FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Identity

This Week We Recommend: Tila Tequila, Stephen Hawking, and One Direction

There's no accounting for taste, but ours is exquisite. Here are our favorite things on the Internet this week.
Image by Kat Aileen

Zing
I really, really hate the idea that teenage girls are tasteless automatons who obediently swallow whatever the pop culture machine (or Simon Cowell) feeds them. The One Direction fandom gets stereotyped as the epitome of clueless fangirl culture, but I've met 1D teen fans who could talk passionately about feminism AND Zayn's changing hairdo. It's about time they got the credit they deserve.

Mitchell
On Celebrity Big Brother 2015, American d-listers battle British has-beens. The show brings together camp idols like Tila Tequila and Farrah Abraham for a "smackdown." In a clip featured on The Daily Mail, Tequila mocks a British Apprentice star named James Hill, imitating his accent. She asks to borrow his boxers, and he blushes. "You brit boys could never handle me!" Tequila yells at him. "You make me nervous," Hill says. "I'm a shy innocent boy." Hill refuses to give Tequila boxers, so she shouts incest jokes at him: "What, are we: brother and sister?" she asks. He smiles. I think he's turned on.

Monica
My permanent, forever recommendation is this 1993 Canadian PSA by the Concerned Children's Advertisers about not putting things in your mouth. It ran on TVs across Canada throughout my childhood, preaching its important message—"Always ask someone you love before you put anything in your mouth"—through the timeless medium of song (and blue puppets). It is… a lot. In a good way. Have a good weekend, and don't put anything in your mouth unless you know exactly what it is!

Tracie
While this article is kind of old—having been posted back in January when The Theory of Everything was in theaters—it remains relevant as long as people continue to pretend like Stephen Hawking isn't white male privilege incarnate. Only an entitled man would completely disregard the love and devotion of his spouse—who bore his children, wiped his ass, and completed every physical task in the household—then cheat on her. Of course he believes that he deserves to be loved for his intelligence and his intelligence alone. Society would never allow women to hold themselves in such a high regard. At the same time, these innate gender biases allow men like Hawking to refuse to acknowledge their that their wives could have intellectual identities of their own, as they cannot see beyond their own narcissistic interests. We continue to kiss the ground he wheels on. And that is wrong.

Callie
I hate all music (except for Enya), so I agree with everything on this list of the 123 worst musicians ever.

Sarah
One of the most fundamental questions plaguing society has finally been answered: What lip color doesn't come off on dick? The application process seems strenuous, but 100 percent worth it—I just hope they develop a matte formula.