Brides: Why Are We Obsessed with Royal Weddings →
I remember the moment the world got its first look at Kate Middleton's Alexander McQueen lace gown like it was yesterday. On the day of her wedding to Prince William, the future king of England, I was in a conference room in the middle of the night breathlessly covering the event for the magazine website I was in charge of at the time. My team and I, quite literally, squealed when we saw it and then rushed to get our post up as quickly as possible.
Seven years later, I woke up in Los Angeles, where I was vacationing, to watch an American feminist/former Suits star marry my longest-term fictional boyfriend, my ginger prince, Henry Albert Charles David, a.k.a Harry. I was giddy with excitement for both, if only being paid to wake up for one.
I truly won’t soon forget these iconic wedding images: of Meghan and her mother, Doria Ragland, driving to the church. Or, the vision of Pippa Middleton fixing her sister’s dress with their father by her side, not knowing she was about to make global headlines herself.
But my royal obsession goes back even further than that—to Princess Diana, who wed William and Harry's father in 1981, and Grace Kelly, who married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956. It didn’t matter that I was very young for Diana’s nuptials—and not even close to alive for Grace’s—they are part of our collective cultural memory for all time. Thanks to a weekly dose of People magazine, these bridal moments (and dresses) burned into my brain as a pop culture and royalty-obsessed child.
SF Chronicle Book Review: Young Adults Navigate Life’s Crossroads in Hong Kong and Philadelphia →
The best fiction is able to take readers along on a journey as characters grow and evolve (or don’t, in some cases). Of course, this is especially true of the young-adult genre, where protagonists are at a crossroads in their lives between childhood and becoming an adult.
In Maurene Goo’s “Somewhere Only We Know” and Elizabeth Acevedo’s “With the Fire on High,” the authors create a distinct sense of place, as well as food and the identities that others project onto us to take the reader deeper into the lives of their main characters, Lucky and Emoni, respectively.
Goo’s novel is primarily set during one day in Hong Kong, where American-born K-pop (that’s Korean pop music, to the uninitiated) superstar Lucky (not the name she was born with) has just finished a massive Asian tour. She decides to ditch her security detail in search of a great hamburger and some freedom before she heads back to America for a late-night show appearance that should send her career to the next level.
Soon she meets Jack, another American expat who’s a photographer for a tabloid. They spend a day together — “Roman Holiday”-style — where both are trying to hide part of themselves while simultaneously getting closer to figuring out what they want in life. Lucky tells Jack her name is Fern, while he pretends he’s not going to use their day together to get his big break with the tabloid.
Through it all, there is also a food journey with each dish — from fish congee for breakfast to bao (stuffed buns) — seemingly unlocking a piece of Lucky that she’s hidden away during her time in training to become Lucky and the years thereafter. Every moment of her life (and her diet) is regulated by someone who is not her, and she might just be done with it all. Her name and her unhappy pop-star status call to mind the Britney Spears song “Lucky,” which includes the lyrics:
Early morning, she wakes up
Knock, knock, knock on the door
It’s time for makeup, perfect smile
It’s you they’re all waiting for
They go
Isn’t she lovely, this Hollywood girl?
And they say
She’s so lucky, she’s a star
But she cry, cry, cries in her lonely heart, thinking
If there’s nothing missing in my life
Then why do these tears come at night?
As Lucky and Jack traverse the city, taking it all in, she’s rediscovering the girl she once was and the woman she wants to become — and possibly falling in love. The girl everyone knows as Lucky, but whom Jack knows as Fern, might just become someone else altogether.
Emoni Santiago, the protagonist of “With the Fire on High,” already has quite a sense of self when the novel begins, yet her future is in some ways as uncertain as Lucky’s. After becoming pregnant as a high school freshman, she is living with her ‘Buela (the paternal grandmother who also raised her) and her 2-year-old daughter, Emma, or Babygirl, as Emoni calls her. She’s balancing school, motherhood, her part-time job at a burger joint, a relatively absent father (both her own and Emma’s), and a passion for cooking that she’s not sure what to do with. But will the decision to have her daughter be the one that always defines her? It does to many of her fellow students at the Schomberg Charter School she commutes to from her mostly black and Puerto Rican neighborhood in Philadelphia.
