Ever heard that saying that giving itself is a gift? Well, it definitely applies to oral sex. Oral can be just as fun for the giver as it is for the receiver, especially if you experiment with brand-new moves that both of you will love. Here are some techniques that’ll take oral up a notch for your partner and make it more exciting for you as well.
Just now, politicians in Georgia voted to ban abortion after six weeks. Georgia is now the third state to pass this harmful restriction this month. (Fifteen states have filed similar bans in this legislative session alone.) You don’t have to look far to understand just how these introduced abortion bans—up by 63 percent in states in 2019—affect real people.
Jennifer, a Planned Parenthood patient in Georgia in her early forties, told us that after she’d missed a period, she knew immediately she was pregnant. Jennifer didn’t wait. She called a nearby health center to schedule her abortion. But the medically unnecessary restrictions that limited the number of providers and available appointment times delayed her care by weeks. Despite knowing she was pregnant just after a missed period and deciding she wanted an abortion immediately, by the time Jennifer received care, she was eight weeks pregnant.
Imagine if this were any other aspect of medicine. Imagine if your ability to receive treatment was limited by when you were diagnosed with the condition. Chances are you wouldn’t even know you had the condition by the time it was too late to receive the treatment that you wanted. And if you did get diagnosed in time, you might still have to travel hundreds of miles, find child care, get time off from work, and face protesters—just to receive that medical care.
That’s what happens to women in need of abortion access in places like Georgia. These six-week abortion bans affect many women before they know they’re pregnant. Even if they are one of the rare few—like Jennifer—who know earlier than six weeks, these women still find it almost impossible to access an abortion within that time frame. These bans fundamentally infringe upon a person’s right to bodily autonomy.
We’re less than three months into the 2019 state legislative session, and at least one disturbing trend has emerged: Anti-women’s-health politicians have doubled down on their efforts to take away the right to safe, legal abortion. Already, more than 250 bills have been filed that directly restrict abortion access, and nearly half of those restrictions have been abortion bans—outright attempts to prohibit people from making their own health care decisions.
Politicians are directly interfering with medical practice and endangering women’s lives. We know this statistic, but it bears a repeat mention: Abortion is a safe, legal medical procedure that nearly one in four women will have in their lifetime, and it’s part of the full spectrum of reproductive health care. We are at an all-time low for unintended pregnancies because of birth control and evidence-based sex education. Politicians wishing to reduce unintended pregnancies and the need for abortion should invest in women’s health. Instead, their actions directly go against public health and public will. We know the cost: It’s women’s lives.
At Planned Parenthood we see the effects of these attacks firsthand. In the last eight years, there have been more than 420 laws passed that directly restrict abortion access. These harmful laws have shuttered health centers and turned entire regions of the country into abortion deserts. Women are forced to travel hundreds of miles for health care, and those who cannot—women who can’t afford the travel, who can’t find child care and time off from work, who live in rural communities without access, who are often people of color—will just go without. In fact, people in six states have only one abortion provider left, exacerbating an already challenging landscape for reproductive health care.
We know what happens when politicians cut access to vital health care services: Patients delay care or go without it. When Texas eliminated Planned Parenthood from its family planning program, 30,000 fewer women accessed health care. In Iowa, when four health centers closed, 12,000 people went without care and the rates of STIs skyrocketed. A recent study from Texas showed when the state enacted abortion restrictions, it didn’t end abortion care in the state. The restrictions just meant delayed care and increased the number of second-trimester abortions.
The best things in life really are free, even when it comes to your beauty routine. But taking care of your skin can be a big investment (hi, lasers and serums), so we’re always down for skin care tips that don’t take a huge bite out of our paychecks.
Which is what led us here: We’ve asked top skin care experts to give us their best advice. And the part we love the most? Not one thing below costs a single penny (assuming you already have most of these things in your kitchen).
Got puffy eyes? No problem. Sure, you could stock up on eye cream…or you could use your fingers to give yourself an under-eye massage. “Use your ring fingers to press gently on the orbital bone, moving from the inner to outer corner of your eyes and repeating two to three times,” says celebrity facialist Cecilia Wong. “This will not only stimulate circulation, but it also helps minimize fine lines and reduce inflammation.”
Celebrity facialist and La Mer global skin care advisor [Georgia Louise] is also a huge proponent of massage all over your face to stimulate collagen and activate product. “Your hands are your most powerful weapon,” she says.
Literally. Louise loves her signature Facial Freeze Tools to depuff and sculpt your face, but if you’re looking for a budget option she loves this Old Hollywood trick: wash your face using ice water.
“I think it’s awesome to have a mega rinse with cool water if your skin is in need of refreshing,” she says. Not only does the chilly temperature make you feel more awake, it can quickly reduces puffiness, tighten pores, and calm inflammation.
