Healthy lifestyle
A healthy lifestyle is one which helps to keep and improve people's health and well-being.Many governments and non-governmental organizations have made big efforts in healthy lifestyle and health promotion.
Mental Health
Mental health can be considered a very important factor of physical health for the effects it produces on bodily functions. This type of health concerns emotional and cognitive well-being or an absence of mental disorder.
Public health
Public health can be defined in a variety of ways. It can be presented as "the study of the physical, psychosocial and socio-cultural determinants of population health and actions to improve the health of the population.
Reproductive Health
For the UN, reproductive health is a right, like other human rights. This recent concept evokes the good transmission of the genetic heritage from one generation to the next.
Health
Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.
mercredi 31 octobre 2018
These Are the Biggest Bridal Trends For Fall 2019, and We're Already Swooning
When you finally get asked that big question, chances are you'll immediately start dreaming up your ideal wedding dress. If you're not sure where to begin or feel overwhelmed by what to choose, we're breaking down the biggest bridal trends for Fall 2019. Taking a look at these five wearable trends will help you decide. From ethereal embroidery to devastatingly sexy necklines, there's truly something for every bride. Read on to take a look at our helpful guide ahead.
20 Hijabi Halloween Costumes Made For Modest Women
When you walk into a Halloween costume store, you'll find no shortage of "sexy" costumes. From nurse getups to Hogwarts uniforms, it seems that removing fabric and adding a push-up bra is the most popular way to celebrate on Oct. 31! But for ladies who choose to wear hijab, there are plenty of ways to bypass revealing outfits in favor of unique, modest costumes. Whether you want to emulate a character from the hit show The Handmaid's Tale or transform into your favorite cartoon, any hijabi can rock these creative Halloween costume ideas!
- Additional reporting by Nikita Ramsinghani
Spooky and Sexy! See the Best Halloween Costumes From Victoria's Secret Angels This Year
Victoria's Secret Angels tend to bring their Halloween A game, and this year is no different. While taking part in festivities to celebrate the holiday, your favorite models pulled out all the stops. Lily Aldridge went classic with a Breakfast at Tiffany's-inspired look, Lais Ribeiro put a supersexy spin on a Marvel Comics character, and some Angels' costumes took quite a dark turn. You might not even be able to recognize Josephine Skriver and Sara Sampaio! Take a look at this year's spot-on costumes from Victoria's Secret models ahead.
If You're Wearing These Items to Work, Let's Revisit the Dress Code Memo
If HR forgot to share the dress code memo with you when you were hired, don't worry. We created one for you. Ahead, you'll find a list of nine items you should never pull out on a "school day" and the proper substitutions for what to wear instead. This guide should span across all types of offices, from the ultrastrict to the more laid-back. If you're in a pickle because you have plans for after your 9-to-5, we've also got a little something for those looking to transition. But when you leave the house coffee in hand and your destination is your desk, we urge you to shy away from the following pieces. NBD, just save them for the weekend.
If You Only Buy 1 Sweater This Season, It Should Look Like This
Black sweaters are our go-to Fall fashion staple for a reason - they're so versatile. You can wear a black sweater with pants, denim, a skirt, or even over a dress. The possibilities are endless, as are the silhouettes; right now, we're loving cardigans and turtlenecks. If you're looking for your next Fall sweater, we've got you covered.
12 Cozy Coats That Will Make You Wish It Was Chilly Every Day of the Year
What's the point of wearing a coat if it doesn't keep you toasty warm? We love this season's designs - there's plenty of faux fur, shearling, and teddy bear coats to go around. We uncovered the very best options that don't skimp out on style, so shop through them all and treat yourself to something new for Fall.
The Curvy Collection of Our Dreams Is Finally Here - and It's All Under $50 at Kohl's
When shopping for the perfect Fall wardrobe, you'll want to invest in things that are both cute and comfy. The POPSUGAR at Kohl's collection is just that. It's filled with colorful sweaters and versatile basics, and we just can't get enough. They best part: it comes in a wide range of sizes from 0-24, and everything is less than $85. Need more convincing? Ahead, you'll find our 10 favorite pieces for Fall. From chic joggers to a classic trench, all these picks are great for every body type. Take a look.
Finally, 14 Silky Soft Sweaters That Are Anything but Itchy
Just because your closet is already stacked with tons of comfy sweaters, doesn't mean your collection is complete. There's one material that we love wearing more than anything: chenille. If the name doesn't ring a bell, you'll know it when you see the silky soft material in real life. They almost look like velvet, but they have a chunky knit-like feeling to it. The best thing about these cozy sweaters: they're not itchy. Ahead, you'll find 14 chic choices in various styles and colors that you'll want to wear all season long. Keep scrolling to shop our top picks.
All You'll Want For the Holidays Is Margherita Missoni's New Splendid Collection - Trust Me
If there's one thing Margherita Missoni is known for, it's her effortless style and wardrobe full of color. (If you haven't seen her gorgeous wedding dress yet, stop what you're doing a take a look now.) I chatted with the designer, who teamed up with Los Angeles-based label Splendid for a second time, to learn more about her limited-edition holiday collection.
While you may know Margherita from her time working with her family's brand, Missoni, she's proved that her personal style is the perfect blend of California's laid-back vibe mixed with her Italian heritage - aka, she's the perfect fit for this collab.
The collection, which launches Nov. 1, shows the designer's love and knowledge of patterns and textiles. The capsule includes everything from a sparkly, silver turtleneck with purple cuffs to a festive, knit lurex set that's perfect for New Year's Eve. Plus, did I mention that everything rings in under $250? Read on to see what Margherita shared with us, and take a peek at the collection, which will be available in Splendid stores and online, ahead.
The 25 Best Boots Money Can Buy This Fall - For Less Than $100
We're ready to grab our wallets and splurge on a pair of Fall boots, but it doesn't mean we have to spend a fortune. To save both time and money this season, we went on a mission to find the best pairs the internet has to offer for under $100. From brands like Sam Edelman and Topshop to Steve Madden, we curated a list of 25 picks that look way more expensive than they are. Keep scrolling to check our selection and find your match.
The Unique Way Khloé Kardashian Is Making Fashion More Inclusive Has Us All Like, "Hell Yes!"
Khloé Kardashian is hosting an open casting call to find Good American's next campaign model, because as an advocate for inclusivity, Khloé's here to "walk the walk." The reality star turned designer and businesswoman keeps the mission to rep diversity close to her heart and top of mind as she continues to build her brand, rolling out open casting in partnership with IMG Models this week. Of the initiative, Khloé told us:
"Our mission at Good American has been to show a diverse representation of all women in our campaigns and what better way to achieve this than to give our customer the chance to be cast? Our #GoodSquad is a group of real, confident and badass women who celebrate and inspire a commitment to inclusivity, diversity, body positivity and female empowerment. We're looking for someone who embodies those values - no matter their size, background, or geographic location, to join us! This year we have some really great prizes for the winners. We have partnered with IMG Models and in addition to appearing in our next campaign with myself and the Squad, the winner will also receive an in-person meeting with top scouts from IMG Models. For people that aren't aspiring models, we're also offering the chance to apply for a week long mentorship with Good American executives." How cool is that?
