flower, facial moisturizers and body butters, lip treatments and more. Women will be able to customize and control how many milligrams they get per use, so they can start slow.
SK: For a woman who wants to exploring cannabis as a wellness aid, where would you tell her to start?
JA: Right now, Magu products feature cannabis-derived CBD oil — rather than hemp CBD — so we can’t sell products online yet, only at select locations in California. We want to better understand the benefits of cannabis using real insights from women, so we launched a cannabis survey to begin aggregating data about how people are using cannabis, and we'd love to hear from you. Our goal is to turn personal anecdotes into meaningful statistics since there are so few clinical trials out there right now.
We created a welcome kit — which anyone in the U.S. can buy since it features hemp products, rather than cannabidiol — so we can match people with the best products for their needs and follow up with a survey so we can evaluate product efficacy and improve our recommendations. Even if you live somewhere where recreational cannabis use isn't legal yet, you can join the Cannabis Feminist movement and community, give and get feedback, and find out if you're eligible to test products with us.
We're also bringing back the Tupperware Party concept in which women will come together to sample and buy products directly from female producers rather than everyone buying from just one brand. We're calling it The Bake Sale, and think it will help better position women to lead this industry.
While legal and social standards are still catching up, I hope and believe that one day soon women — and the rest of the world — will think of cannabis more like a cup of coffee than a glass of wine and use it as the incredible and powerful healing tool that it is.
Hi, everyone! Food Network's biggest fan here. I can recite actual recipes from Chopped, list off every sabotage on Cutthroat Kitchen (though not as gleefully as Alton Brown does it, TBH) and actually considered never learning to cook just so I could be on Bobby Flay's team on Worst Cooks in America. After I learned to cook, I tried to do it with enough flair to impress Giada De Laurentiis on Next Food Network Star.
But as in every group of friends, there was one that kind of rubbed me the wrong way: Ina Garten. I don't know what it was, but something about her just kinda bugged me. I really tried to watch her show. I did. But I just couldn't love Garten like I love the other Food Network stars.
That is, until now. It turns out that Garten has been kind of a sneaky feminist this entire time, and I love it so much. She and her husband, Jeffrey, have been married for 48 years, and they decided early on in their marriage that they didn't want kids because instead, they wanted to cook and travel and be on TV. And that's awesome.
"I really appreciate that other people do and we will always have friends that have children that we are close to, but it was a choice I made very early," Garten said on the Katie Couric podcast. "I really felt, I feel, that I would have never been able to have the life I’ve had. So it’s a choice and that was the choice I made."
What's even better is that Garten never let the pressure society puts on women to become mothers get to her, and she surrounded herself with people who wouldn't judge her for making the decision that was best for her.
"I never felt that people did," she said. "I think the one thing that we miss is a lot of people’s friends are the parents of their kids’ friends. So we never had that connection with other people that I see, that network. But no, I never felt judged by it — maybe people did but I didn’t notice."
This is really personal to me because I decided early in my life that I didn't want kids. I want to travel and write, instead. And I've gotten a lot of flak for that decision, mostly from my conservative Catholic family. But women like Garten, who are making that choice, making it publicly and making us all accept it whether we like it or not are opening doors for other women to make the choices that are best for their lives, not the choices society wants them to make.
What do you think of Ina Garten's decision to live a child-free life? Let us know in the comments below.
It's Annie Hall's 40th anniversary today, and boy, oh, boy this rom-com has both aged well and aged not so well. On the plus side, the cast is chock-full of venerated actors (think Diane Keaton, Carol Kane, Jeff Goldblum and Christopher Walken) and the structure still feels inventive and playful. But for all its greatness (and don't mistake me: I love this film to bits), Annie Hall is so damn dated in its treatment of modern love.
Annie and Alvy's relationship is the emotional and narrative core of Annie Hall, and let me tell you something: These two people are so great and so annoying. Alvy is both the sweet geek you can envision yourself settling down with and simultaneously a frustrating, insulting, neurotic jerk who really puts his foot in it when he gets too insecure. Annie isn't so spotless in her character either. She can be a bit superficial, sharp and sometimes ignorant of other people's feelings. But she also cares so deeply and loves so hard, is so dedicated to her career and has a vibe of independence around her that the negatives seem to fade away after a while.
Together, Annie and Alvy taught us some big lessons about love and those lessons weren't always truthful or accurate; 40 years later, those minor inaccuracies have become outright dated lies. Here's where Annie Hall falls flat after all this time.
