Like a certain reality TV star, we're massive fans of the dictionary, so we're always intrigued to hear what the Collins Dictionary has declared its words of the year.
For 2017, the dictionary compilers have picked 12 words or phrases that have enjoyed a significant growth in popularity over the last 12 months. The list is led by "fake news," a favourite phrase of Donald Trump, which Collins defines as "false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting."
"Corbynmania," defined as "fervent enthusiasm for Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the UK Labour Party," also makes the list.
"Much of this year’s list is politically charged, but with a new president in the US and a snap election in the UK it is perhaps no surprise that politics continues to electrify the language," says Helen Newstead, Collins' head of language content.
The list also acknowledges our growing understanding of different gender identities by including "gender-fluid," defined as "not identifying exclusively with one gender rather than another."
Another new addition is "cuffing season," which Collins describes as "the period of autumn and winter, when single people are considered likely to seek settled relationships rather than engage in casual affairs."
"Unicorn" appears on the list, but with two distinct definitions. Collins explains: "First, the ubiquity of cartoonish representations of the mythical creature in advertising, merchandise such as inflatable pool toys, and even as a type of Frapuccino; and, second, the use of the world to describe a new business valued at over one billion dollars."
And obviously, any list of 2017's most popular words and phrases wouldn't be complete without "Insta", an adjective meaning "of or relating to the photo-sharing application Instagram." So if you can find an excuse to use the phrase "Insta-official" in a work email, your boss won't be able to object on linguistic terms.
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This New Movie Is A Must-See For Anyone Who Uses Dating Apps
Newness isn't your average dating app movie. The new film, from the director behind the heart wrenching classicsLike Crazy and Equals, may start with the stereotypical swiping many of us are all-too-familiar with, but the story is about so much more than an app. Nicholas Hoult and Laia Costa play Gabi and Martin, two millennials who meet on a dating app purely to hook up, but end up falling deeply in love. However, that's just the beginning of their story.
"When [writer Ben York Jones and I] were tinkering with the idea, we really wanted to make a movie that felt very modern," director Drake Doremus told Refinery29. "We really wanted to examine the idea that when there are new people at your disposal at all times...it’s a completely different mindset to go into the world with."
While the clip above features the two protagonists falling into monogamous love, deleting the app, and moving in together, much of the film centres in the tension that arises when they decide to explore an open relationship in an effort to accommodate their desires to see other people.
"The questions is, is this viable solution?" Doremus continued. "I didn’t want to make it about 'is this is good or this is bad,' I just wanted to make a film that honestly examined the consequences."
The sticky complications of intense relationships are Doremus' bread and butter. Like Crazy brutally explores the struggles that come with a long distance relationship, and Equals puts a dystopian twist on forbidden love.
"To be honest with you, it has a lot to do with my parents," he said of his proclivity for this type of story. Their relationship was passionate but short-lived, causing them to divorce when Doremus was two years old. "In my mind, this idea, that’s what love is."
Because of this, these films are just as much stories for us as they are for him.
"Subconsciously I’m continuing to try and examine and piece together their relationship," he explained. "That fear and sadness is so permeating in my work. Rather than run away, it's something I'm trying to examine. "
Newness will be available exclusively on iTunes starting November 3, before moving to Netflix in 2018.
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But Sundance wants to change that. The Women at Sundance fellowship supports women filmmakers by pairing them with industry figures who serve as their mentors throughout the program. The year-long fellowship program includes a stipend for the fellows to go to the Sundance Film Festival, complete with coaching sessions, seminars, and meetings.
Today, Sundance is revealing its sixth class of Women at Sundance fellows, and these are six women you'll definitely want to keep on your radar. Past participants in the fellowship program have gone on to do seriously big things — the list of alumni includes Selma director Ava DuVernay; Lemon director Janicza Bravo; and The Diary of a Teenage Girl director Marielle Heller.
The program helps women directors who are already well into their careers and on the fast track to widespread industry success, but who can use the mentorship and resources the fellowship provides. This year's fellows, for instance, have already created both short and feature-length films that have premiered at Sundance and South by Southwest.
Click through to learn more about the latest group of Women at Sundance fellows — you just might see their names again soon.
Eliza Hittman
If you haven't heard of Hittman, the Brooklyn-based filmmaker should be on your radar. She earned praise from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times for her debut film, It Felt Like Love, which premiered at the Sundance NEXT Fest in 2013. Her second movie, Beach Rats, premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. dramatic competition, and Hittman won the festival's directing award.
In addition to being a filmmaker, she's also an assistant professor at the Pratt Institute.
Lana Wilson
Wilson's film The Departure debuted at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, and it's already earned praise from The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Filmmaker magazine.
Before The Departure, Wilson's first movie, After Tiller, premiered at Sundance in 2013. The movie won an Emmy Award for Best Documentary. Wilson has also worked as a writer and producer on National Geographic Studios' I Am Rebel. She's also a visiting assistant professor at the Pratt Institute.
Lauren Wolkstein
Wolkstein has already created three short films — two of which, 2013's Social Butterfly and 2011's The Strange Ones, were shown at Sundance Film Festivals gone by. Her first short film, Cigarette Candy, won the Grand Jury Prize at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2010. In addition, Wolkstein also created a collaborative feature film called collective:unconscious that premiered at SXSW in 2016.
Together with her The Strange Ones co-director Christopher Radcliff, she developed the short into a feature-length film, which debuted at SXSW this year. The movie then went on to its international premiere at the Champs-Élysées Film Festival, earning the Grand Jury Prize for Best American Independent Feature Film. It will be released next January through Vertical Entertainment and DirecTV.
Like Hittman, Wolkstein is also an assistant professor; she teachers film and media arts at Temple University. Her next project will focus on a female poker player — we're definitely intrigued.
Ramona Diaz
Diaz's documentary films have focused on Filipinos and Filipino Americans, Sundance explains. The subjects of her films have ranged from teachers to musicians to first ladies. So far, Diaz has made four feature-length films: Imelda, The Learning, Don't Stop Believin': Everyman's Journey, and Motherland.
Diaz's movies have won multiple awards at various film festivals, including Silverdocs, IDFA, Sundance, Tribeca, and others. So if she's not on your radar yet, she definitely should be. Diaz has also served as a film envoy for the US Department of State's American Film Showcase, which brings US-made films to international audiences. She's also taught master classes in a number of countries, as well as in the United States.
Oh, and Diaz is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. No big deal.
Sabrina Schmidt Gordon
Like Diaz, Gordon is a documentary filmmaker. In addition to being a producer and director, Gordon is also a film editor — and her first editing project for the Greater Boston Arts series won an Emmy Award. She also earned an Emmy nomination for 2015's BaddDDDSonia Sanchez, which she co-produced, co-directed, and edited.
Gordon's newest film, Quest, premiered at Sundance in January. Since then, it's won Grand Jury prizes at other festivals, including the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, too. Gordon's first producing and editing feature debut, a documentary called Hip-Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes, also premiered at Sundance back in 2006. Gordon co-produced and edited 2013's Documented, and she also edited 2014's TV documentary series America by the Numbers with Marie Hinojosa.
Like several of her peers, Gordon is also an instructor — she's a faculty member at the Columbia University School of Journalism and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. She's also involved in social justice media projects and serves as a co-chair of the Black Documentary Collective.
Angela C. Lee
Sundance describes Lee as a producer who's "dedicated to creating bold and captivating stories that promote empathy and exploration." Her first movie, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, premiered at Sundance in 2015; it was nominated for several Spirit Awards.
Lee has several projects in the work, including a feature about a female bodybuilder and a comedy about online gaming. She's also working on a fictional short called The Row, which is in its post-production stages. Lee was a Sundance Institute Creative Producing Lab Fellow in 2015.
She also shows that making a drastic career change is totally doable — before becoming a producer, Lee worked as an associate at Goldman Sachs.
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I had decided on the daughter I would have, like I could write her into existence; a gender-defying rascal who’d fuck with the status quo and fight the patriarchy. She’d wear a tutu over a superhero costume and stomp around the place, all bossy and curious. In comparison to this trailblazer of a daughter, a boy just felt so pedestrian, so privileged. So I decided not to have one of those.
Then, during the 20-week scan, he waved his penis at us. I cried. I felt mocked by my naivety. It hadn’t occurred to me that I wouldn’t get what I wanted. I walked around John Lewis that afternoon and stroked miniature dresses, saying goodbye to them and to her. It felt like a loss and I was aware how strange it was to grieve something I never had.
