Tag Archives: NY Mag The Cut

The Many Squeals of Women – Decoded

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squeal

I’m a pretty enthusiastic person in general. I tend to overuse exclamation points, even though I know it’s grammatically incorrect. I have been known to jump up and down and clap when I’m really excited, and there is a pretty regular occurrence in my life that I refer to as the happy dance. My friends husbands always say that we sound like a pack of chickens when we get together, just squeaking louder and louder over each other until it’s a gentle roar of how thrilled we are to see each other. So I thoroughly enjoyed this post on NY Mag The Cut that breaks down the different types of squeals that women make. They might get on some people’s nerves, but sometimes you just don’t want to keep all that excitement inside. Here’s how the author sees them as especially effective ways to communicate:

  • The Uncontainable Squeal: You’re just SO excited that you can’t contain yourself. I usually do this when someone finally caves and agrees to go on a trip with me, or I get JUST the Christmas present I hoped for, but forgot to put on my list.
  • Squeal for Sisterhood: Women shriek for other women even though they know it particularly irritates men. In this case, the squealing signals that they care about the people they’re with so much, and the thing they’re collectively excited about that they’re not even worried about all the men they are pissing off.
  • The Non-Specific Squeal: When you don’t have anything to say, shriek. You’re excited, but your bestie already knows you love her and support her –instead of saying it again, just make some loud noises and maybe jump up and down to get your point across.
  • Squeal as a Social Lubricant: Guys fist bump about sports with near strangers. Women enjoy high-pitched yells to bond with people they might not know all that well, but want to include in the group.
  • Squeal Qua Squeal: Just like smiling at someone makes you feel good too, squealing with someone makes you even more excited than before you squealed. Just take a few minutes to enjoy the good feeling.

For those of you who have wondered at the various ways women squeal, and what they mean, there you have it. They’re a great way to show excitement, express our love for each other, and include others in the collective joy –squealing decoded.

Hashtag Abusers

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hashtag

I love social media as much as the next iPhone owner, but I have to agree with this spot-on article from NY Mag, The Cut that the little tool known as the hashtag may have gotten a little out of control. Previously used as a media tag to group together tweets of a common theme, it has exploded into verbal conversation (you know you have a friend who says hashtag out loud before making a witty comment), facebook posts, and of course instagram. The author goes into the main 7 ways that people abuse hashtags, and friends? I have seen every single one pop up in my feeds.

There’s the hashtag stuffer, who adds a hashtag to about 20 random words with each post, and the aforementioned verbal hashtagger who uses the word out loud, in public. Then comes the HashtagStringer who is known for making funny comments into one long run on tag- funny? Yes. Gets old? Sure. There are the hack-taggers, who coopt company created hashtags (like #McDStories) for their own ironic use – typically in opposition to its original intent. Or there is the friend known as the hash-swagger who hashtags just to let you know they are at an event cooler than one you will ever attend like #cannes or #aspen. Finally, the hashtag is used as a self-expression crutch. It’s the new parenthetical reference that clarifies what you wanted to say with a little addendum to what you actually said. All in all, there are so many ways that hashtags are used outside of the way they were originally intended that will make you laugh, and cringe.

What’s the most common way you see hashtags used (or abused)?

Look Better in a GIF

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bronzerOr in a jiff with these handy gifs from NY Mag the Cut. I cannot get over how big a fan I am of the GIF Lesson series, because am I the only one who can’t follow a series of pictures for something so complex as attaching fake eyelashes or to get just the right shading of bronzer? Instead, this smarty pants website has created a series of animated steps with real people to show you how it’s done. If a picture is worth 1,000 words, these little video shorts are worth a million bucks.

Give Your Fine Hair Loads of Volume

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curlers

For every curly haired gal longing for straight, smooth locks there’s a girl with superfine hair that doesn’t require a keratin treatment to dry pin straight. Call it grass-is-greener syndrome, but we always seem to want what we can’t have in the hair department. Or, as I like to tell myself, we just like variety. If it’s curly we like to wear it straight. Or in this case, if it’s ultra-thin, naturally we covet the bombshell hair you see all over Victoria’s Secret runways. To get it, you can try teasing the under layers of your hair to give it a little extra boost (a technique best used with strategic bobby pinning), spraying hairspray on your fingers then massaging your roots, or a healthy spritz of dry shampoo to plump up locks. I’ve tried all three, and they definitely work. OR you can try this handy gif from The Cut that will show you step-by-step how to use those velcro rollers you have sitting in the back of your closet. 6 easy steps from flat to fab!

American Girl Retires the Classic Dolls

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kirstenWhen I was growing up, I owned a Kirsten doll and her accompanying stories about the trials the Swedish immigrant girl faced living on a farm after many of her friends died during the voyage to America. She made me actually care about tensions between Native Americans and settlers through her friendship with Singing Bird (a feat I can’t say that history class ever accomplished). My sister owned a Samantha doll, and we both read the series for most of the American Girls that addressed issues was wide ranging as living in the American Revolution (Felicity), and learning through her friends about poverty and class struggle while living in an affluent childhood (Samantha). While the dolls and all of their matching outfits were a fun complement to the novels, the books were the real stars, taking me through different historical periods, and embedding life lessons into the back stories that went along with my toys. Sadly, American Girl has decided to “archive” the classic dolls in favor of a new line.

Anndddd the new line comes with new story lines. The fresh “Girl of the Year,” and “My American Girl” dolls are designed to be more relatable to modern children. They are modeled after their images and the characters, living in present day, face challenges like not making the gymnastics team rather than navigating the complex social landscape of cross-class friendships during the industrial period. Additionally, the brand has cut back from the previous 6 books for each character to a measly 2, suggesting that these American girls? Well, they just don’t read as much. While it’s always sad to see a classic toy from your childhood retired, I’m not the only one who was saddened by the changes in the brand. Check out the opinions on The Daily Beast, NY Mag The Cut, and The Atlantic.

What do you think about the changes America Girl is making?