1. New York City may drive you nuts, but you'll find love and yourself if you live there
Image: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images
First off, New York City is a decently great city. In general, yeah, it's cool, but it's not the end-all, be-all. Second, why limit yourself to just the New York City dating pool? C'mon, Alvy. That's a rookie move.
2. Casual sex is just as intimate as sex with a long-term partner
Annie and Alvy start off casually seeing one another before their romance becomes quite intimate. Similarly, Alvy sleeps with his blind date, Pam, when it's clear that he's not interested in her; however, Pam seems to like him quite a bit. Annie Hall's general approach to casual sex is that post-coitus you can casually chat about intellectual topics and not catch feelings or get wrapped up in the moment. It's all very clinical in Annie Hall, and that's just not how sex is IRL.
3. Cooking live lobsters is definitely romantic and fun
Alvy comes off as a bit of a horn-dog and initially only has sex on the brain when he first meets and hangs out with Annie. We all know that in reality, guys are capable of having more than sex on the brain when they meet women, even if cultural norms indicate otherwise.
The first time Annie and Alvy break up, it's mutual and it looks like so much fun. This is just massively untrue in real life. I can promise you that more than one breakup in your life will not leave you casually laughing as you divvy up your possessions before moving out of your ex's apartment.
6. Women are usually the problem in a relationship
Alvy very rarely wonders whether he's actually the problem in all of his failed relationships. He's always quick to wonder what was wrong with his ex-wives or even get critical of Annie at certain points. In reality, you may be more prone to look at yourself and your choices in a string of failed relationships as opposed to blaming others.
This isn't so much a romantic lie but it really irked me that Alvy thought Annie was a terrible driver. She just knew where she wanted to go and didn't waste any time about it, so take that, pal. Also, not all women are terrible drivers, and I think we can all agree on that.
8. It’s totally normal to wear a vest and a tie after you play sports
Alvy can be a bit of a man-child and he often expects Annie to just listen to his neurotic ramblings and support him no matter what. Women are definitely not babysitters, nor should they be some Freudian stand-ins for the mother their male partners need. Crikey.
10. It's totally OK to be a smart-ass with people
Annie Hall Allison Alvy Scene
Annie Hall Allison Alvy Scene
For all the casual insults and smart-mouthing Alvy does, it's a wonder he never got slapped. I know it's part of Allen's shtick and that we're supposed to find it charming, but the little comments here and there really build up after a while. You know that if you did that in the real world, you'd get told off immediately.
11. You can change for a man and you'll feel OK doing it
Alvy makes no bones about strongly encouraging Annie to take adult education classes and even subtly hints that she may not be as smart as he is. He is also seen regularly attempting to coerce her into having sex and forcing her to abide to his quirks, like being able to see a movie right when it begins and not walking in late. They're small things, to be fair, but those minor pushes to get Annie to align more with Alvy's behavior rather than meet in the middle are so not cool.
All these weird lies aside, I will probably always have a soft spot for Annie Hall. Fourty years old looks good on you, kid.
Turns out, it's not a fantasy after all. Sometimes, if everyone is on board, divorced parents can put their differences aside for the sake of the kids with amazing results.
What's special in this case? The family includes both of Maelyn's parents — and their new spouses. Each jersey was customized to show who each grown-up is to Maelyn, 4.
soccer fam
soccer fam
These two couples win the World Cup in co-parenting.
Not surprisingly, the photo has received, so far, over 32,000 reactions and been shared 82,000 times by admirers of the four parents. Emilee says this is the norm for the family (not the going-viral part, but the hanging-out-for-the-kids'-sake part). Still, it's far from the norm for most divorced-and-remarried families.
The roster: Emilee (Maelyn’s stepmother), Ricky Plaayer (Maelyn’s dad), Clara Cazeau (Maelyn’s mom) and Alex Cazeau (Maelyn’s stepdad) all try to get to Maelyn's soccer games together. Clara thought the shirts would be an excellent way to show support for her daughter, and they all loved the idea.
We're hoping these guys write a guide to co-parenting well. And fast.
“Alex, the stepdad, is in the Army and stationed in Fort Bragg, but every time he is home all four of us attend,” Emilee said. “On a regular day it is the three of us, and we make it a point to sit together and cheer her on as a family.”
And the family fun extends beyond the goal line. Emilee and Ricky have one more daughter, Everlee. Emilee reported that Everlee gets just as much love from Clara and Alex as her big sister Maelyn does.
Get this: Clara was even there to cheer Emilee on when she went into labor with Everlee. That is one amazing bond between a bio-mom and a stepmom, no?
