@egged: Let me add that I don't mean to come off as "woe is me, people think I'm pretty!" I think I'm of average attractiveness, but work in a field dominated by men, so for the few women who work here, it's a reality that their attractiveness will be commented on. I really am interested in whether or how other women…

I have a very androgynous work style, and almost never wear skirts or dresses unless I know I'm only seeing coworkers that I'm also friends with (we do a lot of field work, so I see my coworkers sporadically). More than one coworker has told me that clients (and some supervisors), often call me "the short, pretty…

@SlayBelle: Agreed about the foreigner exemption. I had no problem going into an onsen when I went, even though I have two tattoos, one of them covering almost a third of my back. In fact, a nice Japanese grandma invited me to her house for lunch after asking me about my tattoo. Gaijin special FTW!

And then there's the hidden cost of the fast-fashion/disposable culture, which Jezebel has touched on in the past: how many of these clothes end up in landfills? And, in some cases (e.g. H&M, even though supposedly they've stopped the practice), the clothes end up in landfills even when they're perfectly wearable,…

@RaeBeta: Agreed! My boyfriend was about to get rid of a pair of shorts that had lost a button, and I had to stop him and show him how to sew it back on. And the tailor I go to for my alterations says it's ridiculous how many buttons she's asked to sew back on (although I guess at least then people are fixing it).

@fluxus flucker: I bought my chucks at this independent shoestore, and the salesman rec'd I put in Superfeet insoles b/c I'm on my feet all day. They are AMAZING and those chucks are now the most comfortable pair of shoes I own - going on 6 years now.

@krissyro: Madewell seems to be going for a different/younger demographic, and their expansion strategy seems to be very different (fewer brick-and-mortar stores; they don't have online shopping; keeping it very tied to J.Crew; and I swear they have the editors at Lucky on payroll or something).

If anything, Western images are probably just reinforcing a trend that's already there. My friends from Hong Kong actually breathed a sigh of relief coming to the US - there was actually more pressure to be super-thin in HK. Weight (and looks) criticism is much more open in the Asian countries I'm familiar with. …

@rednrowdy: living in Hollywood and having attended my fair share of film events, I'm horrified that Desiree Rogers paid less attention to her job than a low-level film festival intern does. I totally agree with you about the relationship between security and event planners.

@bluebears: Exactly what I was about to say. There may be all sorts of regulation on the insurance industry but I've only seen it enforced ONCE in my state, and that was because the case was so jaw-droppingly egregious (and the violations had been going on for YEARS.) #politicsandbullshit

@sportz.star: Regulation? What regulation. I did a lot of behind the scenes research on payer/provider monopolies, and there was a LOT Of price-gouging on the part of hospital chains (raising charges for services) AND insurance companies (refusing to pay market price for certain services, both to hospitals and to…

@sportz.star: Regulation? What regulation. I did a lot of behind the scenes research on payer/provider monopolies, and there was a LOT Of price-gouging on the part of hospital chains (raising charges for services) AND insurance companies (refusing to pay market price for certain services, both to hospitals and to…

@La Chica Lucy: My cynical heart tells me that this isn't classy so much as PR. Posthumous pardons don't actually change anything. You know what did change things? The Franken amendment - whch McCain voted against. #gardasil

@squeakel: But poor people often have less time. Many low-wage earners I know have two (or in a few cases, three!) jobs. Add to this the fact that many poor people use public transportation, which is a notorious time-suck at least here in SoCal, and that many poor areas are "food deserts" with few options for…

@banh mi: I went to see a screening of the "Grace Lee Project" and my friend was on the phone calling somebody named Grace. Two women in front of her turned around because they thought she was talking to them. I know a handful of people my age who are called Grace because of Grace Kelly.

@socktree: that was my first thought. I'm requesting my own medical records (in CA) and it's a huge headache, so how can this bullshit in OK possibly be legit?

My ovaries just did a happy dance hearing John Stewart say that.

His DC and Phoenix office said that they're receiving calls on this. We should keep calling until he publicly apologizes for his misogyny. The number for Phoenix is (602) 840-1891 and the DC office is (202) 224-4521.

I was drinking almost 2 liters a day when I was very young. I ended up totally destroying the lining of my stomach, which gave me painful stomachaches and gas for an entire summer until my parents found out that it was me drinking all the soda (and not my siblings and me all together). I had to get completely off…

And guess which government is helping the Philippine government in their campaign against the Reel Bad Muslims by offering bounties, rewards, and training for the military and paramilitary campaign in Mindanao?