culture
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She’s So Basic: 6 Common Mediocre-White-Girl Tropes Found in TV and Movies
Pearl-clutching liberals respond to instances of bigotry and bad behavior with “It’s 2017, ffs!” Well, I’ve consulted the zodiac, and 2017 has been the year of the mediocre white man. Blake Shelton is the sexiest man alive, and Donald Trump the most powerful. White male mediocrity is simply the opposite of surprising. White women are…
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Tracing Your Roots: Were My Enslaved Ancestors East African?
Separating fact from fiction in a family’s oral tradition. Dear Professor Gates: I recently read a 2014 article that you authored (“Were My Enslaved Ancestors Originally From Ethiopia?”) concerning a Green family in Texas with roots in Georgia and their possible connection to Ethiopia. I’m inquiring about my own Green family, also from Georgia (primarily…
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Nah, White Women … You Can’t Have This One
In the aftermath of black people showing up out of nowhere—like little Kenard who snuffed out Omar on The Wire—to kill Roy Moore and the “alt-right’s” dream of making the documentary Mr. Molester Goes to Washington, everyone wants a little bit of credit. The Democratic Party is saying, “I told y’all.” The pundits are giving…
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Sex on the 1st Date: Yes or No?
There was a time when sex on the first date was considered taboo. Is that still a thing? To be clear, most times when this was and is talked about, it’s in reference to women and never men. No one ever looks down on the man who “gets some” on the first date, but the…
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5 Things Men Need to Understand About Foreplay
Last week, over chicken wings and tequila, one of my girlfriends relayed a story to me that was hilarious, embarrassing and troubling all at the same time. She had a sexual encounter with a man who knew absolutely nothing about foreplay. He kissed her one or two times, slid into her without even making sure…
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Watch: Meet the Teen Who Created an App to Protect Kids From Police Brutality
Two things inspired then-high school sophomore George Hofstetter to create an app that aims to prevent police brutality: the killing of Trayvon Martin and George’s worries for his younger brother’s future. “I want him to grow up in a world where he doesn’t have to worry about being on the news as an African-American child…
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That Time I Staged a 1-Man Die-In, or … Why I’m Banned From the Apple Store
I was chatting with Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan on Monday about suffering through a terrible tragedy this weekend in which I cracked my iPhone screen. While telling her about my experience trekking through the holiday shopping crowd to the Apple Store, she assaulted me with a demeaning joke. “There’s an Apple Store in Alabama?”…