Soccer, childbirth, birthdays, holidays — the foursome and the two sisters are "literally always doing things together." How do four adults turn out so evolved and sane? Asking for a friend.
Clara said the key to co-parenting success is putting differences aside, period. “Let go of any past feelings you may have and make it work for the sake of the child,” she said. “Stay strong. It is work every single day to keep this going.” At least she admitted it's not always easy. We were beginning to think they were magical unicorn co-parents.
Emilee's advice echoed Clara's. “Always respect the people involved because how you treat the other parents is a reflection of who you are,” she said.
Disclaimer: This approach won't necessarily work for everyone, but it's a nice goal. Do not try this at home if 1) your husband's ex-wife is still writing him love haiku on Twitter or 2) anyone involved has a restraining order. That's just good common sense.
One of the most notable pieces of coverage is musician Ed Sheeran's appearance on the artists section of the list. Since this special list consists of blurbs written about a particular honoree by a friend or peer, Taylor Swift contributed a piece about Sheeran for his spotlight. As you might expect, Swift's blurb was affectionate toward him as a person and reverential toward his accomplishments thus far.
She began by noting that music has always been Sheeran's choice and passion. Somewhere along the way, though, he turned into a man completely consumed by and dedicated to the music. "Whether by choice or an unconscious evolution, when he decided on his musical ambitions, Ed became less of a boy and more of a tank," she explained. "He is protected by an impenetrable and ever-present armor of enthusiasm that has helped him endure any setback, letdown or underestimation. His reaction to any idea that fails is to almost immediately come up with a new one. He’s like a fighter who pops back up on his feet before you even noticed he’d been knocked down." Swift makes Sheeran's love of music sound infectious — in a good way — and it's tough not to feel the same stirrings of endearment toward him that she puts into writing about him.
Infectiously sweet though it may be, it's also a bit borderline saccharine. Of course, it's no surprise that two friends (who regularly gush about one another in public) would continue the shenanigans in another forum.
King Middle School student Molly Neuner was not happy when a teacher had Molly and another female student measure their tank top straps and the inseam of their shorts — in front of their entire class — because the teacher felt the girls were "a distraction" to the boys.
Hey, you know what's really distracting? Having class interrupted by a teacher who insists that everyone stare at two girls and shame them for what they're wearing.
"She made us feel really uncomfortable," Molly said. "It was really uncomfortable and weird." We hear you, Molly. You are not Hester Prynne, and last we checked, a scarlet A was not part of your school uniform.
The teacher decided that Molly's tank top straps weren't two-fingers wide (is that in the Bible somewhere? Thou shalt not wear tank tops if the straps are not verily two fingers wide?) and Molly was a harlot. OK, the teacher didn't call her a harlot. But she did warn Molly that her next infraction would get her a detention.
And yes, you can see the tank top in question by clicking through to the Portland Press Herald, which first covered this story.
Molly wasn't having any of this crap, so on Wednesday, she deliberately went against the archaic dress code and wore another tank top to school. On her arm she wrote "#IAmNotADistraction" — a hashtag growing in popularity to oppose absurd misogynist dress codes at schools.
Molly's mother, Christina Neuner, supported her daughter 100 percent. Christina posted a photo of her daughter's outfit on Instagram and discussed why the issue matters to their family.
“We need to stand up for ourselves and for our children. We need to teach our beautiful, young, innocent daughters that their bodies are beautiful and powerful and their own to display or portray in any way they wish WITHOUT consequence,” Neuner captioned the photo. “And we need to teach our young, kind, brave sons that they are smart and strong and capable of controlling their own bodies.”
Molly started a mini-revolution at her school, with about 20 other girls also deliberately ignoring the school dress code to take a stand.
“It was so cool to see everyone doing it,” Molly said. And it wasn't just her fellow students — even teachers were on board.
"My social studies teacher told us that it was super cool we were doing it, and that we were right, that we aren't distractions," Molly said. "She was super supportive of it, and our teachers were all super supportive. Then the principal called me into her office and we talked, and she said they would review the dress code at the end of the year."
It wasn't just empty talk. The school's principal, Caitlin LeClair, has announced the school will indeed review and possibly amend the dress code at the end of the year.
“We plan to take this feedback and use it as an opportunity to have some students’ and parents’ input,” LeClair said.
Molly, however, says she will believe it when she sees it. “I’m happy they’re going to look at it, but I want to make sure they really do it,” she said.
We do too. We'll be keeping an eye on this story — at Molly's school and in schools across the U.S.
