Blog Posts by Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

Presenting the old and new Merida. Photo: Disney/PixarSo it turns out that Merida, the rebellious redhead star of Disney’s Pixar film “Brave,” is true princess material after all, and Disney is coronating her as its 11th official princess on Saturday at Walt Disney World to prove it. But wait, there’s a catch.

More from Shine: Animated Disney Characters who were Based on Real Actors

Turns out that Merida’s only joining the royal lineup after a corporate makeover that’s rendered her skinnier, sexier, and more glamorous than her original spunky, tomboyish self—stripping her, at least in some images, of her trusty bow and arrow, and putting her into the very dress that her character detested in “Brave.” It’s sparked outrage among thousands of mothers for whom Merida offered, finally, an empowering Disney role model for their girls.

“Merida was the princess that countless girls and their parents were waiting for—a strong, confident, self-rescuing princess ready to set off on her next adventure with her bow at the ready,” reads a Change.org

Read More »from Disney Princess Makeover Sparks Outrage: Merida Petition Goes Viral

Knox with Cuomo. Photo: CNNCNN's interview with Amanda Knox, which aired Tuesday night, is getting some unexpected attention from critics. Wednesday, Gawker likened Chris Cuomo's sit-down with Knox to sexual harassment, calling his aggressive line of questioning about what he repeatedly called her "freaky" personal sex life. (You can watch an excerpt of the interview here or watch it in its entirety when it's rebroadcast on Saturday night.)

On Thursday, after a barrage of negative viewer feedback on Twitter, a CNN spokesperson defended the interview, telling Yahoo! Shine, “In this interview, Cuomo wanted to give Knox the opportunity to speak to the prosecution’s theories. He asked tough questions that reflected those of the prosecution, not his own ideas or beliefs. We encourage people to read the full transcript and watch the entire interview for full context.”

But an inside source at Harper Collins, where Knox's book was published, had a very different take. Apparently, some folks involved with the book felt the

Read More »from Amanda Knox's CNN Interview was 'Intense,' says Her Publicist. Others Call it Bullying.

It’s been said that being trusted is a greater compliment than being loved, and if that’s true, then Sandra Bullock must be feeling pretty pleased with herself. She beat out totally beloved women including Michele Obama, Robin Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Oprah Winfrey and Julia Roberts (and men including both President Obama and Clint Eastwood) in Readers Digest’s “100 Most Trusted People in America” list, released Tuesday. Bullock ranked No. 2 overall, just behind Tom Hanks (no surprise there) and miles ahead of Kristen Stewart, who had the dubious distinction of topping the Least Trusted list. 

The Reader’s Digest results came from an online poll of more than 1,000 Americans who based trustworthiness on “integrity and character, exceptional talent, drive to personal excellence, internal moral compass, message, honesty and leadership.”

So what’s Bullock got over K-Stew and the others? “It comes down to sincerity, which is a sorely lacking trait in celebrity-land these days,” longtime

Read More »from Why is Sandra Bullock the Most Trusted Woman in America?

Ashley Summer, who would be 19, in an age-progression image. Photo: National Center for Missing and Exploited Children/Daily NewsWhile the family members of recovered kidnapping victims Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight are rejoicing this week, the kin of another Cleveland woman, Ashley Summers, are struggling to keep hope alive under the heavy weight of disappointment.

More from Shine: Kidnapping Survivors: What Happens What They Go Home

Summers went missing in 2007 at the age of 14, and on Monday, before third woman Michelle Knight was identified, her aunt Debra initially thought she was among them.

“I called my mom, I called my sisters, I called everybody,” she told CNN, standing in front of her house with tears in her eyes, agreeing that she was crushed when Ashley was not one of the saved women. “I was upset, but I was happy at the same time that they found the third girl,” she said. “We’re hoping that it’s connected, and they knew where she was. We’re hoping for a miracle.”

