Blog Posts by Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Is this what feminism is really all about?It's easy to forget that, originally, being a feminist simply meant supporting legal, political, social, and economic opportunities for women. It wasn't about putting down domestic pursuits. It wasn't about trying to "have it all." And it certainly wasn't about bashing men.

Related: What Do Men Think About Feminism?

"Feminism insists on women's right to make choices -- about whether to marry, whether to have children, whether to combine work and family or to focus on one over the other," Stephanie Coontz wrote at CNN. "It also urges men and women to share the joys and burdens of family life and calls on society to place a higher priority on supporting care-giving work."

Related: Why Are We Blaming Feminism for Our Inability to Have It All?

In an interview with The Daily Beast last year, Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said that she wouldn't call herself a feminist; instead, she said, "I'm a woman comfortable in her own skin. I grew up with three brothers. My parents didn't

Should elementary schools host beauty pageants for students?Parents in South Carolina are up in arms after their kids were encouraged to compete in a beauty pageant at their elementary school. Though organizers insist that it's no different from a sporting event or a dance contest, outraged parents say that schools have no business judging kids based on their looks.

Related: School District Bans Father-Daughter Dances After Single Mom Complains

"Come be the first Warrior King or Warrior Queen of Indian Land Elementary! Represent your school all year long during school events! " the flier read. "Contestants will be judged on facial beauty, personality, and overall appeal."

Related: 10 Simple Ways to Boost Your Child's Self Esteem

According to the three-page flier, prizes would be awarded at the October 20th pageant for "Best Eyes," "Best Hair," "Best Smile," "Best Dressed," and "Most Beautiful," which would be "based upon the contestant's facial beauty score only." Boys and girls could also submit photos to win additional awards, and could

Keira, wearing one of the shirts her dad created for his new company Keira's Kollection. (Photo: Kevin Wagstaff/KeirasKollection.com)After reading about a girls' T-Shirt printed with "I'm Too Pretty to Do My Homework so My Brother Has to Do It For Me," Kevin Wagstaff was appalled. But instead of venting to his friends or vowing not to buy the shirt, the single dad decided to do something about it.

"Seeing that shirt kind of was just like, 'Boom! Light bulb moment'," Wagstaff, who has a 6-year-old daughter, told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "I rolled my eyes and thought, 'This is a problem that's snowballing in the wrong direction'. I thought to myself, 'If someone can approve this, to put this out, they must feel like there's a market for it.' So I'm thinking that I want to create a market that's the inverse of that."

Related: Teenage girl wins victory in Seventeen Magazine retouching battle

A year later, he's launched his own company, selling T-shirts that encourage, support, and inspire girls to be their best selves. The shirts at Keira's Kollection, which is named after his daughter, are stamped with messages

Cross-eyed cat Spangles has become an internet sensation with his cool costumes. (Photo: Mary Buchanan/Facebook)People love cute cat photos, but Spangles takes cute to the extreme. The cross-eyed kitty, who was caught glowering goofily in pirate hat, now has a huge following on Facebook, and is making waves across the Internet as well.

She first decided to dress him up when she came across a tiger costume at a pet store. "I saw the tiger hat in PetSmart and it was so cute," his owner, 25-year-old Mary Buchanan, told Yahoo! Shine in an interview. "I put it on him and he just looked so adorable. I wanted to show others how cute he is."

Related: British cat burglar takes anything with his paws

"He was born on July 4. So I came up with his name, Spangles!" Buchanan posted on Spangles' Facebook page, where she also posts plenty of photos. The 3-year-old mixed-breed cat was born with his eyes crossed, Buchanan told Yahoo! Shine, but "He can see perfectly fine. He has been checked out by a vet."

Spangles lives in Spartanburg, S.C., with his human, his canine siblings (Jen Jen and Mojo), and his

This picture of Balpreet Kaur sparked bullying -- and then inspiration -- on Reddit. (Photo via Reddit)After someone snapped a photo of her and posted it on online, Balpreet Kaur was ridiculed for following the tenets of her Sikh faith. But instead of hiding or lashing out, she politely posted a reply—and turned a bullying situation into a inspiring example of tolerance, support, and inspiration.

Related: Teaching our Kids Tolerance After the Sikh Temple Shootings

The photo was taken apparently without Kaur's knowledge while she was waiting in line at the Ohio State University Library. In the photo, Kaur's hair is hidden by a large, black turban. She's wearing a T-shirt and yoga pants, glasses, and is looking down at her cell phone; her sparse facial hair is clearly visible. A Reddit user posted it to the "Funny" forum with the quip, "I'm not sure what to conclude from this."

Comments started pouring in, making fun of her appearance, asking if she was transgendered, and taking her to task for not plucking, waxing, or shaving.

Related: Lessons from "The World's Ugliest Woman': Stop

Go anywhere in the world and beer drinkers have probably heard of Bud, Coors, and Heineken. But, according to the experts at The Drink Business another brand topped them all in 2011. Though there are a huge number of big-name beers out there, there are only a handful of big breweries. AB InBev owns Budweiser, Corona, and Labatt as well as Michelob, Stella Artois, Becks, Bass, St. Pauli Girl, and 59 other brands. The Molson Coors Brewing Company owns Keystone, Blue Moon, and a host of others, in addition to Molson and Coors. SABMiller owns Miller, Milwaukee's Best, Grolsch, and 58 percent of the Molson Coors Brewing Company (it also operates as MillerCoors). Some say that these guys are so huge that they spill more beer than Sam Adams brews. The Drink Business points out that their analysis is based on volume sales, not taste. So, craft-brew and home-brew aficionados, avert your eyes. -- Lylah M. Alphonse, Senior Editor, Yahoo! Shine

Debbie Wingham's $5.7 million black diamond dress. (Photo: Jeff Romero/Wenn)Calling it "the world's most-expensive black diamond dress," self-taught British designer Debbie Wingham showcased her latest masterpiece in Kiev earlier this month: a $5.7 million gown decorated with rare black diamonds, the centerpiece of her newest luxury line.

Wingham, who has dressed celebrities including Kate Winslet, Hilary Swank, and Dita Von Teese, calls the gown "an anthem for a beautiful woman who loves life."

Related: Russian asteroid crater revealed to be filled with over $1 quadrillion of diamonds

Twenty-five 2-carat black diamonds dot the peplum of the 29-pound dress, and 25 more adorn the removable shrug; another 5 carats' worth embellish the bustier. It took more than six months to hand-sew the outfit, which also features "fine beading and delicate pointer white diamonds set in white gold with a very fine chain mail detail to add a little more individuality," Wingham writes on her website.

(How big is a 2-carat diamond? A round-cut stone is about 8.1 millimeters, or

Buzz Bishop and his son, Zacharie. Bishop has been under fire for calling Zacharie his favorite son. (Photo courtesy of Buzz Bishop)Let's face it: It can be easier to spend time with a sunny kindergartener than a tantruming toddler. And while most parents are quick to say that they love all of their children equally, they're also willing to admit, in private, that there are times when they like one a little more than another. One dad has come under fire for publicly declaring that his older son is his favorite, sparking a debate about how we feel as parents—and whether it's OK to say it out loud.

Related: Are parents who hate parenting the latest trend?

"If I were to be absolutely honest, my older son is my favorite of the two," Buzz Bishop wrote at Babble.com, where he blogs as DadCamp. "He and I are adventurous partners in crime, and I can't imagine life without him. He was an accident waiting to happen, and I'm so glad it did."

There were plenty of other things for people to judge about the post—he also confessed that his girlfriend discovered she was pregnant just two months after they met, while he was still