When you've got the munchies, nothing hits the spot like a classic convenience store-style baked good — I'm talking Twinkies, Tastykake pies, and powdered mini doughnuts.
Hostess knows this, and their new line of Hostess Bake Shop sweets will hit just the right spot. They've found a way to make their classic desserts even more appealing thanks to a few small changes.
The classic Hostess chocolate cupcake is getting a new twist — it's now available in cookie form. A soft chocolate cookie that's topped with loads of creamy frosting, this treat is easy to eat on the go (with less crumbs down your shirt than a traditional cupcake).
There are also triple-dipped Ding Dongs — ha, trying saying that three times fast — which up the ante on icing, and chocolate-frosted Twinkies covered in sprinkles that are more like something you'd get at a doughnut shop than inside a cellophane package.
The other exciting change: Instead of being sold with the other prepared cookies and snack cakes you get at the store, the new line of Hostess Bake Shop sweets will be sold in the bakery section. Clearly, these decadent treats go above and beyond the standard last-minute cash register impulse buy offerings.
And hey, what better day to celebrate the launch of these new treats than 4/20? You can find them at your local major grocery store or Costco starting now.
From the moment the In the Heights soundtrack first touched my music-student ears (sometime in the mid-2000s), I knew Lin-Manuel Miranda was someone special. I was a little behind the times on that revelation; Miranda and In the Heights had already been nominated for more than a dozen Tony awards by then.
Still, the man is a straight-up genius. Seriously. Everything he writes is gold (if you haven't listened to The Hamilton Mixtape or subscribed to his Spotify "mixtape" playlists, do that now).
So, who better to write about our perpetual bae Riz Ahmed, who was just honored with a spot on Time's 100 Most Influential People list? What's even better is that Miranda perfectly captured all of our love for Ahmed in his piece — and he wrote it as a rap. I'm swooning!
"Look! Riz Ahmed is over here on HBO, turning in a stunning, tell-your-friends-the-next-day performance as Naz, the aching center of The Night Of.
"Look! Now Riz Ahmed is over there, playing Bodhi Rook in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, defecting to the Rebel Alliance and breaking our collective heart!
"Look! There's Riz Ahmed delivering a blistering 16 bars about the immigrant experience on The Hamilton Mixtape! 'To a galaxy far from their ignorance ... immigrants, we get the job done'!
"Wait, look! Now he's home in London, gathering friends and fellow artists for passionate salons!
"Look! He's in the new Bourne!
"Look, there he is on Girls!
"Look, Riz Ahmed has been quietly pursuing every passion and opportunity for many years as an actor (The Road to Guantánamo, Four Lions, Nightcrawler), rapper ("Post 9/11 Blues," "Englistan") and activist (raising funds for Syrian refugee children, advocating representation at the House of Commons). To know him is to be inspired, engaged and ready to create alongside him. The year 2016 was when all the seeds he planted bore glorious fruit, and here's the best part: he's just getting started.
"Look! We're alive at the same time as Riz Ahmed! Look!"
When you get a pimple, what do you do? Freak out? Hide under the covers? Text all your friends? Slather it in various potions? All of the above? Same, same. But it turns out Kristen Bell has her own arsenal of tricks up her sleeve — and they’re actually kind of amazing.
We knew we needed to hear more of Kristen Bell’s beauty hacks when we came across a few of them last month and immediately tried them all out. So we had a chat with her to see if she could deliver any more nuggets of wisdom — and deliver she did.
In honor of Earth Day this weekend (April 22, buy your seedlings!), Bell teamed up with the World Wildlife Fund and Tide Purclean to inspire people to be more eco-friendly in their daily lives by taking the #CleanPledge. (For every pledge, Tide donates $5 to WWF’s global conservation efforts for a total of up to $250,000).
Speaking with us on the phone from her home in LA, Bell told us all about her clean-living habits — and her best beauty tips.
“It has these antibacterial properties,” Bell said of manuka honey, which she likes to use as a face mask. She leaves it on for about 10 minutes, then rinses it off with water. Bonus tip: “I wash my face with it,” Bell told us. (P.S.: We’ve tried this before ourselves to great effect!)
For exfoliation, “I throw a little sugar in” with the honey, she said. After using it as a mask or a face wash, Bell’s skin feels extra smooth. “There’s some sort of coating that it leaves,” she said. “Whatever it is, I need it. It’s almost like a protective layer.” But lest you dismay that you never have enough time to do a face mask, don’t worry. Bell only does a honey mask “maybe once a month.” Phew.
