TresSugar

Saturday Morning Cartoon: Maraka!

GiggleSugar — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:00:00 -0800

Dora the Explorer has a "bad seed" in the fam and her name is Maraka. Girlfriend is a Spanglish-speaking, foul-mouthed little spitfire who engages in Dora's signature question-and-pause-pause-pause-for-answer games. But Maraka's questions are different from Dora's. I drew the line when she asked how to check for a hernia. ¿Como se dice "punk" en español?

What Are the Best/Worst Euphemisms in Romance Novels?

TresSugar — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 13:00:00 -0700

The other day a friend who works in book publishing put this up as his Facebook status: "'Blistering sexuality' - This is a quote on the back cover of a book I'm working on, and one of the many reasons I want to work in children's books." Ha! Yes, "blistering" and "sexuality" side by side would send me running to Dora's G-rated explorations. But his status update sums up probably the best part of romance novels - how well-endowed they are with wordplay.

Romance novels are mainly written for women. So it's only a given that words as unbecoming as vagina would be hidden under mounds euphemisms. And who better to know the best and worst of them than the authors of Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches’ Guide to Romance Novels, Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan. To see what they had to say, read more.

Romance novels are known to throb with euphemisms. What are some of the best/worst?

Candy: My favorites are the ones that make body parts sound like kitchen disasters (quivering mounds, glistening orbs) or that make me want to protect my vagina with steel plating (throbbing spear of flesh, glistening sword).

Sarah: Fortunately, romances have moved past some of the more flowery and technicolor bizarre euphemisms - which were used at a time of political change and sexual ambivalence for women - and on one hand, I like the language currently employed. On the other, the humor value is epic. My favorite: "He burst like a ripe melon within her." I've never looked at honeydew the same way since.

Neither will we! Stay tuned tomorrow for more from Sarah and Candy.

Princess Culture Might Not Be Healthy For Girls

TresSugar — Tue, 26 May 2009 16:10:00 -0700

I know a very smart, independent, tomboyish 5-year-old who is enthralled by the idea of being a princess. It was Fiona from the Shrek films that got her hooked.

Girls have always loved playing with dolls and pretending they're princesses, but it appears to be crammed down their throats even more now by toy manufacturers and movie studios. There are princess baby clothes, princess-related Barbie items, and the entire Disney Princess franchise, featuring characters from Sleeping Beauty to Mulan. Even tough chick Dora the Explorer wears crowns sometimes!

Many people who are trying to raise nonbratty girls with aspirations beyond being pretty and glamorous worry that selling the princess ethos to girls might be a bad idea. Jean Twenge, an associate professor of psychology at San Diego State and author of The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, worries as well. She argues, "It just encourages parents who put their kids on a pedestal - and who encourage their kids a lot and rarely criticize."

Twenge and her co-author W. Keith Campbell found that although a study of college-age men and women showed that men in that age group are more likely to exhibit narcissistic traits, the rate at which college-age women were developing narcissistic traits was four times that of the men.

Is the fantasy of being a princess just an inevitable rite of passage for girls? Or would girls be better off heeding, "Do not pass Princess Lane, do not collect crown"?

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Briefing Book! New Yorkers Think David Gregory Has Bad Hair

CitizenSugar — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:50:09 -0700

New Yorkers give David Gregory hair advice on the street. - Twitter
Dora the Explorer not the first girl to get a sexier tween makeover. - The Frisky
Are Public Service Announcements aimed at girls different than those aimed at boys? - Jezebel
Computer programmer replaces his finger with flash drive. – Lemondrop
Stephen Colbert is taking his show to the Persian Gulf. - Huffington Post
Business is booming for cafe with no pricing policy. - SavvySugar
At 18 percent, Nancy Pelosi's favorability rating is one point lower than Rush Limbaugh's. - Indecision Forever

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Jon Stewart Responds to CNBC Host on His Variety Show

CitizenSugar — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 07:35:45 -0700

Last night Jon Stewart provided the latest round of laughs and blows in the case of Stewart vs. Cramer. Earlier in the day, CNBC host Jim Cramer went on an press junket to respond to the criticism he's been taking on the Daily Show. Well if NBC wants to defend Cramer, Stewart has MTV Networks in his corner. Check out Jon's own rehabilitation tour, which includes a cameo on The Hills and Dora the Explorer. I can't wait to see if Cramer shows up as a guest as planned on Thursday's Daily Show!

WTF?!

GiggleSugar — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:00:00 -0800

The Dora the Explorer Aquapet is marketed for ages five and up. Did no one in the design department, or the marketing department, or the common sense department think it resembled other "aquapets"? I guess not!

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