In an industry that's more often baby-stepping than striding toward diversity, Khloé's efforts may be more of the push we need - especially when you consider the celebrity clout and fandom she brings with her.
Read on to get Khloé's thoughts on how Good American is furthering its efforts toward diversity, how you can join the #GoodSquad, and her takeaways on everything from the jeans she's loving right now to the brand moments she'll remember forever.
Move Over, Rose Gold! These Are 35 of the Best Gold Jewelry Pieces at Every Price Point
Rose gold, you've had your moment, but classic gold is finally making a comeback. Taking a cue from Meghan Markle's and Gwyneth Paltrow's dainty gold jewelry choices, working gold into your look has never been easier. And with the holidays coming up, we've broken down the most coveted pieces at every price point.
24 Spellbinding Harry Potter Gifts For Every Fan on Earth
There are an infinite number of ways to show your love for Harry Potter, and what better time to do it than during the holidays? If you're in need of a few gifting ideas, we did the hard work for you. From Hogwarts-themed bath towels to phone cases and wine tumblers, you'll have to be careful, or you might end up wanting a few for yourself. Shop these magical products ahead.
- Additional reporting by Nicole Nguyen and Ann Marie Alcantara
Last Week Made It Clear - There Are Real-Life Consequences of Online Harassment
Alarming episodes of violence from the past week, from the mailing of suspicious packages to multiple Democratic leaders to Saturday's tragic mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, have left the nation in a state of shock. And yet the past behaviors of both suspects - including alleged attempted bomber Cesar Sayoc Jr.'s record of online harassment, threats, and domestic violence and alleged shooter Robert Bowers's history of violent anti-Semitic threats on social media - almost seemed to be if not predictors, then at least warning signs of their alleged crimes.
Why is online harassment still routinely downplayed as somehow divorced from action and consequence?
Online harassment of women, people of color, Jewish people, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups is often closely connected to real-life violence and threats. So why is it still routinely downplayed as somehow divorced from action and consequence?
Before mailing packages that included explosive devices to the Clintons, the Obamas, former Vice President Joe Biden, Jewish Democratic donor George Soros, Sen. Cory Booker, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, CNN, and others, Sayoc's social media channels told the story of an obsessive Trump supporter who frequently shared bigoted conspiracy theories and memes and routinely threatened and harassed others. Bowers repeatedly shared anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that blamed Jewish Democratic donors for the caravan of migrants, whom he identified as "invaders," taking a page from President Trump. Bowers was a frequent user of the far-right social media outlet Gab.com, upon which he shared alarmist theories claiming Jews and "illegals" were coming to kill his "people."
Rhetoric normalizing hate speech, and the casual glorification of violence by the president and other political leaders, has almost certainly contributed to a toxic ecosystem of intolerance and violence. Last week, the president praised a Republican congressman convicted of assault for body-slamming a reporter, while he spent most of the campaign trail offering to pay supporters' legal fees if they attacked protesters and pining for the good old days when violence was more commonplace. And yet this is only one part of the problem; social media offers those who are radicalized by the president's rhetoric and conspiracy theories a platform upon which to threaten and abuse others and spread their extremism. Irresponsible, insufficient content moderation practices and dismissing the harassment, threats, and bullying that women and marginalized people face on a daily basis on leading social media platforms have made the internet an increasingly toxic place for years.
According to a 2017 Pew survey, about half of Americans have reported experiencing online harassment, with women respondents twice as likely to report experiencing sexual harassment. A 2018 survey by the National Network to End Domestic Violence found that 50 percent of women respondents who reported being harassed online said they received direct, violent threats to them or people they knew. And in conjunction with online harassment and abuse, hate crimes - especially targeting Jews - have been on the rise since the 2016 campaign trail, the Anti-Defamation League reports. Between 2016 and 2017, anti-Semitic incidents in the US increased by 60 percent - the biggest spike since 1979. During this time period, the President of the United States defended the "very fine people" marching in Charlottesville, NC, and chanting, "Jews will not replace us."
Rampant online harassment and abuse may not always lead to real-life violence and mass shootings but have lived consequences nonetheless, forcing unsaid numbers of people to self-censor or stop using these platforms just to protect themselves. Jewish journalist Julia Ioffe wrote about mass anti-Semitic harassment she received from Trump supporters and the alt-right after writing a profile about Melania Trump; then-candidate Trump declined to denounce these attacks. "The alt-right deluged me with anti-Semitic insults and imagery, culminating in clear death threats - such as an image of a Jew being shot execution-style or people ordering coffins in my name," Ioffe wrote. "When Trump was asked to condemn these attacks by his supporters, he said, 'I don't have a message' for them."
As Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca wrote in 2017, "Most of the men who email . . . death and rape threats don't really mean it, but it only takes the one. Online aggressors trade in psychological terrorism, eliminating women's voices with the mere possibility that they might actually end up lurking outside your door at night (or, at least, they let you know that they know your home address)."
For years, Twitter has been widely criticized for having rigid and insufficient standards to crack down on targeted abuse, which disproportionately affects women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized communities. As many critics have noted, the form to report targeted abuse has too many and often too complicated questions for those who report it, which can discourage reporting altogether.
Social platforms often justify lax policies by citing "free speech," leading to numerous documented cases of women and members of marginalized groups reporting stalking and hate speech without consequences. One woman had reported Sayoc for harassing her on Twitter, which proceeded to dismiss her reports just weeks before Sayoc began distributing the suspicious packages. (Twitter later apologized, calling this a "mistake.") Yet an ecosystem of unchecked harassment that forces disproportionately targeted individuals to be silent rather than face stalking and harassment is not conducive to fostering free speech. Nor is an ecosystem in which political dissenters must live in fear of facing violence because of the president's frequent incitements and attacks.
In the aftermath of targeted violence and attempts at violence by frequent online harassers, many recipients of online harassment may have legitimate fears about who among their harassers could be the next to strike. And this uncertainty will persist until content moderation policies on social platforms are sufficiently updated to ensure threats of violence and other abuses are taken seriously and the voices of the most vulnerable social media users are heard.
Why Do We Love to Scare Ourselves? An Expert on Fright Has Some Surprising Answers
Image Source: Everett Collection
For some, Halloween is a time for sweaters and pumpkin spice everything. For others, it's a time for gory films and haunted houses. Did you ever wonder if there's a reason some people are thrill seekers and others always choose to sit it out?
Sociologist Dr. Margee Kerr did. She built her research and lecturing career out of a childhood fascination with scary stories: "I was intrigued by the unknown. I knew getting into my academic career I still needed to incorporate some of that adventure, otherwise I would be miserable." That adventure led her to globe-trot for scares to write a literal book on the topic before serving as the researcher for Pittsburgh's Scarehouse, and even appearing as herself in the sequel to the haunted house horror flick The Houses That October Built. Whether fear is your goal or enemy this Halloween, Dr. Kerr has the answers to how and why we react to things that go bump in the night - and how thrill seekers can amp up the scare power.
Dr. Margee Kerr says the "fun scary" kind of fear's physical and psychological effects can be highly rewarding. Photo courtesy of Jake Bradbury.
POPSUGAR: For starters, why do we love haunted attractions so much?