2. No, like — it actually solves all
“I’ll also take [manuka honey] if I’m feeling sick or if my kids are feeling sick,” Bell said. She’s not the only one — Kourtney Kardashian swears by the stuff as well.
“If I need to wake up and I don’t look awake or feel awake, I will definitely take a washcloth and get it wet and put it in the microwave for 30 seconds,” Bell said. “I think people underestimate” the power of a warm washcloth, she added. The warm cloth on her face helps her look instantly more refreshed and perky.
4. Never pick a pimple — but try this instead
When Bell gets a zit, she says, “All I want to do is pick it. But I’ve made a commitment to use hot compresses” instead. “A hot compress shockingly does work,” she added. “Nobody uses it, but it works!”
5. Olaplex is the best
“Olaplex has definitely been a game-changer as a blonde,” Bell said. When she finds herself “going brassy” between trips to the salon, “purple shampoos are really helpful,” she added. “They take out the brass from blondes in a very real and not noticeable way.” Her favorite? Bell said she particularly likes the purple shampoo from Oribe.
Well, it finally happened. Slimy Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly has finally been ousted from his primetime position after months of pressure from the media, advertisers, the public and of course, the women who were victims of his sexual harassment.
It only took five sexual assault settlements (totaling $13 million), 50 advertisers yanking their business from Fox News, tons of scrutiny after the Roger Ailes sexual harassment scandal and even more accusations from women for Fox to fire the sexist pundit. Then again, what else can we expect considering a man who's been formally accused of sexual misconduct 23 times can be successfully elected president of the United States?
Sexual harassment has an age-old history of being minimized, dismissed or overlooked. Nearly every adult woman has experienced it, whether in the form of catcalling, crass jokes or a touch that lingered a little too long. It's not OK, but it's a reality of our world, so the least we can do is talk about it... a lot.
In order to keep the conversation around sexual harassment front and center, we asked nine real women how they've dealt with sexual harassment and sexism in general. Check out their brilliant, ballsy strategies below.
"I used to swallow the insult, but now I’m OK with making others feel uncomfortable."
Call it out
“Like many women, I’ve experienced sexism ranging from physical harassment, like an ass grab in my middle school hallway to having a random older man tell me to smile because ‘how could a young precious lady like yourself ever express anything other than sugar and spice?’ I’ve grown to the point where I no longer silence myself. I’m OK with making others feel uncomfortable — if they make me feel uncomfortable, I want it to be known. I used to swallow insults to cater to social settings. It’s hard being the party pooper, but silence is not the seed for change. I no longer let sexist jokes slide by and it feels great.
"In my social circles, I’m grateful that I don’t face blatant sexism often. The misogyny I do face daily is structural: the fact that on my transportation route, I have to walk from a train stop that is poorly lit. Walking between a concrete graffiti wall and train tracks is not somewhere a woman generally likes to be in the dark — yet it’s my way back home. If we had more female representation in government, I believe they would understand that walking 10 minutes in an unpopulated, dark road makes a woman’s heart rate triple. They would vote to add streetlights. I continue to talk about my fears and interactions and hope that one day women will be free of these worries.” — Gretchen, 22, Budapest
"I’ve entered the no fucks era of my relationship with sexism."
Use it as motivation
“I’ve entered the no fucks era of my relationship with sexism. I’ll often give street harassers the finger if I feel like I’m in a safe enough situation. Work is a bit more tricky. I’m in an industry that’s roughly 80 percent male, and men have a disproportionate number of leadership positions. We’re a very progressive company, however, so I find the sexism to be more subtle. That’s helpful in some ways because you can discuss it head-on — nobody is pretending that our company is where it needs to be on this issue. I try not to let little things slip by. I’m on a regular phone call with five men and when I sent around the calendar invite, one of the men berated me for not including the call’s number high enough up in the invite — ugh. My response was, ‘Well, it’s a good thing I wasn’t hired to be a secretary.’
"I have a tight-knit group of girlfriends who all identify as feminists, as does my boyfriend. I feel so lucky to be in a relationship that is overtly feminist and allows me to be myself and pursue my ambitions. I’m trying to focus less on the injustices I experience as a relatively privileged straight white woman and figure out ways I can support women with fewer options and more barriers. Getting catcalled and not always being treated fairly at work sucks — but I think it’s important to recognize that women like me — white, well-educated, relatively wealthy — have most directly benefited from 100 years of activism by our grandmothers, mothers and sisters. There’s still a lot more work to do.” — Suzanne, 29, San Francisco
Image: Getty Images
"I’ve had to move subway cars more times than I care to remember."
