Women. Weight. And the media.

Three words that are thrown together more often than we realize in today’s society. Whether it be a news story about an anorexic woman, a magazine ad telling readers how to go about getting a bikini body, or a blog post about the double standard that exists for women, it’s safe to say that our culture covers women and their weight pretty heavily. (No pun intended.) But has anyone ever actually bothered to question why exactly society is so concerned not just with “fat people” but “fat women”?

Kim Brittingham, author of Read My Hips: How I Learned to Love My Body, Ditch Dieting, and Live Large has. And what she realized upon further exploration was so troubling that she wrote a memoir about it, chronicling not only her own struggles with her weight, and accepting herself for who she is, but also an exploration of the reasons why she, and so many other women, have these troubles. The result? An inspiration and heartfelt memoir so worthwhile that we just had to share it with our readers. So keep reading to find out why she is against the idea of dieting and how she learned to love her body as it is.

What gave you the inspiration to write Read My Hips: How I Learned to Love My Body, Ditch Dieting, and Live Large?
I feel like I wasted a lot of precious time as a younger person worrying about the size, shape and texture of my body.  It makes me sad to remember how passionately I used to plot these physical overhauls for myself.  So much energy and planning went into these self-transformation campaigns – and they were motivated by stupid things, like a desire to lessen the curve of my hips, or eliminate that little nugget of chub where my armpit meets my upper arm.  You know that chub?  I used to want a smooth line there so badly!  None of those grand makeovers had anything to do with health, strength or longevity.  It was about whittling and sculpting myself into somebody else’s image. And the things I did to change those physical details – like dieting, for example – were the very things that made me fatter in the long run.  I wish I’d invested that energy in discovering more about myself and the world.  My life could’ve been a REAL dream come true, much sooner.

Why do you think plus-sized women are treated differently than model-sized women in society?
Americans love to pick on fat people – and what qualifies as “fat” seems to get smaller every year.  All this fat stigmatization might have something to do with the fact that our culture tolerates fewer and fewer prejudices as time goes on.  It’s not nearly as socially acceptable today to spout ignorance about blacks or gays, for example, as it might have been even just 25 years ago. And people are no more secure today than they’ve ever been – maybe even less so.  So they’re looking around for somebody to dump on, and fat people are a favorite target. Read More »

When I first heard about MTV’s new reality show, Downtown Girls, I initially thought – “Oh Great, another version of The Hills/The City.” I couldn’t have been any more off in my reality show predictions. Downtown Girls was TV show love at first sight. Featuring five friends that live in New York City, Downtown Girls seems to actually be in touch with reality for a change.

Instead of glitzy night club scenes with boring conversations, Downtown Girls actually shows the lives and friendships of Nikki, a boutique owner, Gurj, an Atlantic Records digital marketer, Klo, a bride-to-be, Victoria, an aspiring lawyer, and last but not least, Shallon, a Glamour.com blogger.

In a world of plastic reality show Barbie dolls (i.e: Heidi Montag), seeing young women working, living on their own, and trying to figure out their 20-something lives was refreshing. With each girl offering her unique individual style and perspective, it was impressive seeing MTV tackle real people, doing real everyday things for once.

Although Downtown Girls chronicles a group of friends, Shallon Lester steals the show with her outspoken and funny personality. With a larger-than-life persona that makes Shallon seem like everyone’s best friend, her energy is contagious. Who wouldn’t want to be her friend?

With one co-written book under her belt, Hot Mess, and a collection of memoirs chronicling her dating life coming out in 2011 called Exes and Ohs, expect to hear more from Shallon. So, consider this an inside look beyond the MTV cameras… Read More »

It’s no secret that I have an insane crush on Sam Adams.  He’s cute, athletic, cute and, oh yeah, a famous rapper. I couldn’t wait to tell the world about this guy, and profess my love, so when I was told I would be interviewing him? Yeah, I nearly wet myself.

