The XX Factor: What women really think.

"Bridesmaids" Trailer: A Less Fun "Hangover"

International Adoptions: Fewer, Maybe Better

There were fewer international adoptions in 2010 than there have been in any year since 1995: 11,059, down from a high of 22,884 in 2004. Most of those children were from China (3,401), Ethiopia (2,513), Russia (1,082), and South Korea (883). There's no lack of interest from adopting families, and to what degree the lower number reflects fewer children in need of families is debatable. What is clear is that the United States government has increased its efforts to end baby- and child-trafficking in countries that send large numbers of children to the U.S. for adoption, and those increased efforts mean both fewer corrupt adoptions, and fewer adoptions overall. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

President Bush's Daughter Barbara Speaks Out for Gay Marriage

Barbara Bush, daughter of George W., announced her support for gay marriage in a video yesterday: “I’m Barbara Bush and I’m a New Yorker for marriage equality. New York is about fairness and equality. And everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love.” For those keeping track at home, that means that the daughters and wives of the last two GOP presidential candidates have spoken out in favor of gay rights. Meghan McCain has made it one of her pet issues; her mother Cindy also recently spoke out against Don't Ask, Don't Tell and posed for an ad campaign against California's proposed same-sex marriage ban. Laura Bush told Larry King that she supported gay marriage (and abortion) last spring. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Breast Implants, Cancer, and the Problem With "Significant" Findings

A post from DoubleX writer Anna B. Reisman:

Just a few years after debunking the myths about links between breast implants and connective tissue disease, last week the FDA announced more potential problems with implants: Women with saline and silicone gel-filled implants may have an increased risk of anaplastic large cell lymphoma. ... (Read the rest of this post here).

DoubleX Is Hosting an Evening about How Couples Manage Their Money on Wednesday 2/2

A post from DoubleX writer Jessica Grose:

This Wednesday, Feb. 2, I'm going to be discussing the Home Economics series running in Slate at Housing Works in New York City as part of a panel called "Money, Marriage, and the Madness of Dividing It Up." I'll be gabbing with the lovely Paula Szuchman and Jenny Anderson, the co-authors of the new book Spousonomics: Using Economics to Master Love, Marriage, and Dirty Dishes, which is out on Feb. 8. ... (Read the rest of this post here).

We're Still Sad Over Facebook... on Twitter!

A post from DoubleX writer Libby Copeland:

Apparently, we’re all crying over Facebook. DoubleX’s recent piece about how Facebook makes us feel alone in our troubles by allowing us to broadcast only the cheeriest versions of our lives hit quite a nerve. ... (Read the rest of this post here).

Does Hillary Want More Babies of Her Own?

A post from DoubleX writer Kate Julian:

“Bill Clinton: Hillary wants grandkids over the presidency.” That is the rather irritating headline on a Politico piece today about some remarks of Bill’s at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday. Having already commented on his own intense desire to be a grandfather, Bill added:  “I would like to have a happy wife and she won’t be unless she’s a grandmother. It’s something she wants more than she wanted to be president.” ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Book of the Week: "Dirty Secret"

A post from DoubleX writer Kris Wilton:

Some readers may recognize Jessie Sholl, author of Dirty Secret: A Daughter Comes Clean About her Mother’s Compulsive Hoarding (Gallery Books, $15) as the author of a poignant, brutally honest 2007 New York Times “Modern Love” column breaking up with a best girlfriend. Dirty Secret will appeal to many because of its prurient details —the heaps of trash and bug infestations and countless fruitless interventions that have lured viewers to shows like Hoarders. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Is Facebook Making Its Original Audience Miserable?

Tracy Morgan's Moment of Subversive Feminist Media Criticism

Trying To Be a Good Mom? Off With Your Head!

