FabSugar

Fab Flash: Diane von Furstenberg Launches "Women Can" Campaign

FabSugar — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 15:00:22 PST

In honor of International Women's Day on Mar. 8, Diane von Furstenberg has partnered with the nonprofit Vital Voices Global Partnership for a new campaign, "Women Can."

The initiative is set on inspiring female leaders in developing countries. To aid the effort, DVF has pledged to donate 10 percent of this week's sales in her freestanding stores and on her website, DVF.com, to Vital Voices. She's also hosting talks and special events in her stores during this time. If you're feelin' the woman power this week, shop DVF!

Source

Our Ultimate Swimsuit Guide - Get the Best Fit For Your Body

Hannah Weil — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:22:49 PDT

Finding the perfect Summer suit can seem like an impossible task, especially when you don't know quite what you're looking for. We're putting an end to all that with our ultimate guide to getting the right fit for your body. With the help of swimwear fit and style expert Audrey Jimenez over at Everything But Water, we're breaking down the best fit tips for every body type and the best styles to shop for your figure all right here. From curvier frames to athletic body types, we're helping to make sense of the endless swimwear options out there and narrowing down all of our favorite options that were made to fit and flatter your frame. Want to know what you should be looking for? Get the expert's quick-hit dos and don'ts, then click on to find your perfect suit - and resolve to never hate swimsuit shopping again.

Dos

Do try on lots of different suits. Swim styles change all the time, so look outside of your comfort zone and you may find your new favorite silhouette.
Do go with a smaller size if you are not sure. Swimsuits expand when wet.
Do use ties and adjustable straps to fit the suit to your body. Go tighter than you think. Once tied, lean forward and adjust until your bust is covered and stays put.

Don'ts

Don't choose a trendy silhouette if it doesn't fit you well. Great style begins with a great fit, so it's more important to find the silhouette that best flatters your figure.
Don't assume a size larger or more fabric will give you more flattering coverage. Many women purchase suits that are too large, and as a result, the fabric gaps and the suits don't support properly. If you want more coverage, find a style that offers more coverage.

Savvy Links: 10 Guilt-Free Strategies For Saying No

Emily Co — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:42:08 PDT

10 guilt-free strategies for saying no - Real Simple
Celine Dion sells her $29 million private island - Tecca
My nonprofit career means I can barely afford groceries - LearnVest
Lessons new grads will learn - The Billfold
The real reason single women may be working less - HuffPost Women
How to do black-tie on the cheap - Corporette
6 tips to rocking yard sales this weekend - Budgets Are Sexy
Make your dream career a reality for less than $100 - Wise Bread
5 reasons not to check your email over the holiday weekend - The Grindstone

Did You Engage in Any of These Risky Pregnancy Procedures?

Rebecca M Gruber — Fri, 25 May 2012 09:41:03 PDT

After nine (almost 10) months of pregnancy, some mamas will do almost anything to get their babies out. And while many expectant women enter the hospital with a birth plan in place, once they know the end is in sight, they're often willing to try it all. Consumer Reports recently compiled a list of 10 overused birthing procedures that can put both Mom and her tot at risk during delivery. Take a look at the list and tell us if you have engaged in any of them!

Hysteria Director Tanya Wexler Talks Vibrators, Faking It, and Duck Sex

Tara Block — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:15 PDT

Don't be shy . . . It's time to talk sex toys! And Hysteria director Tanya Wexler is writing us a prescription for pleasure. Tanya's film - what she calls "the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to" - is in limited release and stars Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rupert Everett. When working on a romantic comedy that centers around the invention of the vibrator, you end up with some entertaining and embarrassing situations along the way, and lucky for us, Tanya spilled all the hilariously dirty details. From teaming up with the film's partner Jimmyjane for a drive-by vibrator drop-off to a certain female Oscar-winner to trying unsuccessfully to get ducks to shag on command, Tanya was bursting with great stories from working on this very unconventional film. And while Tanya isn't ashamed to discuss the sexy subject matter of her latest film with us, the mother of four and her partner of 21 years did have a tricky challenge telling her preteen kids what her movie was about. (She eventually gave them the script and let them figure it out themselves!) Check out our interview with the fun-loving director now, and we dare you not to have a girl crush on her by the end!