Confront the offender
“I’ve encountered sexism in so many capacities that I handle each situation differently, and it almost always depends on my level of safety. If I’m being sexually harassed on the street and it’s during the day, I’m more apt to turn around and walk up to the guy and ask him why he thought it was appropriate to yell something in my general direction or smack his lips at me as though I’m a dog. It’s usually met with confusion or even more sexism. More often than not, if I don’t answer his advances or challenge him, he calls me a ‘bitch,’ ‘cunt’ or ‘ugly’ anyway.
"At night, I usually ignore it and get my keys out to make sure the harassment doesn’t turn into something more serious. I’ve had to move subway cars more times than I care to remember because a guy thought staring at me while he touched himself was appropriate behavior. I’m almost always on the defensive when I’m alone, which is an unfortunate truth about being a woman in New York City. And any man who says, ‘But if a woman did [insert harassment here] it would be totally fine,’ doesn’t understand the implicit power dynamic that men still have over women in our society.” — Lauren, 29, New York City
Image: Getty Images
"He said, ‘Why don’t you just stand there and look pretty?’"
Vent about it
“I was photographing my close friends’ wedding and this guy who is supposed to be my friend is also a photographer. I guess he decided he wanted to shoot the groomsmen photos too, which I was OK with because the more photos for the newlyweds, the better. But during the beginning of the shoot, he looked at me and said, ‘Why don’t you just stand there and look pretty?’ in the most condescending and rude way. And all the groomsmen’s eyes got wide in shock. I told him that was super-rude and he just smirked and laughed. I didn’t mention it again because the groom was there and it was his big day, so I didn’t want to ruin it for him. I just ranted to my friends after the wedding.” — Tyne, 19, New York City
"I’ll gladly do the opposite of what men find attractive."
Rebel against outdated feminine stereotypes
“It kills me when someone implies that I should or shouldn’t do something based on a man’s opinion. I remember when a very well-respected fashion designer told me I should show off my cleavage more because, ‘Don’t you want men to look at you?’ Or the time I told my male friend I would gladly have a flat chest in a second, and he said, ‘Men love breasts — don’t do that,’ and I immediately told him I didn’t give a shit what men want and would gladly do the opposite of what any man finds attractive. So many women say things like this too, and it makes me want to say, ‘Base your life on something other than a man’s evaluation of your damn appearance!’” — Chloe, 25, New York City
Everyone on the island as well as everyone around the country was still reeling after last week's shocking historic episode, in which contestant Jeff Varner outed fellow player Zeke Smith during Tribal Council (and moments before Varner was eliminated from the game). And everyone was wondering both how Zeke and his teammates would continue the game after the upsetting drama.
The two-hour, two-elimination double episode started with words from Zeke himself, which was definitely the way to handle the situation — it's a super-important topic, and it was on everyone's mind. Just as he was in Tribal Council, Zeke was amazingly cool about the whole incident, while still voicing that he was shocked and hurt by what went down.
Zeke was grateful, in the end, that everyone put aside the particulars of the game to show and voice their support for him: "When something bad does happen to you," he said, "People who are out to get you [in the game] do stand in your defense."
zeke Sarah tweet
zeke Sarah tweet
He was also ready to put his gender identity and past back into the background and get back to the game — and it seemed like both the show's producers and the players themselves were happy to honor his request. In fact, the cast was so ready to treat Zeke "normally" that he was in the hot seat before the double episode wrapped.
It seemed like no one was more ready to get back into the drama of game play more than Zeke — and in fact, he might have been too enthusiastic. Despite having a nicely formed alliance going into the merge, Zeke decided to throw longtime friend and alliance member Andrea under the bus to Debbie — a move that not only lost her trust, but also the trust of others who had been on his side, including Sierra, who seems to be quickly gaining power with each passing day.
zeke tweet 3
zeke tweet 3
Everything came to a head in the second Tribal Council session (Hali, predictably, was voted out in the first session). Zeke received four votes, while Ozzy, who was targeted as the biggest threat to win, was voted off the island. Perhaps most strangely, Zeke was the lone vote for Aubry in Tribal Council, flagging that perhaps he was misled by other tribe members or at the very least left out of the other conversations leading up to the vote.
Even the teaser for next week does not look good for Zeke. It seems like his failed power play has made him some long-term enemies and badly hurt his trustworthiness. Many fans were commenting that much like his first season, Zeke is playing too aggressively too early to find long-term success.
