TresSugar

Modern Family Is Not So Modern When It Comes to Women

OnSugar Blog — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 04:00:00 PDT

Here's a post from OnSugar blog My DISFunkshion.

Modern Family, created by Steven Levitan (Just Shoot Me) and Christopher Lloyd (Frasier), is a show about the daily adventures of a big, apparently “wacky” American clan. However, their female characters portray traditional stereotypes.

Like the popular mockumentary The Office, Modern Family uses character interviews for an intimate, improvised effect, while the shaky camera work gives it the appearance of a home movie, a la the critically acclaimed series Arrested Development.

We’re quickly introduced to three related families: Mitchell and Cam, a gay couple with a newly adopted Vietnamese baby; Mitchell’s sister, Claire, a stay-at-home mom, her goofball husband Phil and their three kids; and Jay, the patriarch, his Colombian trophy wife, Gloria, and her son from a previous affair.

When I first watched the show, I was desperate for distraction, thanks to a messy breakup. I laughed aloud at their quirky imperfections and ridiculous love-hate squabbles, and even choked up at their heartwarming reconciliations. But as I hunkered down for the next serving of benign fun, something started to bug me. Find out what after the jump.

Where My Ladies At: "Female Friendly" iPhone Apps!

GeekSugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 02:02:10 PDT

No matter how you want to slice it or dice it, at the end of the day, there are some things that women experience (ahem - menstrual cycles, pregnancy) that men will never have to endure in their lifetime. I've already touched on all my fave iPhone games and essential iPhone apps, but now it's time to round up the apps out there that are just for the ladies. So men, enter this slideshow at your own risk and ladies, you can find all these awesome apps in the iTunes App Store!

Dear Poll: Would You Try Female Viagra?

DearSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:00:00 PDT

Earlier this week, an article in the Washington Post reminded readers that Viagra is officially 10-years-old this month. It seems hard to believe it was only a decade ago that the release of this male performance enhancer sparked such huge controversy. Of course, as that debate died down, a new one took its place: When will they make female Viagra? Though there has been talk of similar products, we're still waiting for the little blue pill to be made available for us women. It's pretty clear that it's going to happen eventually, so what I want to know is, would you try it?

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Some Words of Wisdom

DearSugar — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 16:00:00 PDT

I just came across a wonderful poem whose commandments (if you will) struck a chord with me. I wanted to share it with all of you so just click here to

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
enough money within her control to move out
and rent a place of her own,
even if she never wants to or needs to...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer,
or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a youth she's content to leave behind...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to
retelling it in her old age...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems,
and a recipe for a meal,
that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to fall in love without losing herself...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to quit a job,
break up with a lover,
and confront a friend without;
ruining the friendship...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
when to try harder... and WHEN TO WALK AWAY...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that she can't change the length of her calves,
the width of her hips, or the nature of her parents...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
that her childhood may not have been perfect..but it's over...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she would and wouldn't do for love or more...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
how to live alone... even if she doesn't like it...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
whom she can trust,
whom she can't,
and why she shouldn't take it personally...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
where to go...
be it to her best friend's kitchen table...
or a charming inn in the woods...
when her soul needs soothing...

EVERY WOMAN SHOULD KNOW...
what she can and can't accomplish in a day...
a month...and a year...

-Author unknown
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Do Tell: What Female Trait Would you Change?

DearSugar — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 07:00:00 PDT

Being a woman is amazing, we have the honor of bearing children, we are sensitive and compassionate, we get to be feminine and girly whenever we want, but at the same time, as women, we suffer through our periods every month, we have to fight for job equality, and have to keep up with the Jones' in terms of weight, fashion and status. So ladies, if you had to abolish one female characteristic to make your life easier, do tell, what would you change?

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The Female Robot by Tomotaka Takahashi

GeekSugar — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 09:00:59 PDT

I present to you the FT female robot, measuring just over a foot tall and containing twenty-three motors and two gyroscopes. As a result of Tomotaka Takahashi's desire to create a female type robot, he spent a year developing a robot with feminine features. Featured on SCI FI Tech, the FT's parts were specifically designed to showcase a lean, feminine body line. Wondering how she works? The FT robot is controlled by an onboard computer which allows the robot to move gracefully. Takahashi even consulted with professional fashion models to make the FT’s movements more lifelike. There are currently only two FT robots in the world, although one will be sold by auction, starting at...get this...$300,000. Takahashi believes that half of all robots in the near future will be "female," so I'm sure he'll be keeping the second one for himself as a prototype. For more info, click here.

To check out more images of Takahashi's female robot,

View 6 Photos ›

What is your Getting Ready Routine?

DearSugar — Tue, 01 May 2007 08:30:00 PDT

Do you consider yourself to be a primper? Are you the type who takes hours getting ready for a date or a night out with friends, making sure every hair is in place and your outfit is perfectly pressed? I was meeting a male friend for dinner this weekend and he was shocked and quite impressed with how quickly I could get ready for an evening out on the town! So ladies, do tell, what does your getting ready regime entail?