“Even as we start our fertility journey, expectations begin. We create a fantasy lifestyle before we’ve met our child.” I’m discussing how I felt with Dr. Rachel Andrew, a psychotherapist specialising in motherhood. “And often no child can live up to the fantasy we create; you can’t just project a personality and a future onto a person.”
Even if I’d been pregnant with a daughter, who is to say she would have been up for fighting the patriarchy? Her favourite colour would have been pink to spite me and she’d have idolised Cinderella, I’m sure of it.
“If the gender of your unborn child causes you sadness, you should try and understand why you wanted a girl or a boy. Often in the absence of any real information we create a child from stereotypes,” Dr. Andrew continued. “Try to understand what gender stereotypes are affecting you and make conscious decisions to challenge those."
I had definitely thought girls seemed easier. My little brother was naughty – he set things on fire and jumped off school roofs – and I guess I’d based my knowledge of all young boys on the only one I’d known well.
Crying at the sexing of my baby made me question my identity as a feminist. I desperately want to be someone who doesn’t believe there is a difference between the genders. And ultimately I still believe either gender can be whoever they want to be, so why did I have such a strong preference? It felt like an internal longing, less driven by the head and more by the heart. It made me realise how ingrained our beliefs are about gender. In a society rife with labels, even the most pragmatic of us can’t escape the stereotypes.
Also bafflingly, much of my grief focused on the clothes. I cried in Gap, I cried in John Lewis, I cried in Liberty. Boys' clothes are boring. If the clothes made for baby boys predict the men they are to become, then we’re raising suburban, rugby club supporters: thick-striped, long-sleeve polo shirts, corduroy trousers in various mossy colours and hoodies with occasional nods to urban culture that get it as right as the designers at Desigual. The clothes on offer didn’t feel like my child's.
When I fought this and dressed him in clothes from the ‘wrong’ department I was accused of using my son to fight my own agenda. Society, it seemed, wasn’t as accepting of a boy in fairy wings as they are a girl in a Spiderman costume. Masculinity is still held up as a virtue for both sexes, but femininity is an undesirable trait for young boys. Along with the clothes I was sad about the names. Boys' names felt boring and apologetic, not celebratory and flamboyant like girls' names.
These were surface things I hadn’t realised I’d fallen for until I was told I couldn’t have them. Perhaps if it had taken longer to get pregnant it might not have felt this way. Perhaps if I’d had to wait my turn and suffer a few more failed months, I might have felt more grateful for getting what many women wish for every day. Oh, the shame at feeling disappointed about a healthy baby.
The author's son CassAlex Holder
But my son, my beloved son who is now two, taught me an important lesson. He taught me that motherhood is all about being vulnerable to the unexpected. He taught me humans are multifaceted beings who can’t be boxed into stereotypes. He taught me that we’re all more than our gender. I once comforted a friend when he found out his kid was a girl. He’d hoped for a boy because his father had disappeared when he was a kid and he wanted to experience a father-son bond. It’s only now that I have a child I realise what a huge expectation that was for any child to carry.
In unpacking why I wanted a girl I also learned a lot about myself. I learned I’m not as unbiased as I thought I was. I learned about the limitations I put on gender and the expectations I put on motherhood. I think if my son, Cass, had been a girl and all expectations of my future child had been fuelled, then having a newborn would have come as a greater shock.
Parenting is a constant calibration of expectations vs. reality. Cass isn’t particularly boisterous. I gave him a girl's name and he wears his hair long. He defies gender stereotypes as often as he conforms: he’s never happier than when pushing his pram to the local building site so he and his cuddly fox can scream "digger" for two minutes at construction vehicles.
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This week's news cycle has been dominated, quite rightly, by incredibly important conversations about sexual assault and harassment. Yesterday, Michael Fallon resigned as defence secretary after admitting his behaviour towards women had "fallen below the high standards" that someone in his position should maintain. The BBC's Newsnight programme decided to discuss the issue from the male perspective, with a segment titled: "The Problem With Men."
Hosts Emily Maitlis and Evan Davis were joined in the studio by a panel of 12 men sitting opposite just three women, who had another two men sitting behind them. As Sky News journalist Mollie Goodfellow pointed out on Twitter, this gave the programme an "odd dynamic" that seemed to reduce women's role in a conversation which pertains directly to their safety and wellbeing.
Would be interested to know why Newsnight decided to go with gang of men vs smaller group of women. Seems odd dynamic given topic.
Other viewers also tweeted to say they were confused and offended by the programme's "misguided" approach, which allowed men with some pretty unreconstructed views to share their thoughts on sexual assault and harassment. One of the male panellists even complained that the debate reflected the fact that "this PC (political correctness) has gone to such an extreme these days."
#Newsnight Hilarious watching these men argue about what is acceptable to a woman .. while the women watch on 🙄#Mansplaining
Newsnight 's deputy editor, Jess Brammar, defended the programme's format on Twitter, saying: "The idea was to get men into the studio to discuss this, rather than repeatedly watch women try to explain these issues and behaviour."
She added: "We have, and will continue to, put women on night after night to talk about their experiences. We decided to have an audience of men tonight."
Newsnight 's mishandling of the sexual assault and harassment debate only shows how far we have to go. Until the voices of women and male victims are placed front and centre of this conversation, real progress just won't be made fast enough.
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I turned 27 this past March, and it was a birthday of realisations. I realised that when someone suggests moving your birthday party to a warehouse concert in Queens at 2 a.m., your answer should be “no.” Similarly, I realised that, in your late 20s, hangovers brutally last all day. But I also realised that I am now officially older than my mother was when she had me, her first child. That one totally threw me for a loop, because it snapped into focus where my life was at that very moment — and how it was nowhere near where I’d expected it to be.
From the time I was a little girl, I always assumed that my life would follow a very similar pattern to that of my mother’s and the rest of the women in my family. They all met their partners young and married young. They started having children in their mid-20s. By the time they were 30, their lives were full of play dates and caring for sick kids and generally putting everyone else ahead of themselves. And it’s not as if my mother ever told me that this was the life she expected from me. In fact, she’d subtly suggested that I might find a different way. That's not because she regretted her choice to stay home with her kids, but because she knew that I had dreams of living in New York, of being a writer (after I’d given up on being a ballet dancer), and of doing as much traveling as my wallet would allow.
But I also had big dreams of falling in love. And since the examples I grew up with were the women in my family, the characters in my YA novels, and the princesses in my Disney movies, I figured that this love thing would be the defining factor of my life. I’d meet someone, and that’s when my entire life would begin. So, in my late teens and early 20s, finding love was at the forefront of my mind — more so than school, or friends, or even work. Now that’s not to say that I completely blew off all of those things in order to sit around swiping on Bumble all day. But given the choice between something that would benefit my romantic life and something that would benefit literally any other part of my life, I seemed to always swing in the direction of situations that might align me with love.
I figured that this love thing would be the defining factor of my life. I’d meet someone, and that’s when my entire life would begin.
Sometimes, this came in the form of sacrificing myself for a relationship I was in. When I was a sophomore at Manhattan College in the Bronx, I was dating a guy who went to Columbia. And one rainy Saturday, my roommate, Carly, and I decided that we wanted to be incredibly lazy. So instead of running down to my boyfriend like I normally would, Carly and I ordered a pizza, popped in a Seinfeld DVD, and just loafed around our dorm all day. When I did eventually make it down to Columbia to see my boyfriend, he was pissed. “If I had a day where I had nothing to do, I’d want to spend it with you — not anyone else,” he yelled. He made me feel bad for choosing myself (and my friend) over him. So from then on, whenever I had a free moment, I’d rush down to Columbia to see him, always choosing him over my friends. He was my boyfriend, we were in love, and that’s what I thought you were supposed to do.
This misalignment in my priorities was so present that I wasn’t doing so great of a job of celebrating my accomplishments in other parts of my life. When I moved into my first apartment on my own, I felt a twinge of sadness that I wasn’t shacking up with a partner. When I landed this very job, and started writing this column (which now brings me so much joy), the first thing I thought was, Will a guy want to date a woman who whines about her dating life on the internet? Since I hadn’t hit the love milestone yet, I measured every other life event against it, and everything else fell short.
Eventually, I found myself planning future events, expecting to be in a relationship when they came up. When a friend of mine invited me to California for New Year’s, I turned her down, because if I met someone between now and then, I’d want to spend New Year’s with this imaginary “him.” I’d keep certain nights of the week open in case someone asked me on a date, even if it meant turning down plans that someone had actually presented me with. It was insanity. But given the fact I that I was dedicating so much of my free time to finding The One, at the time, it made sense.
By not following the blueprint of the life I thought I wanted, I wound up with a life I absolutely adored.