Dr. Margee Kerr: We do love it for the physical high. Our body, when it's thrust into that fight or flight mode, releases all sorts of chemicals. In the right context, mainly one of choice and entertainment, that physiological response can feel really good. We feel euphoric and strong and kind of primal. Also, when we're scared, our brain reprioritizes, so it's focused on all our physical elements. We're not getting caught up in what we have to do in the future. We're grounded more in the present. There's also this big social component. Being scared with friends creates stronger bonds. It enhances the experience. We get a sense of accomplishment. Even though we know we're safe, it feels like we've completed a challenge and made it out the other side. It also can increase our resilience and our tolerance in the moment. When we face something really challenging and intense, everything else is not going to upset us as much.
PS: Do you have any insight into the history of haunted houses?
MK: They have a varied history. A big part of it was Haunted Mansion at Disney. That was actually based off of the Winchester Mystery House after Walt Disney toured it and wanted to create something similar. The Winchester Mystery House was this house that this woman kept building on. After her husband passed, she was the heir to the Winchester estate. She had a house, and she believed all the people who had been killed by Winchester rifles, that she could act as a conduit [to channel them]. And then the Haunted Mansion influenced the creation of modern attractions today. Jaycee groups played a big role in it, too. Then volunteer firefighters started making charity haunted attractions. And so it was the big influence from Disney and then the backyard attractions that started sprouting up. Today you can see that packed history of the sort of DIY backyard attractions and then the big amusement side of it. Now there is that middle type of attractions that do, say, over 50,000 people a year. That's like Terror Behind the Walls or Netherworld.
PS: What separates those who love haunted attractions and those who won't go near them?
MK: A lot of it is our history. Some of it is genetic. Even the way our genes are expressed is so tied into our experiences and our childhood. All the different moments in our childhood when we experience fear go into creating how we give meaning to different experiences. So, if you never had any folder in your mind for "fun scary," then you might not like it too much. I grew up going to haunted houses from a very young age, so my experience with fun scary is very long and rich. I always encourage people to test themselves every few years because we do change.
PS: You helped develop the Basement at Scarehouse, Pittsburgh's premiere haunted attraction. What research was involved there and what trends do you see in immersive haunts?
MK: I haven't been at Scarehouse for a couple years, but in working with Greg Siegle, the cognitive neuroscientist, we set up the lab in the Basement and we were able to measure people['s moods] before and after they went through. Our first year of data collection will be coming out this month in the journal Emotion. But we found that mood did improve and people did feel better. In terms of haunted house trends and what I've been seeing over the past few years, a lot of people are going for more interactivity and more sense of immersion, making it more personal in a scalable way. Like at Terror Behind the Walls, you can opt in with the glow necklace if you want the more interactive experience, but if you don't, you just take it off. But there's been a lot of work in trying to make it more interactive. Incorporating puzzle elements, making it more gamified like escape rooms.
PS: The Basement allows guests to utilize a safe word. Some extreme haunts don't. Where do you think the line should be drawn in extreme haunts?
MK: I think that any commercial business that doesn't have a safe word is essentially violating the law. If they don't allow people to exit an experience, they're essentially holding someone hostage at that point. There's a range: some places don't have a safe word because they didn't think that they would need one, but if someone said, "I have to get out of here," they would respect it and let people leave. The places that don't let you leave - I don't know if they even really exist beyond tall tales and folklore - but any place that doesn't let you leave is violating the law. It's not fun anymore, and your attention shifts to actual survival. The boundaries should be communicated to guests up front. You can do that without giving anything away.
PS: How can those who hate to be scared still enjoy the season, and how can those who love thrills get the most out of it?
MK: For those who don't like to be scared, there are so many cool harvest specials and pumpkin patches. You can feel the nostalgia and the connectedness without any of the fear. And those who are really looking for a good scare, I would recommend taking the approach of saving all your money and trying to get to a really well-known and highly rated attraction, or to mix it up and do a handful of backyard attractions that aren't going to break the bank and compare them at the end of the season. For those looking for something good or new or unique, it's worth doing some research.
There you have it! Whether you'll be scaring yourself silly or playing it safe, now you have some insight on how your brain works when you're afraid . . . and how to make the most out of Halloween.
Apologies in Advance: This Halloween Brain Teaser Might Make You Chuck Your Computer
"Well, this'll be fun," you're likely thinking to yourself upon glancing at this Halloween brain teaser making the rounds. Unfortunately, the more you stare at the search-and-find game, the more you start to woefully question your eyesight. In the illustration by Gergely Dudás, people are instructed to find the star among the spread of jack-o'-lanterns, ghosts, candy, and adorable animals.
If you're digging the challenge, the teaser is part of a larger collection compiled in Dudás's Bear's Spooky Book of Hidden Things. On the other hand, if you've given up, the solution can be accessed by simply swiping on the Instagram post above. Did you totally look over that same exact spot several times without spotting the star? Same, same.
In Pop Culture, Lolita's Lollipop Has Transformed From Sexist Symbol to Weapon of Choice
In one of the most widely recognized images of Vladimir Nabokov's titular Lolita, a car's rearview mirror tightly frames the face of a fair-haired, fair-skinned girl. Her precocious gaze holds our attention from just behind the heart-shaped sunglasses perched atop her nose. The sunglasses are bright red, a perfect match for the girl's cherry-stained mouth and the lollipop that rests between her lips.
But suckers and sunglasses never appeared in Nabokov's 1955 novel. They didn't turn up in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film, either. Rather, these props were selected by fashion photographer Bert Stern, who shot the promotional stills for Kubrick's Lolita in 1961. Stern purchased them at a five-and-dime to adorn Sue Lyon, the 14-year-old actress cast in the role of Dolores "Lolita" Haze.
The lollipop has come to signify a coquettish temptress: young, sweet, sexy.
Since then, the lollipop has come to signify a coquettish temptress: young, sweet, sexy. A controversial ad campaign for Love's Baby Soft perfume in the 1970s featured a woman holding a lollipop to her cheek with the tagline, "Because innocence is sexier than you think." Children of the '90s may remember the lollipop as a natural if not all-too-obvious prop for Baby Spice of the Spice Girls. And it would not be a stretch to suggest that Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Lollipop" does not simply imply its objectifying motif but pushes the metaphor to its explicit end. Despite how sharply this seductive, hypersexual distillation contrasts with Nabokov's Lolita, a 12-year-old girl violated at the hands of an adult abuser, the trope has persisted for decades.
Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes. Image Source: Everett Collection
In her article "Rewriting Lolita in Fashion Photography: Candy, Consumption, and Dying Flowers," Dr. Morna Laing details how such media references point to a culture historically fixated on a fetishized tension between girlhood and womanhood, in which young girls are oversexualized and adult women are infantilized. There's a term for it, "nymphetmania," and it has a cinematic history that long predates Lolita. Lollipops can be found at the origins of this pedigree, linked especially to Shirley Temple. In the early 1930s, Temple sang "The Good Ship Lollipop" to an audience of fondling men in the film Bright Eyes and performed with the candy in hand in a series of films called Baby Burlesks, which - you guessed it - are about toddlers playacting adult burlesque shows.