Boston’s Boy is blowing up now in a big way, booking dates all over the place, and his party jams and special way with the ladies are creating major buzz.  With summer coming up, there is no better time to throw his EP, “Boston’s Boy”, into the car or blast it at a party. But first, you lucky CollegeCandy readers, get to know the guy behind the rhymes.

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1. What is your most ridiculous college memory?
Pretty much all of freshman year.  Nothing stands out in particular, but that whole year was crazy.

2. Well, if you can remember anything (or Freshman year at all) let me know.  Five things you can’t live without?
My Macbook, friends, music, weed, family…

3. Any motto you live by?  What’s the Sam Adams creed?
Have fun, I guess [laughs]. No motto really.

4. What’s your favorite song to belt out in the bars, in your car, or for karaoke?
Wait, what’s that song… It’s Michael Jackson. [Yells to friend] Yo, what’s that song from Rush Hour?  Chris Tucker…It’s Michael Jackson?  Don’t Stop Till Yet Get Enough! Read More »

The following post is courtesy of our uber fashionable friends at CollegeFashion.net!

As we get closer to the end of the school year, many of us are going on internship/summer job interviews- myself included. On College Fashion, we have already covered How to Dress for a Job Interview and How to Get the Internship of Your Dreams. However, in addition to dressing to impress, your makeup and hair needs to look natural and polished for interview success.

Interview beauty can be tricky because you want to make sure you’re making a good impression, while still looking natural and chic. This post will help you achieve the perfect interview look to help you score the job/internship of your dreams! Read More »

Ben and Lauren, the brains behind TFLN

It used to be that I spent a good chunk of my day stalking my friends (OK, my exes) on Facebook, but all that changed the minute TextsFromLastNight came into my life. Now most of my time is spent LOLing at my computer and emailing my latest faves to my friends. And I know I’m not the only one. TFLN, a website born out of a drunken weekend in Detroit, gets over 15,000 submissions a day and 5 million readers LOLers a month. It’s even been nominated for a Webby award, a huge honor in the Internet world, especially for a site that documents drunken debauchery. (Go vote for it!)

Since my very first TFLN encounter (“I used a bag of wine as a pillow last night”) I’ve been determined to meet the geniuses behind it and kiss them on the mouth shake their hands. And I finally got my chance… to talk to them, at least. Last week I got to sit down with Ben Bator and get a behind-the-scenes look at TextsFromLastNight: how it started, where it’s headed, and how they choose which texts will earn a coveted spot on the site.

I also got his direct number so I could send all my drunk texts directly to him, but I’m gonna keep that one to myself.

Read More »

So you’ve got less than two months left of the school year and zero plans for a summer internship. Crap?

It may seem like it’s too late to find something fantastic to pad that resume, but there are still plenty of internships out there just waiting to be filled. You just need to find the one you want and then make sure you set yourself apart from the other internship hunters as the best person for the job.

With all that competition, scoring that coveted internship can be hard, but there are a few key things you can do to help. We sat down with Colleen Sabatino, Internship Coach over at Internships.com, to find out exactly what you need to be doing to land that dream summer internship. Keep these things in mind and you’ll be interning in no time. Read More »

Another week has passed and we’re all one more week closer to graduating. This simple fact may send some of you into a depressed-chasing-shots-with-pints-of-ice-cream-alone-in-your-bedroom sorta funk. But put down the ladle, take a deep breath, concentrate on the hotness of Taylor Lautner and relax.  (Usually that helps me anyways…)

As we leave our colleges we’re generally expected to do one of the following steps after graduation: get a job, go to grad school, or travel the world to find ourselves.

Most of us will fall into the first category: the job. Just saying the word makes me shudder. The only thing scarier than a 9-5 job to a soon-to-be-grad is actually getting one.