Around this time last year, in the midst of bridesmaid duties that felt like a constant reminder of my singlehood, I started to recognise that the life I’d planned for myself wasn’t happening. But instead of falling into the panic I typically succumbed to, I decided to take a look around instead. In place of tween Maria’s “ideal life,” something incredible had sprouted. I may not have had a wild romance to fill my time with, but I did have a fun and inspiring group of friends. I had hobbies and travel plans. I had a job that, if I really thought about it, likely wouldn’t have happened for me if I’d been like my mother and found my person at 19. By not following the blueprint of the life I thought I wanted, I wound up with a life I absolutely adored.
In hindsight, I can see that, had I fallen in love early on in my life, I wouldn’t have learned to rely on myself as much as I do now. I likely would have continued to give pieces of myself to a partner and not expected much in return. The bad dates and the broken hearts have helped me become the person I am today, and have helped lead me to a career and a life I actually treasure.
Next March, I’ll turn 28. When my mom was that age, she had two children — and she completely loved her life. Her daughter’s 28th year will be vastly different than hers, though. A few weeks after my birthday, I’ll head on a month-long, solo trip to Europe that I never would have booked had I gotten married in my mid-20s. Neither life is better nor worse than the other, but I’m finally happy that this one is mine.
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Hollywood has dominated the news cycle over the past couple of weeks, as more and more women have, and still are, coming forward with stories about the industry's toxic male culture that enables everything from sexual harassment and assault to the wage gap. Hollywood has work to do when it comes to empowering women — but it would be a mistake to assume that this problem is limited to the sunny skies of California, or even the United States.
As it turns out, even cool French girls have to deal with sexism.
For a while now, I've been slightly obsessed with a French show called Call My Agent!( Dix Pour Cent). The show follows the travails and tribulations of four Parisian film agents trying to save their company from ruin all while dealing with constant actor meltdowns. I would call it the French Entourage, but that would be doing it a disservice. Because while Entourage plays into almost every awful stereotype about Hollywood, Call My Agent! highlights them in a way that calls attention without endorsing them.
Take for example, the first episode of the second, and latest season, now available to stream on Netflix. "Virginie et Ramzy," kicks off with an interview with a married actor couple — Virginie Efira and Ramzy Bedia, famous actors IRL, though their couple status is fake — who are promoting their very first movie together. They are proud to announce that one of their conditions upon making the film was that they be paid the same.
"Is that important to you?" the interviewer asks.
"It's especially important for me," Virginie replies. "Wage equality is important in all professions, but we need to move things along in our own industry."
"Two equal checks, in the same account, that way everyone's happy — even our agent." Ramzy jokes.
This would be a fairly standard press moment if it weren't for the plot twist: Ramzy actually has a secret contract that ensures him a salary bonus for an appearance on On N'est Pas Couché, basically France's equivalent of The Tonight Show, to promote the film. In the midst of another brewing scandal (I'll let you watch, and find out exactly what that one entails on your own), Virginie finds out about the wage gap within her own marriage, and all hell breaks loose.
In episode 2, Sofia Leprince, a young actress who goes in for an audition and dares to question why her character has no other descriptors than "pretty and smiling." She gets shut down by a female producer who tells her she shouldn't have to explain what it means to sleep her way to the top. (Sofia happens to be dating her agent.)
The great thing about this show, though, is that it takes sides. In the case of Ramzy's deception, he is clearly in the wrong. He should have refused his agent's suggestion of a secret contract, or at the very least, talked to his wife about it. His argument that this money is actually for both of them since they hold a shared account is bogus if he's earning it on the sly. In the case of Sofia, the offending producer gets a stool thrown at her head.
But perhaps the most interesting thing about Call My Agent! is that it also highlights the ways in which French film culture differs from our own. The pilot episode of the series deals with the negotiations around a contract for French cinema icon Cécile de France, who's up for a role in a new Tarantino movie. At the last minute, Tarantino — who, incidentally, is one of the only men to have admitted that he knew enough about Harvey Weinstein's pattern of abuse to have done something about it earlier — withdraws the offer, with the excuse that he needs a younger woman for the role. Cécile de France is 40, and I'm a little embarrassed to say that I didn't bat an eye at this revelation — of course he would want someone younger.
But not so in France, where the reaction is one of outrage. "Cecile de France is too old for a role. What's the role, a child?" one of the agents exclaims.
Later, when it's suggested by his rep that Tarantino might consider casting the actress if she were to look 30 rather than 40 — translation: if she got plastic surgery — the response is just as refreshing. Though she originally considers it — Tarantino is a huge get for a French actress looking to break into Hollywood — Cécile de France pushes back. She's not changing her face to keep up with unrealistic beauty expectations that expect women never to age. Perhaps even more amazingly, her agents support her. They applaud her decision.
France is in no way perfect, despite what all those perfect French girl myths will tell you. The country is dealing with many of the same issues we are when it comes to sexual harassment and gender equality. But the difference is that France has recently taken steps to combat its deeply ingrained culture of harassment. A law proposed in October by gender quality minister Marlène Schiappa could soon see men fined for catcalling and other public harassment.
In the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Hollywood seems to be (slowly) gearing itself up for some much needed introspection about the way women are being treated in entertainment, both behind-the-scenes and in the spotlight. But why stop there? Hotel du Cap D'Eden Roc, where many stars stay while attending the Cannes Film Festival, was the setting for many of the stories about Weinstein 's alleged behaviour. Clearly, misogyny and harassment in the film industry are systemic problems that go beyond borders — why not go global in our efforts to address them?
Kim Kardashian once proclaimed that posting photos of food was not sexy. Maybe I don't know what's hot or not, because on more than one occasion I've waited an hour for food at a restaurant and, instead of taking a bite the minute the waiter placed the plate in front of me, snapped a pic instead.
Now, a restaurant in Maidenhead is squashing your food porn dreams. According to GrubStreet, Waterside Inn has banned all food photography, allowing us to finally wonder if food unseen by the masses really does taste as good.
Taking photos of your food may be something that insufferable Millennials, like myself, do every time we're presented with a pretty plate, but Waterside Inn is not one to be swayed by trends. Michel Roux, who co-founded the three-Michelin-star restaurant with his brother Albert, simply put up a card that says "No photos, please," in hopes that it would dissuade people from turning their restaurant into a food porn hub.
Speaking to GrubStreet, Michel admitted he doesn't even get why people are so into taking photos of their food in the first place. He told the outlet:
"What are they doing? Maybe once during the meal you want to take a little photo of something because it’s unusual. But what about the flavours? A picture on a phone cannot possibly capture the flavours."
The thing is, Roux is actually right. One does not enjoy the taste of a decadent cake simply from scrolling through the Cheesecake Factory's Instagram feed. So why do we love food porn so much? Well, according to a 2015 article in the Atlantic, researchers still aren't sure why we enjoy looking at photos of food so much — let alone posting said photos of food for our followers to see.
An article in New York Magazine from 2016 titled "The Psychological Case For Instagramming Your Food," has some er, food for thought: Maybe what we really enjoy about taking pics of our meals is that it builds anticipation for the food you're about to dig into.
Valid point, for sure — the best things in life are worth the wait, right?
Just don't try to build your foodie Instagram account while dining at Waterside Inn. The only thing you're allowed to do with the food at that restaurant is, well, eat it. And hey...maybe that's enough?
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Photographer Amelia Allen's new book, Naked Britain, is a celebratory exploration of the human body, with a focus on the UK's growing naturism movement. With fashion photography published in magazines such as Vogue, Tatler and Vanity Fair, and clients like Matches Fashion, Hermès and Temperley London, Allen's latest creative endeavour may seem a little uncharacteristic. But her background in fashion is in fact what led to her new project.
"I have spent the majority of my career photographing conventionally beautiful and aesthetically pleasing models who are used to displaying clothes," she tells R29. "Everything surrounding this is to do with body image and having to look a certain way to fit a specific societal construct of what is seen as beautiful. Growing up today, through such a politically dynamic time, where women’s rights are a huge issue, I wanted to create a project that took liberation and freedom of body image into the limelight. I wanted to photograph a community that represented equality in body image, appearance, sexuality and gender. I felt a desperate urge to photograph another side of society, and to experience something away from fashion, but something still very much focusing on the beauty of the human body. Naturism was perfect for this."