Beware the Girl With the Sweet Tooth
But today's popular culture has seen a notable shift in the way this stylistic device is brandished. Instead of alluding to an illicit fascination with girlish naiveté, the lollipop has increasingly been wielded as a double-edged sword. On USA's Mr. Robot, FBI agent Dominique DiPierro (Grace Gummer) has a habit of consuming lollipops while pursuing the bad guys. Suckers are a signature of DC Comics' good-doctor-gone-evil, Harley Quinn. In the 2007 remake of Hairspray, Amanda Bynes's Penny Pingleton devours the candy as her character dives into 1960s counterculture. And most recently, a lollipop popped up in a pivotal exchange between Amy Adams's tortured Camille and Eliza Scanlen's devilish Amma on HBO's Sharp Objects, a series entirely coated in layers of sugar, spice, and everything malevolent.
Every rose has its thorn, every piece of hard candy has its jagged edge, and every jawbreaker can, well, break your jaw.
The subversion of candy as an emblem of feminine sweetness is also rooted in the premise of several films, including 1999's Jawbreaker, 2001's Sugar and Spice, and 2005's Hard Candy - which, coincidentally, was titled Lollipop in some foreign markets. Each employs the saccharine symbol to connote the merging of two seemingly disparate personas: the damsel in distress and the femme fatale. Every rose has its thorn, every piece of hard candy has its jagged edge, and every jawbreaker can, well, break your jaw.
Without giving too much away, broken jaws and thorny roses are precisely what Sharp Objects delivers. The miniseries, based on Gillian Flynn's 2006 novel of the same name, follows Camille Preaker (Amy Adams), a journalist dispatched to her hometown of Wind Gap, MO, to cover the grisly murders of two 13-year-old girls. While there, Camille is haunted by her past and confronted with the fraught relationships she has with her mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson), and half-sister, Amma. Wind Gap itself is portrayed as a dreamscape filled with lurid secrets, a town oozing equal parts treacle and horror. Episode titles like "Milk" and "Ripe" likewise invoke things that are wholesome only until they spoil.
Which brings us to the duplicitous Amma (Scanlen), a baby-faced sociopath on roller skates. Amma wears ribbons in her hair. She obsesses over her meticulously decorated dollhouse. She's a daddy's girl and mama's princess. At least by day, anyway. By night, she is cruel and cunning. In her dealings with Camille, Amma swings from sickly sweet to savage. In the episode "Fix," we see Amma melt into her sister, cradling Camille and begging for her affections. By the end of the hour, Amma's physical attention has turned menacing. Finding Camille in a parking lot with Richard Willis (Chris Messina), the detective investigating the Wind Gap murders, Amma - her friends circling like a pack of wolves - unleashes. "I heard Camille is a real hot ticket. Or she was," Amma taunts with satisfaction. "You should hear the stories, Dick." When Camille turns to retreat, Amma takes the red lollipop she's been sucking and sticks it in her sister's hair, twisting it like a knife in the back.
Amma (Eliza Scanlen) on Sharp Objects. Image Source: HBO
The scene highlights the series's underlying tension, one articulated by Chief Bill Vickery (Matt Craven), who describes Adora's daughters this way: "One is dangerous and one is in danger." But who is who? Made in the binary image of their mother - the malicious martyr - Camille and Amma have been manipulated like paper dolls, forced to wear the costumes of princess and rebel, unfolding to reveal the show's central paradox: that the "bad" girl is actually "good" and the "good" girl is terrifyingly "bad."
From Siren Song to Sucker Punch
Elliot (Rami Malek) and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) on Mr. Robot. Image Source: Getty
Like Sharp Objects, several characters act as warped mirrors of each other on Mr. Robot, and two of them happen to share a penchant for Lolita's iconic style: Dominique "Dom" DiPierro (Gummer), an FBI agent investigating the hacktivist group "fsociety," and Darlene Alderson (Carly Chaikin), an fsociety member. While Dom is rarely caught in deep thought without a lollipop in her mouth, Darlene is often sporting a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. Sealing the allusion is Darlene's screen name: "Dolores Haze." Dom and Darlene have much in common. They both left boyfriends after they had proposed. They bond over being "Jersey girls." And when the FBI brings in Darlene, Dom pushes to question her, stating, "I am her." Fan theories abound as to how these characters are connected (and if you would like to go down a Reddit rabbit hole, I can send along some links).
But where the lollipop scene in Sharp Objects signifies a "female sort of rage," as Camille describes it, in Mr. Robot, we find not so much vengeance as vulnerability. Dom and Darlene are both self-possessed forces to be reckoned with, and yet - at least by the end of the third season - they have been undone. Between their professional objectives and personal lives, both characters appear to oscillate between invincibility and fragility. This ceaseless tension may ultimately underscore how the very determination that puts them at risk might translate into the instincts necessary to survive.
Though this symbolism is differently deployed in Sharp Objects, Jen Chaney, pop culture critic at New York Magazine, notices that both shows may draw upon Lolita imagery for a shared purpose: "to misdirect us as viewers." In the case of Amma, "her dresses and dollhouses can be viewed as clever armor that distracts from seeing her for who she is." In Mr. Robot, the Lolita connection may have initially been used to obscure Darlene's relationship to Elliot. Chaney observes that the heart-shaped sunglasses "helped visually to bolster the case that they might be lovers or former lovers, but then it ultimately turned out that they were siblings." And while Chaney associates Dom's lollipop more closely with Tootsie Pop-addicted Kojak than Lolita, this too may prove a skillful maneuver on the part of the showrunners to keep us on our toes. Guarding a soft underbelly beneath the hardened exterior of a gritty New York detective, Dom is a complex character, and I suspect what she's fully capable of is yet to be revealed.
Given its versatile role in these instances - encapsulating vulnerability and rage, innocence and dominance - what do we make of the lollipop? Once a symbol of budding sexuality meant for consumption, it seems this outdated trope has been co-opted. Perhaps these portrayals represent a move toward more fluid ideas of femininity, in which women are neither temptresses nor angels, but multifaceted beings who can exhibit more than one characteristic at a time?
Possibly. But it's also important not to take any of these overt dualisms at face value. Dr. Johanna Blakley, managing director at USC's Norman Lear Center, reminds us that the split persona of the demure villainess is both limited in scope and nothing new. This oppositional archetype "is endemic to Western discourse and its literary canon." From "Like a Virgin" to "Like a Prayer," Madonna built an entire career exploiting the virgin-whore dichotomy. We could even trace the lollipop's symbolism all the way back to when Eve tempted Adam with the apple or to stories of Sirens luring sailors with their entrancing songs.
These recent uses of the lollipop are certainly variations on this theme, but something else is different. Unlike Eve and the Sirens, when Amma and Dom engage this trope, it is not men who fall but women. It is in this context that Flynn's "sharp objects" become more broadly symbolic. They explicitly refer to the items used to murder those little girls and the razor blades Camille harms herself with, yes. But they also bring to the forefront those figuratively cited: the roller blades, rosebushes, and ribbons. These are the objects long used to minimize an entire gender to pretty playthings. Chaney describes them as symbols that "can be used counterintuitively to imply power. Historically speaking, society tends to not take girly things very seriously. They're deemed frivolous or silly and childish." In Sharp Objects and Mr. Robot, however, these items have been weaponized, sharpened to slice and dice the antiquated tales of flowery virgins to be saved by men or lascivious women who will bring down those same men. Those myths are much too simple, and showrunners like Flynn and Killing Eve's Phoebe Waller-Bridge know it. Perhaps this is the fundamental shift: that increasingly women are authoring stories about women, in which men are pushed to the peripheries.
