on the pulse of pop culture

The snark page is dedicated to a woman, or multiple women. It’s always about women, even when it’s about men. Go ahead and look at the top posts on r/TimotheeChalametSnark — they’re all about Kylie. Sometimes the pages are dedicated to individual women, or helpfully categorized to catch multiple women of the same ilk in one community (if you want t... See more

In December 2023, for example, fantasy author Cait Corrain lost her book deal after it was revealed that she was creating fake accounts on Goodreads to boost her own reviews and lower those of her peers — the latest example of people review-bombing books for any number of vendettas, sometimes even before it has been released.

“The attention economy is the brief focus on nearly any subject as algorithms focus on engagement,” says Jamie Cohen, Ph.D., an assistant professor of media studiesat City University of New York’s Queens College. “This, of course, results in the temporary uplift into mainstream media and a short marketable trend. On the other hand, the fangirl econ... See more

Since its founding in 2012, A24 has consistently been on the upswing. The company’s success doesn’t come down to one thing, but a variety of factors: the championing of up-and-coming auteurs (Ari Aster, Greta Gerwig, Robert Eggers, the directorial duo known as the Daniels), which has established the studio as a reliable tastemaker; the execution of... See more

IN 2002, ACCORDING TO THE self-appointed cultural anthropologists at Newsweek magazine, there were exactly three types of teenage girls in America. You could be an Alpha: a blonde who loved cheerleading, worshiped Gwyneth and Vogue, and managed to be “both bitchy and nice.” You could be a Beta, which was basically an aspiring Alpha; Betas reportedl... See more

As the acid-tongued, defiant Kat Stratford in “10 Things I Hate About You,” Stiles provided, for a generation born just too late to be riot grrrls, a vision for how to be a cool teenage girl whose every move did not revolve around appeasing the appetites or fulfilling the fantasies of teenage boys.

The three are among a cohort of former child stars, many from Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows from the 2000s, who have started podcasts as a way of connecting with a nostalgic Gen Z and millennial fan base. In doing so, they are embracing roles that they played as children and teenagers — characters that some had spent years trying to move bey... See more

There’s a lot to learn from Roan’s success. She didn’t pander to TikTok or get lucky on Spotify algorithms (though TikTok obviously played a role), she just had a label that knew how to use her and a live show that sparked genuine word-of-mouth. The hardest part of the music industry at all levels is getting people to care about your music, and Roa... See more

It’s not just a culmination for Roan, but a mainstream moment for a concept mostly known to queer theorists and Tumblr addicts up to this point. Compulsory heterosexuality, coined in 1980 by Adrienne Rich, is a term describing the societal imposition of heterosexuality on women. Online sapphics of a certain age might know the concept because a Goog... See more