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Health

Scarlett Johansson shares why she's 'too fragile’ to be on social media

Even celebrities compare themselves to other people.

scarlett johansson, instagram, the skinny confidential
via Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff/Flickr

Actress Scarlett Johansson meeting with service members during a troop engagement at Forward Operation Base Gamberi, Afghanistan, on December 7, 2016.

It seems a little strange that many A-list celebrities don’t have social media accounts. One would assume that someone who makes their living in the public eye would have no problem sharing things about their lives on Instagram or Facebook.

According to InStyle, there are plenty of big-name celebrities who do not have social media accounts, including Rachel McAdams, Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, Kristen Stewart and Brad Pitt.

In a recent interview with 'The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast," actor Scarlett Johansson revealed why she doesn’t use social media. "The Skinny Confidential" is hosted by Lauryn Evarts Bosstick and her husband, Michael Bosstick.

The main reason why Scar Jo doesn’t have a social media account is she doesn’t think it’s good for her mental health.

"I honestly am too fragile a person to have social media. I can’t. My ego is too fragile," she said on the podcast. The hosts couldn’t believe that social media would be a problem for Johansson.

"I can't deal with it,” she continued. “My brain is too fragile. I’m like a delicate flower. I have enough anxiety, honestly."

She admitted to having an Instagram account for “three days,” but things didn’t go well. Even though she has a lot to be proud of in her life, she couldn’t help but compare herself to others on the platform.

"I started realizing that I’d spent 20 minutes looking at somebody’s Instagram page, someone who worked for a friend of mine. I now know you have a pit bull and two daughters and you live in, like, Burbank,” she said.

She also thinks that social media is a huge time suck.

"I was like, what? I just wasted 17 minutes of time," Johansson said. "I now feel like I should move to California, get this specific dog, and change my life in all these ways. I felt so bad. Like I was missing out on this random person's life. I can't do this. I'm too fragile."

However, she thinks TikTok is fun when she uses it for work.

"I then become like a 3-year-old with their mom’s phone where I get completely absorbed into it. So, that’s why I know I can’t have it," Scarlett concluded.

Johansson isn’t alone. Studies show that most people who use social media compare themselves to others on platforms such as Instagram, which can lead to problems with mental health. A big reason is that we are all prone to comparing ourselves to others, whether consciously or not.

"We may not have a direct realization that taking in other people’s highlight reel—or content in general—is causing us to gauge how we feel about ourselves, our appearance and lifestyle, or our progress in life based on others," the BetterHelp Editorial Team wrote.

Social media creates an unrealistic view of other people’s lives because people only tend to share flattering things.

One study found that 87% of women and 65% of men compare their bodies to others when consuming social and traditional media. Another study found that people who use Facebook often believe others are happier.

The good news is that reducing social media use to just 30 minutes a day can lead to lower anxiety, depression, loneliness, and difficulty with sleep.

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Science

Astronaut shares the profound 'big lie' he realized after seeing the Earth from space

This change in perspective could change humanity.

via Rubén Moreno Montolíu/Flickr

Our home, from space.

Sixty-one years ago, Yuri Gagarin became the first human to make it into space and probably the first to experience what scientists now call the "overview effect." This change occurs when people see the world from far above and notice that it’s a place where “borders are invisible, where racial, religious and economic strife are nowhere to be seen.”

The overview effect makes man’s squabbles with one another seem incredibly petty and presents the planet as it truly is, one interconnected organism.

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Pop Culture

Special ring that tells people you're single created for folks tired of dating apps

The Pear ring is a new "social experiment" trying to connect folks IRL, not online.

Photo by Michael Discenza on Unsplash

Dating never stays the same.

Why, it feels like it was only yesterday when dating apps were the shiny new trend in the singles world. However, with life becoming increasingly more virtual, many people are looking to become less dominated by screens. As a result, folks are once again hoping to find love from an authentic connection IRL. Swiping just isn’t as romantic (or cutting edge) as it used to be.

That’s where the Pear ring comes in. Self dubbed as the “world’s biggest social experiment,” this $25 brightly colored blue ring offers something classic, with a twist. Basically, folks wear it out to signal they’re single and ready to mingle. Almost like the opposite of an engagement ring, really.
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Family

Wife cooks nachos for 'picky' husband who refused to eat her salmon. But she has a point.

Should she be cooking two meals?

via TheMamaBrianna/TikTok

Brianna Greenfield makes nachos for her husband.

A viral video showing a woman preparing nachos for her "picky" spouse after he refused to eat the salmon dinner she cooked has sparked a contentious debate on TikTok. The video was shared on April 26 by Brianna Greenfield (@themamabrianna on TikTok) and has since earned over 2.5 million views.

Brianna is a mother of two who lives in Iowa.

The video starts with Brianna grating a massive hunk of cheese with a caption that reads: “My husband didn’t eat the dinner that I made…So let’s make him some nachos.”

