Blog Posts by iVillage

Why Do Black Women Have a Better Body Image?By Virginia Sole-Smith

When asked about their attractiveness, African American women were three times as likely as Caucasian women to rate themselves as "hot," reports The Allure New American Beauty Survey, which polled 2,000 men and women across the country.

On the face of it, you might find this surprising. Black women have the highest rate of obesity of any group in the United States, reports the Office of Minority Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services. And the American beauty ideal, celebrated coast to coast in every magazine, TV show, and advertisement we see, is decidedly not of color, from her silky Blake Lively tresses to her Zooey Deschanel blue eyes. Which is not to say beautiful black women never get represented -- Beyonce, Halle Berry, Jennifer Hudson, and Iman all seem to be doing just fine, thanks -- but check the cover models on any given newsstand or the cast of your average runway show and you'll see that we've got a long way to go

It's a Muffin Top, Not a Baby Bump
By Virginia Sole-Smith

Mariah Carey says she wouldn't let husband Nick Cannon see her pregnant body because it looked so "rancid." My girl Sofia Vergara (of the empowering K-Mart commercials no less!) has said she thinks she'd "look horrible" pregnant. And last week's episode of The Office was devoted to Pam's insecurities about her 50-pound pregnancy weight gain. "Obviously, you're at an all-time low," Dwight tells her when she asks him if she's still attractive.

So here's what I don't understand: If the whole point of beauty, from a natural-selection perspective, is to help us spot ideal mates with whom to breed, why do so many women hate looking pregnant? Shouldn't pregnancy be the absolute pinnacle of beauty, seeing as it advertises how very fertile you are? Shouldn't even those of us who are not at all pregnant crave that knocked up glow, those fertile curves?

Instead, "you look pregnant" is pretty much the last thing any non-pregnant woman wants to hear. If we aren't

10 Healthy Eating Myths That Could Be Ruining Your Diet
By Dena Irwin' R.D.' C.D.E.' author of The Weeknight Survival Cookbook

Cutting down on fried food and eating more fruit are important for a healthier diet, but some changes made in the name of healthy eating won't help -- sometimes they're even worse!




1) Myth: Two-Percent Milk Is Much Lower In Fat than Whole

Truth: The labeling of milk makes this one a common mistake. While 2% milk sounds like it would be much lower in fat than whole milk, in reality whole milk contains roughly 3 percent fat, not much of a difference. "A low-fat food is defined by having 3 grams of fat or less per serving and 2% milk has 4.9 grams of fat per serving," says registered dietitian Keri Gans, author of The Small Change Diet. She recommends opting for nonfat milk.

Truth: When it comes to eggs, the color on the outside has nothing to do with the nutrition on the inside. The nutrients found in brown and white eggs are essentially the same, however, brown eggs often

Stylebook App
by Katie Alberts

1) Stylebook

Why you want it: When our closet feels like it's playing on 'repeat', it's time to get organized and creative. Stylebook helps us out on both counts -- cataloging every piece we own and letting us layer them together to create new looks.

To use, simply input images of your own clothes and accessories (or borrow photos from the web), then layer and arrange them to your heart's content. When testing it out we realized that a green pleated skirt buried in the back of our closet was the key to the perfect office-party ensemble!

Download it now: Stylebook app for iPhone, $3.99 at stylebookapp.com

Why you want it: Need a second opinion before you buy an outfit or debut a new look? Take a photo of yourself wearing it using the Go Try It On app for iPhone and let stylish strangers -- or your own network of friends -- chime in instantly. Prefer to be the one doing the critiquing? Offer your feedback on thousands of real-life looks with

5 Ways to Save Thousands on Your Wedding Look
by Catherine Coreno

1) How to Save on Your Wedding Dress

While designer wedding dresses can easily run in the five-figure price range, with a little know-how you'll spend a fraction of that and still purchase your dream gown. The key? Shopping online. Xochitl Gonzalez of Always a Bridesmaid shares her favorite gown sites:

theaislenewyork.com: "They have limited-engagement sales on everything from Angel Sanchez gowns to Judith Leiber handbags," she explains of the shop's rock-bottom pricing on samples and end-of-season gowns.

oncewed.com: This boutique of gently-worn looks stocks "amazing designer gowns that have either had their one night wear, or, in some cases, were the victims of buyer's remorse."

Online shopping tip: Before beginning your internet hunt, however, Gonzalez recommends a reconaissance mission to a brick-and-mortar shop first to get your measurements taken and see what silhouettes work for you. When you do find your perfect gown online, err large, since

Sad but True: Women Usually Have Sex Out of Obligation

by Jill Provost

How many times a week are you having sex? No matter what the number, I pretty much guarantee you it's less than 77-year-old Peter Kranz of Darien, Conn. According to WebMD, Kranz and his wife (also 77) get frisky twice a day. Twice a day! Meanwhile, a new study reports the rest of us can't even eek out twice a week.

According to a new WomenTALK survey by HealthyWomen, you're likely getting laid once a week or less. (Less is none, right?) The study of over 1,000 women found that 66 percent of us are lucky if we cop a feel once in any given week. More depressing than that, the study also revealed that lucky isn't exactly the sentiment we experience when we do get down and dirty. Turns out, women are having sex to placate our partners, rather than to satisfy our own sexual urges. Jeez, we sure hope Mrs. Kranz isn't doing the deed out of wifely duty.

Course, some sexual health experts like Ian Kerner, founder of GoodInBed.org, argues that charity sex

A Stroke Turns a Straight Man Gay

By Jill Provost

Here's a scenario you've never likely considered: You're engaged to your long-time boyfriend, a rugby player who loves going to the pub and watching sports with his buds. Then, one day, during a freak accident, he breaks his neck, suffers a stroke, and ends up in a coma. You and his family anxiously wait by his bed, praying for his recovery. While you fear that the accident will irrevocably alter his life, it does so in a way no one expected. He wakes up gay.

Crazy, right? Well that's exactly what happened to Chris Birch, a chubby bank teller and jock from Wales who suffered a stroke in 2005 that he says turned him gay.

"When I came round I immediately felt different," Birch explained to the Daily Mail. "I wasn't interested in women any more. I was definitely gay. I had never been attracted to a man before -- I'd never even had any gay friends. But I didn't care about who I was before, I had to be true to my feelings."

And true to his feelings

Kris HumphriesBy Michele Laufik

Forget the divorce papers -- when you unfollow your hubby on Twitter, then we know it's over!

That's exactly what Kim Kardashian did, according to Glamour.com. The E! reality star reportedly stopped following Kris Humphries, her husband of 72 days, on Twitter, though he continues to subscribe to her 140-character posts.

Kim and Kris aren't the first celeb couple to go through a digital breakup, though. In the midst of the infidelity scandal, Two and a Half Men star and Twitter fanatic Ashton Kutcher and his wife Demi Moore mutually unfollowed each other, reported RadarOnline.com. (Don't worry; the two tweethearts have since reconnected).

So how should we handle the ex-factor in our online lives? We asked relationship and netiquette expert Julie Spira, author of "The Perils of Cyber-Dating" and "The Rules of Netiquette," some of our geeky-love conundrums:

iVillage: When do you change your Facebook status? How should you handle that?

Julie