TrèsSugar: What were some of the challenges to getting a movie made about vibrators?
Tanya Wexler: Getting the script right was tricky because if you just make a movie about the invention of the vibrator, it's actually a really short movie: you go "bzz" and it's done. And we had a kind of light romantic comedy. I say I made the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to. But some people wanted it to be raunchy or some people wanted it to be more serious and about feminism. People project a lot onto this movie of what they want, because there isn't a lot out there about vibrators and women's pleasure, and we still don't really deal with that topic very well, or we're overly antsy around it. And as a result, people have a lot of ideas of what the movie could and should be, and you can't please everyone. [laughs]

TS: Ha, good one.
TW: It's nonstop!

TS: Do you find sex toys inherently funny or something to be seriously celebrated?
TW: Yes!

TS: Both?
TW: Yes! Yes. I think they make me laugh, and I think that the inner kind of Beavis and Butt-head in all of us goes "[laugh]." You know, that inner 13-year-old, like, "Hahaha vibrator . . . " and yet they're awesome and fun.

TS: What shocked you the most when researching the movie?
TW: That ducks are the rapists of the bird world, and you'll see when you see the movie, because there's a little bit of questionable duck behavior - or awesome duck behavior - in the movie. It's totally a sidebar, but you cannot make ducks shag on command. I'm just saying.

TS: What about the whole history of hysteria being a medical condition?
TW: When I first heard the idea, I was like, "What do you mean it was invented in Victorian times?" I knew about hysteria, but the idea that the treatment was manual [British accent] massage deparaxism - which is what they called it - and, of course, the denial. The most shocking thing is the denial, that they didn't think it was sexual.

TS: Do you think they were really in denial?
TW: No, I don't think that some people were. My college roommate was with her high school boyfriend for two years and she had never had an orgasm. I think there's all kinds of denial, especially with women's sexuality. So the fact that there are young women today who haven't had an orgasm, whether self-induced - which is insane - or with a partner, then why wouldn't we think back then that women wouldn't know what orgasms were?

They would get a massage, and the doctor's saying, "Without a penis, this isn't sex, because sex is about procreation," so what is this? The best physical therapy you've ever had. So once you don't think of it as something other than what the doctor's supposed to do to cure your uncontrollable crying or uncontrollable laughter or whatever, then it's just an awesome muscle spasm. If you don't think women have their own inherent sexuality, then you're not thinking about it like that.

Keep reading for Tanya's thoughts on Fifty Shades and more!

"I'm a 20-Something Seeking Literary Wisdom"

Tres Community — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:05:00 PDT

This question is from a Group Therapy post in our TrèsSugar Community. Add your advice in the comments!

I'll keep it brief, because I imagine my issue is one that virtually all women go through at multiple stages of life... Basically, I'm at a certain "milestone" in my life - my first career after college, my first time on my own, my first time having to be an adult in every sense of the word.

Call it a quarter-life crisis, or just a growing pain, but I'm having some seriously deep introspections about who I am, who I want to be, what I want out of life, what I value, what I don't, my place in the world . . . you name it, I'm thinking about it. I'm exploring my spirituality, my needs in love and my career, my general expectations for life. It's exhausting!

I don't want advice on how YOU answered these questions. What I WOULD love are some recommendations for a good book that tackles the issue of identity and, preferably, womanhood. Or any books that you've found to have a profound effect on your own identity and soul-searching. Something that helps us explore who we are and practice the cultivation of sense of self and self-love.

Maybe it is a lofty goal to find all of this in a book . . . but I can't afford therapy. Thanks!

Have a dilemma of your own? Post it anonymously to Group Therapy for advice and check out what else is happening in the TrèsSugar Community.

Shawn Johnson Talks Weight Loss and Learning to Love Her Body

espnW — Fri, 25 May 2012 03:05:26 PDT

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from espnW here on FitSugar!

By Shawn Johnson

Shawn Johnson is blogging for espnW throughout her training for the Olympics in London this summer. Follow hers other Olympic hopefuls' journeys on espnW.com.

