First came controversy over the his/hers Iron Man and Avengers T-shirts that stoked consumer controversy over their mixed gendered messages about heroism. Now, behold this even more glaring example of gendered marketing, since, unlike the Marvel comics shirts, these T-shirts are male and female equivalents of the same...

Even though the media have reported on "thinspiration" -- a.k.a. thinspo -- websites for more than a decade, one of the first direct acknowledgements I've seen that boys and men are taking part in these online communities and social media streams was in a recent interview...

Do Icelandic women dream of Disney-brand Fairy Tale Weddings?

That non sequitur popped into my head after reading the recent New York Times piece on women who plan their weddings well in advance of a set date or even a set partner. For me, that article...

To crib Dickens and dogpile a couple clichés while I'm at it: It's the best of times and the worst of times for nice guys, dating-wise. Granted, with their constantly finishing last, it's kind of always been the worst of times for these fellas who sometimes have trouble...

When I ran into my ex-boyfriend for the first time after our relationship imploded, the awkward chitchat soon steered toward social media.

"So I noticed that someone de-friended me on Facebook," he said with an uncomfortable chuckle.

"I didn't de-friend you," I responded, taking a

When the Internet told me that Amy Poehler and Will Arnett are splitting after nine years of marriage, I audibly gasped. Then, as I stared at the red carpet snapshot of them with a Photoshopped rip down the middle, digitally rendering those comedy gems asunder, I wanted to...

If you're looking for love during this Presidential campaign season (or any time, as a matter of fact), there's a quick way to figure out whether that online profile incarnate is a genuinely compatible match: talk about politics. Oh, wait. That's one of the four topics -- alongside money, sex...

To ultimatum or not to ultimatum: that was the question posed by a Stuff Mom Never Told You listener on Twitter earlier this week in reference to a guide to getting a guy to propose by strategic negotiation. Because that's all an ultimatum really...

Don't let the title of this post fool you. I'm not about to trot out statistics on female sexual dysfunction, nor is this an HPV refresher course. And although the female body -- particularly the region between the belly button and the knees -- already...

What is it about the unmarrieds these days, and particularly unwed women pining for wedding-like fêtes of their own?

I ask this as a woman who's spouse-less for the foreseeable future and also loves the notion of a party thrown in her honor that involves cake. What I'm...

Last holiday season wasn't the best for me romantically. My ex and I waved the white flag on Christmas Eve after being called out on our joint unhappiness by a total stranger sitting across the bar from us. When kindly barflies can sniff out a couple's soured eggnog...

I'm not the first person to say this, but it bears repeating: hymens are a myth.

Or rather, intact, virginal hymens that can "break" or "pop" inside of us don't exist.

Countless young women, myself included not so long ago, have fretted over what happens with the...

Allow me to cut to the chase: I'm single and considering online dating.

I haven't lost faith in randomly meeting someone who rings my bell, but why not jumpstart the process a little bit, right? Why not see who's out there in my fair city...

Many, many episodes ago on my podcast Stuff Mom Never Told You, I jokingly commented to my co-host Molly that life would be a lot easier if society abolished marriage. We had been discussing the differences between civil unions and marriages, and after dissecting the legalese...

You know what's a fun topic to bring up on a first date with a guy? Feminism. Once you get hard-lined religious and political beliefs out of the way (preferably first thing in the car, or during the appetizer if you must wait that long), toss out a...

As we fret over precocious puberty turning little girls into little women, why haven't more people stopped to ask what's going on with the boys? For all of the conversation about how precocious puberty might wreak havoc on girls in terms of lowered self-confidence and earlier sexual activity,...

When reading Jessica Bennett's stellar Newsweek piece on "The Beauty Advantage", one figure stuck out to me. The magazine surveyed 202 corporate hiring managers about the impact of attractiveness on hiring and performance, and while a majority stressed the importance of paying attention to personal grooming, "47 percent...

Cruising through Huffington Post's 8 Jobs In Which Women Make More Than Men left me more crestfallen than keyed up for women's advancement in the workplace. The slideshow, based on the June 2010 women's earnings report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, is meant to offer...

With the Fourth of July upon us, Americans thankfully have something do with all of those leftover flags we bought for the World Cup and wept into last Saturday. Sure, it might not be the best of times for the ol' U.S. on and off the...

Love her or hate her, you have to hand it to Lady Gaga - the woman knows how to sell. Beyond the Rolling Stone covers, business rags have also tracked Gaga's moves with the breathless fervor of her very own "little monsters," awed at the lickety-split empire she's...