Zeke drama wasn't the only drama in the double episode. Here are a few other things we want to chat about.
Ozzy got the boot
Ozzy, one of the best players in the history of the game, was voted out at Tribal Council. He lost a very close Immunity Challenge to Tai when he couldn't cling to a pole for quite as long (though he has won the same challenge twice in the past). We're all going to miss the guy, and everyone in the tribe is going to miss the fish he regularly brought to the table. On the other hand, we understand why he was voted off. You don't want that guy hanging around too long after the merge.
ozzy survivor
ozzy survivor
Tai continues his strong game
Tai now has two hidden Immunity Idols, plus he kicked everyone's butt to get individual immunity last night. He's also part of a strong post-merge alliance. And yet people don't seem to be discussing him as a threat — which is in and of itself another advantage.
tai survivor
tai survivor
Deb is no doubt a game-changer
Deb is also flying under the radar in a strange way. She basically tooled the downfall of Ozzy and without making much of a deal out of it. On the other hand, she played her extra vote at a time when it wasn't needed and at a time when her own neck wasn't on the line, which may have been a huge mistake. Whether you see her as a crazy woman (very possible) or a weird mastermind (could also be true), it's certain that she is making waves and making the cut every week.
Chrissy Metz is such a damn bae. Seriously. She doesn't fit that Hollywood standard of female beauty, but guess what: She doesn't give one single shit. She knows she's gorgeous. She loves herself. She is a shining example of the way we should all be loving ourselves right now and all the time.
Unsurprisingly, though, Metz had to travel a long road to reach the level of self-acceptance she rocks now. Our society places some ridiculous pressure on women, especially when they're young, to look a certain way, and once upon a time, Metz was affected by that.
For this year's People magazine World's Most Beautiful issue, Metz penned a gorgeous, touching letter to her young self, and in it, she wrote a mantra for all of us to use, to learn, to memorize and go forth and love ourselves freely and wildly and with no hang-ups because we are all so effing beautiful.
"Hey, Girl, Hey!" she writes. "You are just as important and beautiful as Amy, the most gorgeous cheerleader in your entire school, even if your hair isn’t the perfect natural shade of honey blonde or because your clothes aren’t from Guess or that your curves look VERY different from hers."
Metz continues, "Contrary to the bill of goods you’ve been sold, life is not a competition. Stop comparing yourself to anyone or anything. We are all on our own journey and YOU are the driver. There will be bumps in the road, detours to be taken and pit stops will have to be made, but you’ve got to fill ‘er up and keep going. You will lose your map, but never your intuition."
She ends her letter, "Allow every smile, frown and town you drive through to open your mind, but never close your heart. One day you will appreciate the upgrade of that cruise control but never take your eye off that winding road you have paved by being courageously you!"
The story of Céline Dion and her late husband, René Angélil, is one of the most tragic love stories of recent years. Dion and Angélil had such reverence for each other all the way up to his death just over a year ago.
Unsurprisingly, considering the magnitude of their love, Dion says she doesn't plan to move on anytime soon.
"Now it is definitely too soon for me," she said in a new interview with The Sun. "I am definitely in love with him, married to him."
She continued, "He's the love of my life. It's very difficult for me to see myself with another person. The love that I have for him, I live it every day. And as a woman, we do have emotions and feelings that come and go. And it's always with him."
Angélil was the man who discovered Dion and began her career when she was just 12. He worked as her manager until they fell in love years later. They married in 1994.
"René has prepared me for all my life since I'm 12," Dion said. "I have never met another man in my life, never kissed another man in my life."
She added, "I miss him a lot. For my partner, for the man I was embracing, kissing, making love with. My worries, my dreams."
Dion nursed Angélil through his battle with throat cancer, which was diagnosed in 2015.
"No one chooses to be sick," she said. "Life imposes for you to be sick and you have the option to be strong or not be strong. But to be surrounded by the right people helps a lot, because if you know you will die, make the best of it. I proved to René that he was there for me and I'm going to be there for him — and I'm still there for him."
When the cast was revealed for Survivor: Game Changers, many fans were questioning why Hali Ford was picked to play again. Heck, even Hali herself wasn't sure why she was labeled as a game changer. In our one-on-one interview with Hali, she explained what strategy she followed to eliminate the doubt and revealed the method she used to get back on the show. Plus, she expressed empathy for Jeff Varner after the brutal backlash he's faced for outing Zeke Smith as transgender.
SheKnows: Did you know the tribe was going to vote you out?