Amelia's first foray into naturism was attending a clothing-optional day at a members' club in Buckinghamshire. She met a family who invited her to a naked picnic and skinny dip, before introducing her to the wider community. Three years on, they're still friends. "The first experience was quite a daunting one and it all builds up in your head but you’ve just got to treat it like a band aid: once the clothes are off, you’re free. It’s really good fun, very refreshing and liberating," she says. "There's something about wandering around in a place you usually wouldn’t be naked – like a garden; I loved it. It took some getting used to, but not only was I trying to learn about this way of life through my photography, but also to grow personally. To step out of my comfort zone and look at my own relationship with my body and attitude to nudity."
So what did she learn? "Many said one of the reasons they liked being involved in the naturist community was that they could be themselves, away from mainstream life and remove all those stereotypes and statuses of clothing," she explains. "Being naked means you are a blank canvas and for some, you are anonymous." Are they happier in their own skin than the rest of society, or do they get hang-ups like the rest of us? "I think both. They are more self-accepting, because they realise there is more to life than their appearance. I guess everyone has an opinion of their own body and that changes throughout your life. They feel most comfortable and relaxed being naked and under a lot less pressure than among clothed society."
Most of Amelia's subjects are 35 and older, and the free-love attitude of young people in the '70s hasn't quite carried over to 2017. We're more open than ever about our sexuality and gender identity, with sex clubs and polyamory becoming more and more widely accepted – but nudity is often still seen as crass. "It’s quite funny that that is the case, and that casual sex and paid clubs are so normal to many but nudity with no sexuality is seen as distasteful," Amelia notes. "Is that because the people who sunbathe topless or breastfeed in public don't fit into society's idea of an aesthetically pleasing idea of body image? There seems to be a double standard: it's okay to be naked if it's for sexual pleasure or observation, or for an editorial, but not okay for the freedom and liberation of it," she highlights.
Does she think attitudes are changing? "I think so. Plus-size models help a lot of young women who aren’t the size of a catwalk model. I'm a fashion photographer and a size 14, and that is okay. However, they are still beautiful, so it's helping young women on social media but not changing attitudes to all body types and ages," she says. "I think it's important to recognise that ad campaigns and social media are not honest perceptions of reality. Don’t compare your behind-the-scenes to someone else’s showreel."
Despite our best efforts, we all have unconscious prejudices towards bodies, thanks to the media's unrelenting bombardment of unattainable, inaccessible and over-sexualised images. It often takes a lot of work to love your own body and not hold others up as the epitome of perfection. Amelia's shots of the naturists, free of self-consciousness and judgement, encourage you to do just that: appreciate your body for the wonder it is.
Click through to see our favourite photographs from the book.
Amelia Allen's Naked Britain, published by Kehrer Verlag, is available here.
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Now Halloween is (finally) over, it's time to start planning for the most wonderful time of the year. No, not Christmas; New Year's Eve. The date when we can finally say goodbye to 2017 and embrace the brand new year ahead. And after everything the last 12 months have brought, it's safe to say that your NYE celebrations should definitely involve a holiday.
Despite there being people in the world who plan this sort of thing months in advance, there are plenty of beautiful places still available for you to escape to this New Year.
So whether you're planning to ring in 2018 with a few friends, throw a massive party or have an early night with someone you love, we've found the perfect getaway for every kind of New Year celebration. Raise a glass of prosecco to 2018 and treat yourself to the New Year's Eve all 2017 survivors deserve.
Click through for our favourite getaways, and get booking, stat.
All properties available to book at time of publishing.
For A Relaxing New Year's Eve
North Star Club Yorkshire
If your Christmas means work party karaoke, family rows or Wham! on repeat, we won't be surprised if you need a bit of peace and quiet once it's all over. North Star Club's stunning two-bedroom woodland cabins are perfect for a grown-up getaway, so grab your closest friends and head away from the noise.
When you're this far from the madding crowd, you can make New Year's Eve anything you want it to be. Load up your car with prosecco, get the wood burner going and dance like nobody's watching before waking up on January 1st in your own four-poster bed. If you need to detox after a heavy Christmas, you can book a cabin with its own sauna and arrange for a massage from their on-site beauty therapist, before taking a long soak in the roll-top bath.
Fireworks, popping prosecco bottles, drunken singing along to Whitney Houston; traditional New Year's Eve activities can be pretty loud. This year, avoid angry interruptions from your neighbours and dirty looks from the people upstairs by escaping the crowds and booking The Limes, your very own country house, for a proper New Year's Eve party.
Just 30 miles from London, this house sleeps 10 and is more picturesquely British than Kate Winslet's pad in The Holiday. Ivy-covered walls surround a huge garden, complete with fire pit, trampoline and even a swing in the chestnut tree. Inside, you'll have plenty of space around the huge dining table to raise a glass or several, as well as a massive sofa to enjoy a hungover New Year's Day Harry Potter binge. What could be better?
Families come in all shapes and sizes but however big or small yours may be, we're guessing you're not going to have enough time to see all of them this December. Instead of spending the last days of the month dashing between your nana's front room and your partner's aunt's cousin's party, whisk your nearest and dearest away to the amazing Lower Mills Estate. Set inside a nature reserve, there's a huge array of lakeside flats and houses here, as well as an on-site spa, eight lakes, two rivers, private pools and playgrounds for all ages.
This particular cottage sleeps seven and comes with a huge open-plan living space, where you can all cuddle up around the fire and admire the stunning view over the lagoon as you welcome in 2018. And if you need a break from your family break (no judgement here), you can always chill on your own personal balcony, swim in the heated pool or go for a bike ride along one of the many nature trails.
South of the border, we call 31st December plain ol' New Year's Eve but in Scotland it's Hogmanay, and it's a hell of a big deal. Edinburgh is magical at any time of year, but from 30th December, when the celebrations kick off, the heart of the city blazes with thousands of candles during the annual torchlit procession. New Year's Eve itself offers not one but two huge firework displays, the world-famous street party on Princes Street and, of course, a traditional Scottish ceilidh in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.
If only a whisky-fuelled night out will do, check into The Grassmarket Hotel. Mere steps away from Edinburgh Castle and The Royal Mile, this is the perfect base for anyone wanting to make the most of Hogmanay. Each room has a rainfall shower and a supply of Tunnocks teacakes to help with the hangover once January rolls around. If you need your full squad to really make it a night out, fear not, they even have triple and 'quad' rooms for groups.
If you're expecting nothing better from your Christmas presents this year than novelty festive jumpers, unsolicited diet cookbooks and socks, now is the time to take matters into your own hands. Be your own Santa and book an escape to the luxurious Bristol Harbour Hotel. After all, it's been a long year and you deserve to live out your Home Alone 2 fantasy at least once.
Each of the beautifully designed rooms in this boutique hotel has been converted from the offices of a Victorian bank, although now they boast king-size beds and complimentary decanters of gin and sherry rather than paying-in slips. The bank's vault has also been converted into a bijou spa, complete with jacuzzi and steam room to ease 2017's woes. If you venture out, you're only steps away from the hub of Bristol's nightlife and some of the best restaurants in the city. But if you prefer to lie back in your fluffy dressing gown and order Kevin McCallister levels of room service, you go right ahead. Happy New Year to you.
If the highlight of your New Year's Eve is kissing that special someone at midnight, why not go all-in on romance this year? There's no better time, as the super cool Hoxton hotel group has just launched its latest property – in the city of love, no less. Treat yourself and your S.O. to a truly fabulous NYE, Parisian-style.
Inside this renovated 18th century hotel particulier, everything is unbelievably romantic, not to mention très chic. Climb one of the 15 original rococo staircases to your room and, if you feel like it, spend your whole trip cuddled up beneath the antique cornicing. If you can get yourself out of bed, though, head down to Jacques Bar to raise a coupe of champagne to 2018 before heading out to Paris' traditional New Year's Eve parade along the Champs-Elysées. Bonne année!
It’s never been easier to keep up with what’s going on in the world. The news is everywhere – in our Facebook feeds, on the morning commute, during that lazy half hour before you switch off the TV and go to bed. But the tide of global affairs is often more upsetting than uplifting and it can be tempting to bury our heads in the sand. As the saying goes: a picture is worth a thousand words, so to offer a different perspective we've rounded up some of the most memorable images of the week's events, captured by the best photojournalists on the planet.
A jacaranda tree in full bloom with the backdrop of Sydney Harbour with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House on 1st November 2017 in Sydney, Australia. Jacaranda trees are not native to Australia but can be found around Sydney and are popular for their stunning purple blooms in spring, drawing hundreds of tourists and locals alike to view their wonderful colour.
Photo: James D. Morgan/Getty Images
Authorities investigate the pickup truck and scene of a terror attack in downtown New York on 31st October 2017. Eight people were killed in the incident and at least 11 were injured when the driver of a pickup truck ran pedestrians and bicyclists down in a bike lane. He then collided with a school bus, injuring people including two children in the bus. The driver was taken into custody after being shot by police. The incident is being investigated as a terror attack.
