+
More

The women of Congress took a bold stand on an outdated dress code.

Cooperation can be hard to come by. This is a good place to start.

In America, we have the right to bear arms. Or is it to arm bears? Or maybe to bare arms? Something like that. Land of the free, home of the brave, and so on.

Tired of sweating in the D.C. heat, women in the House of Representatives recently took a stand against an outdated dress code banning sleeveless dresses. The rules of the dress code aren't actually that specific, simply saying that people on the House floor must wear "appropriate business attire."


Lately, however, that rule is being interpreted and enforced in a very specific way.

As CBS News reported:

"A young, female reporter recently tried to enter a guarded room known as the Speaker's lobby outside the House chamber, but her outfit was considered inappropriate because her shoulders weren't covered. She was wearing a sleeveless dress.

Forced to improvise, she ripped out pages from her notebook and stuffed them into her dress's shoulder openings to create sleeves, witnesses said. An officer who's tasked with enforcing rules in the Speaker's lobby said her creative concoction still was not acceptable."

Rep. Martha McSally (R-Arizona) took to the floor on July 12 in protest of the new Capitol Hill fashion police.

And two days later, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-California) organized #SleevelessFriday, capping off with a group photo of Congressional women showing off their metaphorical guns.

There's a long history of women on both sides of the aisle working together to update congressional norms.

In 1969, Rep. Charlotte Reid (R-Illinois) wore — *gasp* — pants and caused quite a stir. It wasn't until 1993 that pressure from newly-elected Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Illinois) that the Senate updated their rules to allow women to wear pants. In 2011, women of the House banded together to demand a women's restroom be added near the House floor — something their male counterparts had had all along. And they got it.

Of course, yes, there's a lot of other world-redefining, life-altering stuff happening right now in Congress — like the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad health care bill — that needs our attention. In fact, now would be a pretty great time to give your senators a quick call to let them know how you feel.

This story is a reminder of how great it can be when Democrats and Republicans work together — even if it is just to fight for a better dress code.

For his part, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has committed to updating the dress code, telling reporters that he'll be working with the House sergeant-at-arms to clarify the code and its enforcement.

In the meantime, it's good to see a little reasonable action coming from the political abyss. It's something we don't hear about nearly enough.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
@morgvn.elizabeth/TikTok

Hip-hop Irish dancing is kind of the coolest thing ever.

If you somehow missed Irish dance extraordinaire and viral sensation Morgan Bullock, you’re in for a treat.

Back in 2020, the then 20-year-old performer posted a video of her jigging to a remixed version of Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage,” also featuring the vocals of Beyoncé. As the internet is wont to fawn over unexpected mashups, it’s no wonder that the clip sent folks into a frenzy online.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

Keep ReadingShow less

The Cure at Southside Festival 2019

Robert Smith of The Cure was already a hero to five decades of disaffected youth, including the creators of “South Park,” but now everyone has a reason to love the “Close to Me” singer. He got Ticketmaster to admit it was gouging customers and got them a refund.

The Cure went out of its way to ensure that ticket prices to its upcoming North American tour were affordable to the average fan by selling them as low as $20. The band also used Ticketmaster’s “verified fan” process to cut down on scalpers and prevent fans from having to pay inflated prices on resale sites.

But the band had no power over the egregious fees that Ticketmaster tacks on to every sale. The band wouldn't agree to dynamic pricing—where ticket prices fluctuate based on demand—so it appears as though Ticketmaster simply raised its fees per ticket.

Keep ReadingShow less

Two northern cardinals captured on Carla Rhodes' bird-feeder camera.

The pandemic has caused many people to reevaluate their surroundings. When you’re stuck at home more often than you’d like, you start to pay a lot more attention to what goes on in your own backyard.

This type of introspection inspired wildlife photographer Carla Rhodes to get a closer look at the furry friends that live near her home in the Catskill mountains of New York.

What she found was magical.

“The winter of 2020-2021 was particularly brutal to humankind. After months of enduring the Covid-19 pandemic, we were now collectively slogging through winter. As a result of being stuck at home, I focused on my immediate surroundings like never before,” Rhodes said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Identity

57-year-old former model Paulina Porizkova had the perfect response to ageist comment online

"We have earned our beauty, we understand what it is, and we can see it so much better."

Photo by Malin K. on Unsplash

Paulina Porizkova took on a commenter who said she was in "pain" being "old and ugly."

Aging is a weird thing. From one perspective, it's something we should be grateful for. Few people would wish for the kind of short, uneventful life that would remove aging from the equation completely. The longer we live, the more we grow and learn and experience life, and "aging" is simply the mathematical sum of those experiences. All good, right?

On the other hand, our society does everything in its power to hide the fact that aging happens. Especially when it comes to women. According to Statista, the global anti-aging beauty market is estimated to be worth $58.8 billion. People will try all manner of creams, serums, masks, acids, lights, technologies and surgeries to try to prevent wrinkles, lines, sagginess, spots and other signs that our bodies are changing with time.

Most of us live our daily lives somewhere in the middle of these two realities, wanting to embrace our aging selves but also hoping to stave off some of the more obvious signs that we're getting older. It's natural to resist it in some ways, since the older we get, the closer we get to the end of our lives, which we certainly don't want to hasten—especially if we actually love living.

It can be helpful to see people who are embracing their age, which is why it can be inspiring to see someone like former supermodel Paulina Porizkova confidently sharing photos of her 57-year-old self.

Keep ReadingShow less