Emoni stands up for herself when necessary and has a best friend named Angelica who is pretty much a dream BFF, and the new boy in school, Malachi, seems to have a thing for her. But what could life look like after graduation? Like Lucky, Emoni’s preferred method of self-care involves food — she’s a talented cook with a knack for putting her own spin on recipes in a way that feels God-given. More than once, her talent is referred to as magical.
Her journey of self-discovery is furthered by a culinary arts class taught by a tough chef, which forces her to reexamine both what she wants out of life and how to get there. It’s also in class that Emoni is able to become a leader while fundraising for the group to travel to Spain for a week — a week that changes everything. Acevedo’s style immerses the reader in the specificity of Emoni’s life, while also making it relatable to your own.
Both novels explore the identity that young women are given by the world around them and how they navigate their own sense of self in worlds where expectations (both high and low) could end up defining them. They also offer readers a sense of place and culture that further proves the need for diverse voices, storytellers and characters in the world of young-adult fiction and beyond. Though the journeys of their characters and the writing styles differ in appropriate ways — one grittier, one glossier — spending a day (or a school year) with Lucky or Emoni is a journey worth taking.
“With the Fire on High”
By Elizabeth Acevedo
HarperTeen; 400 pages; $17.99
“Somewhere Only We Know”
By Maurene Goo
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 336 pages; $17
Glamour: Everyone Should Watch Grey’s Anatomy’s Powerful Message About Consent →
Leave it to a Shonda Rhimes show to give us one of the most definitive episodes of television about consent that I've ever seen. This week's Grey's Anatomy took on the topic from multiple angles—and the result was incredibly emotional, powerful, and, I hope, educational.
The episode centers around Dr. Jo Karev (Camilla Luddington) in two different story lines. In flashbacks we see Jo meet her birth mother, the woman who abandoned her at a fire station as a baby. But after finally letting her mother know how much resentment and anger she still feels, Jo learns she was the product of the rape of her teenage mother.
Then, back at Grey Sloan Memorial, Jo meets a patient named Abby (Khalilah Joi), who she believes has been abused in a domestic situation. Jo, herself a victim of domestic abuse, handles the situation with care—and soon she learns Abby has also been sexually assaulted.
When Jo brings in another female doctor, Teddy Altman (Kim Raver), to help with the situation, they make sure Abby knows she is in a safe space where she can talk if she wants to. Eventually Abby reveals she was raped after leaving a bar—but she's afraid to tell her husband as well as the police, because she knows all too well that her actions may be twisted into a victim-blaming scenario. The portrayal of Abby's reaction to her trauma is powerful to watch, and so is the doctors' desire to give her agency in her treatment while holding their own emotions in check.
Once they begin collecting evidence for a rape kit (after Abby gives her OK), the process is shown in heartbreaking detail. What stood out to me is how the doctors ask their patient at each step whether she's ready to proceed. They do nothing until they hear her verbally say, "Yes." And once they do have her permission, they are methodical yet still sensitive as they swab the bite marks on her skin and take samples from inside her body. It's even more gut-wrenching when you consider that it's possible some women may not receive the same kind of care. “What you did today, with Abby, that was not protocol…it should be," Teddy later tells Jo.
But when it's time to take Abby to surgery, she tells the doctors that every man she sees reminds her of her rapist. So the women of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital line the hallway with female faces—doctors, nurses, orderlies, administrative staff—and physically block male staff from entering space. All so Abby can feel safe. At this point, I sobbed. It was an amazing visual of women standing up for other women….
Glamour: Gayle King Kept Her Cool in the Face of a Terrifying R. Kelly →
Watching R. Kelly's sit-down with Gayle King on CBS This Morning was intense. Thanks to teasers and some photos King posted last night on her own Instagram, I knew going in that Kelly would, at some point, lose his temper. But seeing it all play out was more terrifying than I expected. I can only imagine how it must have felt for the women who have been brave enough to come forward and share their stories about alleged sexual abuse on his part, or for any other survivors for that matter.