Photo: JASON SZENES/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock.
Supporters of National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential candidate Raila Odinga react after the result of re-elections as the incumbent president declared his victory in Kisumu, on 30th October 2017. Kenya's incumbent president was declared victor of the country's deeply divisive elections on 30th October, taking 98% of the ballots cast in a poll boycotted by his rival, sparking fears of further violence in flashpoint opposition strongholds.
Photo: YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images
The city skyline is seen in the background as competitors take part in the Harbour Race swimming event in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour on 29th October 2017. Some 3,000 swimmers braved Hong Kong waters to compete in the challenging annual harbour race across one of the world's most famous and busiest waterways.
Photo: TENGKU BAHAR/AFP/Getty Images
Rohingya refugee children walk at Moynerghona refugee camp in the Bangladeshi district of Ukhia on 29th October 2017. Bangladesh is planning to introduce voluntary sterilisation in its overcrowded Rohingya camps, where nearly a million refugees are fighting for space, after efforts to encourage birth control failed. More than 600,000 Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh since a military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar in August triggered an exodus, straining resources in the impoverished country.
Photo: TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images
A picture shows the messages #Me too and #BalanceTonPorc (Expose Your Pig) on the hand of a protester during a gathering against gender-based and sexual violence called by the Effronté-e-s Collective, on the Place de la République in Paris on 29th October 2017. #MeToo is the campaign encouraging women to denounce experiences of sexual abuse that has swept across social media in the wake of the wave of allegations targeting Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
Photo: BERTRAND GUAY/AFP/Getty Images
Indian women farmers, with bodies buried in pits, stage a ' Zameen Satyagrah' protest against forced acquisition of their land by Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) at Nindar Village, about 20 kilometres from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India on 29th October 2017. Hundreds of farmers sit in pits for more than 28 days in protest against the government's plan to acquire their land, which they use for agriculture, media reports said.
Photo: Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images
In this photograph, taken on 27th October 2017, an Afghan woman collects saffron flowers after picking them in a field on the outskirts of Herat. For years, Afghanistan has tried to give farmers alternatives such as fruit crops and saffron to wean them away from poppy farming – the lifeblood of the Taliban insurgency. International donors have splurged billions of dollars on counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan over the past decade, including efforts to encourage farmers to switch to other cash crops. But those efforts have shown little results.
Photo: HOSHANG HASHIMI/AFP/Getty Images
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I’ve had obsessive compulsive disorder since I was a small child. I obsessed about eating off of a certain plate and drinking out of a cup decorated in Little Mermaid cartoons. I fought to say my prayers perfectly, every night, in a certain order, and spent nights wide awake replaying a song on repeat in my head. All because my brain told me to — and if I didn’t do it, I thought that something catastrophic would happen; someone I loved would die, or I’d never get into college.
My first experience with depression was at age 12, when my family moved to a new state. I had no control over this place, the people, or, it seemed, my life. Yes, as a preteen I was concerned with maintaining “order.” Seems impossible to fathom looking back at it, but the accompanying fear and sadness was very real. Despite my struggles, I never actually sought help until an abusive relationship ended in college.
The termination of this relationship, and the accompanying damage it had inflicted, was the ultimate loss of control. And I’d while I’d always had OCD and depression, it wasn’t until the relationship ended that I noticed just how bad my anxiety had become, and realised I needed to see a psychiatrist, who officially diagnosed me.
Over the last four years, thanks to regular therapy and proper medication, my anxiety and depression have improved tremendously, but if there’s one thing that still has the power to send me into a tailspin, it’s dating. I don’t think anyone really loves dating — especially those of us who live in New York — but for me, it’s even more of a shitshow, thanks to my OCD telling me I need to be in complete control of every situation I’m in.
Because I need control, I get into the habit of putting so much pressure on myself throughout my relationships to make things perfect. I put so much effort into making things work and always ensuring the other person is happy, that I forget to make sure I am happy. I give and give in my mission to perfect, so much so that when the relationship ends, I have nothing left — I’m hollow.
I didn’t recognise this pattern, though, until my last pseudo-relationship ended. I had been seeing someone regularly, and we had been in near-constant communication for over a month and a half. He had stayed over at my apartment, something I consider very personal, and I started to let my guard down around him. For me and my anxiety, that meant investing in him — and subsequently trying to maintain control over the situation to protect my investment.
Maintaining total control isn’t possible in any relationship, and certainly not in this one, which became clear when he told me that he had been on a date with someone else. We weren’t exclusive, but it sucked. I had done everything “right” — I’d tried everything to make him like me, to make him happy, and yet, the situation was utterly and completely out of my control. I could feel the deep, dark vortex of depression bubbling up in my throat and nestling into a familiar corner of my brain.
The thing about my depression and anxiety is that, when something triggers them, regardless of how small or large the trigger actually is, my brain rings an alarm. Panic rushes over me in waves, taking over my body, building on top of each other, until I feel like I’m drowning. Hopelessness invades my brain in a way that’s almost impossible to explain and exhausting to fight.
Frustratingly, I knew my panic was a reaction to someone else’s choices — which, of course, I never had any control over. And I knew that these thoughts were unproductive and a product of a part of my brain that wasn’t “me,” but I still couldn’t shake them.
The day after he told me about the other person he’d gone on a date with, I left work early, crawled into my bed, and cried. The panic still shot through my body in thunderbolts, reverberating through my limbs. I tried to breathe, tried to stop it, but it was useless. And as I lay there, thinking about how much this non-relationship relationship had messed me up, I realised that this was a pattern. I’d spent most of my adult life trying to make everyone else happy — friends, family, coworkers, partners — banking on absorbing their happiness via osmosis. And whenever someone wasn’t happy, I immediately blamed myself for not being able to control their emotional state. It sounds wacky, but it’s my brain’s default setting.
And as I sat in my bed, and began to round the corner from sad to angry, I realized that I was expecting something that was completely and utterly impossible. I can’t control other people’s actions or their emotions. I only have agency over myself and my decisions. And falling short of perfection isn’t “failing,” because perfection is bullshit. Life, and relationships especially, are clunky.
These thoughts didn’t magically transform my life, but they did start to shift the way I related to my OCD and depression. The idea that I cannot force someone to be happy, especially in a romantic relationship, has helped me halt the obsessive cycles in my head. Realising I am only responsible for my actions, and not the reactions or choices of others, has helped minimise the vortex of my depression.
I know my anxiety will never go away — those thought patterns and tendencies will always be there — but freeing myself from the weight of perfection prevents me from falling deeper into its spiral. And right now, that’s good enough for me.
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Alias Grace, a new Netflix drama based off a 1996 Margaret Atwood novel of the same name, has everything you could want in a true crime story. There’s a grisly murder with motivations based in class, sexuality, and pent-up emotion. There’s a suspect who is as much of a mystery as the crime itself. Yet Alias Grace defies expectations for the true crime genre. You’ll get a good story, but not an easy solution.
Though Alias Grace is based around a real crime which took place in 1843, much of what you’ll see in the show is the product of Margaret Atwood’s imagination. Noticing the gaps in Marks’ sparse biography, Atwood "felt [she] was free to invent." Atwood's inventions — including two main characters — are what allow the character of Grace Marks to take on such fascinating dimensions.
Here's what actually happened to the real Grace Marks, and what aspects of the story originated in the novel Alias Grace.
That terrible crossing over to Canada? Yeah, that happened to Marks — and to many others.
Marks was born in Ireland, and was one of nine children. In 1840, Marks emigrated to Canada with her family, a time when the Great Famine compelled the Irish to cross the Atlantic in the hundreds of thousands. Ships to Canada were cheaper the ships to the United States, but had the nickname of “coffin ships” because so many passengers died aboard.
By the time she touched shore, Marks was essentially an orphan. Her mother died on the ship, as is depicted in the show. Her father was a violent alcoholic. The transition wasn’t easy, either — Irish people were treated like second-class citizens.
The grisly crime is at the centre of Alias Grace is totally and completely real.
In the year 1843, a wealthy Ottawa-based landowner, Thomas Kinnear, and his servant, Nancy Montgomery, were brutally murdered. The convicted culprits? Kinnear’s employees, 20-year-old James McDermott and 16-year-old Grace Marks. McDermott was sentenced to death. Marks, for her age and gender, was pardoned and sentenced to thirty years in prison, which she split between the Kingston Penitentiary and the Toronto Lunatic Asylum.