Resistance or Acquiescence?
Villanelle (Jodie Comer) on Killing Eve. Image Source: Everett Collection
Consider the character Villanelle (Jodie Comer) in Waller-Bridge's Killing Eve. A modern-day Siren, Villanelle uses her feminine charms to beguile her targets, wears layers of pink tulle to taunt her superiors, and murders her victims with poisoned perfumes and hairpins she handles like the ice pick from Basic Instinct. Villanelle sees men as easily manipulated and entirely expendable. Her real fascination is with Eve (Sandra Oh), the woman charged with her capture. After killing Eve's investigative partner, Villanelle explains, "He was slowing you down." Similarly, after Amma sticks the lollipop in Camille's hair, she baits her sister into hitting her: "Be dangerous like Mama said. You could kill me right here, and you know what? Dickie boy still couldn't figure it out." It is as if Villanelle and Amma are enticing their respective rivals to play a game that's just for girls. This female autonomy imbues Killing Eve's title with biblical meaning. Beware old tales of women as mere objects of temptation or scorn - these shows are coming for you.
But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Such productions might have simply found a way to have their cake and eat it, too. Sure, our favorite female characters may be complex, confident, smart, tenacious, or cunning, with a thoughtful backstory. But it likely doesn't hurt that Harley Quinn looks pretty good licking that lollipop.
So, do these representations merely reinforce exploitative conventions? Blakley is optimistic, telling POPSUGAR that shows like Sharp Objects and Killing Eve "are being quite self-conscious about how they're using girly-ness [and] that in itself is a sign of progress." But Blakley cautions we have a long way to go until props like lollipops and dollhouses are seen as just that and not "inevitable signals of femininity."
Increasingly, women are authoring stories about women in which men are pushed to the peripheries.
Acknowledging that the use of "sexy female stereotypes" as a means to get norm-bending projects produced might seem naive to some, Blakley also understands how difficult it is to get subversive projects greenlit within the mainstream. But once they're out in the world, they "have a chance to challenge people's assumptions and create new perspectives on gender and sexuality."
Reclaiming Agency
Though the shifting signification of the lollipop may seem trivial, it speaks to a macrocosm of changes underway. Time is finally up for many things, and this includes the historic lack of women in the director's chair. More women behind the scenes means more opportunities to shatter clichés and reconfigure symbols - lollipops included - that have long been used to objectify women and girls.
Granted, access to leadership positions alone is not remedy enough, and some critics might perceive any engagement with reductive tropes as counterproductive. But shows like Sharp Objects, Mr. Robot, and Killing Eve push back on the very norms of gender and sexuality they are tethered to, leveraging outmoded emblems of femininity in order to redefine them. And in so doing, the women of film and television may finally be able to reclaim the agency once denied to Dolores "Lolita" Haze.
The 13 Most Instagram-Worthy Suitcases That Are Perfect For Your Airport OOTD
I'm a sucker for a beautiful airport OOTD. It may be because I never understand how someone looks quite so put-together to get on a plane or because I'm also hauling around a massive, ugly suitcase and I'd be embarrassed if anyone photographed me with it. I often find outfit inspiration from Instagram influencers, which was how I found the Delsey Chatelet collection. Now, when I head to the airport or back to Long Island for a long weekend, I always get compliments on my luggage. And sure, I'd even let someone take a picture of me for Instagram!
Here are 13 pieces that will get you compliments every time you travel.
The 31 Best High-Tech Gifts of 2018 for Any Guy in Your Life
It doesn't matter whether he's your dad, husband, or brother, shopping for men who already have their dens decked out with every tech toy imaginable is tough. So we've put together a gift guide for the guys who have it all. These are gifts he definitely won't expect.
- Additional reporting by Nicole Yi
50+ Adorable Disney Couples Costumes
Ready for some seriously magical costume inspiration? The world of Disney is filled with romantic princesses and their princes, evil villains, and a plethora of other beloved characters - and they all make for some of the most fun, nostalgic, and just plain cute couples costumes. Some can even be sexy! So whether you're celebrating Halloween or just going to a Disney park with a significant other (or a best friend), dive into more than 50 creative homemade costumes inspired by Disney pairings now.
24 Spellbinding Harry Potter Gifts For Every Fan on Earth
There are an infinite number of ways to show your love for Harry Potter, and what better time to do it than during the holidays? If you're in need of a few gifting ideas, we did the hard work for you. From Hogwarts-themed bath towels to phone cases and wine tumblers, you'll have to be careful, or you might end up wanting a few for yourself. Shop these magical products ahead.
- Additional reporting by Nicole Nguyen and Ann Marie Alcantara
Last Week Made It Clear - There Are Real-Life Consequences of Online Harassment
Alarming episodes of violence from the past week, from the mailing of suspicious packages to multiple Democratic leaders to Saturday's tragic mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, have left the nation in a state of shock. And yet the past behaviors of both suspects - including alleged attempted bomber Cesar Sayoc Jr.'s record of online harassment, threats, and domestic violence and alleged shooter Robert Bowers's history of violent anti-Semitic threats on social media - almost seemed to be if not predictors, then at least warning signs of their alleged crimes.
Why is online harassment still routinely downplayed as somehow divorced from action and consequence?
Online harassment of women, people of color, Jewish people, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups is often closely connected to real-life violence and threats. So why is it still routinely downplayed as somehow divorced from action and consequence?
Before mailing packages that included explosive devices to the Clintons, the Obamas, former Vice President Joe Biden, Jewish Democratic donor George Soros, Sen. Cory Booker, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, CNN, and others, Sayoc's social media channels told the story of an obsessive Trump supporter who frequently shared bigoted conspiracy theories and memes and routinely threatened and harassed others. Bowers repeatedly shared anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that blamed Jewish Democratic donors for the caravan of migrants, whom he identified as "invaders," taking a page from President Trump. Bowers was a frequent user of the far-right social media outlet Gab.com, upon which he shared alarmist theories claiming Jews and "illegals" were coming to kill his "people."
Rhetoric normalizing hate speech, and the casual glorification of violence by the president and other political leaders, has almost certainly contributed to a toxic ecosystem of intolerance and violence. Last week, the president praised a Republican congressman convicted of assault for body-slamming a reporter, while he spent most of the campaign trail offering to pay supporters' legal fees if they attacked protesters and pining for the good old days when violence was more commonplace. And yet this is only one part of the problem; social media offers those who are radicalized by the president's rhetoric and conspiracy theories a platform upon which to threaten and abuse others and spread their extremism. Irresponsible, insufficient content moderation practices and dismissing the harassment, threats, and bullying that women and marginalized people face on a daily basis on leading social media platforms have made the internet an increasingly toxic place for years.
