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Woman uses funny 'man on the street' interviews with guys to explain how the estrogen patch works

"If men had to go through perimenopause, we'd have hormone therapy in vending machines."

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A woman puts on her estrogen patch. A man looks baffled.

Women going through menopause or perimenopause are learning quickly that not everyone understands what we're dealing with. Which makes sense—it’s confusing even for us, let alone those who can't physically relate.

Luckily, lots of women are willing to teach. Just recently we shared the story of a woman who built the "We Do Not Care" club as a community for those experiencing this "change" in both physical and emotional ways. Our priorities have shifted. Things we once cared about, like "wearing the right bra" on errands, no longer seem that important.

Another woman on Instagram, Beth Crosby (@garbagemom), is taking it up a notch and just so happens to also be a proud member of the WDNC club. In a sponsored clip entitled "Explaining Perimenopause to Dudes," she approaches people on the street with a microphone. For her first interaction, she whips out an estrogen patch and explains to a guy, "This is an estrogen patch." She shows it to the camera as she continues, "This has saved my entire life." She then illustrates how to put it on. "This goes on my butt…"

The man has questions. "So you do this in public?" Similarly to our friends in the We Do Not Care club, Crosby answers, "I don't even give a F anymore. I'm over 40, nothing matters." She reassures him, "Don't be embarrassed," and he cheekily replies, "I'm embarrassed FOR you." She ignores this and puts it on while narrating, "And you put it close to your butt," which she then slaps. "Ah, that's the good stuff."

Next up, she talks to a woman and asks, "If men had to have periods and go through perimenopause…?" The woman quickly interjects, "We'd have hormone therapy in a vending machine." Crosby concurs. "Period."

 vending machine, hormone therapy, The Office, chips Dwight digs through a vending machine on The Office.  Giphy Peacock. NBC 

She explains to another guy, "I take estrogen and I smear it all over my face." He replies, "No you don't. Are you kidding me?" She confirms that yes, indeed, and in fact, "People put it on their vagina. Your vagina shrivels up during perimenopause." He lets an audible "yikes" and then nods and says, "Here we go, okay. Now we're in it."

Lastly, she cuts to a man who inquires, "Wasn't there like a pill or something?" To which Crosby assures, "There is help. I have been seeing an online clinic called Midi Health. They've been incredible. They've prescribed hormone replacement therapy for me and also some supplements, like holistic supplements."

Now switching between people, she explains, "So if you know any women in their mid-40s, just be really nice to them. They've got a lot going on. Thank you!" As she leaves, he—in jest—says, "Good luck with your shriveled self." She turns to the camera while sad clown music plays. He softens it up, "Maybe yours isn't though?" To which Crosby hilariously responds, "It is. Let's just be honest, it is."

Crosby makes it clear she's in a paid partnership with @midihealth, but Upworthy reached out to her and she shares that she's truly a huge fan. "It's been a game changer for me."

She also explains, specifically, how hormones have helped. "I suddenly started getting super anxious, and as someone who has dealt with anxiety my entire life, THIS anxiety felt different. It felt physical. So I finally checked out MIDI health and got prescribed HRT, estrogen (the patch) and progesterone. It was a game changer. I know it sounds dramatic and that's because it was! I'm sleeping a million times better, and my anxiety feels manageable."

The comments were extremely supportive, with one pointing out, "Educating the masses." Crosby responds, "Someone's gotta do it!"

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Kids

Big brother steps in for his sister's father-daughter dance and then steals the show

“I don't know if he knows what an impact he's making as her big brother, but she'll never forget this.”

@patrice_thomps/Instagram

Best brother ever.

Even for the parents who prioritize showing up for their kids, missing a child's event now and then might be unavoidable. But certain occasions are more painful than others when a parent can’t show up, and fatherless father-daughter dances undoubtedly fall into this category.

In June 2024, six-year-old Harper was nearly put in this situation when her dad couldn’t show up to her dance studio's annual summer showcase—which normally includes a father-daughter dance—because of a work commitment.

Thankfully, her 14-year-old brother Micah is the coolest brother in the world, and stepped up to take her dad’s place so she wouldn’t miss out.

In a mega-viral video posted to Instagram by Harper and Micah’s mom, Patrice Thompson, we see the duo have a blast as they twirl in circles, fist bump, and end with an adorable lift for their “Barbie and Ken” themed routine.

“Core memory for the team today,” Thompson wrote in the caption. “I don't know if he knows what an impact he's making as her big brother, but she'll never forget this.”

 

Micah didn’t just have an impact on Harper. So many people left comments sharing how impressed and moved they were by his kindness.