More from Yahoo!: Questions Mount on how Ohio Women's Captivity Went Undetected

Debra was at work when Shine reached out to

Read More »from Ashley Summers, Fourth Missing Cleveland Girl: Is She Connected to Kidnapping Case?

photo by AP images

When news broke Monday that three women who vanished a decade ago had been found in downtown Cleveland, few people could claim to have any idea what was going through the minds of Gina DeJesus, Amanda Berry, and Michelle Knight. But Jaycee Dugard—the California woman who was kidnapped and held for 18 years, sharing her experience in a 2011 memoir, “A Stolen Life”—is among a handful of people who can.

More on Shine: Jaycee Dugard: Healing Without Rage and Why

“These individuals need the opportunity to heal and connect back into the world,” she said Tuesday in a media statement about the new case. “This isn’t who they are. It is only what happened to them.” It’s only what happened to Dugard, too, along with others like Elizabeth Smart and Natascha Kampusch, whose stories of resilience have been followed by the public for years. What they’ve managed to do with their lives since being rescued, though, is oftentimes just as incredible.

Dugard. Photo: Charles Isherman/Getty ImagesJaycee Dugard
Dugard was just 11 years old when, on her Read More »from Kidnapping Survivors: What Happens When They Go Home

Get off the couch! It may be harming your baby! Photo: Getty ImagesYou may be better off standing than sitting on your sofa, particularly if you are a pregnant woman, according to a new study on the dangers of flame retardants in furniture.

More on Shine: Are You Overwhelmed with Protecting Your Family From Toxins? Why You're Not Alone.

Flame retardants—toxic chemicals soaked into couches and other types of household items, including mattresses and carpet pads, to make them fire resistant—have long been linked with cancer and developmental difficulties. And now a new study, released Monday, offers fresh evidence that those toxins may affect children while they are still in utero, effectively lowering IQs and raising rates of hyperactivity.

“It looks like we have a new study with very concerning results,” Sarah Janssen, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Yahoo! Shine. Though manufacturers no longer use the specific flame retardants tracked in the study—called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs—they remain in pieces

Read More »from Your Couch is Toxic: New Study Confirms Fears about Flame Retardants in Furniture

Boylan with sons Sean and Zachary and wife Deedie. Photo: Courtesy Jenny BoylanThere are not too many people in the world who can say they’ve been both a mother and a father. But Jennifer Finney Boylan, née James Boylan, can.

More on Shine: Transgender Woman Rejected from Smith is Just the Latest Tale of Trans-Woman Bias

As James—a dark-haired man with a “feminine streak” who was a teacher of literature and a fan of Grateful Dead music—he met and fell in love with his wife, Deedie, in his late twenties, and soon became a father to their two sons. But James was harboring a secret: He was transgender, and, in his heart, had never truly felt male. He suppressed the notion for several years after marrying Deedie, but it eventually racked him with debilitating anger and sadness.

“I used to tear my hair out thinking, when you have children, you’re not only living for yourself,” Boylan told Yahoo! Shine in an interview this week. “I was willing to bear a pretty heavy burden that meant keeping the people around me safe, but I got to the point where I couldn’t take another

Read More »from Transgender Author Jennifer Finney Boylan Went From Dad to Mom: How it Changed Her Family

Lucky for us, UK-based illustrator Nickolay Lamm seems to be a bit obsessed with Barbie. First, he turned his artistically critical eye on the 54-year-old icon's makeup, stripping down her face with much more grace than another recent effort. Now Lamm, also a blogger, is going after Barbie's oft-criticized physique. In order for an average woman to look like Barbie, she would have to grow two feet taller, extend her neck length by 3.2 inches, gain five inches in bust size, and lose six inches in waist circumference, according to data from the Yale Center for Eating and Weight Disorders, cited by the recent Rehabs.com feature "Dying to be Barbie." Lamm has highlighted the discrepancies by comparing Barbie's body side-by-side to the mockup of a realistic version, based on CDC measurements of the average American 19-year-old. Now if only the CDC made a doll.…--Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

Read More »from Barbie Vs. Real Women: Artist Shows Shocking Differences