According to a 2017 Pew survey, about half of Americans have reported experiencing online harassment, with women respondents twice as likely to report experiencing sexual harassment. A 2018 survey by the National Network to End Domestic Violence found that 50 percent of women respondents who reported being harassed online said they received direct, violent threats to them or people they knew. And in conjunction with online harassment and abuse, hate crimes - especially targeting Jews - have been on the rise since the 2016 campaign trail, the Anti-Defamation League reports. Between 2016 and 2017, anti-Semitic incidents in the US increased by 60 percent - the biggest spike since 1979. During this time period, the President of the United States defended the "very fine people" marching in Charlottesville, NC, and chanting, "Jews will not replace us."
Rampant online harassment and abuse may not always lead to real-life violence and mass shootings but have lived consequences nonetheless, forcing unsaid numbers of people to self-censor or stop using these platforms just to protect themselves. Jewish journalist Julia Ioffe wrote about mass anti-Semitic harassment she received from Trump supporters and the alt-right after writing a profile about Melania Trump; then-candidate Trump declined to denounce these attacks. "The alt-right deluged me with anti-Semitic insults and imagery, culminating in clear death threats - such as an image of a Jew being shot execution-style or people ordering coffins in my name," Ioffe wrote. "When Trump was asked to condemn these attacks by his supporters, he said, 'I don't have a message' for them."
As Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca wrote in 2017, "Most of the men who email . . . death and rape threats don't really mean it, but it only takes the one. Online aggressors trade in psychological terrorism, eliminating women's voices with the mere possibility that they might actually end up lurking outside your door at night (or, at least, they let you know that they know your home address)."
For years, Twitter has been widely criticized for having rigid and insufficient standards to crack down on targeted abuse, which disproportionately affects women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and other marginalized communities. As many critics have noted, the form to report targeted abuse has too many and often too complicated questions for those who report it, which can discourage reporting altogether.
Social platforms often justify lax policies by citing "free speech," leading to numerous documented cases of women and members of marginalized groups reporting stalking and hate speech without consequences. One woman had reported Sayoc for harassing her on Twitter, which proceeded to dismiss her reports just weeks before Sayoc began distributing the suspicious packages. (Twitter later apologized, calling this a "mistake.") Yet an ecosystem of unchecked harassment that forces disproportionately targeted individuals to be silent rather than face stalking and harassment is not conducive to fostering free speech. Nor is an ecosystem in which political dissenters must live in fear of facing violence because of the president's frequent incitements and attacks.
In the aftermath of targeted violence and attempts at violence by frequent online harassers, many recipients of online harassment may have legitimate fears about who among their harassers could be the next to strike. And this uncertainty will persist until content moderation policies on social platforms are sufficiently updated to ensure threats of violence and other abuses are taken seriously and the voices of the most vulnerable social media users are heard.
Why Do We Love to Scare Ourselves? An Expert on Fright Has Some Surprising Answers
Image Source: Everett Collection
For some, Halloween is a time for sweaters and pumpkin spice everything. For others, it's a time for gory films and haunted houses. Did you ever wonder if there's a reason some people are thrill seekers and others always choose to sit it out?
Sociologist Dr. Margee Kerr did. She built her research and lecturing career out of a childhood fascination with scary stories: "I was intrigued by the unknown. I knew getting into my academic career I still needed to incorporate some of that adventure, otherwise I would be miserable." That adventure led her to globe-trot for scares to write a literal book on the topic before serving as the researcher for Pittsburgh's Scarehouse, and even appearing as herself in the sequel to the haunted house horror flick The Houses That October Built. Whether fear is your goal or enemy this Halloween, Dr. Kerr has the answers to how and why we react to things that go bump in the night - and how thrill seekers can amp up the scare power.
Dr. Margee Kerr says the "fun scary" kind of fear's physical and psychological effects can be highly rewarding. Photo courtesy of Jake Bradbury.
POPSUGAR: For starters, why do we love haunted attractions so much?
Dr. Margee Kerr: We do love it for the physical high. Our body, when it's thrust into that fight or flight mode, releases all sorts of chemicals. In the right context, mainly one of choice and entertainment, that physiological response can feel really good. We feel euphoric and strong and kind of primal. Also, when we're scared, our brain reprioritizes, so it's focused on all our physical elements. We're not getting caught up in what we have to do in the future. We're grounded more in the present. There's also this big social component. Being scared with friends creates stronger bonds. It enhances the experience. We get a sense of accomplishment. Even though we know we're safe, it feels like we've completed a challenge and made it out the other side. It also can increase our resilience and our tolerance in the moment. When we face something really challenging and intense, everything else is not going to upset us as much.
PS: Do you have any insight into the history of haunted houses?
MK: They have a varied history. A big part of it was Haunted Mansion at Disney. That was actually based off of the Winchester Mystery House after Walt Disney toured it and wanted to create something similar. The Winchester Mystery House was this house that this woman kept building on. After her husband passed, she was the heir to the Winchester estate. She had a house, and she believed all the people who had been killed by Winchester rifles, that she could act as a conduit [to channel them]. And then the Haunted Mansion influenced the creation of modern attractions today. Jaycee groups played a big role in it, too. Then volunteer firefighters started making charity haunted attractions. And so it was the big influence from Disney and then the backyard attractions that started sprouting up. Today you can see that packed history of the sort of DIY backyard attractions and then the big amusement side of it. Now there is that middle type of attractions that do, say, over 50,000 people a year. That's like Terror Behind the Walls or Netherworld.
PS: What separates those who love haunted attractions and those who won't go near them?
MK: A lot of it is our history. Some of it is genetic. Even the way our genes are expressed is so tied into our experiences and our childhood. All the different moments in our childhood when we experience fear go into creating how we give meaning to different experiences. So, if you never had any folder in your mind for "fun scary," then you might not like it too much. I grew up going to haunted houses from a very young age, so my experience with fun scary is very long and rich. I always encourage people to test themselves every few years because we do change.
PS: You helped develop the Basement at Scarehouse, Pittsburgh's premiere haunted attraction. What research was involved there and what trends do you see in immersive haunts?
MK: I haven't been at Scarehouse for a couple years, but in working with Greg Siegle, the cognitive neuroscientist, we set up the lab in the Basement and we were able to measure people['s moods] before and after they went through. Our first year of data collection will be coming out this month in the journal Emotion. But we found that mood did improve and people did feel better. In terms of haunted house trends and what I've been seeing over the past few years, a lot of people are going for more interactivity and more sense of immersion, making it more personal in a scalable way. Like at Terror Behind the Walls, you can opt in with the glow necklace if you want the more interactive experience, but if you don't, you just take it off. But there's been a lot of work in trying to make it more interactive. Incorporating puzzle elements, making it more gamified like escape rooms.
PS: The Basement allows guests to utilize a safe word. Some extreme haunts don't. Where do you think the line should be drawn in extreme haunts?
MK: I think that any commercial business that doesn't have a safe word is essentially violating the law. If they don't allow people to exit an experience, they're essentially holding someone hostage at that point. There's a range: some places don't have a safe word because they didn't think that they would need one, but if someone said, "I have to get out of here," they would respect it and let people leave. The places that don't let you leave - I don't know if they even really exist beyond tall tales and folklore - but any place that doesn't let you leave is violating the law. It's not fun anymore, and your attention shifts to actual survival. The boundaries should be communicated to guests up front. You can do that without giving anything away.
PS: How can those who hate to be scared still enjoy the season, and how can those who love thrills get the most out of it?