A post from DoubleX writer Debra J. Dickerson

Kelley Williams-Bolar has been found guilty of two third-degree felonies in Ohio for falsifying residency documents to send her girls to school in her father's suburban school district rather than her own poorer one. The afrosphere is livid. Noted one (not entirely coherent) black blogger:  "The judge actually wanted to give her two consecutive five-year sentences and reduced it to 10 days in prison and THREE YEARS on probation plus 80 hours of community service. WT..??! As a result of two felony convictions, Williams-Bolar is being denied completing her teacher training certification. A better job thwarted because she did what so many parents do all the time here in NYC." ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Women Are a Substantial Part of Egyptian Protests

A post from DoubleX writer Jenna Krajeski:

 An unprecedented number of Egyptian women participated in Tuesday’s anti-government protests. Ghada Shahbandar, an activist with the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, estimated the crowd downtown to be 20 percent female. Other estimates were as high as 50 percent. In past protests, the female presence would rarely rise to 10 percent. Protests have a reputation for being dangerous for Egyptian women, whose common struggle as objects of sexual harassment is exacerbated in the congested, male-dominated crowd. Police hasten to fence in the demonstrators, and fleeing leads to violence. And women, whose needs are not reflected in the policies of official opposition groups who normally organize protests, have little reason to take the risk. ... (Read the rest of this blog here.)

What To Do When Your House Becomes a Modern Art Museum

As I write this from my home office, I’m gazing upon a 4 foot-by-5 foot piece of abstract contemporary art (pictured at right). There’s a tree and a blue sky and some purple mountains’ majesty, and I can kind of make out a creature on the right-hand side.  My two older sons made it for us when we were in the hospital having our third child. I love it. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Snow and the Working Mom

Across the entire Northeast region, thousands—no, tens of thousands, at least—of working women, faced last night with their 4,000th snow day at home with the kids so far this year, put their heads in their hands and sobbed. Is it always the mom, in every family, who stays home for the snow days, or does it just feel that way? Even when both parents work, dad—who has, as we've noted before, not chosen his career based on flexibility—is somehow that much more likely to be out of town, or have the scheduled surgeries or the unmissable meetings. It's mom who scrambles, calling friends ("But wouldn't it make your day easier if Jacob had someone to play with?") or "working from home," which too often means muting ourselves on conference calls  so that our colleagues can't hear the Phineas and Ferb theme in the background, or the constant rustling of snack bags as we try to keep kids happy and sated. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Melissa Rivers is the Most Well-Adjusted Woman in America

Anyone who saw the riveting documentary about Joan Rivers, A Piece of Work, might be disappointed by the 77-year-old comedian's new reality show, Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best? (WeTV, Tuesdays at 10 p.m., ET). Where the movie showed an unvarnished, sympathetic portrait of workaholic Joan, the reality show is baldly contrived. ... (Read the rest of this post here).

Would the Real Amy Chua Please Sit Down?

Amy Chua was fun, entertaining and thought-provoking as the iron-fisted, uber-confident mother of the Wall Street Journal's "Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior." She's equally a pleasure to read in her actual, still iron-fisted but somewhat less complacent memoir, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. She had something to say, and it was this: Thanks to my Chinese immigrant parents' example, I was tougher on my kids than most of the parents around me. I demanded a lot from them. They lived up to it. And then I took it a little too far. ... (Read the rest of this post here).

The lightbulbs of Tyranny

After Barack Obama's centrist pandering and Paul Ryan's aspirations-killing response, the mood at the State of the Union watch party I attended was high for Michele Bachmann's response to the speech and the response. She exceeded all hopes and dreams, channeling Ross Perot, but with an added dose of nutty to the eye, and displaying a chart that would make Glenn Beck jealous of its dishonest incoherence. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Profile of a Baby Snatcher

The case of Ann Pettway’s abduction of Carlina White 23 years ago—discovered when the child renamed as Nejdra Nance began investigating her own background—opens questions about what, exactly, is the profile of a baby-snatcher. In Daniel Engber’s piece on (rare) hospital kidnappings, he writes of analysis conducted by National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the FBI: ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

What's the Matter With Washington

The Daily Beast thinks it's figured out where kids are the brightest. The Beast used data from last year's National Assessment of Education Progress, a nationwide standardized test, to rank states on educational achievement and put together a feature on "States with the Smartest Kids." The title's annoying (these kids aren't the smartest; they're the best at taking standardized tests), but it's an interesting read. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)

Love Isn't a "Consequence"

Tracy Clark-Flory at Salon, in light of the new "please don't make me watch it" romantic comedy No Strings Attached, writes about how the premise of the movie, that "friends with benefits" rarely works, echoes in real life. Someone falls in love, someone gets attached, someone is being manipulative and trying to get more.  We all know the drill.  But one thing that struck me in her article was that perhaps the people who found that FWB doesn't work did so because their concept of romantic relationships was all screwed up going in. ... (Read the rest of this post here.)