On this day in 1920 the 19th Ammendment was added to the Constitution, giving women the right to vote. And in honor of that momentous occasion, today has been named Women’s Equality Day. We have come a mighty long way since the days before women’s suffrage. We have women dominating in arenas that formerly were dude-only territory: sports, politics, and even entertainment (remember learning about the times when men played women in Shakespearean plays?).

Despite our amazing advances, there are still those few women who just don’t really seem to be helping the cause. In fact, they might just be ruining it for the rest of us. Let’s face it, society today has become media obsessed and some (not all) of the women dominating the spotlight nowadays may be taking us a few steps back. What happened to the positive female role models of the past?

Here’s what I mean: Read More »

On Fridays I get out of work about the same time that school lets out for younger students. My subway ride home is filled with kids of all different ages, shapes, sizes and races who remarkably all look exactly the same. Every single Friday, I can find at least one girl rocking a Miley backpack, some leggings and lots and lots of lip gloss.

It’s a comforting constant in my life, much like passing a Starbucks on every corner or finding an episode of Sex and the City on at any time of night. I’ve come to expect it, even enjoy the high pitched squeals, sickeningly sweet smell of body spray, and live rendition of “See You Again.” But after catching a clip of Sean Hannity praising Kim Kardashian for her role model status in young girls’ lives, I started thinking about the idea of celebrities as role models.

I was left with a lot of questions, the most obvious being: does the fact that Kim Kardashian isn’t a hot drunken mess like the rest of young Hollywood really make her a role model? I mean, has Sean Hannity seen the sex tape that made her famous? And what does she do exactly that young girls should look up to? Her reality show? Her curvy body?

It took me a few moments (and a couple shots of whiskey) to get past the idea of  Sean Hannity doing “research” in front of his laptop in a dark room at midnight, and once I did I still had no idea what to think. The whole celebrity-as-role-model thing has me totally torn up.

On the one hand, my biggest fear may soon be realized: a generation of Mini Mileys all grown up. Slim girls in blond wigs walking around chomping on gum and talking with a Southern twang. It’s an image that haunts my dreams. Read More »

(We’re back with another weekly installment of G.W.W.E [Guys We Want to Eff]. Ladies, say hello to delicious actor, Paul Rudd. The hunk has been making us laugh till we cry for years on the big screen, so when we’re not deciding between tickling him and cuddling up by his side, he’s certainly tops on our effable list!)

Ask any self-respecting woman what she looks for in a man, and likely among her responses is “the ability to make me laugh.” Look no further than Paul Rudd, the thirtysomething hunk from such smash hits as Anchorman and Knocked Up. When I wasn’t peeing my pants in the theaters, I was drooling over ol’ Paulie. Personality AND looks? Check, check.

And it’s clear I’m not alone.

While he may be known best for his blockbuster roles in Judd Apatow films, he’s also been featured in such landmark comedies as Clueless (duh!) and on television’s Friends as Phoebe’s husband (she was always my favorite Friends chick…so jealous she snagged Paul before the rest of us!). As such, Paul’s effability has been shown to stand the test of time. What could be better than that? (Editor’s Note: effing him, that’s what.)

Mr. Rudd’s new film, Role Models (co-starring the also-scrumptious Sean William Scott) opens today and looks to be his most promising role yet, since there’s nothing more effable than a funny boy who also takes time to hang with kids. You can join me in the movie theater while I fan myself and laugh to death. Or you can stay home with The Great Gatsby and and your Paul Rudd fantasies.

Any takers?

We’ve always gone nuts for celebrities.

Back in the day it was Shirley Temple, Judy Garlin, and Marilyn Monroe.

Rock stars came into vogue and screaming fans chased Elvis and fainted at Beatles concerts.

Jumping ahead to my youth, the teen pop sensations Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, and Britney Spears generated thousands of crushes and screaming fans. (Editor’s Note: Does it make me old to remember the New Kids on the Block insanity!?)

But now with the rise of superstar Miley Cyrus, we’ve entered a new level of celebrity idolization—one that has some worrying ramifications for our tween sisters. (The Olson twin fascination, in my opinion, is a bizarre isolated event along the lines of The Truman Show)

The Miley-hype has broken several barriers which I think are important to note:

1. Her youth

Although Hillary Duff set the stage for achieving tween stardom via a Disney channel show, Duff began at the age of 14 with 2.3 million viewers per episode while Miley Cyrus began at the age of 12 with 5.4 million viewers during the series premiere. Read More »

We talk about sex a lot on this site. That is pretty obvious to anyone who reads it. We like sex. We like being free to make our own choices about who to have sex with, how soon, how many partners and which way we are going to do it. We like to share our stories. We like to hear yours.

But what we absolutely do not want to do is send the message that sexual freedom and inhibition is a risk free lifestyle.

Recently, two writers from Jezebel – a website for women aged 25-35 – were invited onto Lizz Winstead’s show, Thinking and Drinking, to discuss their decisions to blog quite openly about their sexcapades and the message they send by writing about them (graphically) on the internet. Winstead, a former writer for The Daily Show, is a strong advocate of sexual empowerment and freedom, but argues it “can only be called a freedom if you protect yourself from rape, disease and pregnancy.”

Tracie Egan and Moe Tkacik, the Jezebel bloggers – who we have quoted and referenced many times before – showed up to the interview drunk and what they said caused quite a stir in the CollegeCandy office.

You can see the clip here: Read More »

Strong women are hard to find – at least, they are in movies and TV. The roles offered to women in mainstream entertainment tend to fall into an alarmingly narrow range: victim, wet dream, and killer bitch, with a long-suffering wife or girlfriend thrown occasionally into the mix. These parts are not only far from aspirational, they have little or nothing to do with the realities of the women who watch them.

Now, here’s the good news. Though they’re not easy to come by, great female characters do exist: tough, smart, funny, complicated women, who give normal girls something to shoot for, or at least allow us to indulge in some quality couch time without sacrificing our souls to the dark altar of the Chick Flick.

Here, a roundup of recent favorites.

4. Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars – the sharp, sarcastic teen detective at the center of the WB’s much-beloved (and cancelled) series by the same name – triumphed over her show’s painfully cute premise to become one of the best female characters in recent years, due in large part to a fantastic performance by Kristin Bell. The writing didn’t hurt, either; Veronica worked several startlingly dark cases, including her own date rape, but she was never portrayed as a victim, and the show’s witty, self-aware dialogue kept it from dissolving into melodrama. Read More »