MK: For those who don't like to be scared, there are so many cool harvest specials and pumpkin patches. You can feel the nostalgia and the connectedness without any of the fear. And those who are really looking for a good scare, I would recommend taking the approach of saving all your money and trying to get to a really well-known and highly rated attraction, or to mix it up and do a handful of backyard attractions that aren't going to break the bank and compare them at the end of the season. For those looking for something good or new or unique, it's worth doing some research.
There you have it! Whether you'll be scaring yourself silly or playing it safe, now you have some insight on how your brain works when you're afraid . . . and how to make the most out of Halloween.
Apologies in Advance: This Halloween Brain Teaser Might Make You Chuck Your Computer
"Well, this'll be fun," you're likely thinking to yourself upon glancing at this Halloween brain teaser making the rounds. Unfortunately, the more you stare at the search-and-find game, the more you start to woefully question your eyesight. In the illustration by Gergely Dudás, people are instructed to find the star among the spread of jack-o'-lanterns, ghosts, candy, and adorable animals.
If you're digging the challenge, the teaser is part of a larger collection compiled in Dudás's Bear's Spooky Book of Hidden Things. On the other hand, if you've given up, the solution can be accessed by simply swiping on the Instagram post above. Did you totally look over that same exact spot several times without spotting the star? Same, same.
20 Gifts Your 20-Something Boyfriend Will Love
Giving presents to your significant other can be a real stressor, that's why we're here to be your holiday shopping spirit guide. Take a deep breath and open your Internet browser; it's never too early to begin holiday shopping. If you've got a boyfriend in his 20s, we have a whole guide of gifts perfect for your man. Check out all 20 of the foolproof options.
In Pop Culture, Lolita's Lollipop Has Transformed From Sexist Symbol to Weapon of Choice
In one of the most widely recognized images of Vladimir Nabokov's titular Lolita, a car's rearview mirror tightly frames the face of a fair-haired, fair-skinned girl. Her precocious gaze holds our attention from just behind the heart-shaped sunglasses perched atop her nose. The sunglasses are bright red, a perfect match for the girl's cherry-stained mouth and the lollipop that rests between her lips.
But suckers and sunglasses never appeared in Nabokov's 1955 novel. They didn't turn up in Stanley Kubrick's 1962 film, either. Rather, these props were selected by fashion photographer Bert Stern, who shot the promotional stills for Kubrick's Lolita in 1961. Stern purchased them at a five-and-dime to adorn Sue Lyon, the 14-year-old actress cast in the role of Dolores "Lolita" Haze.
The lollipop has come to signify a coquettish temptress: young, sweet, sexy.
Since then, the lollipop has come to signify a coquettish temptress: young, sweet, sexy. A controversial ad campaign for Love's Baby Soft perfume in the 1970s featured a woman holding a lollipop to her cheek with the tagline, "Because innocence is sexier than you think." Children of the '90s may remember the lollipop as a natural if not all-too-obvious prop for Baby Spice of the Spice Girls. And it would not be a stretch to suggest that Lil Wayne's 2008 song "Lollipop" does not simply imply its objectifying motif but pushes the metaphor to its explicit end. Despite how sharply this seductive, hypersexual distillation contrasts with Nabokov's Lolita, a 12-year-old girl violated at the hands of an adult abuser, the trope has persisted for decades.
Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes. Image Source: Everett Collection
In her article "Rewriting Lolita in Fashion Photography: Candy, Consumption, and Dying Flowers," Dr. Morna Laing details how such media references point to a culture historically fixated on a fetishized tension between girlhood and womanhood, in which young girls are oversexualized and adult women are infantilized. There's a term for it, "nymphetmania," and it has a cinematic history that long predates Lolita. Lollipops can be found at the origins of this pedigree, linked especially to Shirley Temple. In the early 1930s, Temple sang "The Good Ship Lollipop" to an audience of fondling men in the film Bright Eyes and performed with the candy in hand in a series of films called Baby Burlesks, which - you guessed it - are about toddlers playacting adult burlesque shows.
Beware the Girl With the Sweet Tooth
But today's popular culture has seen a notable shift in the way this stylistic device is brandished. Instead of alluding to an illicit fascination with girlish naiveté, the lollipop has increasingly been wielded as a double-edged sword. On USA's Mr. Robot, FBI agent Dominique DiPierro (Grace Gummer) has a habit of consuming lollipops while pursuing the bad guys. Suckers are a signature of DC Comics' good-doctor-gone-evil, Harley Quinn. In the 2007 remake of Hairspray, Amanda Bynes's Penny Pingleton devours the candy as her character dives into 1960s counterculture. And most recently, a lollipop popped up in a pivotal exchange between Amy Adams's tortured Camille and Eliza Scanlen's devilish Amma on HBO's Sharp Objects, a series entirely coated in layers of sugar, spice, and everything malevolent.
Every rose has its thorn, every piece of hard candy has its jagged edge, and every jawbreaker can, well, break your jaw.
The subversion of candy as an emblem of feminine sweetness is also rooted in the premise of several films, including 1999's Jawbreaker, 2001's Sugar and Spice, and 2005's Hard Candy - which, coincidentally, was titled Lollipop in some foreign markets. Each employs the saccharine symbol to connote the merging of two seemingly disparate personas: the damsel in distress and the femme fatale. Every rose has its thorn, every piece of hard candy has its jagged edge, and every jawbreaker can, well, break your jaw.
Without giving too much away, broken jaws and thorny roses are precisely what Sharp Objects delivers. The miniseries, based on Gillian Flynn's 2006 novel of the same name, follows Camille Preaker (Amy Adams), a journalist dispatched to her hometown of Wind Gap, MO, to cover the grisly murders of two 13-year-old girls. While there, Camille is haunted by her past and confronted with the fraught relationships she has with her mother, Adora (Patricia Clarkson), and half-sister, Amma. Wind Gap itself is portrayed as a dreamscape filled with lurid secrets, a town oozing equal parts treacle and horror. Episode titles like "Milk" and "Ripe" likewise invoke things that are wholesome only until they spoil.
Which brings us to the duplicitous Amma (Scanlen), a baby-faced sociopath on roller skates. Amma wears ribbons in her hair. She obsesses over her meticulously decorated dollhouse. She's a daddy's girl and mama's princess. At least by day, anyway. By night, she is cruel and cunning. In her dealings with Camille, Amma swings from sickly sweet to savage. In the episode "Fix," we see Amma melt into her sister, cradling Camille and begging for her affections. By the end of the hour, Amma's physical attention has turned menacing. Finding Camille in a parking lot with Richard Willis (Chris Messina), the detective investigating the Wind Gap murders, Amma - her friends circling like a pack of wolves - unleashes. "I heard Camille is a real hot ticket. Or she was," Amma taunts with satisfaction. "You should hear the stories, Dick." When Camille turns to retreat, Amma takes the red lollipop she's been sucking and sticks it in her sister's hair, twisting it like a knife in the back.
Amma (Eliza Scanlen) on Sharp Objects. Image Source: HBO
The scene highlights the series's underlying tension, one articulated by Chief Bill Vickery (Matt Craven), who describes Adora's daughters this way: "One is dangerous and one is in danger." But who is who? Made in the binary image of their mother - the malicious martyr - Camille and Amma have been manipulated like paper dolls, forced to wear the costumes of princess and rebel, unfolding to reveal the show's central paradox: that the "bad" girl is actually "good" and the "good" girl is terrifyingly "bad."
