What Women Are Talking About
The White Lotus female dynamic, Meghan Markle's new vision, the person missing from the Ruby Franke debate, flaky friends, whimsy, jeans, and a new red carpet trend.
Welcome to What Women Are Talking About - the shiny new name for the Outlouders newsletter. This is your weekly curation of what woman are talking about. We’re all over the internet so you don’t have to be.
Settle in, friends. There’s a lot to unpack.
As YouTuber Ruby Franke serves time for child abuse, her estranged husband is finally breaking his silence.
You might have heard about Ruby Franke, the ‘mummy vlogger’ known for strict parenting in front of the camera. Unbeknownst to her 2.5 million followers, real abuse was happening behind the scenes. But, let’s rewind slightly.
The horrifying truth emerged in August 2023 when one of Franke’s children, reportedly malnourished, escaped their home, and sought help from a neighbour which ultimately led to Franke’s arrest. We now know Franke forced at least one of her children to perform gruelling physical tasks in scorching heat, denied him food, and bound his hands and feet after he tried to escape. Ruby is now serving up to 60 years in prison.
While the abuse occurred after their separation, her estranged husband Kevin Franke regularly appeared in front of the camera and wasn’t against the strict parenting style the pair enforced. That said, Kevin has now spoken about his regrets. He’s advocating for legislation requiring children to receive a percentage of earnings from their online appearances and giving them the right to demand content be removed as adults.
The Franke case has raised some critical questions, not least the ethics of parenting profiting from their children’s lives online.
READ MORE:
The 7 shocking revelations in child abuser Ruby Franke’s personal journals.
Ruby Franke’s husband claimed he never knew of her abuse. He's just spoken again.
Ruby Franke was abusing her kids. When her friend moved in, things took an even darker turn.
Listen below to hear the full discussion on Mamamia Out Loud.
Are We Really Having This Hollywood Conversation Again?
The headlines this week have felt like a time warp. “From Ariana Grande to Demi Moore, skeletal celebrities are sending out a dangerous message.” No, that isn’t pulled from a 1995 tabloid - it’s from The Telegraph UK, published yesterday.
The Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAGs) took place in LA this week, the Oscars are tomorrow and suddenly we’ve reverted to body-shaming language that feels straight out of the early 2000s. Articles described “lollipop ladies” who were “scarily thin” and compared actresses to the “coffee and cigarettes” physique of the 60s.
Let’s talk about what’s really happening. The working theory (and we’ve discussed this on Mamamia Out Loud before) is that weight loss injections have transformed Hollywood — with a nod to previous eras, but now to an extent not seen before. Several celebrities have openly discussed using these drugs, sharing both positive and negative experiences, but anyone watching red carpets lately can see a dramatic shift in celebrity bodies.
But here’s what we’re wondering: Is our actual issue with these women about weight loss drugs, or is it something else entirely? And more importantly – should we even be having this conversation in 2025?
What do you think? Are we right back where we started with policing women’s bodies, or is there a legitimate health conversation happening here?
READ MORE:
Step Aside Jeggings.
Three Women, Many Kaftans And A Whole Lot Of Tension.
Whether or not you’re actually watching The White Lotus, you can’t escape the faces of Laurie, Jaclyn and Kate this week – those three “besties” who swan into the hotel reception in a cloud of “you look fabulous!” and serious cocktail energy.
Let’s break down this trio: Jaclyn is the Hollywood actress married to a hot younger man. Kate’s career is mysteriously vague but she’s married to a high-profile rich Texan. And Laurie? She’s a New York lawyer and single mum. All wealthy, all conventionally beautiful – though Jaclyn is clearly footing the bill, and there’s the shocking possibility that Laurie might be Botox free.
Despite whether you’ve watched the show, it’s clear that this friendship is anything but. The subtle digs, the competition, the shared history… it’s very complicated and uncomfortable. Mostly because it all feels a bit too real. This dynamic hitting our screens has sparked a very real conversation about female friendships, but could it really just be a passive-aggressive smokescreen hiding all of our insecurities?
READ MORE:
SUBS: We’re Desperate To Talk About The White Lotus Season 3.
The White Lotus just nailed the ugly friendship dynamic we all recognise.
The White Lotus is back, but a ‘taboo’ moment could derail it.
Listen below to the full episode where we discussed The White Lotus female friendship dynamic:
It’s Meghan’s World And We’re Just Living In It.
Meghan Markle continues apace with her new (sorta) Insta strategy. She posted her vision board for her new show, With Love, Meghan and let us tell you, it’s a rich text.
There are a lot of memes providing a lovely throwback to her TIG era, fabric swatches that are NOT from clothes because that’s not covered under her copyright deal, pancakes with a bacon and banana face and a very English illustration of her and her man friend. It’s a vibe.
So grab some popcorn and save the date for March 4th when With Love, Meghan drops. You know we will.
The Year Of The Flake.
It turns out it’s not enough to be just a flake anymore. Who knew? The 2025 vibe is that there are seven types of flaky friends meaning there’s one for every day of the week — handy for the indecisive.
Shahed Ezayd recently wrote an article in the Stylist about the psychology of a flaky friend. What are they, who in your life can you recognise and most importantly, which flake are you?
The Relationship Flake: Friends cancelling for reasons to do with their partners.
The Work Flake: They’re always working, and work will always be prioritised.
Last Minute Flake: They commit to plans when they feel like its a good idea but struggle due to present bias when faced with the immediate cognitive load of following through.
The Forgetful Flake: They rely on the other person either forgetting you made the plan, or hoping the planned hang out is forgotten so they don’t need excuses.
The Preemptive Flake: Someone who sows the seeds of their bail a few days out. Think, your friend saying how tired they are, how much they have to do this week.
The People-Pleasing Flake: People saying yes to make everyone happy — but without a time machine there’s no way to do it all.
The Upgrade Flake: Somebody who says yes to the plan, while keeping an eye out for a better option to come along.
Listen below to Mamamia’s news podcast The Quicky for the lowdown on flaky friends.
Random Acts of Whimsy.
If you’re after a comforting antidote to this week’s news cycle, look no further than whimsy.
A viral post asking women about their favourite whimsical habits brought some everyday magic into the Out Loud universe.
Our favourites:
“I kiss my cat on both cheeks and then I say, ‘she’s European’ to no one.”
“I say, ‘may I take your coat?’ While I peel my garlic.”
“I call my to-do list my ‘TA-DA list’ and do jazz hands when I tick things off.”
Watch the full whimsy conversation below.
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I am wondering if sometimes the snarky comments that are made just might be coming from a place of jealousy.
Speaking for myself, when all the turmoil began, my first thoughts were along the lines of gee “I wish I could lose weight that fast” and “she looks good but she better stop now”.
I am a 54 year young female, somewhere in the midst of menopause due to a total hysterectomy. Last year I was diagnosed ADHD and I am waiting for surgery to get 2 new hip replacements. The cocktail of pain medicine, brain medicine(dexamphetamine, HRT therapy and not being able to do/move/exercise as much as I would like is resulting in not being able to lose any weight whatsoever. If I was able to get my hands on ozempic or wurgovy I would be giving it a try no worries, as I’m sure a great deal of females would, but not making it known.