The last full week of the semester is coming to a close, and you should pat yourself on the back: You made it! Without further ado, here it is, folks: Your last-one-of-the-semester edition of Darts & Laurels.
They say there are just three constants in life: death, taxes and s**tty blogs. It seems a new poorly written article about sexuality, race, class or gender rises every day. The cycle typically follows as such: Reactionary article is written by an unknown online “publication,” people on social media go crazy, The Atlantic writes a think piece about it, and everyone forgets. This week, however, one blogger published a reactionary piece of crap we can’t ignore.
This week, we’re throwing a DART to the “writer” behind the piece “5 Reasons to Date a Girl with an Eating Disorder.” It’s obviously revolting, but what was disconcerting was the writer’s assertion that eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia are diseases of the privileged — a “luxury.”
Eating disorders are serious mental illnesses, often tied with anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia. They are symptoms of a larger, overarching problem not just for individual women, but for a culture that values a narrow, unattainable beauty ideal. Pasty bloggers, be gone.
Continuing in health news, we’re handing off a let’s-get-physical LAUREL to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is hosting a condom-design competition through their Grand Challenges Explorations program. The winning groups can apply for a $1 million grant to scale up production of their design. The idea behind the competition is to promote safe sex in order to prevent transmission of STDs. Some of the promising designs include condoms with pull tabs, so the user pulls it on like a sock rather than rolling it on and a condom using beef tendons as part of the material.
According to NPR, “The result, [Mark McGlothlin of Apex Medical Technologies Inc.] says, is a material that almost feels like wet skin. ‘It’s a totally different sensation than a latex condom. It’s like rubbing your hand on a real leather car seat versus one with fake leather. The fake fabric — and the latex — just feels bad.’”
Speaking of sexy times and sexy sex, People magazine released its 2013 pick for Sexiest Man Alive. While we at the Alligator were pulling for Chris Hemsworth, Pharrell Williams, Aaron Paul or Justin Timberlake, People’s pick was — record scratch — Adam No-Lips Levine. Although Levine is the first musician to make the list and a break from the cookie-cutter likes of past winners like Bradley Cooper and Channing Tatum, we and the Internet can’t help but feel let down. A where’s-your-imagination DART to People magazine.
And finally, a LAUREL to you, reader. You endured a semester that included a government shutdown, a painful football season, a rocky universal health care rollout and Twerkgate, and you handled it with grace and aplomb.
Happy pre-Thanksgiving Break, y’all. You stay classy, Gainesville.
A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 11/22/2013 under the headline "Darts & Laurels"