From Siren Song to Sucker Punch
Elliot (Rami Malek) and Darlene (Carly Chaikin) on Mr. Robot. Image Source: Getty
Like Sharp Objects, several characters act as warped mirrors of each other on Mr. Robot, and two of them happen to share a penchant for Lolita's iconic style: Dominique "Dom" DiPierro (Gummer), an FBI agent investigating the hacktivist group "fsociety," and Darlene Alderson (Carly Chaikin), an fsociety member. While Dom is rarely caught in deep thought without a lollipop in her mouth, Darlene is often sporting a pair of heart-shaped sunglasses. Sealing the allusion is Darlene's screen name: "Dolores Haze." Dom and Darlene have much in common. They both left boyfriends after they had proposed. They bond over being "Jersey girls." And when the FBI brings in Darlene, Dom pushes to question her, stating, "I am her." Fan theories abound as to how these characters are connected (and if you would like to go down a Reddit rabbit hole, I can send along some links).
But where the lollipop scene in Sharp Objects signifies a "female sort of rage," as Camille describes it, in Mr. Robot, we find not so much vengeance as vulnerability. Dom and Darlene are both self-possessed forces to be reckoned with, and yet - at least by the end of the third season - they have been undone. Between their professional objectives and personal lives, both characters appear to oscillate between invincibility and fragility. This ceaseless tension may ultimately underscore how the very determination that puts them at risk might translate into the instincts necessary to survive.
Though this symbolism is differently deployed in Sharp Objects, Jen Chaney, pop culture critic at New York Magazine, notices that both shows may draw upon Lolita imagery for a shared purpose: "to misdirect us as viewers." In the case of Amma, "her dresses and dollhouses can be viewed as clever armor that distracts from seeing her for who she is." In Mr. Robot, the Lolita connection may have initially been used to obscure Darlene's relationship to Elliot. Chaney observes that the heart-shaped sunglasses "helped visually to bolster the case that they might be lovers or former lovers, but then it ultimately turned out that they were siblings." And while Chaney associates Dom's lollipop more closely with Tootsie Pop-addicted Kojak than Lolita, this too may prove a skillful maneuver on the part of the showrunners to keep us on our toes. Guarding a soft underbelly beneath the hardened exterior of a gritty New York detective, Dom is a complex character, and I suspect what she's fully capable of is yet to be revealed.
Given its versatile role in these instances - encapsulating vulnerability and rage, innocence and dominance - what do we make of the lollipop? Once a symbol of budding sexuality meant for consumption, it seems this outdated trope has been co-opted. Perhaps these portrayals represent a move toward more fluid ideas of femininity, in which women are neither temptresses nor angels, but multifaceted beings who can exhibit more than one characteristic at a time?
Possibly. But it's also important not to take any of these overt dualisms at face value. Dr. Johanna Blakley, managing director at USC's Norman Lear Center, reminds us that the split persona of the demure villainess is both limited in scope and nothing new. This oppositional archetype "is endemic to Western discourse and its literary canon." From "Like a Virgin" to "Like a Prayer," Madonna built an entire career exploiting the virgin-whore dichotomy. We could even trace the lollipop's symbolism all the way back to when Eve tempted Adam with the apple or to stories of Sirens luring sailors with their entrancing songs.
These recent uses of the lollipop are certainly variations on this theme, but something else is different. Unlike Eve and the Sirens, when Amma and Dom engage this trope, it is not men who fall but women. It is in this context that Flynn's "sharp objects" become more broadly symbolic. They explicitly refer to the items used to murder those little girls and the razor blades Camille harms herself with, yes. But they also bring to the forefront those figuratively cited: the roller blades, rosebushes, and ribbons. These are the objects long used to minimize an entire gender to pretty playthings. Chaney describes them as symbols that "can be used counterintuitively to imply power. Historically speaking, society tends to not take girly things very seriously. They're deemed frivolous or silly and childish." In Sharp Objects and Mr. Robot, however, these items have been weaponized, sharpened to slice and dice the antiquated tales of flowery virgins to be saved by men or lascivious women who will bring down those same men. Those myths are much too simple, and showrunners like Flynn and Killing Eve's Phoebe Waller-Bridge know it. Perhaps this is the fundamental shift: that increasingly women are authoring stories about women, in which men are pushed to the peripheries.
Resistance or Acquiescence?
Villanelle (Jodie Comer) on Killing Eve. Image Source: Everett Collection
Consider the character Villanelle (Jodie Comer) in Waller-Bridge's Killing Eve. A modern-day Siren, Villanelle uses her feminine charms to beguile her targets, wears layers of pink tulle to taunt her superiors, and murders her victims with poisoned perfumes and hairpins she handles like the ice pick from Basic Instinct. Villanelle sees men as easily manipulated and entirely expendable. Her real fascination is with Eve (Sandra Oh), the woman charged with her capture. After killing Eve's investigative partner, Villanelle explains, "He was slowing you down." Similarly, after Amma sticks the lollipop in Camille's hair, she baits her sister into hitting her: "Be dangerous like Mama said. You could kill me right here, and you know what? Dickie boy still couldn't figure it out." It is as if Villanelle and Amma are enticing their respective rivals to play a game that's just for girls. This female autonomy imbues Killing Eve's title with biblical meaning. Beware old tales of women as mere objects of temptation or scorn - these shows are coming for you.
But maybe I'm getting ahead of myself. Such productions might have simply found a way to have their cake and eat it, too. Sure, our favorite female characters may be complex, confident, smart, tenacious, or cunning, with a thoughtful backstory. But it likely doesn't hurt that Harley Quinn looks pretty good licking that lollipop.
So, do these representations merely reinforce exploitative conventions? Blakley is optimistic, telling POPSUGAR that shows like Sharp Objects and Killing Eve "are being quite self-conscious about how they're using girly-ness [and] that in itself is a sign of progress." But Blakley cautions we have a long way to go until props like lollipops and dollhouses are seen as just that and not "inevitable signals of femininity."
Increasingly, women are authoring stories about women in which men are pushed to the peripheries.
Acknowledging that the use of "sexy female stereotypes" as a means to get norm-bending projects produced might seem naive to some, Blakley also understands how difficult it is to get subversive projects greenlit within the mainstream. But once they're out in the world, they "have a chance to challenge people's assumptions and create new perspectives on gender and sexuality."
Reclaiming Agency
Though the shifting signification of the lollipop may seem trivial, it speaks to a macrocosm of changes underway. Time is finally up for many things, and this includes the historic lack of women in the director's chair. More women behind the scenes means more opportunities to shatter clichés and reconfigure symbols - lollipops included - that have long been used to objectify women and girls.
Granted, access to leadership positions alone is not remedy enough, and some critics might perceive any engagement with reductive tropes as counterproductive. But shows like Sharp Objects, Mr. Robot, and Killing Eve push back on the very norms of gender and sexuality they are tethered to, leveraging outmoded emblems of femininity in order to redefine them. And in so doing, the women of film and television may finally be able to reclaim the agency once denied to Dolores "Lolita" Haze.
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