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Meet the Euro Pop Princesses of the '60s: Yé-Yé Girls

Tara Block — Fri, 25 May 2012 14:52:29 PDT

Are the yé-yé girls having resurgence? First there was Megan's infamous Mad Men song and dance number, and now they've come up again in Wes Anderson's latest film Moonrise Kingdom. In the film - set in 1965, a year before this season of Mad Men - Suzy Bishop is one half of the lovesick preteen couple at the center of the movie. While her style is clearly fashioned after the yé-yé girls, Suzy's interest in the pop singers is brought up at one point when she shows her love interest, Sam Shakusky, her favorite album, Tous Les Garçons Et Les Filles by yé-yé girl Françoise Hardy. Later in the movie, Sam and Suzy have a very entertaining dance scene on the beach in their underwear to her song "Le Temps de l'Amour" ("The Time of Love").

Derived from "yeah! yeah!", the yé-yé movement was comprised of female pop singers from France, Québec, Italy, and Spain. The themes and lyrics of the songs, often written by men like Serge Gainsbourg, were deceptively innocent, as the girls beamed sexy naiveté. One not-so-innocent song Serge wrote for yé-yé singer France Gall was "Les Sucettes" ("Lollipops"), which was really referring to oral sex. It included the line, "Annie loves lollipops, aniseed lollipops, when the sweet liquid runs down Annie's throat, she is in paradise." Learn more about France and other popular yé-yé girls like Françoise Hardy, Sylvie Vartan, and Sheila.

LC Preps For the Long Weekend With a Starbucks Stop

Lauren Turner — Fri, 25 May 2012 10:58:23 PDT

Lauren Conrad picked up an iced drink at a Starbucks in Santa Monica yesterday afternoon. She wore a sweet denim look and carried her trusty Balenciaga bag. Lauren was joined by a female pal for the coffee run, rather than her boyfriend. LC and William Tell went public last weekend when they stepped out together in Brentwood. The couple has apparently been dating for a few months after meeting through mutual friends. Whether LC spends the Memorial Day holiday with her man or not, she seems to be prepping for a getaway, and she recently shared packing tips on her website.

Hysteria Director Tanya Wexler Talks Vibrators, Faking It, and Duck Sex

Tara Block — Fri, 25 May 2012 04:00:15 PDT

Don't be shy . . . It's time to talk sex toys! And Hysteria director Tanya Wexler is writing us a prescription for pleasure. Tanya's film - what she calls "the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to" - is in limited release and stars Hugh Dancy, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rupert Everett. When working on a romantic comedy that centers around the invention of the vibrator, you end up with some entertaining and embarrassing situations along the way, and lucky for us, Tanya spilled all the hilariously dirty details. From teaming up with the film's partner Jimmyjane for a drive-by vibrator drop-off to a certain female Oscar-winner to trying unsuccessfully to get ducks to shag on command, Tanya was bursting with great stories from working on this very unconventional film. And while Tanya isn't ashamed to discuss the sexy subject matter of her latest film with us, the mother of four and her partner of 21 years did have a tricky challenge telling her preteen kids what her movie was about. (She eventually gave them the script and let them figure it out themselves!) Check out our interview with the fun-loving director now, and we dare you not to have a girl crush on her by the end!

TrèsSugar: What were some of the challenges to getting a movie made about vibrators?
Tanya Wexler: Getting the script right was tricky because if you just make a movie about the invention of the vibrator, it's actually a really short movie: you go "bzz" and it's done. And we had a kind of light romantic comedy. I say I made the vibrator movie you can bring your mom to. But some people wanted it to be raunchy or some people wanted it to be more serious and about feminism. People project a lot onto this movie of what they want, because there isn't a lot out there about vibrators and women's pleasure, and we still don't really deal with that topic very well, or we're overly antsy around it. And as a result, people have a lot of ideas of what the movie could and should be, and you can't please everyone. [laughs]

TS: Ha, good one.
TW: It's nonstop!

TS: Do you find sex toys inherently funny or something to be seriously celebrated?
TW: Yes!

TS: Both?
TW: Yes! Yes. I think they make me laugh, and I think that the inner kind of Beavis and Butt-head in all of us goes "[laugh]." You know, that inner 13-year-old, like, "Hahaha vibrator . . . " and yet they're awesome and fun.

TS: What shocked you the most when researching the movie?
TW: That ducks are the rapists of the bird world, and you'll see when you see the movie, because there's a little bit of questionable duck behavior - or awesome duck behavior - in the movie. It's totally a sidebar, but you cannot make ducks shag on command. I'm just saying.

TS: What about the whole history of hysteria being a medical condition?
TW: When I first heard the idea, I was like, "What do you mean it was invented in Victorian times?" I knew about hysteria, but the idea that the treatment was manual [British accent] massage deparaxism - which is what they called it - and, of course, the denial. The most shocking thing is the denial, that they didn't think it was sexual.

TS: Do you think they were really in denial?
TW: No, I don't think that some people were. My college roommate was with her high school boyfriend for two years and she had never had an orgasm. I think there's all kinds of denial, especially with women's sexuality. So the fact that there are young women today who haven't had an orgasm, whether self-induced - which is insane - or with a partner, then why wouldn't we think back then that women wouldn't know what orgasms were?

They would get a massage, and the doctor's saying, "Without a penis, this isn't sex, because sex is about procreation," so what is this? The best physical therapy you've ever had. So once you don't think of it as something other than what the doctor's supposed to do to cure your uncontrollable crying or uncontrollable laughter or whatever, then it's just an awesome muscle spasm. If you don't think women have their own inherent sexuality, then you're not thinking about it like that.

Keep reading for Tanya's thoughts on Fifty Shades and more!