Hali Ford: I definitely knew it was coming. It was going to be a miracle if I didn't go home. The last two hours before we went to the vote, I was like, "Oh gosh. Here we go. People are idiots." I spent my whole day pitching to Sierra, Brad, Cirie and people I thought I established some kind of connection with, to get the numbers together. There are so many big threats in the game right now. I saw Ozzy and Sierra having a hammock conversation when they were clearly working together. Shortly after that, Cirie kind of stopped talking to me. I couldn't figure out why in the world they would be voting for me. It was kind of like everyone started stonewalling me a couple hours before Tribal. That locked it in my mind that I was in hot water.
Image: CBS
SK: Before getting voted off, you had offered to strip down to prove to the group you didn't have a hidden Immunity Idol. Be honest, were you really going to take your clothes off for these people?
HF: I would have done it to an extent. The actual offer on the table was Sarah the cop could do a pat search on me. Those can get pretty invasive when cops don't follow a person's constitutional rights, which they never do [laughs.] I'm just joking. I was willing to be searched if that was genuinely why they wanted to vote me out. I didn't volunteer to strip down totally naked. Even if I stripped down to nothing to prove I had no Idol, I was still gonna go home. I knew they weren't actually going to change their mind. I couldn't believe that was the real reason they were voting for me. It's so dumb, and clearly erroneous. While I wasn't going to get naked, I would have let Sarah grope every nook and cranny to see if I had an Idol [laughs.]
Image: CBS
SK: In pre-game interviews there were multiple castaways — including yourself — saying that you weren't deserving of being labeled as a game changer. What was your strategy to overcome that doubt?
HF: When I played my first game of Survivor, my head was at home. I had things going on at home that were a lot bigger to me than Survivor, so I wasn't engaged. I regretted that deeply. After my first season, I gunned to get back on the show because I felt like I had something to prove. Going into this game, I intended to just engage and be the person that I am. I had a lot to prove to myself, but I wanted to leverage the crappiness of my first game. I wanted to play that card of Hali is just a space cadet, don't worry about her. Apparently, that strategy failed.
SK: After this season, do you now consider yourself a game changer?
HF: In my heart and soul, I feel like I'm a game changer every day, but other people are a lot better at Survivor than I am. I wouldn't put myself in the echelon of game-changing Survivor players. I don't think that I'm awesome at Survivor. Certainly not the same as Sandra, Malcolm, Tony or the first Ciera to get voted out.
Image: CBS
SK: Are there any other castaways this season who you don't think are game changers?
HF: Uh, yeah [laughs.] I'm definitely more of a game changer than some people who are on the show. I saw Sierra as someone who always sticks with the majority. I love Tai as a player, but strategically? You know, I don't want to out anyone as a bad player. I'm not in a position to do that.
Image: CBS
SK: There was a moment Zeke revealed to the entire merged tribe that he's transgender. What was going through your mind when he spilled his secret?
HF: I was honestly thinking about him as a person and what this journey must have been like. I was feeling for him in a really deep way. In the aftermath, at this point, I'm feeling more for Varner. I feel like Zeke has been a hero and done a lot of good. I just wish people didn't have to support Zeke by hating on Varner [for outing Zeke.] Why can't we make this whole conversation uplifting? The hate is not necessary.
SK: Did you have any suspicion that Zeke is transgender?
HF: I didn't. He's such a dudey-dude. He might be a little hipster, but I was shocked. I was with my boyfriend last night watching the show and we were just talking about how there's nothing woman about him. He's just Zeke. He's a great guy. I think Cirie, as a nurse, could tell by his scars. She told me she knew before he was outed, but I certainly didn't.
Image: CBS
SK: You first played back on Season 30, so was this the first time CBS had asked you to return?
HF: Yes, but not the first time I approached Survivor. I worked really hard to try to get back on the show. Maybe they would have reached out to me anyway, but I sent in multiple long videos with extended conversations to try to get back. I was just devastated after my first game. I was so embarrassed because it wasn't who I am. When I was in my first season, I was completely checked out and in zombie mode because of what was going on at home. I just couldn't be present. My pride was hurt.
Image: CBS
SK: What was your reaction when they called and asked you to play again?
HF: Oh my gosh! I was in the basement by myself, and I just ran around the room screaming bloody murder when I got off the phone. My mom came down and was like, "What happened?!?!" I was ecstatic.
HF: I just think other people are better at Survivor than me, but I would love to go back on. I love it. It's such a fun thing, but I also think other people should go on before me again.
Image: CBS
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