The job hunt can be intimidating, frustrating, and downright difficult. In today’s market, jobs are hard to come by and a degree from a top university no longer guarantees that you’ll instantly land your dream job or that you’ll even be the best candidate for it. But there are steps we can all take and advice we can all use that will better prepare us for the job hunt and make it seem a lot less intimidating. Read More »

It’s internship hunting season and, thanks to the economy, it’s more competitive than ever. That means it’s more important than ever to make a really good first impression. Being that I spent the past week alone sifting through over 100 applications for CollegeCandy’s summer internship positions, I know a thing or twelve about what makes a successful application.

If you want to spend your summer beefing up your resume, learning the ropes and, most likely, getting someone else’s coffee, take a few of these things into consideration:

Stand Out.
Most internship coordinators receive a lot of applications, making it incredibly difficult to remember every single one they looked at. If you want to be remembered, you gotta stand out.

Resume Do:
Move away from the traditional/boring resume format and try doing something a little different. (You can find ideas online.) I once received a resume that had a great pop of bright green on the top and a very simple green line down the left side. Three years later, I still remember that applicant.

Resume Don’t:
Say something stupid. My friend was recently reading through internship applications for a position at her advertising firm. Under “interests” one applicant listed: “Facebook creeping, collecting bar wrist bands, and beer pong.” Not only was she under 21, but she was completely unprofessional. Yes, she was trying to be creative and stand out, but this was clearly the wrong way to do it. Read More »

Have you ever heard a song on the radio that you were so obsessed with but didn’t know who sang it so you went home, hopped onto Google and tried to remember the lyrics so you could put them in? And then when that didn’t work you loaded your iTunes and played through the top songs of the week to see if one of them could possibly be it? And then when that didn’t work either you just kept the radio on all the time until you finally heard it again and got the band name?

Me too. And that song was Break Even by The Script. Which I downloaded. And replayed 22 times in the first two days.

I was obsessed with this new band discovery and told everyone I knew about them. At which point I discovered that they are not new at all. In fact, The Script has been wildly successful in Ireland and the U.K. for years; the U.S. was just a little slow on the uptake. But better late than never, right? Especially with a band as talented, adorable and humble as this one. I got the chance to talk to (well, email with – these guys are busy traveling the world right now!) Glen Power, the man behind the drums, about The Script’s rise to stardom. Then, obviously, I listened to Break Even a few more times as I wrote this up.

I just can’t get enough. Read More »

When you think of a medium, most people think of someone dressed in a cheesy plush velvet robe reeking of patchouli, holding a voo-doo doll with pins in it. But take one look or have one conversation with the adorable, sweet and down to earth Rebecca Rosen and you will immediately say, “OMG I, like, totally want to be her BFFAE!” She could easily be the girl you sit on the couch with to watch GLEE, and she most certainly could be the friend you feel comfortable enough to vent all your problems to.

But what’s different about Rebecca is that she has more than just advice. She has real answers about your future and your past.  As a professional psychic medium she communicates with spirits on a regular basis – you know, dead people. Loved ones and spirit guides who linger around to provide advice and offer relief to the living.

As a Medium, Rebecca has wowed packed houses time and again with her gift.  I had the chance to attend a reading back in 2003. Having never met Rebecca before, and in a room full of hundreds of strangers, I was astounded and admittedly a little freaked out when she hit the nail on the head with incredibly accurate details 99% of the time.  And I was in shock when I realized without a doubt that my own grandfather had came through.

Ever since that reading, I have become intrigued by her work and the spirit world. I know not everyone is a believer, but for those who want to know more about life beyond death or how to communicate with our loved ones (be it for closure or for guidance when you hit that inevitable mid-senior year ‘what do I do with my life now?’ phase),  Rebecca wants everyone to know that we all have the power to connect to our loved ones on our own. She says the only difference is that she’s mastered a skill that we haven’t developed yet. In her new book, Spirited (hits stores Feb. 2010), she teaches us how to tap into our own intuitive knowing, as well as recognize and interpret spirit energy, a support system available at to us at any time.

I was able to pick Rebecca’s brain about what exactly she does and how this gift came to be and was so intrigued that I ran way over 5 questions… Read More »