Kelly, in his first interview since the airing of the Surviving R. Kellydocumentary series on Lifetime, categorically denied all the allegations against him. "I'm very tired of all of the lies," he said when King asked why he agreed to talk to her. "I've been hearing things, and you know, and seeing things on the blogs, and you know, you know, I'm just tired." When she named the women who participated in the documentary, he replied, "They are lying on me," a phrase he repeated multiple times.
According to Kelly, his accusers (and the world, it would seem) are conspiring against him and making up stories for their own gain. "All you have to do is push a button on your phone and say, 'So-and-so did this to me,' 'R. Kelly did this to me,' and if you get any traction from that, if you're able to write a book from that, if you're able to get a reality show," he says, "then any girl that I had a relationship in the past that it just didn't work out, she can come and say the same exact thing."
Sharing your deepest pain with the world in the name of justice has never, to my mind, seemed self-serving. And while it will be up to the courts to decide whether Kelly will face legal punishment this time around (he was previously acquitted on child pornography charges and is currently facing10 new charges of sexual abuse), the evidence in the court of public opinion is damning.
Kelly, by talking to King, must have thought he would somehow be able to change that. When he eventually blew up in anger and frustration, I recoiled. Thoughts of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings also came to mind, another moment when we saw a man scream and rage and cry in order to try to make his point. Like the women of the Senate Judiciary Committee, King remained steadfast and tough in her questioning. Even what he was saying sounded familiar: "I didn’t do this stuff! This is not me! I'm fighting for my fucking life! Y'all killing me with this shit! I gave y’all 30 years of my fucking career!" He believes he has been "assassinated" and "buried alive" …
Glamour: The 'Markle Sparkle' Is a Real Thing—and the Women Who Shop Because of Meghan Markle Really Feel It
In 2019 it’s hard to imagine a world that isn’t filled with images of Meghan Markle or with endless commentary on everything she does, from touching Prince Harry’s back or wearing dark nail polish. In less than two years, she made her first public appearance with her now husband, announced an engagement, got married, became a duchess, announced she was pregnant, and became one of the most photographed and influential women in fashion and beyond.
Of course, as a star of Suits and the founder of a now defunct lifestyle site (long live The Tig), Markle already had fans who followed her moves on social media and looked to her for advice on fashion, food, and travel. But the power of a burgeoning influencer is nothing compared with that of a member of the world’s most famous royal family.
There’s a name for the phenomenon that occurs when the Duchess of Sussex wears a particular designer—it’s called the “Meghan Markle Effect” or the “Markle Sparkle.” The global fashion search platform Lyst reports that, on average, whenever Markle wears something, the brand will see a 200 percent increase in search demand over the following week. The site ranks her as the third top celebrity fashion influencer of 2018, behind Kylie Jenner and Kim Kardashian (and ahead of Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Blake Lively).
If you’re a small fashion brand, having Markle wear your products can translate to an uptick in sales, as well as in followers and engagement on social media. Take Strathberry, a line of luxury handbags that the duchess has worn on three separate occasions, dating back to her very first official royal engagement in November 2017. Founder and co-owner Leeanne Hundleby tells Glamour they saw sales increase by more than 200 percent immediately after the first sighting.
“Visitor numbers to the website were also amazing—at one stage, they were up tenfold against our daily average,” Hundleby says. “Each time Meghan has carried one of our bags, we’ve seen a spike in sales.” Because of this demand, the Edinburgh, Scotland–based brand has been able to expand its business internationally and even open a store in London.
But the Markle Sparkle is more than just a business trend. It's something consumers feel too. “There is a distinct sense of sparkle every time I put on that [Misha Nonoo] husband shirtor the Self Portrait dress because I know she’s worn the same (or almost the same) exact thing,” says Michelle, 37, a writer and royal superfan based in New York, who purchased both items after seeing them on Markle. “It’s like the royal clothes version of Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon: You’re just one garment away from the duchess.”
