For a thousand years, Chinese families forced their young daughters to submit to a painful process called foot binding, which supposedly rendered them desirable and beautiful (but often left them crippled and diseased). People came to their senses early in the 20th century, and the procedure became illegal in 1911.

You’d think we’d learn from history: It’s unwise to break one’s bones to conform to some warped physical ideal, but in modern-day America women routinely submit to painful surgeries to make ourselves beautiful. Read more »

By Keysha Whitaker

The Women (written and directed by Diane English – think “Murphy Brown”) was just that, a film of an all-star cast of women - following in the footsteps of its 1936 and 1939 stage and film predecessors respectively.

The movie follows four friends, Mary Haines (Meg Ryan), Sylvie Fowler (Annette Benning), Alex Fisher (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Edie Cohen (Debra Messing) after they learn that the husband of one of the crew is running around with the “Spritzer Girl” from Saks, Crystal Allen (Eva Mendes).

Haines lives in a big ole’ house in Connecticut, complete with Wall Street tycoon husband, pre-teen daughter, and two hired staff (of great comic relief). Unfortunately, Haines’ husband has decided to step out and let the “Spritzer girl” gallivant around Manhattan with his credit card and his heart. Read more »