“In a world of boys he is a gentleman,” one person wrote, referencing a Taylor Swift lyric.

Another offered a touching truth, writing, “As a man whose dad walked away from me, this makes me so emotional. You are raising your son to be the cycle breaker. He won’t end up repeating cycles of toxic masculinity like so many of the men we see today. he will be a better man. And his little sister will grow up knowing what a real man should be like, because she has her big brother to show her."

One comment commended Micah for stepping out of his comfort zone, saying, “Bless his sweet heart. I know how big that is for a 14 year old to put himself out there. Major props!”

“Watching him lift her up at the end got me i can’t lie i teared up 🥲🥲” another shared.

“As a girl who had my older brother participate in my “father-daughter” dances for drill team in high school, this made me soo emotional! 😭 this is a special moment they will remember forever,” reminisced another.

And perhaps the best (and truest) comment of them all, was this one: “Does your son know he's a legend?”

In an interview with Newsweek, Thompson shared that while she is “so proud” of her son, especially since most boys his age “would rather do anything else than perform a routine in front of their peers and during summer when he could be off with friends.” However, she is “not super surprised” that he what he did. “That's the young man he is!" she exclaimed, adding “he truly understands the meaning of being selfless."

To all the brothers who would show up for their siblings in this way—thank you. Your generosity and compassion really do help make the world a better place, and it doesn’t go unnoticed.

Here's the family all together: Mom, Dad, Micah, Harper, and the newest addition born earlier this year, baby Christian. Hopefully the new baby boy knows he won the sibling lottery.

This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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family
Pets

The evidence is in and the world has an unexpected 'naughtiest' dog breed

And no, it's not the beagle.

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A beagle gnaws on a boot.

First of all, all dogs are good boys and sweet girls. Let's just start there. But if you want to get kind of scientific about it, the folks at Protect My Paws were ready for the assignment. Turning to Instagram (as all good scientific studies should), they analyzed 87,886 posts and made charts to show the results of which breeds were the best behaved and which, well, were not.

"We counted the posts that mentioned a breed along with a popular behavior hashtag (#gooddog, #cleverdog, #cleverpuppy, #baddog, #naughtypuppy, #cheekydog, #muddydog). And then we balanced the positive hashtags against the naughty ones and looked at where they were geotagged."

First, the good news: according to their findings, the "best behaved dog" is the Korean Jindo dog. This means that, following the Instagram data, this breed had the most positive-related hashtags.

  - YouTube, HappyDogTV_Official  www.youtube.com  

But there's more! They also figured out where the best-behaved (and naughtiest) breeds lived geographically. "Ukraine is the land of good boys," they report, "with 96.72 good boy behavior." Also, nearly all states in the US report more good boy hashtags than naughty. ("Kansas and North Carolina are the only states who vote ‘naughty dog’–and only by a small margin.")

Now for the naughty. According to this study, the naughtiest dog breed is (drum roll please) the Japanese Spitz, with 86.67 hashtags or mentions noting unruly behavior. For those who haven't heard of this breed, they are tiny little white marshmallow fluff-balls who are cousins to the Pomeranians. They note these pooches' "lack of respect for your personal space with a mischievous sense of humor, and you can expect to be clambered over, interrupted, snuzzled, and maliciously cuddled."

They seem to be tiny little adorable Velcro-dogs.

  - Soyabean YouTube channel  www.youtube.com  

According to 2puppies.com, as cute as these little babies are, problems might arise with their suspicion of strangers. They relay, "Despite its small size, it can show aggression towards intruders. The dog chooses only one person in the family to obey without question."

Furthermore, while they seem to be little cuddle bugs, "These animals cannot tolerate the loneliness. If left alone for too long, your Spitz can destroy the interior and scratch on the doors without interruption for hours."

 

Also on the list, according to their naughty hashtags, are the following breeds in order: the wirehaired Vizsla, the Shichon, the Mudi, the Cockapoo (Cocker Spaniel meets poodle), the Chug (chihuahua meets pug), the Shichon, the Poochon, the Welsh terrier, the Keeshond, and the English springer Spaniel. (I will say as someone who watched their beagle attempt to chew the blinds clear off the rod, I was shocked they didn't make the list!)

 beagle, dog, breeds, naughty, pups A beagle sits on a table.   Photo by Anna Kumpan on Unsplash  

The map they share also shows the country with the most misbehaved dog breeds by the research's account. South Africa is number one on this unfortunate list, followed by Slovakia, Singapore, Australia, and the UK. The data is collected by posts showing their dogs being silly little house destroyers.