“I'm not hugely materialistic, but it's a sentimental, special, and supremely fun purchase for me,” Michelle says. “I love totally unabashedly telling people and sharing on social media that I'm wearing the same thing as Meghan or Kate—as a crazy royal watcher, I put my money where my mouth is.”
Markle's “brand” as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex—as laid out by her official speeches, engagements, and patronages—isn't incredibly different from that of Meghan Markle, actress: She's a confident woman with a passion for female empowerment and education who is using her platform to further those causes. Dressing in a way that's inspired by her can feel like you're bringing a bit of her confidence and collection along with you.
Sarah, a 34-year-old corporate attorney in Chicago, estimates to have spent around $3,500 on Markle-inspired fashion. “Meghan wears a lot of reasonable-length dresses, blazers, etc., that actually translate quite well to being professional woman in the legal industry," she says. "She wears clothes really well in a way that elevates pieces and makes them compelling. She also seems effortless in a way that I aspire to.” One of her favorite buys is her Sentaler coat, which Markle wore to Christmas services in 2017: “When I wear it, I feel like someone who has their life together, who knows what they're doing and can handle what the day throws at them," she says. "Even just seeing it in the closet, it's a reminder of ‘Oh, wait, yes, I'm a successful professional woman.’" (She’s also bought pieces spotted on Markle’s equally fashionable sister-in-law Kate Middleton.)
One of the most reliable sources for Markle’s outfit credits is Meghan’s Mirror, which documents the duchess's fashion choices. Amanda Dishaw is the site's editorial director, and she and her team started the hashtag #MirrorMeg, which women use to show off their Markle-inspired looks and has become very popular among its audience.
“I think the reason that the #MirrorMeg is so powerful is the woman behind it,” says Dishaw. “When women are looking to the Duchess of Sussex for inspiration from a fashion perspective, they’re seeing the strong, modern, and self-confident woman that Meghan is.”
The hashtag is not just Meghan look-alikes; you see women of all different body types copying Markle’s looks or incorporating certain elements of her wardrobe—like a color the duchess will wear or rings that she’ll stack—to make an outfit their own. “Fashion is a form of self-expression, and we believe it to be a very powerful one,” Dishaw says.
One example of this: “We have a #MirrorMeg of her aquamarine ring [worn with her Stella McCartney reception dress] that used to belong to Princess Diana in our shop, and one reader told us that they purchased it and wear it when she's working on fulfilling her dream of writing a novel. As she's typing, she can look down and get a boost of confidence.”
Domi, a 38-year-old physician in Oregon, has splurged on two of the duchess’s go-to shoes: Aquazurra’s bow pumps and Manolo Blahnik’s BB heels.“Meghan Markle’s style is sleek, polished, and gorgeous,” she says. “I like how she mixes high and low fashion. The only other public figure who beautifully, effortlessly does so in recent memory is First Lady Michelle Obama. There’s a modernity to her style without being too ‘on trend,’ and it’s a great example of how glamour and strength are not mutually exclusive." Domi says that when she wears her Markle heels, she feels “confident and, from that confidence, a little more relaxed. It’s kind of fun knowing I’m sporting something the duchess owns. I’ve worn the heels to political fund-raisers and holiday parties and to work seeing patients. I’m here to get stuff done, but as a reminder, this is what a feminist can look like.”
Now that’s the real Markle Sparkle.
Glamour: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Paul Ryan Was Elected at 28 and Called 'a Genius' While I'm a 'Fraud' →
While a historic number of women were elected to Congress in November, that doesn't mean that sexism itself has been booted from office. But Congresswoman-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has quickly become the Chrissy Teigen of political social media clapbacks, isn't just going to give it a pass.
Most recent case in point: She called out the double standard between herself and outgoing Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. Ryan was 28 when he was first elected, the same age as Ocasio-Cortez was when she won her New York primary race over the summer. But as Ocasio-Cortez noted on Twitter, the similarities end there—and she doesn't just mean their opposite political views. (He's a conservative Republican; she's a Democratic Socialist.)
