I will admit that I am not a rational human on my period. While many women like to say that they are completely functional and refuse to let their period mess with their mood, I will not say that because for me that’s not true. I turn into a crazy lady who wishes sweatpants were perpetually in style.

There are ten things that always happen to me when I am hanging with Aunt Flo (we’re BFF). While I know some of these things are typical to a lot of women, I hope the rest are too or else I’ll feel like a monster freak. Read More »

So, I had my period last week, which meant my ladybusiness was closed for normal sexual operations until further notice. I feel completely and utterly unsexy when my uterine lining is shedding and I have stuff a wad of dried, bleached cotton up there to keep it under control. Not only that, but I have this ongoing sense of anxiety, dread and leftover irritability from PMSing. Essentially, I am not in my finest form.

That said, it doesn’t stop me from thinking about period sex in theory. I know that if I threw down a red towel, handed my boyfriend a condom, and said “proceed carefully,” he would totally be game (in fact, when we were first dating and I was completely insatiable, we did it a few times). I know plenty of women who say that they find themselves even more horny on their period than at any other time of the month. And yet, period sex is still something that seems kind of taboo. I’m sure part of it stems from our (as ladies) discomfort and overall icky feeling. But I also feel like a lot of it is because dudes, in general, are completely repulsed. Read More »

Give it up to IKEA Sydney for being the innovators of the week! The Swedes, who are seemingly always on their toes, just recently opened a “man-cave” for male shoppers to hide out while their counterpart’s swipe-swipe-swipe at the registers. Males coerced into furniture shopping can now sit back, relax and munch on hot dogs and potato chips while watching football and playing arcade inspired games.

Houston, we might have a problem: this is one big step for mankind everywhere! But, uh, what about the girls?

Since obdurate feminists the world over will be screaming sexism before the day is through, we at CollegeCandy hope to add some fuel to the fire. With a list of five more safe houses for the men in our lives, lets explore the reasons why men often need to duck and cover when it comes to women.

1. We Like to Shop for Clothes

Pretend you’re a man. What’s worse? Clothes or furniture shopping? Before you answer, no, I’m not talking lingerie shopping. That’s a whole ‘nother topic entirely. If you thought furniture shopping was downright awful, wait until you’re forced to hold bag after bag and sit through 45435345 dressing room try-ons.  And if you hesitate for even a moment, men, we know you think we’re ugly and we’re fat. Or that you’re picturing the girl in the next fitting room naked. If nothing looks good or fits right, our moods will be ruined for the rest of the afternoon. The solution? A “man-cave” similar to the kind you’ll find in IKEA Sydney. Told you the Swedes are ahead of the ball. Read More »

Cramps suck. There’s no other way to put it. It just sucks. You can’t move, you can’t do anything productive, and you can’t focus on anything except the crushing pain coming from your abdomen…and maybe your relentless craving for pretzels and frosting. Thankfully, though, there are some cheap and easy at-home remedies you can use to make those 4-7 days less excruciating. Read More »

**Disclaimer: This post is meant to be stereotypical, potentially mildly offensive, and completely farcical. Any viewpoints endorsed by the author are her true beliefs, although if you asked her, she’d deny it.**

I woke up this morning in a mood. I had a fight with my Ish last night. (You know, the guy in your life who isn’t quite your boyfriend, but is more than the guy you’re dating; he’s boyfriend-ish). It wasn’t even really a fight. It was me being frustrated at him for various reasons, expressing that frustration, and him responding in an even more frustrating, nonchalant way. So I went to bed mad, and, not surprisingly, I woke up mad.

But I don’t blame my Ish. At least that small part of me that is actually rational doesn’t. I blame my anger on my girl brain, the (overwhelmingly large) part of my brain that I hate. I know that everybody knows what I’m talking about because, face it, you have a girl brain, too. And you probably hate it for the same reasons I do.

Read More »

A condom can break, you can slip up and miss a pill, you can leave your NuvaRing out a few days longer than necessary.

All of those small failures can lead to one of the most stressful times in a woman’s life — the unplanned pregnancy scare. That sinking, gnawing feeling that your uterus may not be uninhabited. You start freaking out at every little symptom. Nauseated in the morning…Am I hungry or is this morning sickness? A weird twinge in your stomach…PMS cramps or pregnancy cramps? Fatigue hits early every day…is it sleep deprivation or  is your body exhausted from preparing a womb? It is an extremely stressful situation that generally leads to fear, panic, or complete and utter denial.