We hate to add to laundry to your to-do list, but keeping your pillows clean is a top beauty secret. Pillowcases can hang on to dirt, oil, and bacteria from our faces, hair, and environment, and can become a breeding ground for acne. Try to swap out you pillow at least once a week to reduce the risk of a breakout.
Louise recommends a silk pillowcase to “really ensure your products are penetrating and won’t escape from your skin.” Sure, it’s money, but if you are looking to invest in a solid option, we’re huge fans of Slip’s Silk Pillowcases ($85), which not only helps ward off wrinkles (no creases in your pillow equals no long-term creases on your skin), but also make your hair shinier too.
Don’t worry. We’re not going to tell you to get eight hours of sleep, which is probably the oldest free skin care tip in the book. Because as essential as how much sleep you’re getting is the position in which you sleep. It really does matter. “After UV exposure, the second most common cause of wrinkles is squishing your face into a pillow at night,” says celebrity esthetician Renée Rouleau. “It’s like ironing wrinkles into your skin.” Sleeping on your back is ideal, since even pressing your cheek into a pillow can cause lines.
You’ve got two options here: You could ice a zit to help bring the inflammation down or even better (and maybe more comfortable): You could salt it. “Sea salt has powerful antibacterial properties and works to pull oil from the pore,” says Karen Young, founder of Oui Shave. She recommends combining one teaspoon of sea salt with enough water to form a paste. Dot this on the offending zit, let it dry for up to an hour (10 minutes for sensitive skin types) and then rinse it off.
Ellen Page first stole our hearts in the indie classic Juno. The film earned her an Oscar nomination and led to buzzy roles in movies like the X-Men series, Inception, and Whip It. But outside of her acting, Page is also rightfully celebrated for her fierce commitment to LGBTQ+ activism and awareness.
Page first came out on Valentine’s Day in 2014, during a speech at the Human Rights Campaign’s “Time to Thrive” conference in Las Vegas. Since, she’s hosted Gaycation, a documentary series exploring the lives of marginalized LGBTQ+ people in countries where homosexuality is banned, and has worked with the Astraea Lesbian Foundation. Lately, Page has been in the headlines for alleging a church Chris Pratt attends is “infamously anti lgbtq” on Twitter. She also wrote an essay for The Hollywood Reporter about hate violence in response to the current conversation around Jussie Smollett.
Now, Page is starring in Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, which is currently streaming. She plays Vanya Hargreeves, the only sibling in a clan of superheroes not to have supernatural abilities.
Below, Page answers Glamour‘s “The Big Questions.”
What is your full name, and where does it come from?
My name is Ellen Grace Page. My mom liked the name Ellen, and Grace is for my dad’s aunt.
What’s your idea of true happiness?
Going on a hike in the middle of the woods with my wife and my dog. That’s when I’m like, “Oh my god, it’s too much; it’s so beautiful.”
What’s your idea of hell on Earth?
Probably a lot of things that are happening now, like environmental degradation, oppression and violence towards marginalized people.
If you could be anyone, real or fictional, who would you be?
Naomi Klein, who’s such an extraordinary writer and has written book after book that has inspired since I was a teenager, like No Logo and The Shock Doctrine. I’ve learned so much from her and admire her courage and bravery.
What’s a headline you’d love to read about yourself?
“Ellen Page Gets 3 New Puppies.”
If you were on a dating app, what would your opening line be?
“My dog is super cute. It’s worth putting up with me for this little guy.”
When the zombie apocalypse comes, what skill will you contribute you to the new society?
A snack. If you’re in a lot of trouble, and you’re really starving, I’ll be your snack. That’s all I can do.
What’s your most irrational fear?
Walking over a grate on the sidewalk. I don’t know how people do it.
What chapter of your life would be the most fascinating to read?
My shift from not being known, to being known, and years after that being closeted and dealing with it in this industry.
Would you rather be able to stop time or speed it up?
Speed it up, because when you have food poisoning on an eight-hour flight, you could speed up time.
How do you stand up for what you believe in?
By sharing information and trying to create channels for more representation for more people, particularly members of the LGBTQ+ community. Like show I made with Vice called Gaycation, which is about LGBTQ+ communities around the world.
You’re stuck on a desert island and can bring only three things. What are they?
My wife, my dog, and a fire starter.
You have to give up sex, booze, or laughter. Pick one.
Booze. Oh, that’s easy.
Few things in this world are as reliably, unquestionably good as mascara. In just one swipe, it can help you look awake, polished, and put-together—even if you did reach a new record for hitting the snooze button in a single morning. And it’s delightfully idiot-proof: While there are a few tricks for putting mascara on the right way, it doesn’t require the careful, hold-your-breath application of liquid eyeliner. All you really need to do is swipe, wiggle, and go.
Maybe the best thing about mascara: You can get a good, holy grail-worthy formula for the price of your average lunch salad, so long as you know where to look—which is where we come in. Our editors have tried them all, from waterproof formulas to those created for sensitive eyes. Here, the best drugstore mascaras to give you out-to-there lashes without squeezing your budget.