"Double standards are Paul Ryan being elected at 28 and immediately being given the benefit of his ill-considered policies considered genius; and me winning a primary at 28 to immediately be treated with suspicion & scrutinized, down to my clothing, of being a fraud," she tweeted on Monday along with a Vox article titled "Paul Ryan's Long Con."
Glamour: 32 Holiday Gifts for Die-hard Fans of the Royal Family →
The British royal family is so hot right now. Chances are that you have at least a handful of people in your life who spend hours poring over fan accounts dedicated to the stylish goings-on of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle, and devour even the silliest of gossip coming out of the tabloids about what Prince Georgeis studying at school or whether Prince William and Prince Harry are fighting…. Do any of them have an actual connection to their royal highnesses? No. But why not make them feel like they’re but a few degrees separated from them this holiday season with a positively regal gift? Whether you want to help them relive the magic of the royal wedding or to re-create the Duchess of Cambridge’s preppy fashion, there are many ways to indulge the royal-obsessed—we rounded up 30-some of them right here.
Glamour: The Best Movies Directed by Women in 2018 →
Earlier today, the 2019 Golden Globes nominations were announced—and, yet again, the directing category is 100% male. It seems no lesson was learned from last year's ceremony, when Natalie Portman called out the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the organization that gives out the awards) live on air for its lack of female nominees in the directing category.
And don't get us wrong: The 2019 Golden Globes Best Director nominees—Bradley Cooper, Alfonso Cuaron, Peter Farrelly, Spike Lee, and Adam McKay—are all great talents, but we find it hard to believe there wasn't one female-directed film that was worthy. Actually, we know there was more than one worthy film. So, we put together a list of our favorites from the year, below, to watch throughout awards season. These are all great works done by women, and they all feature complex female characters. Here's hoping we'll see more progress in 2020. Until then, take a look—and add these to your queue, stat.
Hillary Clinton Says Her Husband's Affair With Monica Lewinsky Wasn't an 'Abuse of Power' →
In the year since the Harvey Weinstein story broke and the #MeToo movement took center stage, many women (and men) have spent time reflecting on events of the past and how they might be perceived if they happened today. We saw this most recently during the Brett Kavanaugh nomination hearings, when Christine Blasey Ford's testimony drew obvious comparisons to Anita Hill's during the Clarence Thomas hearings, back in 1991.
Another public figure who has been subjected to this reassessment is former President Bill Clinton, who, when asked about #MeToo this summer, said he doesn't "agree with everything." Now his wife, Hillary Clinton, has weighed in on the matter. On CBS' Sunday Morning, Clinton was asked about her husband's relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky more than 20 years ago, and whether it should have led to his resignation. Her answer: "Absolutely not."
But it is the follow-up to the initial question that many see as problematic.
"It wasn't an abuse of power?" asks CBS News' Tony Dokoupil. "No," says Clinton. Dokoupil continues, "There are people who look at the incidents of the nineties and they say, 'A president of the United States cannot have a consensual relationship with an intern; the power imbalance is too great.'" Clinton interjects, "Who was an adult."
Michelle Obama Is Back and Doing What She Does Best—Standing Up for Girls →
Michelle Obama is officially back with a new initiative post–White House, and true to form, she's using her platform to stand up for girls globally.
To kick off International Day of the Girl on Thursday, the former First Lady announced her first major project from the Obama Foundation on the Todayshow: The Global Girls Alliance. Its mission is right in line with much of the work Obama did during her time in Washington, D.C.—to empower adolescent girls around the world through education, giving them the tools to support their families, communities, and countries. According to program, 98 million girls are not in school. But with the alliance, and some help from community, Obama intends to change that alarmingly high number.
"The stats show when you educate a girl, you educate a family, a community, a country,” Obama said in front of a live audience filled with young women. “It makes no sense that girls and women are not getting educated, that they’re not in school. If we care about climate change, if we care about poverty, if we care about maternal child health, then we have to care about education."
Barbra Streisand Takes on Donald Trump in Her New Music Video →
Barbra Streisand is one of the most famous voices in the world—and she's never shied away from using that voice to share her political views. So it's fitting that the election of Donald Trump is what inspired her to create Walls, her first album of primarily original songs since 2005. "He's dividing the country," she tells Glamour. "He's pulling us apart."