In the show, Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft) interviews Marks in the penitentiary. She flashes back to her traumatic time at the asylum.
The trial was sensational and highly publicised.
This double murder transfixed the Canadian public, much in the same way the Menendez Murders or the Amanda Knox trial captured contemporary America's attention. Theories proliferated about Grace Marks’ true involvement in the murder. Was she innocent, and manipulated towards murder by her lover, McDermott? Did she suffer from dissociative personality disorder, and pressure McDermott to carry out the murders, as he claimed? Could she actually be possessed by her old friend Mary Whitney?
In the show, Grace describes the trial to Dr. Simon Jordan during their sessions. The elaborate pink bonnet she wears in the trial flashbacks resembles the illustration of Marks from their trial.
What’s the deal with Mary Whitney?
Mary Whitney, played by Rebecca Liddiard in the show, was Marks’ friend from the Alderman Parkinson household. She died following a botched abortion. During the trial, some people thought Marks was “possessed” by Whitney. Others thought that Whitney was actually alive, and impersonating Marks. What gave them that idea? Marks assumed the name Mary Whitney when escaping the scene of the crime with McDermott.
Throughout the show, you’ll be guessing as to whether Grace somehow incorporated Whitney’s personality into her own. In the essay “Under/Cover: Strategies of Detection and Evasion in Atwood’s Alias Grace,” scholar Marilyn Rose explains the plausibility of Grace’s split personality: “That the personality of Grace Marks should ‘split,’ absorbing the raw and vindicated anger of Mary Whitney and assigning ‘Mary’ the task of executing a crime in retaliation for the wrongs done to female servants in households such as the Kinnears’, makes some sense.”
Many of the supporting characters are creations, including Dr. Simon Jordan.
In the show, Dr. Simon Jordan (Edward Holcroft) earnestly tries to apply his newfangled psychology skills to unravel the mystery that is Grace Marks. Instead, Grace unravels him.
Simon is entirely an Atwood creation. Marilyn Rose guesses why Simon was included in the text. “[Atwood] makes mockery of a particular kind of detective in the figure of Simon Jordan, one who happens to be a positivist, a pioneering man of science — the science of inquiry into the human mind, a science with potential applications in the direction of mind control,” Rose writes.
Consequently, Grace’s elusiveness undercuts Simon’s rigid, rational mindset. She intentionally weaves stories to distract and tantalise Simon. She refused to be classified. Grace upends the detective narrative.
Jeremiah is also an Atwood creation.
Jeremiah, played by Zachary Levi in the show, is the foil to Dr. Simon Jordan. He’s a performer, a hypnotist, a peddler — he has no expert trade, but he acts like he knows them all. As you’ll see in the show, there’s also a chance that Jeremiah helps Grace prove her innocence. You’ll have to decide that for yourself.
Alias Grace gives Grace Marks’ life a real ending.
Here's what we know about what happened to Grace Marks after she was pardoned: She moved to New York. That's it.
In the show, the end of Marks’ life is filled out. She gets married to an old acquaintance from the Kinnear farm, who was actually implicated in her 30-year conviction. She has a serene life on the farm.
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A dangerously addictive vice at its worst and one of life's great celebratory pleasures at its best, alcohol is tricky to get right. While it's no beauty elixir, one glass of red wine a day is okay, even healthy, some might say. But when you start your morning with a round of mimosas at brunch, down a bourbon nightcap come midnight, and account for a few too many beers in between, the repercussions are not so fun. Not only does it mess with your liver health and your clarity of mind, hitting the bottle too hard can seriously fuck up your skin — if you're not careful.
As celebrity aesthetician Angela Caglia tells us, alcohol dehydrates your skin and robs it of its vital nutrients, so excessive alcohol consumption (think: drinking like you're still in college), can contribute to skin's premature ageing in the long term, and bloating, puffiness, enlarged pores, dullness, and rosacea the day after.
So if you're wondering how people go out and drink, then walk into work the next day looking like they got a full eight hours and did a face mask the night before, the answer is this: They're cognisant of their skin and the way it reacts to certain types of alcohol when they're walking up to the bartender. Caglia recommends living (or drinking) by the general rule of thumb that the clearer the alcohol, the better it'll be for your skin. Red wine, dark whiskey, a piña colada — these are the things a killer hangover and a puffy face are made of. Straight-up, no-frills shots? Surprisingly not so bad.
Ahead, we're breaking down what the most popular alcohols (beer, white wine, red wine, vodka and tequila) do to your skin. Think of it as a guide to keep your happy hour from fucking you up. Your skin, that is.
Beer
Whether it's a tinny you're drinking at a house party or some fancy craft label from a micro brewery, guzzling any type of beer is not going to be great for your skin — but it's not the worst you can do.
Mostly, the issue is with bloating as opposed to rosacea or acne flare-ups. "Beer contains both sugar and some salt, so it contributes to face and tummy bloating," Caglia explains. Skin puffiness is not ideal, but throwing back a beer or two (or even three) shouldn't create a huge problem. Interestingly, it turns out beer actually has some beauty benefits, as it's been found that the hops and yeast have soothing benefits for the skin. One spa in Ohio has even started offering hops facials and barley massages made with craft brewskis. But before you justify your next keg stand, know that the benefits only come from soaking your skin in beer — chugging it will only get you puffiness... and maybe a few high fives.
Photo Courtesy Of Louisa Cannell
White Wine
Unfortunately for your Thursday whine-and-wine sesh, a few glasses of white (or any type of sugary champagne for that matter) could be pretty harmful to your skin. Nutrition expert Paula Simpson tells us that wine contains sulphites that protect it from spoiling (which is why it gets better with age), but those sulphites can trigger skin redness and irritation. If you have very sensitive skin, it's likely to leave you with a full flush of rosacea, making it painfully obvious that you've been drinking. So sadly, if you're having more than a few drinks and rosy cheeks aren't your jam, you might want to opt for a clear-alcohol cocktail or beer instead.
But if you can't give up your white, try to keep it to one glass. Care/of Nutritionist Jillian Tuchman, MS, RD, recommends drinking a glass of water with every glass of Sauvignon blanc to soften the blow to your skin and reduce the risk of finding splotchy red patches all over your face when you look in the bathroom mirror.
Photo Courtesy Of Louisa Cannell
Red Wine
We know antioxidants are good and red wine has antioxidants so therefore, we can justify our heavy pours, right? Not entirely. Caglia tells us that although red wine has the powerful antioxidant resveratrol, which is good for your skin and anti-ageing, it can also accelerate the rate of rosacea, if you're prone to the condition. That's because although it has less sugar than white wine, it still contains the sulphites that cause skin irritation.
But as NYC dermatologist Neal Schultz, MD, reminds us, everyone has different redness thresholds, and some people will be more sensitive to flare-ups. "In people with rosacea, alcohol can trigger acne breakouts (acne rosacea) with facial red pimples and pus pimples in addition to the redness," he explains.
Bottom line: If you're having one or two drinks and you don't struggle with rosacea, you can feel okay about going with red wine. But if you're filling your glass with Bordeaux for hours on end, your skin might start to freak out.
Photo Courtesy Of Louisa Cannell
Vodka
Now we're getting into the stronger stuff — the makings of shots and lowered inhibitions. But despite being high in alcohol by volume, vodka in its purest form probably isn't going to mess up your skin too badly. If you're drinking a lot, vodka's a good choice, says Caglia. "With no extra sugar and salt, it gets in and out of your system fast," she explains. And your best bet, much to the dismay of your tastebuds, is to take it straight. Most juices and mixed drinks contain a ton of sugar, which translates to hangover face.
Tequila
Your best bet if you're looking to keep your skin glowing while treating yourself to a bunch of drinks? Tequila. You've probably heard that, like red wine, tequila actually has some health benefits. As Caglia tells us, it can help lower blood sugar and has been said to help with digestion. And skin-wise, it's not linked to any reactive rosacea flare-ups, bloating, or inflammation. But before you start mixing a margarita, know that once you start salting the rim and adding sugary syrups, the fringe health benefits and skin calmness go out the window.
Also important: Remember to keep it clear with your tequila. As Tuchman explains, the dark stuff contains congeners from fermentation that clear liquor doesn't. Those congeners can worsen your hangover and the facial signs of a hangover (dull and droopy skin).
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In a speech Friday at the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo, Japan Trump condemned sexual harassment as something that should “never be tolerated.”
“All too often, our workplace culture fails to treat women with appropriate respect,” the senior adviser and daughter to President Trump said. “This takes many forms including harassment which can never be tolerated.”