In a little under two years, the Women’s March has gone from a cornerstone of the #resistance to a controversial event filled with problematic figures. We’re just 24 hours from the March and sponsors continues to lose sponsors; in just the past two weeks the Democratic National Committee, the Southern Poverty Law Center and EMILY’s List have all stepped back. I am not here to rehash issues with the Women’s March and its leaders, which have been explored here and examined elsewhere. (I could add, however, that those issues were not helped when this week co-chair Tamika Mallory appeared on The View and once again refused to disavow Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.) But in all seriousness, it doesn’t help to go backward. We need to look forward.
The question is what now? What do we do when out idols are torn down? The easiest answer is back off. March in the literal opposite direction and retreat into our homes, back into our “normal” lives with a million demands and responsibilities. Some women (in all likelihood, white women) might look at our modest gains over the past few months and feel satisfied. We won back the House of Representatives! Watching Nancy Pelosi become Donald Trump’s worst nightmare is a delight!
Some people might wonder, “What do we need to march for? Aren’t we back on the right track?” Spoiler: We aren’t. We still have far to go to restore the balance in American democracy. We have a 2020 election coming up, a president desperate to lift sanctions on Russiaand a Republican Party obsessed with spending 27 billion dollars on a border wall that some of their own members have said they don’t need. There is no time to mourn our pink hats. Now is the time to redouble our efforts. Generations of activists will tell you that consensus is impossible and that the real work of coalition is hard.
As a Jewish woman, to me coalition building doesn’t mean walking arm in arm with women who can’t seem to apologize for or reckon with anti-Semitism, but it does mean figuring out how to remain 100 percent committed to the principles that the Women’s March stood for.
As a Jewish woman, to me coalition building doesn’t mean walking arm in arm with women who can’t seem to apologize for or reckon with anti-Semitism, but it does mean figuring out how to remain 100 percent committed to the principles that the Women’s March stood for, even if the march itself is no longer a form I want my activism to take. The Women’s March gave a group of disenfranchised people a means to have their voices heard. It was a conduit for activism. That work continues.
In January 2016 a lot of us didn’t know the first thing about how to enact change. Many of us had never volunteer at any political organization whatsoever. I had just started to get involved in the Arena, an organization that trains progressive candidates and their staffers. I now serve on Arena’s board, but before 2015 I was just a presidential election-season Democrat who cared about elections every four years, if that. I was not alone. Many of us didn’t know how to get involved. In fact many of the grassroots organizations we look to now for guidance and galvanization didn’t even exist, and a lot of Americans (again, a lot of white liberals) were traumatized by an election that had not gone the way we thought it would.
The world has changed a lot since the election of Donald J. Trump. There has been an activism renaissance and there are now tons of activist organizations working to push for change—from Flippable, which focuses on state legislature to Swing Left, which takes aim at congressional and state-house races to Indivisible, which seeks to help Americans get involved in advocacy work, and Run for Something, which supports young people running for office. And groups like Sister District and EMILY’s List have redoubled their efforts under Trump. All of these organizations give citizens who care opportunities to enact change. If the Women’s March has let you down as a Jewish woman or otherwise, that’s no reason to give up on the hard, crucial work of activism. Nor is it an excuse to avoid hard conversations with people about anti-Semitism, racism, ableism, anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, and on and on. All it means is that the Women’s March served a unique purpose in 2017, rallying millions of women nationwide to think bigger than themselves and get used to showing up and speaking out. Two years later, we’re still here, and we can find new ways to be loud.
The Women’s March served a unique purpose in 2017, rallying millions of women nationwide to think bigger than themselves and get used to showing up and speaking out. Two years later, we’re still here, and we can find new ways to be loud.
Complacency is how we ended up with a President Trump. The idea that we didn’t need to take action, that the government would take care of itself. That we didn’t need to learn from black women, and join in their fight. That good would always defeat bad no matter how much effort we did or didn’t put in. Democratic institutions, it turns out, do not run like a perpetual motion clock. And they weren’t perfect to begin with, either.
Perhaps the legacy of the Women’s March is that a lot more of us could change the world than we’ve been led to believe. A 28-year-old can start the year as a bartender and end it as an congresswoman, if she puts in the time and work. Two Muslim women and two Native American women can get elected to the House of Representatives, not because people have warmed up to the idea of change, but because these women insisted that we do and then stood up to be the first.
It’s never about one march, even a great march. The power never rests with the organizers, no matter how accomplished they are. We are the march. We are the leaders. We all have so much more to do. More protests to attend. More campaigns to support. More voices to lift up. More races to run. More organizations to support. We don’t need to despair over imperfect leaders, we need to step up. Activism isn’t just hats. Activism is about change, real change. In homes and offices. In state legislatures. In the White House. We’re just getting started.
Molly Jong-Fast is the author of three novels. Follow her on Twitter at @mollyjongfast.