Walls, which will be released on November 2, also got Streisand back into the director's chair for the music video of the first single off the album, "Don't Lie to Me." In addition to the new songs, Walls also includes Streisand's 2018 reimaginings of classics like "What the World Needs Now" and "Happy Days Are Here Again," which once served as the unofficial theme song of the Democratic party. "I tried to make the songs universal," she says. "They're not just political rants."
During Christine Blasey Ford’s Testimony, Contempt for Women Was on Full Display →
As Christine Blasey Ford took her seat at a table in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee today to answer questions regarding her allegations of sexual assault against Brett Kavanaugh, I was not working under any pretense that she would be treated fairly by the Republican senators, every one of them male and quite a few well past the age of 60. History (see: Hill, Anita) and the members' own reluctance to allow an FBI investigation into Blasey Ford's claims were evidence enough.
Before today's hearings even began, Blasey Ford had been referred to as "mixed up" by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), and he bookended that dismissive comment by calling her "pleasing" and an "attractive witness" after her testimony today.
As today's proceedings went on, that low hum of condescension grew louder and louder.
To see how these Republican men conducted themselves in real-time blinded me with the kind of rage I haven't felt since Donald Trump loomed menacingly behind Hillary Clinton during that presidential debate back in 2016. The contempt for women was, to me, on full display and indicative of a type of behavior that we see from the right too often.
Grey's Anatomy Season 15 Predictions: 15 Things That Absolutely Must Happen →
"15 seasons of feels." That's the new Grey's Anatomy tagline, which you can see in the trailer below, and it's hella appropriate. Honestly, it's hard to believe 12 years ago a plucky group of surgical residents landed at Seattle Grace hospital and asked us, "Would you lie with me and just forget the world?"
My answer has always been a resounding YES. Since then it's been appointment television, even through the rough patches and those characters we'd rather forget. (Here's looking at you, Sloan's daughter Sloan, Penelope Blake, Eliza Minnick, and Dr. Stark….)
We've loved and lost and loved and lost and loved and lost with these doctors, and we've shared so many tequila shots at Joe's and won Harper Averys (before we found out he was a lecherous abuser of Weinstein-like proportions).
And while I have no right to ask anything of this show that's already given me so much, here are 15 things I want to see happen in season 15.
Read the full story on Glamour.com
Death Threats and Discrediting: The Treatment of Christine Blasey Ford Is a Reminder of What's at Stake for Sexual Assault Survivors →
Christine Blasey Ford. Over the past few days, you've likely heard her name on the news and across social media platforms. You might know that she's a 51-year-old research psychologist and professor in California, and you've almost certainly heard her allegation that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a party when they were both in high school. He has categorically denied her allegations, which you also may have heard.
If you're paying attention, you'll realize a familiar narrative emerged this week, one that tends to create an invisible line between those who believe Blasey Ford's claims and those who attribute her coming forward as a partisan way to derail the confirmation of Donald Trump's second SCOTUS nominee. Immediately following Blasey Ford's decision to go public, however reluctant, doubts were raised about the veracity of the story and the motives behind it. Excuses were made about Kavanaugh's behavior—even if he did it, he was just 17. "Boys will be boys," they said. "I know how honest he is," one Senator Orrin Hatch said in defense.
In the week that the public has come to know her name, and the disturbing claims of sexual assault she unearthed, never once was Blasey Ford afforded the same benefit of the doubt. Not even now, in the age of #MeToo. In fact, a good amount of commentary about the woman who says Kavanaugh drunkenly groped her in 1982 (and placed his hand over her mouth when she tried to scream) is negative. Violent and threatening, even. This rhetoric isn't exclusive to those on the right who hope to seat another conservative justice. A quick look at Twitter reveals that many civilians are having a difficult time recognizing the credibility of her claim—yet somehow buy into Kavanaugh’s version of the story with ease. Essentially, the situation is a boiled-down version of what it means to be a woman: The burden lies on you to prove your worth and your truth.
