Culture

Why eat at the dinner table?

Bernard Toutounji | 11 July 2012

What accounts for this decline in families eating together today though? The data seems to point to two main issues: Overworked parents and over-scheduled children. When mum and dad get home in the evening they are soon in the car again to whisk the children off to sport, music, tutoring, church activities and a host of other events.

The problem with Fifty Shades of Grey

Katie Hinderer | 06 June 2012

Their argument is that Fifty Shades of Grey is merely a book and what’s the big deal if people enjoy it in the comfort of their own homes? Here are a few reasons I have a problem with Fifty Shades of Grey

A fashion magazine worth subscribing to

Katie Hinderer | 04 June 2012

The fashion magazine, which launched its first issue at the end of May, is aimed to fill a void that exists in the world of fashion magazines today. The creators hoped to build something that catered to what young women today were really going through.

To arrange a marriage or not to

Tamara Rajakariar | 28 May 2012

I’m not going to try and tell you that we should all be getting arranged marriages - I myself shudder at the thought. But I do think we can learn from them – in my extensive network of Sri Lankan relatives and family friends, I have never seen one that didn’t work out.

Have we become a race of observers?

Katie Hinderer | 21 June 2011

When we can watch the private lives of celebrities as easily as nobodies thanks to YouTube and reality TV, perhaps we’ve lost the ability to react as necessary in certain real-life situations.

$4,000 gives a teenager overnight success despite mediocrity

Katie Hinderer | 25 May 2011

The thing that amazes me about this song and accompanying video is the fact that it is so popular because it is so horrible.

I’m voting to ignore Gaga

Katie Hinderer | 18 May 2011

Despite my best efforts to ignore her existence she follows me; stalks me. It becomes more difficult every day to not click on the Lady Gaga articles that beg to be read, the video clips that practically scream at me for attention.

Is being single silly - a reader response

Bernadette Supan | 08 May 2011

As Tamara noted, you need to be strong and able to stand by yourself before you enter a relationship. Agree – but only partially.

Dating 2011: Is being single silly?

Tamara Rajakariar | 01 May 2011

For some reason, all the single chicks in movies are the losers or pitied, unless of course they are those independent women who are hot enough to have casual sexual partners every weekend. Are these really the ideas we want young girls to live by - that single is weird unless you’re having regular sex? Not to mention the fact that this reduces entire relationships to only their physical component...

Dating 2011: ABG Maturity

Elyse Burns | 28 April 2011

This stands for ‘Austen, Bronte, and Gaskell Maturity.’ These three writers have done more for true women’s liberation than any less elegant feminist of today. The principle of my theory is simple- in the novels of Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, and Elizabeth Gaskell, their heroines possess a quality some women in today’s world just don’t have.

Dating 2011: The Twilight Myth

Katie Hinderer | 12 April 2011

‘The Twilight Myth' which is being mistakenly accepted by so many teenagers and young adults, goes like this: You and your boyfriend have enough willpower to sleep together nightly and nothing will happen.

Surviving a big family, helps with college survival

Kamilah Thorpe | 07 June 2010

Being the eldest of six children has shaped me into a successful college student and a happy young woman.

The Art of Choosing: less is more, sometimes

Katie Hinderer | 20 April 2010

A review in the New York Times on Sheena Iyengar’s book The Art of Choosing caught my attention. The author, a psychologist by profession, has conducted a number of experiments over the years. She is most famous for the jam experiment; the one that showed people are more likely to be interested in more options but less likely to make a decision when faced with more options. The conclusion: less is more, well sometimes.

Glee’s catchy music and murky messages

Katie Hinderer | 09 April 2010

In the US most teens and young adults are breathlessly waiting for the return of Glee. The TV show, which is in its first season, has struck a cord with people across the country with its catchy songs and fun dance routines. It’s this winning combination that blinds so many people from the subtle but horrible messages being sent through the plot.