Blog Posts by Beth Greenfield, Shine Staff

One of the offending images, starring Berlusconi. Image for Ford by JWT.Mock-up Ford ads using cartoon images of the Kardashian sisters and other women bound and gagged in trunks are causing a public-relations disaster for the auto giant.

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The three unapproved rogue ads for the compact Ford Figo, made in India by young creatives at ad agency JWT, were posted on the portfolio-sharing site Ads of the World last week and spotted by a Business Insider reporter, who called them “disturbing.”
 
One depicted Paris Hilton at the wheel, winking, with the three Kardashian sisters tied up in the car’s trunk. Another featured three bound and gagged women in the trunk and former Italian prime minister and infamous “Bunga Bunga” partier Silvio Berlusconi at the wheel, flashing a peace sign, and the following tagline: “Leave Your Worries Behind with the Figo’s extra-large boot.” The third put Formula One driving champ Michael Schumacher at the wheel with a trunk full of his longtime male rivals. They have since

Read More »from Ford Apologizes Over Sexist Ads Using Cartoons of Bound-and-Gagged Women

An image from the supportive Facebook page, Smith Q&A: Trans Women Belong Here.When Connecticut high school senior Calliope Wong posted her rejection letter from Smith College on her Tumblr earlier this month, the anti-discrimination blogosphere lit up. That’s because Wong is a transgender woman—but still officially “male” on her government financial aid document. And, according to said letter from Smith College’s Dean of Admission Debra Shaver, “Smith is a women’s college, which means that undergraduate applicants must be female at the time of admission.”

But, explains Wong on her Tumblr, “In order to be legally recognized as ‘female’ on my birth certificate according to BOTH Massachusetts and Connecticut law, I have to undergo vaginoplasty (feminizing genital surgery). From what I understand, Smith College will only evaluate me as a ‘real’ girl if I get sex reassignment surgery.”

That, she continues, “is perhaps the most obscene of rights violations that I have ever witnessed from a school. It’s not a loud and boisterous violation, which is all the worse: its slyRead More »from Transgender Woman Rejected from Smith is Just the Latest Tale of Trans-Woman Bias

A shirt similar to this one landed a man in hot water with the law. Photo: Zazzle.comAnd now, from Taiwan, a cautionary tale with the following lesson: Don’t wear T-shirts with writing that you can’t understand.

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A fugitive in the town of Huwei, in the southern country of Yunlin, learned that the hard way when he was arrested earlier this month while wearing a shirt bearing the word “Wanted," a police spokesperson told the French news agency AFP.

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The criminal, identified in reports by only his surname Wu, didn’t know any English, and had no clue what his shirt, a gift from his son, meant.

But as it turned out, a patrolling police officer did; he’d passed a proficiency test and was curious about the word on the tee.

That exchange led to Wu inspiring more questions—no doubt he appeared nervous—and to the cop checking his status on his police system. Which led to Wu being hauled in on drug charges.

End of lesson. Capiche?

Related:
Gap Pulls "Manifest

Read More »from Fugitive Tips Off Own Arrest with "Wanted" Shirt

Sexiest period undies ever? Photo courtesy of Thinx.Period panties just got a whole lot prettier.

(And don’t act like you don’t know what we’re talking about—we know you’ve got some scary stain-worthy pairs reserved for your little friend just like the rest of us.)

Thinx, a new line of women’s underwear that’s specially made to deal with leaks and pads when you’re on the rag, is coming to a retailer near you in May. And the best part? These undies are bloody cute.

They come from a trio of New York based entrepreneurs—identical twin sisters Miki and Radha Agrawal and their friend Antonia Dunbar—and represent three years of brainstorming, research, design and fund-raising efforts (including $65,000 from a Kickstarter campaign). The result is a line of lingerie that’s leak and stain-resistant, anti-microbial, moisture wicking and durable. It’s all meant to provide some trusted backup to your sometimes less-than-perfect tampons—and there’s also plenty of material in the crotch for a pad if that’s how you roll.

The premiere collection of four Read More »from Someone Invented Actual Period Underpants? We're In.

Simona Wilson in court. Photo: Sektnan/EasyReaderNews.comA California woman who sustained repeated electrical shocks while showering won a $4 million lawsuit against her power company Wednesday.

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The ruling against Southern California Edison was a long-awaited end to the saga of Simona Wilson, 34, a single mother of three boys who has suffered from major medical problems as a result of “stray voltage” from a nearby substation, according to reporting in the Easy Reader News of Hermosa Beach, CA.

The power company, which said in a statement it found the verdict “inconsistent with the totality of the evidence presented at trial,” now faces two more lawsuits from residents of the same Redondo Beach neighborhood (which she has since fled). And the details of Wilson’s case alone are enough to seriously jolt anyone who has ever taken a shower.

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For Wilson, her saga began in 2011, when she began to experience nausea, exhaustion

Read More »from Woman Shocked in Shower by Stray Voltage Wins $4 Million Lawsuit. Are You at Risk, Too?

Blogger Alexandria Goddard. Photo: FacebookSocial media may have helped judge Thomas Lipps find Trent Mays and Ma'lik Richmond guilty of raping Jane Doe in Steubenville, Ohio, on Sunday. But it was one woman who drew the world’s attention to the damning Tweets and Facebook messages in the first place: Alexandria Goddard, crime blogger, web analyst and former Steubenville resident, who spoke out about her part in the case this week.

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“When I first wrote about the unbelievable events that took place in this town where I lived for five years…I had NO clue the firestorm that it would cause,” she wrote in xoJane. “All I wanted was justice for Jane Doe. And now with the verdict in, I am proud to have played any small part in that.”

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Goddard was the first to expose many details of the crime through tweets and Facebook postings she found quickly (and wrote about)

Read More »from Blogger Who First Exposed Steubenville Rape Tweets Speaks Out

The letter everyone's loving (and Ford, inset). Photos: FacebookThe story of a good deed has spread like wildfire online since Sunday, when an anonymous do-gooder left a kind note and $40 on a woman’s windshield in a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot.

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“I noticed the sticker on the back of your car,” the note read, referring to a “Half my Heart is in Afghanistan” bumper sticker. “Take your hero out to dinner when he comes home. Thank you both for serving. Him deployed and you for waiting.” It was signed “United States veteran” and “God Bless.”

The woman, Samantha Ford, a mother of two who lives outside of Boston, quickly snapped a photo of the note and the cash, and shared it on the Facebook page “Our Deployment: 101,” a sort of online support community for people affiliated with the military.

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“I just thought I would share with you all what happened to me today!” Ford wrote

Read More »from Kind Gesture Toward Girlfriend of Deployed Soldier Becomes Internet Sensation

Hillary Clinton made her announcement via an HRC video. Photo: Human Rights CampaignIt's a family affair! Just a week after hubby Bill voiced his support of gay marriage, appealing to the Supreme Court to overturn the Defense of Marriage Act (you know, the one that he signed into law…), Hillary Clinton has now officially come out in favor of marriage equality "personally and as a matter of policy."

“L.G.B.T. Americans are our colleagues, our teachers, our soldiers, our friends, our loved ones, and they are full and equal citizens and deserve the rights of citizenship,’’ she said in the near-six-minute video made by the D.C.-based Human Rights Campaign. “That includes marriage.’’ She said that working as secretary of state inspired her to rethink her position on the issue, which, when last discussed publicly, had her in support of civil unions and letting states decide. But recent experiences have inspired her to "think anew" on her stance.

Reactions around the web are ranging from cheering to eye rolling, with many concluding that the formal announcement, posted

Read More »from Hillary Clinton OK's Gay Marriage, Twitterverse Reacts