Taylor Swift & John Green: BFFs →
Becoming Besties: On September 15, Taylor Swift takes the stage at Lucas Oil Stadium, much to the glee of Midwestern Swifties—like local star author John Green.
Who’s John Green? And what’s a “Swiftie”?
He’s the YA writer, 41, behind best-sellers like The Fault in Our Stars. She’s the planet’s biggest pop star, 28. Together, they’re our favorite power couple—in a strictly professional sense, of course. Green has been married to his wife, Sarah, for 12 years. And as Swifties (the singer’s ride-or-die fans) well know, her paramours get exhaustively documented in the celeb-gossip sphere—and in her own songs—with Green’s name never making the list. But their long-distance lovefest on social media has been setting the internet on fire for years.
First, the meet-cute.
When Swift’s new album dropped in fall 2014, Green blogged about it within hours. “I’m in Paper Towns movie meetings all day and they think I’m making notes on the script but I’m actually listening to 1989,” read his Tumblr post. An apparently agog Swift reposted his comment, with an addendum: “My. Favorite. Author. Just. Said. WHAT?!?!” Then it was Green’s turn to be stunned. He announced to his Twitter followers—5.2 million, these days—“Taylor Swift reblogged me on tumblr and called me her favorite author. Trying not to freak out.”
It was the mutual crush—a platonic one, whatever—we never knew we wanted.
Fans squee-ed all over Green’s Twitter page. Vox.com reported that the convo was “all the Taylor fanbase can talk about today.”
There May Be a Very Logical Reason We're All So Obsessed With the Royal Family Right Now →
The world can feel like an utter and complete garbage fire at times, and our news cycle is both faster and more chaotic than ever before. Just logging on to social media in the morning can send me into a panicked state before I've even brushed my teeth—and I know I'm not alone in this. But everybody deserves a reprieve from time to time, and I've finally settled into mine: royals content.
Now, I'm no newcomer to British royal family fandom. As a kid, I followed along with the ups and downs of Prince Charles and Princess Diana's relationship via my mom's People magazine subscription. I know exactly where I was when news of Diana's fatal car crash broke. And until he got serious with Meghan Markle, I used to joke that Prince Harry was my longest (fictional) relationship. Although my dream of him marrying a slightly older American woman didn't pan out exactly as I had planned, I am very happy for them.
I have devoured every episode of The Crown, The Tudors, and even the CW's Reign. I've oohed and aahed over Prince George and his siblings like a faraway aunt they'll never meet. But recently there's been a shift in my focus—and my intensity. Given the sheer number of official royal handles, royals reporters, and Instagram fan accounts, I have quite literally altered my feeds' algorithms.
In other words, I wake up to each morning to an onslaught of imagery and tweets that don't make me want to crawl back under the covers. It's a delight, this royal Xanax.
Read the full story on Glamour.com
John McCain's Legacy of Reaching Across Party Lines Is Something We Should All Remember →
"Of course, McCain was a Republican, and he voted along party lines more than he did not. But in a time when it feels that the country has never been more divided, and even those on the right in Congress who oppose what Trump stands for seem to do so only in tweets, we'd all do well to remember what a maverick truly is—and how one can make change for the better."
Black Women Are Dying During Childbirth. Sen. Kamala Harris Is Working to Change That. →
"For women of color, pregnancy and childbirth are often a matter of life and death. The risk of death from pregnancy-related causes for black women is three to four times higher than for women of other races. It's something California Senator Kamala Harris has been vocal about in the past. And she's pushing to make sure this maternal mortality crisis is being recognized and rectified through new legislation, as well..."
New Sexual Misconduct Allegations Against Asia Argento Shouldn't Negate the #MeToo Movement
"These are incredibly serious allegations and should be treated as such. But what they should not do is take down or negate all the work that the #MeToo movement has done over the past year. It's almost becoming clich´é to say, but two things can be true at the same time. Argento's alleged behavior does not mean that what happened to her and many other women at the hands of predatory men like Weinstein didn't occur or that the issues surrounding women in the workplace are not still valid and important."