Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

If you're in New York City on September 10, you have a choice. Remember the people who died on September 11. Or remember Naomi Campbell's 25 year career. It's a matter of taste, I guess.

This not the first year that New York Fashion Week, and it's fruit-fly cluster of events, overlaps the anniversary of 9/11. But it's the first time the issue's been so blatantly ignored.

As big a city as it can feel, New York is also a small town. Only nine years ago we lost our friends, family and neighbors, in a really frightening, traumatizing way. The structure of our landscape physically and figuratively was decimated. It spurred anger, bigortry, war and sometimes, kindness. People lost their jobs, and they continue to lose their health to this day.

Naomi Campbell has a different reaction to the day. "I think after 9/11 you can't say anything anymore on a plane," she told the press in 2008 to explain why she got arrested for losing her temper at an airport.

People: that woman

Read More »from Fashion Week forgets 9/11, remembers Naomi Campbell

For anyone who believes teenagers have it harder now then they did back then, refer to the above book. Published in 1986, the illustrated guide to coming just short of hospitalization, (and staying that way!) was really helpful if you wanted a long-term plan for your anorexia decision. Author Bonnie Lukes isn't a doctor, just she is a self-proclaimed "ex-fatty" who's learned to stay trim without much exercise. The find was dredged up on BuzzFeed today to show just how different things were back then, especially for teens. Here are some more examples.



This illustrated guide has an interesting title and a confusing cover. Clearly, masturbation is going to get some air-time. And illustration. But how on earth are they instructing kids to do it? A naked kid looking at porn. Okaaay. A hand, sure. But a foot? And why is he holding his stomach and climbing a tree half naked?
I don't know about you but I'm never masturbating again.

My teen is pregnant. I wish Dee Snider was here. He always

Read More »from Bad advice for teens: a look back

A new study released today reveals the dance moves that turn women on. Researchers at the University of North Umbria assessed the movements of a group of men on the dance-floor and then brought in a group of women to rate their levels of attractiveness. The results were illuminating if obvious: women like it when men use more than one part of the body when dancing.
Good dancers make broad movements utilizing their upper body, neck and torso at once. Fast bending and twisting movements are hot too. In contrast, headbanging or simply waving your arms doesn't do much to arouse the lady sector. Who cares how you look on the dancefloor, right guys? Actually, the study suggests that good dancers send bioligcial signals of superiority. "The outcome matches previous research that shows a preference among women for males who are strong and vigorous and skilled in their motor movements," according to the study.
With that in mind, we pulled up footage of five celebrities dancing. The original

Read More »from 5 famous guys show their dance moves: we judge

Despite the smattering of industry titans at last night's Fashion's Night Out runway show in New York City, Getty photographers captured an experience most high school girls would relate to. Each Fashion Week, there are big name stars and bigger named stars in attendance. And the social hierarchy becomes as obvious as any prom night across the country. Click through the gallery to read an imagined interaction between High School Musical's Ashley Tisdale and Gossip Girl's Blake Lively, aka, the most popular girl.

Read More »from Caption Comics: Ashley and Blake at a Fashion's Night Out event

According to Jim, it's perfectly reasonable for a gut-shaped guy to be married to a younger, thinner, physically impeccable woman. The laws of sitcom land decree: it's a man's job to represent the attainable and a woman's to be the aspirational. The spate of chubby-guy, hot-girl sitcoms of the past 10 years, from "Yes Dear" and "King of Queens" to "Still Standing", allowed a guy to just be a guy. But a woman? Yikes. She can wear jeans, but let's not go too far.

Enter "Mike and Molly", a new CBS sitcom, about a couple who meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. It's a major breakthrough in the TV genre, whether the show is a hit or not. Not since Roseanne has there been an overweight woman in the lead role in a sitcom. The series that was ahead of its time on everything from homosexuality to George Clooney, was the first and last to feature a heavyset star as a happily married leading lady. You'd have thought the hit show would spawn a dozen copycats, but quite the opposite

Read More »from Return of the fat female sitcom star

Bedroom politics in the new movie, This month, two movies about teen virginity will hit the theaters. One follows someone who wants to lose it, another follows someone ridiculed for losing it. Guess which one is about a girl.

First sexual experiences are big deal, in life and in film, but for the female population it's shrouded in shame. The new movie "Easy A", out September 17, is no exception. The comedy, packaged as a retelling of The Scarlett Letter, tracks the rise and fall of Olive, a virginal teen caught in a lie about giving it up. When her best gay friend asks her to fake their lovemaking to save him from being out-ed, she finds herself with a reputation for being promiscuous. It tears friendships apart, tarnishes her image, and makes her a lot of money. All and all, losing your virginity looks a lot like prostitution if you're a female character in a movie. And prostitution is sad.

Unless you're a guy virgin. Then it's just the inspiration for your buddy adventure.

In "The Virginity Hit",

Read More »from The movie virgin: why boys do it better

Recently, we asked a stay-at-home mom to apply her knowledge of managing two young boys to the workplace. Her rules for raising her sons made for great advice when dealing with difficult bosses. Today, we're reversing the tactic. Lilit Marcus, author of the new book, Save the Assistants: a guide to surviving and thriving in the workplace, offers advice to assistants on tackling all types of fearless leaders. Her expertise stems from years working as an administrative assistant, and feeling over-extended and under-appreciated. Much like moms. Of course they have the upside of working for a child they love. For Marcus, the pay-off was a meager salary. So there's a big difference. But her advice on training various high-maintenance bosses translates pretty smoothly to parenting. Tell us if you agree, moms.

Dealing with an over-sharer. Some bosses just love to talk and talk. At first it's a novelty but soon it becomes difficult to get anything done as you nod along to another story about

Read More »from Unintentional experts: Parenting advice from an office assistant

George Clooney and a handgun had more chemistry with movie-goers than Drew Barrymore and Justin Long. "The American" owned the box office this holiday weekend, while "Going the Distance" floundered with viewers. But not with critics. Despite the lame trailer (see above for hiiiiilarious caught in the act sex scenes, funny sidekicks with quips) movie reviewers across the board were surprised at how much chemistry the real life couple has on screen. Turns out a mediocre script can be salvaged by good, old-fashioned attraction.

Reviewers from Entertainment Weekly, MTV, and the Washington Post prattle on about Long and Barrymore: "One cute couple". "Just the right sort of chemistry." And "it's clear they have chemistry."

In other words, their water-gun sprays of dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin are so strong they dose people in a movie theater just watching them. On the flipside, bad on-screen chemistry has the reverse effect. It dehydrates movie-goer loins. See "Gigli". "The

Read More »from 6 chemically explosive on-screen/off-screen couples