But dog-lovers, before you breathe a sigh of relief that your dog didn't make the list, there's a slightly newer report out from just this year. The folks at Country Living cite a report made by Many Pets, an insurance company, who sifted through thousands of claims and insights from their customers to come up with the list of dog breed.

Their list is quite different, with one exception. The, as they call it, most mischievous dog breeds are:

Labrador
Cockapoo
French Bulldog
German Shepherd
Cocker Spaniel

 cockapoo, dog, naughty, dog breeds A cockapoo puppy sits in a field.   Photo by Hugo Kruip on Unsplash  

If you cross reference those lists, only one breed makes both and it's… the Cockapoo. So if you've got one of these adorable pups, hide your favorite shoes. Otherwise, you should be fine.

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dogs
Fashion

Theo Von takes 1 minute to nail why the 'vest' is simply the best piece of clothing. Period.

Vest open, case closed.

Canva, Wikipedia

A man shows off his dapper vest. Theo Von performs stand up.

Theodor Capitani von Kurnatowski III has come a long way from Louisiana, where he emancipated himself from his parents at just 14. While shedding parental supervision, he also shed most of his name, so you might only know him as Theo Von.

Just five years later, Theo became a cast member on MTV's Road Rules and subsequently appeared on four seasons of MTV's The Challenge. If you watched those shows, you'll know Theo never shies away from a funny quip, a weird take, something controversial bordering on dumb, or just plain awkward absurdity.

Theo Von, comedian, fashion, UFC, gifTheo Von turns aroundGiphy Sport GIF by UFC

But through his now many years as a stand-up comic, content creator, and podcaster, he always asks interesting questions of his guests… and of himself. In an article for NOLA, he claimed his evolution of thought was born from having had the "frame of reference of a poor person."

Just recently, he took a stand on an extremely controversial topic: vests. That's right...that clothing item that used to be reserved only for tuxedo purposes or Diane Keaton. Brace yourselves: Theo is PRO-VESTS.

He breaks it down on his podcast. "Now I love a vest," he exclaims. "A vest is the only piece of clothing that you can look sharp and catch a football at the same time. Comfortably, okay?" He pauses for a split second as if to say, let THAT sink in. "If you wanna hug somebody and feel a little bit more of the hug than usual—THAT'S a vest."

He continues, "If you've been drinking all day or doing drugs or whatever and you don't know if you're supposed to go to a wedding or a rave, hmm, what am I gonna wear? A snorkel? No! A vest. And that's just a snorkel for your torso, baby. That f-ing vest."

Need more proof that a vest is the best? "If you're not sure if you're gonna be doing magic later on tonight," he says as he mimes doing magic, "Vest."

magic, magician, vest, clothing, theo vonKrendl magician doing a card trick in Virginia. www.flickr.com

"The crazy thing about vests is… they remember your body shape. Not a lot of different pieces of clothing remember your body like a vest does."

He compares it to protection during intimate moments, claiming that a vest remembers your contours. "A vest knows if you're a man or a woman. A vest knows. You want to have a gender reveal party? Tie a vest up around that womb. A vest knows. A vest knows a lot more than we think it does."

Theo himself dares his Instagram followers to "name a better clothing." After many puns, including what good "inVESTment" vests are, no one in the nearly 1,500 comments can beat it.

Interestingly, Reddit has claimed the "vest" has made a comeback, as recently as last year. On the subreddit r/femalefashion advice, one person asks, "I want to buy a vest, but I really don't know if it's just for now. I know vests have come and gone through the years, but I just recently started getting into fashion."

This shockingly receives over 100 comments, with one responding, "Oh, it’s definitely trendy. It’s a big part of the 20-year fashion cycle — right now the early 00s are trendy again. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn't enjoy the trend! There’s no such thing as timeless fashion, and you should wear things that you like."

vest, dancing, clothing, cheesy, christmasA woman dances wearing a Christmas vest.Giphy

Another Redditor offers this wise cautionary advice: "Vests can be a hard piece to pull off. The popular ones right now are an easy entry point, which is cool for folks wanting to experiment with their style. But I only see these types of vests being classic staples for a small amount of folk. So the vests everyone is wearing are trends, but not the article of clothing itself."

And this person really opposes the idea: "Girl, trendy. They were hot in the mid-late 90s and we wore them then for a few years and then haven’t seen them since. You’ll wear it a few times before the trend evolves (brocade floral vests instead of oatmeal blah linen vests?) and then after that it will be gone completely for another 20–30 years. Timeless is a myth."

Theo would probably answer that with, "You know what's not a myth? Vests."


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