All of those emotions are valid and justifiable. I mean, pregnancy is for adults, settled, ready-to-bear-children women and clueless teenagers on MTV. It’s not for college-aged women whose biggest concerns should be getting to know and love herself, having fun with friends, succeeding in school, and successfully avoiding hangovers every weekend. Unfortunately, sex is one of the riskiest activities we engage in, and even if we do our best to be cautions, failures happen.

If you find yourself seriously worried that you are pregnant, do the following (and do not, I repeat DO NOT Google symptoms online, you’ll only panic more):

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So it seems CollegeCandy’s Dude is the most popular guy, like, ever. You ladies just can’t get enough. You’d think he was Bradley Cooper! (Maybe he is….that’s one secret we’ll never tell.) Luckily, this guy’s a giver (even more reason to love him) and he’s gonna bring you even more of his wisdom. Only instead of answering specific questions, he’s telling us what we all want to know and never had the balls to ask. Don’t worry, he’ll still be back every Wednesday for Ask a Dude!

Bring on the hate mail! This time the Dude’s List is bringing you 11 reasons boys like being boys instead of girls. I’m not suggesting all of the advantages discussed below are ethical or moral. I’m talking about the real-world practices and double standards. Fairness isn’t part of the debate. In an ideal world, would there be advantages for one over the other (probably)? Would they be this subjective and this environmentally influenced (probably)? Would they be the same ones?

Hopefully, not all…

1.    PMS, FTW
We appreciate getting cramps for reasons other than our body deciding to completely overhaul our entire beings like Amy Adams’ on Smallville. Honestly, if you had the choice, would you like to bleed uncontrollably for 7 days every month?

2.    Menopause?
The endgame of numero uno on the list. We don’t need to go through anything more physical for our midlife crises than pointless piercings and arrhythmia resulting from over compensatory spending of our joint savings account.

3.    No Labor Pains
Yeah, like this wasn’t your first guess? Read More »

**Disclaimer: This post is meant to be stereotypical, potentially mildly offensive, and completely farcical. Any viewpoints endorsed by the author are her true beliefs, although if you asked her, she’d deny it.**

I woke up this morning in a mood. I had a fight with my Ish last night. (You know, the guy in your life who isn’t quite your boyfriend, but is more than the guy you’re dating; he’s boyfriend-ish). It wasn’t even really a fight. It was me being frustrated at him for various reasons, expressing that frustration, and him responding in an even more frustrating, nonchalant way. So I went to bed mad, and, not surprisingly, I woke up mad.

But I don’t blame my Ish. At least that small part of me that is actually rational doesn’t. I blame my anger on my girl brain, the (overwhelmingly large) part of my brain that I hate. I know that everybody knows what I’m talking about because, face it, you have a girl brain, too. And you probably hate it for the same reasons I do. Read More »

**Disclaimer: This post is meant to be stereotypical, potentially mildly offensive, and completely farcical. Any viewpoints endorsed by the author are her true beliefs, although if you asked her, she’d deny it.**

I woke up this morning in a mood. I had a fight with my Ish last night. (You know, the guy in your life who isn’t quite your boyfriend, but is more than the guy you’re dating; he’s boyfriend-ish). It wasn’t even really a fight. It was me being frustrated at him for various reasons, expressing that frustration, and him responding in an even more frustrating, nonchalant way. So I went to bed mad, and, not surprisingly, I woke up mad.

But I don’t blame my Ish. At least that small part of me that is actually rational doesn’t. I blame my anger on my girl brain, the (overwhelmingly large) part of my brain that I hate. I know that everybody knows what I’m talking about because, face it, you have a girl brain, too. And you probably hate it for the same reasons I do. Read More »

[Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really rad singer? A wicked new book? A new way to discover music? Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!]

To the man (actually, I have a feeling it was probably a woman with PMS) who first decided to mix salty and sweet all in the same bite, I tip my fedora to you. Why we don’t have a chapter dedicated to you in our history books (between the first space expedition and the Civil Rights movement), I’ll never know. Because you were a revolutionary. A game changer.

You saw a gap and you filled it with sweet and salty goodness (and if you’ve ever had caramel popcorn or a chocolate covered potato chip then you know JUST what I’m talking about).

You REALLY understood what it means to be a w-o-m-a-n and our inability to make up our minds. First we want salty, then sweet, then a tuna sandwich (or is that just me?), then the whole cycle repeats itself.

But you went ahead and put it all together into one perfect little package and all was good in the world. And in my belly. Thanks to you, these 5 delectable sweet/salty treats were made possible. And thanks to me, everyone can know about and indulge in them. Read More »