Four years ago, I was standing on an Olympic podium, wearing a gold medal, and still thinking to myself how I could have been better. It had nothing to do with my performance - it was all how I looked. Back then, I always felt like I could have been a few pounds lighter. But the irony is, when I look back at the pictures, I look unhealthy and too thin. It's easy to get into a trap as an elite athlete, because you're made to feel that you're never perfect, that you can always be better. That's how you improve in your sport, but it's also tough because you aren't satisfied with yourself ever - it's second nature not to be. I'd always think, "Just get a little stronger, a little lighter," until it was completely ingrained in my mind.

Shawn Johnson takes us inside training camp

It's easy for people to blame gymnastics for this mentality, but I feel like the sport has improved a lot. The horror stories we heard from generations ago (think Joan Ryan's infamous book Little Girls in Pretty Boxes), you don't hear at all anymore. But I do believe it can improve further and that good nutrition could be a key to all of this, if it were only taught at a young age. Many gymnasts go into the elite level at 13 or so, and a 13-year-old isn't going to go to the library to read some book on nutrition! She needs to be given the right information on how to eat well. Otherwise, it's not until she's out of the sport that she realizes the damage she's done to her body by not eating enough over the past 20 years.

Shawn Johnson in the driver's seat

I see all the success we have as a country where the gymnasts aren't 100 percent healthy, and I imagine how amazing we could be if we were doing it in the healthiest way possible. I don't think it's a failure on anybody's part; the education just isn't there right now, and it's just not thought about in our sport. My parents have told me since I was little, "You're given your body for a reason. It's OK to be different. Being unique is a good thing." But I always struggled to believe it. I'm stocky, muscular and short, and I wanted to be thin and flexible so bad! My mom would say, "You're not made that way, and you're not going to become that, so you have to learn to accept and love the body you're in." Well, some people are born with that appreciation, and some people have to work really hard to get there. Put me in that second camp.

Read on for more on what Shawn Johnson has to say about body confidence and how she feels in her gymnastics leotard.

8 Myths About Sex Differences

The Good Men Project — Fri, 25 May 2012 02:00:49 PDT

We're happy to present this story from one of our favorite sites, The Good Men Project. Today, Agustín Fuentes points out that when it comes to men and women, what "everyone knows" isn’t what science shows.

Everyone knows that men and women are really different. We think differently and act differently because we are wired differently. I mean look at our brains and genitals: they are just plain different. Right?

Wrong.

What if many of the things we assume about the biology of difference are not so different at all? What if it is not our “wiring” but the ways in which our bodies and minds develop and play out in society that makes us seem so unalike? Could it be that men and women are more similar than we think?

I Dumped the Love of My Life and Now She Doesn’t Trust Me

Yes, women give birth and lactate and men do not. And yes, men are, on average, slightly larger than women and usually have greater upper body strength. There are these basic biological differences between the sexes and they are important . . . but why always focus on the differences and not the biological, and behavioral, similarities? Ahh, that would be because of gender.

Gender is a powerful reality; it is the perception and expectation of differences between males and females and it shapes both our bodies and our society. Gender differences are real and important, but they are not hard wired or even static. There is no biological or evolutionary mandate that only women really care for babies and show emotions, or that males are the best at economics and politics and prefer beers and skirt-chasing to domestic bliss. These are patterns of gender roles and expectations that shape the ways we look at our biology and behavior. They influence the way we expect the world to be. It is the strength of the societal myths about sex that fool us into thinking that men and women are so different by nature.

So let’s bust some of those myths.

Gender and sex are the same thing.

Sex and gender are interconnected, but not the same thing. Sex is a biological state that is measured via what chromosomes you have (XX or XY, usually) and aspects of your body and physiology. Gender includes the roles, expectations and perceptions that a given society has for the sexes. Most societies have two genders on a masculinity-femininity continuum. Some have more. We are born with a biological sex, but acquire gender. There is a ton of individual diversity within societies and sexes in regards to how sex and gender play out in behavior and personality.

There is an extensive body of data demonstrating this, but people interested only in specific differences between men and women choose to ignore it.

Male and female genitals are totally different.