People online were quick to point to the irony of Ivanka Trump’s speech given that her father — the leader of the free world — has a well-documented history of harassing women.
Unless it is my Dad....That is just Lockerroom talk and should be ignored.
“Locker room talk” of course is what Donald Trump called his behaviour in the infamous Access Hollywood tape in which he referred to grabbing a woman "by the pussy.”
When that tape first came out in 2016, Ivanka Trump chose not to call attention to the pervasiveness of the issue. Instead she gave her father a pat on the back for saying he was sorry. “My father’s comments were clearly inappropriate and offensive and I’m glad that he acknowledged this fact with an immediate apology to my family and the American people,” Ivanka Trump said in a statement at the time.
The allegations went beyond inappropriate language. During the course of the 2016 campaign, 11 women came forward accusing the then-Republican presidential candidate of unwanted touching or kissing. Trump called the charges “pure fiction” and referred to the women as “horrible, horrible liars.”
If Ivanka Trump does have the influence over the President that many suspect she does, now is the time for her to use it.
With the surge in women coming forward to share their experiences of sexual harassment from Washington to Hollywood, it’s an opportune time for Ivanka Trump to speak up, condemning the behavior and encouraging women to come forward.
Here are just a few things she can do:
— Take steps to advance paid family-leave legislation she claims to support
— Acknowledge the role that sexism and gender roles play in creating a barrier
— And perhaps most importantly, recognise her father’s complicity in promoting this culture of sexual harassment in business, entertainment, and politics.
Using an international stage to speak about the issue is a good first step, but if Ivanka has the power to make a difference, we can’t simply stand by and applaud half-baked responses to real problems.
Actions speak louder than words, Ms. Trump. It’s time for you to act. We're waiting.
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Vegan and comfort food aren't necessarily two dining concepts we would couple together — especially now that the seasons have changed and we've started to favour cooked-hot dishes over fresh-cold ones. But, that's a short-sighted assumption, because vegan recipes are certainly not exclusively made of leafy greens and raw veggies. There's a whole slew of filling, comfort-food quality recipes around that also happen to be dairy-free and vegetarian. The kinds of dishes that are just begging to be whipped up during the oncoming chilly months. And what's one of our favourite affordable and easy cold-weather food staples of all time? Soup.
Here to prove to us that meat and dairy-free soups can still be hearty winter feasts are three rich recipes from Vanessa Croessmann's aptly-named cookbook, Awesome Vegan Soups. From creamy butternut squash bisques to chunky sweet potato chilis and more, scroll on for your fill of three vegan winners to keep you warm all fall and winter long.
Roasted Apple Butternut Squash Soup Makes 2½ qts
Ingredients ½ butternut squash, seeds removed 2 tbsp olive oil, divided 2 apples, peeled, quartered and cored 1 yellow onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 3 cups (720 ml) vegetable broth Pinch of nutmeg Salt and pepper Pumpkin seeds, for garnish
Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut the butternut squash in half. Place one of the halves in the fridge for later use. Remove the seeds from the other butternut squash half and set aside. Rub 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil over the apples and butternut squash and place them on the lined baking sheet. The squash should be placed face down. Roast the apples and squash in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes until the squash is tender. Remove the squash and apples from the oven and allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes.
2. While the apples and squash are cooling, heat 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of olive oil in a large stockpot, add the diced onion and cook for 5 to 7 minutes over medium-high heat. Add the minced garlic to the stockpot and cook for another minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.
3. At this point, the squash and apples should be cool enough to handle. Add the apples to the pot and scoop the butternut squash flesh with a spoon into the pot. Discard the tough butternut squash skin. Pour the vegetable broth and nutmeg into the stockpot and bring to a boil. Purée the soup using an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender, until smooth.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve hot. Garnish with pumpkin seeds.
Recipes excerpted from Awesome Vegan Soups by Vanessa Croessmann, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.
Photo: Courtesy of Vanessa Croessmann.
Sweet Potato Chilli Makes 3 qts
Ingredients 2 tbsp olive oil 1 large yellow onion, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced ⅛ cup paprika 2 tsp cayenne pepper, optional 1 tbsp ground cumin 1 tbsp dried oregano 1 tsp smoked paprika 1 tsp salt 1 green bell pepper, diced, plus more for garnish 1 lb. chopped sweet potatoes 3 Roma tomatoes, diced 4 cups tomato purée 4 cups water Vegan sour cream Fresh coriander Chili peppers Chives Coriander Avocado, sliced
Instructions 1. Heat the olive oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook for 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add the garlic, spices, salt, bell pepper and sweet potatoes and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato purée and water to the stockpot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce the heat to low-medium and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the chilli thickens and the sweet potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork. Season the soup with more salt to taste.
3. Serve the chilli hot with your favourite chilli toppings such as sour cream, fresh cilantro, chili peppers, chives, scallions and avocado.
Recipes excerpted from Awesome Vegan Soups by Vanessa Croessmann, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.
Broccoli “Cheddar” Soup Makes 1 qt
Ingredients 2 tsp olive oil 1 yellow onion, diced 4 cups (280 g) broccoli florets 1 cup (200 g) Vegan Cheddar Cheese Sauce (page 186) 2 cups (480 ml) water 2 cups (480 ml) vegetable broth Salt and pepper
Instructions 1. Heat the olive oil in a pot and add the onion. Cook the onion over medium-high heat for 5 minutes until it starts to become translucent. Reduce the heat and add the broccoli and cheese sauce. Stir to coat the broccoli with cheese sauce before adding the water and vegetable broth. Bring all the ingredients to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the broccoli is cooked.
2. Purée the soup using an immersion blender or in batches in a blender. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste before serving.
Recipes excerpted from Awesome Vegan Soups by Vanessa Croessmann, Page Street Publishing Co. 2017.
Awesome Vegan Soups by Vanessa Croessmann, £16.99, available at Amazon.
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My friend and former colleague Caroline, a woman I respect immensely, announced one day in the office that she had a problem with hair-touchers. You know, those women who can't stop playing with their hair; fluffing it, twiddling it, swinging it into the middle of your conversation. Or your lunch. In fact, she considers tying your hair up before you eat to be the hallmark of cool womanhood – because nobody can fully commit to something as important as food with a load of hair flopping in their face.
Everyone made noises of agreement. And I might have nodded along too, had the truth not dawned on me right in the middle of her rant that I was, in fact, the hair-toucher she was referring to.
I use my hair like a security blanket, a fidget-spinner and a scarf. I fiddle with it constantly. I stroke it fondly. I don’t tie it up to eat, or ever, really; I’d generally rather risk littering it with crumbs or trapping it in complex machinery than be seen in public with a ponytail. I’ve devoted myself to its growth and grooming with more energy than I’ve ever given to a pet or a plant – but I suspect the reason goes much deeper than simple vanity. Or at least, I hope it does. So what makes a person a hair-toucher?
One theory, old as time, says we touch our hair as a way of flirting. “Playing with hair – ie. smoothing, stroking, twirling, pulling back, throwing back (the strongest display) is also known as preening,” notes that iron-clad scientific source, a dude on a Quora thread. “When a cluster of multiple preening gestures are observed there is a strong likelihood that the female subject is exhibiting sexual interest.” As someone whose only seduction tactic until I was about 21 was to glower from behind a wall of fringe in what I imagined was a sultry manner, I know there’s truth in this. Hair is aesthetic currency. A friend told me the other day that her dad, despite being bald since the age of 23, still shakes out an invisible mane when he’s trying to be charming to a lady. She finds this hilarious; I find it relatable.
But while preening might be an evolutionary, animal urge, humans also have society to contend with – and these subconscious habits can say as much about our feelings towards ourselves as those we have for other people. I don’t think I wear my hair down so I can flutter it at boys like a Regency fan; it’s more because I believe I need it to balance out my big potato of a face. Besides, lovely though they are, I’m pretty sure I’m not flirting with my colleagues, or the beer-breathed man at the bus stop who calls me "Lady Godiva". So what else?
"We often play with our hair unconsciously. It can be when we are bored, deep in thought, nervous or stressed – hence the term ‘tearing out your hair’,” says Anabel Kingsley, trichologist at Philip Kingsley. “Hair pulling may be used as a coping mechanism, and as a way to initially alleviate feelings of anxiety.”
Touching our hair can provide moments of harmless relief when we feel frazzled, but more seriously, stress can spawn what’s known as Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviours (BFRB): compulsive habits which include pulling hair out (trichotillomania) and nibbling on it (trichophagia), as well as skin-picking, nose-picking and lip and cheek-biting. At its most extreme, trichotillomania is a miserable, debilitating condition and can result in permanent hair loss – and female adult sufferers outnumber men by three to one.
