"Pornography Hasn't Changed Their Perception Of Women": A Porn Study's (Very) Limited Findings [Sex Lies And Videotape]
A University of Montreal researcher couldn't find any dudes who hadn't seen porn — but this lack of a control group didn't stop him from announcing that porn has no effect on young men. We don't buy it. Researcher Simon Louis Lajeunesse...

After Precious : Does Hollywood Have A Place For Gabby Sidibe? [Film Schooled]
"I think people look at me and don't expect much," Precious star Gabourey "Gabby" Sidibe has said, "Even though I expect a whole lot." Rapturous reviews testify to Sidibe's prodigious acting skills. But what should we expect from Hollywood? I...

Comparison-Shop Your Teenage Vampires: Twilight vs. Nightlight [Twilight]
Nightlight, the Harvard Lampoon's send-up of that other novel about undead high school students, has been getting some good press lately. But how does the parody stack up against the original? Maybe these bullet points will help. Recently, I conducted...

Palin Populism Is Just Another Kind Of Elitism [Popular Mechanics]
As Sarah Palin's "bus" tour rolls on, journalists are beginning to identify her as the leader of a new kind of populism. But this movement really just enshrines another elite. In the newNew Yorker, Sam Tanenhaus writes, Polls taken last November...

The Cyclical Nature Of Songs About Sexual Violence [Song Remains The Sane]
If he didn't care for me/I could have never made him mad/But he hit me and I was glad. An article in today's Guardian explores the work of Deborah Finding and her thesis on narratives of violence in pop music. The lyrics above are actually how Finding...

Newsweek Too Hot For National Review Writer [Sex And The Shitty]
Sarah Palin's not the only one pissed off about her Newsweek cover — the National Review's Kathryn Jean Lopez isn't pleased either. But she says that leggy shot is "tame" compared with the fleshpot that is Newsweek's website. Newsweek.com's...

The Flame Monster [Snap Judgment]
[Los Angeles, November 22. Image via Getty.] LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 22: Singer Lady Gaga performs onstage at the 2009 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on November 22, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty...

One Sign, Two Sides [Snap Judgment]
[Wheat Ridge, CO, November 21. Image via Getty.] WHEAT RIDGE, CO - NOVEMBER 21: Obama supporter Mary Schaeffer argues with Obama critic Gary Henderson during a protest in front of a controversial billboard questioning the President's American...

City Council, NYPD Address Subway Harassment [The Maddening Crowd]
Earlier today, New York City officials met to discuss one nasty and pervasive problem facing commuters: Sexual harassment on the subway. Representatives from the City Council met with the N.Y.P.D. and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in order to...

City Council, NYPD Address Subway Harassment [The Maddening Crowd]
Earlier today, New York City officials met to discuss one nasty and pervasive problem facing commuters: Sexual harassment on the subway. Representatives from the City Council met with the N.Y.P.D. and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in order to...

One McCain Campaign Disaster That Wasn't Sarah Palin's Fault [The Politics Of Style]
That would be the so-called "$150,000 shopping spree" for Sarah Palin's convention rollout that spawned a thousand charges of hypocrisy. The stylist who dressed Palin and her family has broken her silence to defend both herself and the candidate. When...

Nature, Nurture [Snap Judgment]
[Alexandria, Virginia; November 18. Image via Getty] US First Lady Michelle Obama hugs students while passing out fresh fruit to students during a visit to Hollin Meadows Elementary School on November 18, 2009 in Alexandria, Virginia. Obama was...

Nation to Women: You're On Your Own With This Abortion Fight [Roe V. World]
Not only do "six in ten Americans" want to ban federal funds subsidizing abortion, "fifty-one percent [of people polled] said they thought women should bear the full cost of an abortion even when they have private insurance." [UPI]

Racing on Carbon Fiber Legs: How Abled Should We Be? [Aimee Mullins]
One Olympic swimmer has a D-cup breast size. From a physiological standpoint, she's at a disadvantage to a swimmer who's an A-cup. If she amputated her breasts to become more streamlined, would we consider her crazy, or worse, a cheater? The Amazons,...

Reflecting/Pool [Snap Judgment]
[London, November 12. Image via Getty.] A woman throws poppies in a fountain pool following a mass participation two-minute silence for Armistice Day in Trafalgar Square in central London, on November 11, 2009. Queen Elizabeth II led Britain in...