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Don’t Have a 1st Valentine’s Day Gift for Your New Man Yet? Keep It Sensual
“This is my first Valentine’s Day with my new boyfriend. I’ve waited until the last minute to get my guy a gift and I don’t want to ask him now what he wants. I am clueless about what to get him. Flowers? A massage? Cologne? A sex coupon book? What do I get him? Help!”…
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10 Movies That Empower Black Women
The Oscar buzz is loud for 12 Years a Slave’s Lupita Nyong’o for her riveting portrayal of Patsey, an enslaved woman who manages to out-pick her male counterparts in the cotton field and find a sliver of happiness despite her circumstances. Nyong’o’s performance—which earned her a best supporting actress nomination—is the most recent in a…
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How to Ask Your Man to Get an HIV Test
“I am ready to have sex with a guy I am dating, and I want to do the right thing and get tested [for HIV] first. I don’t know how to bring it up though. I tried to discuss getting tested with a man I dated before him. He was taking me to an appointment…
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Black Beauty Standards Can Be Just as Unhealthy as White Ones
Last week, there were plenty of reactions to an XO Jane story in which a self-described “skinny white girl” in a yoga class assumed that a “heavyset” black woman, who never said a word to her, coveted her lithe form. Whatever. That misguided essay launched hundreds of responses, including one of my own, which pointed…
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A Survival Guide for Single Girls on Valentine’s Day
“Valentine’s Day is around the corner. What would you suggest two young, single girls do so they aren’t home pining over a tub of ice cream?”—K.W. Valentine’s Day has got to be the worst holiday on earth. And I say that as a woman who hasn’t spent one alone in about six years. There’s so…
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Beyoncé Is a Grown Woman and Can Do What She Wants
When it was announced that entertainment’s “it” couple, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and Jay Z, would be performing at the Grammys—the opening act, no less—I knew it wasn’t going to go well. They were undoubtedly going to perform their latest hit, “Drunk in Love,” an ode to liquor and the joys of marital sex, replete with raunchy…
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Rooting for Olivia and Mary Jane Doesn’t Mean You Co-Sign Adultery
“Do you think shows like Scandal and Being Mary Jane are condoning adultery or man-sharing to black women? It’s strange that the only two noticeable scripted shows about black women show them as ‘the other woman.’ I see so many women rooting for them. Is adultery ‘in style’ now?” —Anonymous There have always been, and…
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Vanity Fair Just Doesn’t Understand Black Beauty
There were only two topics that should have dominated any conversation about actress Lupita Nyong’o last Thursday. That morning (and after much hype), she was officially nominated for an Academy Award for her first film role as Patsey, an enslaved woman abused by her sadistic owner, in 12 Years a Slave. And that evening she…
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Reuniting With an Ex Might Not Be a Good Move
“Recently my ex emailed me (I’ve blocked him from calling or messaging me). He wants to try the relationship again. Previously we were together one-and-a-half years. I don’t know what to make of it. It threw me off. Is it ever OK to go back to an ex?” —A.S. Certain exes tend to hold a…
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Fat-Shaming Trolls Need to Get Over Gabourey Sidibe’s Weight
Gabourey Sidibe attended the Golden Globes Awards Sunday night. And in what has become a time-honored (and vile) tradition anytime she appears anywhere and happens to be photographed, some viewers thought it would be a good idea to mock her weight. Again. There was, of course, the flat-out name-calling, which was clear fat-shaming. And then…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
