Blog Posts by Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Beyonce on GQDo your boobs hang low? That's looks good with a deep V. Do they waddle too and fro? No problem, just wear a half-shirt and let your underboob make the statement.

These days it's less important to make your breasts look like everyone else's, and more important just to show them. Let's call the trend du jour "peek-a-boob".

In the post-nip-slip era, everyone from porn stars to squeaky clean celebrities are letting it all hang out. Sorry, bra, but we like our boobs so much we want to show them--as is.

Gone are the pushed-up and padded milkmaid cleavages created by Wonderbras. Now the view isn't up top but under, inner and outer. Got that?

On Beyonce's latest GQ cover, the brilliantly self-branded pop star, turns cleavage upside down with a cropped t-shirt cut a little too short for her bra-less chest. Ever since the cover was leaked online earlier this week, everyone--really everyone--is transfixed. Crushable, the women's pop-culture site, wrote a rant of pure envy calling her chest

Read More »from The New Way to Wear Your Breasts

Quvenzhane Wallis portraying Hushpuppy in a scene from, Because she doesn't talk about her "craft". She doesn't use the word "instrument" as a metaphor for her body. She doesn't tattoo Marilyn Monroe on her forearm as an homage, and she definitely doesn't talk about "convincing" the director to let her audition for her celebrated role in "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

You know how actresses love to talk about their instincts? 9-years-old Quvenzhane Wallis, now the youngest Best Actress nominee ever, doesn't talk, she does. The little girl from a small town in Louisiana who helped turn a micro-budget film by a first time director into an Oscar nominee sweeper has no prior experience in Hollywood, film or acting in general. When the 85th Annual Oscar nominations were announced Thursday morning (see the full list here), somewhere sandwiched somewhere between the names Abe Lincoln and Anne Hathaway was the name Quvenzhane (nickname "Nazie") Wallis. Here's why:

-Because never took an acting class before: Wallis isn't a child actress in the

Read More »from Why 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis is Youngest Best Actress Oscar Nominee Ever

Do you know how much courage it takes for a reality star to pose naked for a cause? Not much. "Real Housewives of Orange County" star Gretchen Rossi is the latest micro-celebrity to use other people's struggles as an excuse to show off her breasts. She also might be the last considering the reception her print ad for a breast cancer charity has received from the survivor community. It's great to support a worthwhile cause, but why do celebrities always get their bare butts in the way? -Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Read More »from 'Real Housewife' Gets Naked for Cancer, Offends Everyone. Can We Stop Raising Awareness Nude Now?

If you clicked on this post, you probably don't need a recap of the first episode of the new season "The Bachelor." You watched it. Now it's time for a closer read. Here are 13 things you may have missed from week one. -Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

This was the last exercise machine I used. It's going to be a long month of short workouts.

If I were raising myself, I'd be a terrible parent. The older I get, the bossier and less-disciplined my inner-child has become. She decides what we eat (cheese), when we eat (every 30 minutes) and what extra-curricular activities we engage in (Netflix). As you can see, we're very busy. So busy, in fact, we just can't find the time to workout. So many shoe-laces, so few matching socks, so much planning to not drink or eat for longer than is comfortable.

Then, last week, I spotted an exercise plan that even a 34-year-old childless woman with a Wikipedia addiction could fit into her crowded schedule. It's a 30-second workout. Actually it's 3 minutes of a 30-second high intensity exercise three times a week, but let's keep that between us.

This proposed exercise program isn't the kind of thing you can buy on Amazon. There's no beefy celebrity trainer holding an exercise ball waving three fingers at you from the cover of a book. There's no DVD hosted by a washboard stomach that once

Read More »from The Three Minute Workout? I Guess I Can Squeeze It In

Forget pageant queens and reality stars, no one lays the make-up on thicker than a female bodybuilder. Can you blame them? If you were about to walk onstage in a thong swimsuit and have your muscles judged under dentist lights, you'd take your beauty regimen just as seriously. Here's how the world's most muscular women get in cosmetic shape before a show. --Piper Weiss, Shine Staff

Read More »from Muscle Make-up: Beauty Regimens of Female Bodybuilders

(Thinkstock)I've got it. Add it on to the other speech patterns I've been criticized for, including: baby talk when I'm asking for a favor—I know it's the worst—and saying the words "you know" when I'm stalling a story to think about what I'm going to say next. But forget it, I've got "creaky voice," so you probably won't want to hear the thing I'm going to say anyway. (Look out! Falling piano!)

Related: Baby talk: annoying nonsense or evidence of a lasting bond?

"Creaky voice" or "vocal fry" is the new way young women talk, according to linguistic research, and people really hate it. It's been described as a "raspy or croaking sound injected (usually) at the end of a sentence," and the sound of "oil popping on the pan" and also sheer agony.

To listen to an example of "creaky voice" skip to minute 4:35 of Slate's recent podcast on the topic, below.

Then skip to 4:55 where it's described by host Bob Garfield as "annoying...really annoying."

Learn to love it, people. Researchers at Long Read More »from Do You Have "Annoying" Girl Voice?

The controversial stars of Have we gone too far? It's a question we ask at the outset of every outrageous new reality series—be it "Survivor" or "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo." It's also usually an early sign of a show's success.

How reality TV hurts girls

But response to a new show teased as part of Oxygen Media's spring lineup, seems to mark a momentous moment when reality has truly jumped the shark. Collective and largely unchallenged outrage over the network's upcoming show "All My Babies' Mamas" is the unusual case of a show sparking enough controversy to potentially kill it.

"All My Babies' Mamas," a one-hour reality special slated to air in the spring of 2013, features Carlos "Shawty Lo" Walker, an Atlanta-based hip-hop artist with 11 children by 10 different women. Oh, he's also got a 19-year-old girlfriend, who's a year shy of his oldest child.

By the looks of the leaked sneak peak and an early press release, the show's take on this challenging family dynamic is more "Brady Bunch" than "An

Read More »from Oxygen's New Show "All My Babies' Mamas" Makes Everyone Mad and it Hasn't Even Aired