Then there’s social appearance anxiety; a strain of anxiety that stems from the fear of negative evaluation of your appearance (aka, one might say, being a human woman). Research is limited but it doesn’t take a PhD to see that for many of us, hair-touching is more a sign of physical self-consciousness than it is a sassy mating call. Like nervous parents calling a babysitter, we’re just checking it’s doing okay. Is it behaving itself? Has it gone rogue?
The added kicker to all of this is that anxious hair-touching could be making us appear less confident, not more. “Any time someone touches their head, their hair, or their neck, it's actually a very high discomfort cue,” says behavioural expert Vanessa Van Edwards. “Even if they're not anxious, it still comes across as low self-esteem.” A retro French twist for a job interview might not be such a bad plan...
So we touch our hair when we feel sexy, and we touch our hair when we feel stressed – but don’t we also touch it sometimes just to, well, feel? Hair can hold the same tactile pleasure as velvet, silk or a cosy woollen jumper. "Hand in hair syndrome" is a running joke in the natural hair community, and describes the constant urge to pat, touch, tease and play with your Afro curls (while probably having to deal with strangers who want to touch them too). And science tells us that stroking animals fills us with oxytocin (the "cuddle hormone"), while being touched by others has a similar calming effect – so doesn’t it stand to reason that caressing ourselves like a pet would deliver an extra lovely burst of feelgood chemicals?
But whether hair-touching is an act of self-harm, self-consciousness or just self-love, there’s still the worry that it could be doing your ends some harm. “Swishing, lightly stroking and flicking your hair isn’t going to do any damage,” Anabel reassures me. “However, if your hands are dirty or oily, they can transfer grime onto your hair and scalp. Twirling can be damaging as it can tangle hairs – and if done roughly, can snap them and even pull them out. Picking at split ends is another no-no.” There goes my favourite hobby.
“ Try wearing your hair up or in a loose braid,” she adds. “Playing with worry beads or a stress ball can also be helpful as they provide a distraction.”
So maybe, with a little mindfulness, I can train myself to break the habit and curb my hair-touching. Perhaps I need to get a stress ball, or a cat. Or maybe, like so many things in life, the answer just comes back to confidence – confidence, or a really good conditioner.
The average rental price of a one-bedroom flat (that's including studio flats) in our fair capital is now an eye-watering £1,250. A horror if you're in a couple; an unaffordable nightmare if you're not.
For some of you who live in more central parts of London, £1,250 might even seem cheap for a one-bed place. Hell, around some parts, £1,250 would barely get you a room in a shared house.
But what if – and just stay with us here – you were to give up on London? Head back to the Shire, your hometown, or another big city that is also fun and lively? What sort of place would you be looking at then for your money?
We decided to take a look at what £1,250 will get you in cities around the UK. Non-Londoners, prepare to feel smug. Londoners, perhaps it's time to think about hiring a moving van?
London – this studio flat in Highgate, £1,239
Just in case you were concerned about the lack of potential space a studio flat might have then worry no more, as this flat comes with a handy bed that folds up into the wall. That's a fun task to have to do every morning, isn't it?
On the upside, the bed in this studio flat in (admittedly quite posh) Highgate, when folded down is just a few feet from the oven, meaning that no one can tell you off for eating your dinner in bed – because there is literally nowhere else to eat.
Manchester – this three-bedroom flat, £1,250
Heading north, we end up in Britain's third biggest city, Manchester, where brand new flats have sprung up left, right and centre like nobody's business over the past few years.
This three-bedroom loft flat, with open-plan kitchen and the kind of balcony people of London could scarcely dream of, is also less than 10 minutes' walk away from Manchester's main train station, Piccadilly.
Leeds – this two-bedroom penthouse, £1,300
Another city that's transformed itself over the last few years and houses a large population of students is Leeds. This means there's plenty of young people which, in turn, means plenty of of fun things to do come nighttime.
If you want to be really baller with your house choice, this actual penthouse (!) is £1,300 a month for two bedrooms and a view that dominates Leeds. Oh, and it's literally minutes from the station. That is, if you ever want to leave.
Birmingham – this two-bedroom loft-style apartment, £1,200
How often have you dreamed of living in one of those Brooklyn-style loft apartments the characters in your favourite New York-based TV shows inexplicably seem able to afford? Well, now's your chance... in Birmingham.
Located right in the centre, in a converted historical building (hello, exposed brickwork), the really awesome feature in this two-bedroom flat is the subterranean kitchen, which is reached by a gritty but cool-looking spiral staircase.
Glasgow – this delightfully fancy five-bedroom apartment next to Glasgow's main station, £1,250
Do you know what a five-bedroom house next to Euston Station in London would cost you? Do you? Nope, neither do we. But it's probably A Lot.
However, move upwards into Scotland – Glasgow, to be specific – and a five-bedroom, high-spec stately-ish home will cost you just £1,250 a month. Split between friends, that's a healthy £250 each.
Liverpool – this somewhat questionably decorated yet still very good three-bedroom flat, £1,200
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen interiors aside, the high ceilings of this flat's main living area are absolutely fantastic. Ditto for the ceiling-height windows. And the indoor balcony.
It's also about as central as one can get. No taxis for you.
It wasn't that long ago that the Unicode Consortium, the brain behind our beloved emojis, created an option for different skin tones. While addressing one major issue of representation, it appears that it missed another: Where are all the redheads?
Go ahead and check your phone. Even with the latest iOS 11.1 update, you'll notice a handful of blondes, several brunettes, and even an emoji with the default yellow hair. After what feels like thousands of phone updates — and emojis no one asked for — users are perplexed that somehow red hair is still not a foreseeable option. Naturally, they took their complaints to Twitter.
I woke up this morning after my phone had been updating during the night, full of excitement. But STILL NO REDHEAD EMOJI #injustice
Well, it looks like the Unicode Consortium heard our rallying tweets: A red hair emoji is coming soon, along with a handful of other emojis — including a superhero, a swan, and a microbe — so the future of the language is looking bright. But before we get too ahead of ourselves, let's be clear: The list of emoji candidates means that the illustrations could still be amended or swapped.
Of course, as the news began to trickle down, redheads everywhere were ecstatic and ready to celebrate. "Redheads our time has come at last," one wrote.
Confirmation that a redhead emoji will be rolled out in 2018 has also come with confirmation that there'll be a swan emoji and I'm not sure how to feel about that. #preciousswan
But this isn't the only good news. It appears that the Unicode is finally recognising that there are a lot of hair types not represented, and it looks like it might add curly hair to the keyboard as well. Not only that, but you might also be seeing some bald emojis in your group chat very soon, too. Lift your praise hands (or high-five, depending on how you look at it) emojis to that.
Tatler magazine has "apologised unreservedly" to Daisy Lewis for printing a sexist caption next to a photo of the Downton Abbey actress.
The high-end British monthly included Lewis, who played schoolteacher Sarah Bunting in the acclaimed period drama, in its Little Black Book list of the "most selectable, delectable eligibles of the year."
The magazine wrote of the actress: "As Daisy is quite small, you might be tricked into believing she's quiet. LOL. She isn't. This actress is LOUD. Which makes her fun at a party. And in bed. Probably."
It's difficult to know where to begin with what's offensive in this caption. Can small women not be loud? Is being "LOUD" in itself a problem?And why is a magazine speculating about whether any woman seems "fun in bed?"
Sharing a picture of the caption on Twitter, Lewis wrote: "I'm really shocked and upset by this. But thankfully I'm 'loud' enough to say it. Does anyone at Tatler read the news? #misogyny #loudwomen."
At the time of writing, Lewis's tweet has been retweeted over 1,000 times and liked nearly 3,000 times. After seeing Lewis's tweet, the magazine wrote on Twitter: "Tatler apologises unreservedly to @daisylflewis. We will also be publishing a full apology in the next issue."
Meanwhile, Lewis has spoken to HuffPost to explain precisely what she found so upsetting about the article.
"The fact that it’s women writing that about other women is what upset me the most, really. And to think that it was funny," she said. "I genuinely believe that the people who wrote it thought I would be pleased.
“That’s what makes me so sad, that [they thought] I would have been pleased to be included on a list of eligible - and for eligible to mean marriageable - people, as a sort of catalogue. It feels like being part of a horse trade show or something."
Lewis also told HuffPost: "It’s one thing to try and address a patriarchal structure, but then to have that patriarchal structure internalised within us - that’s what is scary. It's almost like Stockholm Syndrome. But the response to it has been incredible and gives me a lot of hope."
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