“If I don’t feed him, he literally won’t eat,” she wrote. “This used to irritate me. Now I just blame his mother for never making him try salmon,” Greenfield wrote. The video features Meghan Trainor’s single “Mother” playing in the background.

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marriage
Family

New study shows spanking hurts kids' mental health and is less effective at teaching lessons

Why is it wrong to hit an adult or an animal but OK to spank a child?

Photo by Kat J on Unsplash

Yet another study shows that spanking isn't good for kids.

Whether to spank your child or not is one of the oldest debates among parents. Many live by the age-old wisdom that to “spare the rod” is to “spoil the child,” while others believe it’s wrong to resort to violence to punish a child when so many alternatives exist.

It also begs the question: If it's wrong to hit your spouse or pet, why is it acceptable to hit a defenseless child?

The 2021 American Family Study found that support for spanking has declined in the U.S. over the past few years. In 2015, 54% either somewhat or strongly agreed with the practice, but that number dropped to 47% in 2021. Thirty-five percent of respondents disagree with the practice and 18% neither agree nor disagree.

A new research study from the Parent and Family Research Alliance in Australia led by Professor Sophie Havighurst and Professor Daryl Higgins from Australian Catholic University makes a strong case that people should stop using corporal punishment to discipline their kids. The study “Corporal punishment of children in Australia: The evidence-based case for legislative reform” analyzed countless studies on the topic and found spanking ineffective and harmful.

The study was published to urge lawmakers to make corporal punishment in Australia illegal. Sixty-five states across the world have made corporal punishment illegal, protecting 14% of the world’s children.

The study defined corporal punishment of children as using physical force to cause pain, but not injury, to correct or control a child’s behavior.

The most startling meta-analysis published in the study found that "only 1 out of 111 statistically significant effect sizes was associated with a link between 'spanking' and a positive child outcome," while 110 were found to be associated with adverse outcomes.

The one positive outcome was in a 1972 study of children of the U.S. military living in West Germany that found those spanked showed less amphetamine and opiate use as adults.

However, the remaining 110 significant results found that spanking had adverse effects, including: “reducing trust and connection with those they are closest to, lower self-esteem, more internalizing and externalizing behavior problems including aggression, mental health difficulties, and increased risk for later substance abuse, antisocial behavior, and violence.”

A meta-analysis found that when children are spanked, they are less likely to internalize the moral implications of the behaviors that led them to be disciplined. It also found that non-physical discipline was more effective at teaching “alternative behaviors,” “developing a child’s conscience,” and advancing their “emotional development.”

Another meta-analysis cited in the story found that corporal punishment in childhood was associated with mental health problems, low self-esteem and antisocial behavior.

In the end, the studies show that corporal punishment is counter-productive when it comes to raising healthy, happy children. But it will take much more than a study to get people to reconsider their views of corporal punishment because they are deeply rooted in many cultural traditions.

Looking for some non-physical alternatives to discipline your child? Here’s a great place to start from WebMD.

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spanking children
Identity

Woman’s experience scheduling an EEG highlights the unconscious bias of textured hair

Though her scalp was exposed for the procedure, they still insisted she take her twists out, making it harder to get to her scalp.

Sadé Naima|TikTok

Woman can't schedule EEG due to unconscious textured hair bias.

Getting a medical procedure done can be scary, or at the very least nerve-wracking, no matter how many times you've had it done. It's something that's outside of your normal routine and you're essentially at the mercy of the medical facility and providers. Most of the time, the pre-procedure instructions make sense, and if something catches you by surprise, it's usually easily explained.

Sadé Naima recently had an experience while attempting to get an EEG that wasn't easily explained away. In fact, the entire situation didn't make sense to the TikTok creator who experiences migraines. Naima uploaded a video to the social media platform explaining the sequence of events that happened after her doctor referred her to receive an MRI and EEG.

An MRI uses a magnetic field to generate images and an EEG uses electrodes that stick to your scalp to create images of your brain waves.

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unconscious bias
Joy

Heroic train conductor spots and saves 3-year-old autistic, nonverbal boy lost on tracks

He was dangerously close to the third rail.

via MTA info/YouTube

An MTA employee rescues a 3-year-old child on the tracks.

Five Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees are hailed as heroes for their quick thinking and diligence in the April 6 rescue of a young boy. Locomotive Engineer William Kennedy was operating a southbound Hudson Line train near Tarrytown, a few miles north of New York City, when he noticed an unusual object on the northbound track.

That “object” was a 3-year-old boy.

Kennedy sent an emergency call out to all trains in the area, catching the attention of a northbound conductor, Shawn Loughran, and a trainee. Loughran slowed down his train as he approached the child, who was straddling the electrified third rail.

When the train screeched to a halt, Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins didn't waste a second. Leaping down the tracks, he sprinted 40 yards ahead of the train, scooping up the young child like a guardian angel.

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