Most people think that male and female genitals are about as different as can be: penis=male and vagina=female. But even this basic dichotomy is not quite correct: the genitals emerge from the same mass of embryonic tissue. For the first six weeks of life the tissue masses develop identically. At about 6-7 weeks, depending on whether the fetus has XX or XY chromosomes (usually), the tissues to start to differentiate. One part of the tissues begins to form the clitoris or penis and another forms the labia or scrotum. Another area begins to form into either the testes or the ovaries. This means that physiologically, male and female genitals are made of the same stuff and work in similar ways.

Male and female brains are different.

If there were really deep seated differences between male and female human behavior and biology they should show up in the brain. The genitals start in the same place and end up looking different, the brain does not. Our brains are pretty much the same. Male brains are a bit bigger than females’ (like their bodies) and females’ brains stop growing earlier than males (as with their bodies). However, whatever one may believe about other organs, in the case of healthy brains, size really does NOT matter one iota. There also might be a few differences in a small part of the brain called the straight gyrus (need more testing in this one). Other than these minor aspects there are no consistent and replicated reliable differences in male and female brains; it is a human brain . . . but how we use it is another matter.

Hormones make the difference.

Everyone thinks that males and females have different hormones . . . testosterone for men and estrogen for women. Nope, all the actual hormones in males and females are the same: there are no male-only or female-only hormones. Both men and women can get a flood of testosterone when they get into a fight or take part in an exhilarating sports match. Both men and women can get a flood of oxytocin and prolactin when they pick up a newborn baby. There can be differences in the levels, patterns, and impacts of some of these hormones in male and female bodies, but individual variation is often more important than the variation between the sexes.

Keep reading for the rest.

Inspiring Words From the Women of The Conversation

Tara Block — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:45:35 PDT

If you're not watching The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet, you're missing out! What other TV show would have Jane Fonda and Miley Cyrus talking openly about sex? On the Lifetime show - which airs tonight - British TV personality and photographer Amanda de Cadenet sits down with a variety of celebrity women in all walks of life to discuss the things we all care and talk about: sex, relationships, motherhood, body image, and depression, to name a few. Each week, ladies like Gwyneth Paltrow and Diane von Furstenberg inspire with their words of wisdom, and you can't help but feel the girl power love by the end of the episode. We've gathered some of our favorite quotes from the women so far; check them out now and read our interview with Amanda for a behind-the-scenes look at the show.

Model Liya Kebede Talks Minimal Makeup in Cannes

Allie Merriam — Thu, 24 May 2012 13:25:43 PDT

For model Liya Kebede, Cannes feels like magic. "It gets into you the minute you arrive here," she said this morning. "It's very glamorous, and I like that it's very international as well. You see all these different people from all over the world coming with their films, which is great." It's been a big year for Liya, who was named a L'Oréal Paris brand ambassador last June and is making forays into the film world. She's currently working on The Best Offer from Cinema Paradiso director Giuseppe Tornatore.

There's more to Liya than her stunning looks, though. She won a BellaSugar beauty award thanks to her philanthropic efforts. Her eponymous foundation is dedicated to improving maternal health, and she's created a clothing line, Lemlem, which helps support craftswomen in her native Ethiopia. Today, the supermodel talked about her various work endeavors and shared her best tips on beauty, the inside scoop on her own makeup routine, and more.

BellaSugar: It's pretty surreal here. Have you ever had an incredible Cannes moment?
Liya Kebede: I think you get it every time you get here. Last time, I ran into Woody Allen in the lobby. You can't believe it - it's just insane. There's so many of these great people and stars. At some point, you don't even react anymore. You get overstimulated. Every corner is some incredible person, or you go to a party and it's full of everybody. It's amazing. You just go, "I'm in Cannes!"

BellaSugar: And part of Cannes, is of course, getting made up and looking great, which you're quite familiar with, I'm sure. What's the best tip you've learned from the pros?
Liya Kebede: Less is more. If you're going do an eye thing, then don't do a lip thing. Try to find a balance about what you do. Also, nothing is necessarily specific - using a lip thing on your eye or cheeks is fine, and it works, and it's light. Play around! Nothing is so fixed.

For the rest of our chat with Liya, just read more