What Women Are Talking About
Robert Irwin's undies theory, penguins and tariffs decoding, The White Lotus finale, inconvenient burglars, Mel Robbins, ice baths, Hailey Bieber, the 7-point fashion rule.
Welcome to What Women Are Talking About - your weekly curation of news and pop culture from Australia’s #1 women’s podcast Mamamia Out Loud. We’re all over the internet so you don’t have to be.
This week was interesting to say the least. Here we go.
The Robert Irwin bread-in-his-pants theory.
Look, it was hard to miss the photos of Robert Irwin posing in his pants as part of a brand new Bonds campaign. A giant snake, a tarantula creeping up his thigh. Our feelings were… complicated.
Little Rob, once bush-bashing in a bowl cut at age three, is now the subject of this very sexy photoshoot. But all complexities around child stars growing up aside, what really got everyone talking was the way men’s underwear shoots are photographed. Specifically, how it all stays so erm, smooth.
TV and radio star Jackie O claims to have the secret: a humble slice of bread. Definitely not multigrain or sour dough though. We’re veering more towards Wonder White as our carb of choice.
🎧 Is the bread theory plausible? Follow below to hear our full discussion ⬇️
READ & LISTEN TO MORE
Tariff-ic or Tariff-ying?
There’s so much noise around Donald Trump’s tariffs and so little capacity to unpack what it all damn well means. Fortunately, Mamamia’s US Correspondent Amelia Lester took us through it, including why the US President is targeting aquatic flightless birds. Definitely no happy feet on their island at the moment.
Tariffs in short
Trump announced tariffs on every country in the world, except for North Korea and Russia. But why? Is the point just to incentivise America to manufacture their own stuff, and discourage imports?
As ever, there are no stupid questions. Here’s everything you (and the penguins) need to know:
WTF is a tariff?
A tax that a government places on goods or services when they are imported into a country, thus making imported goods more expensive.
Why is Trump imposing tariffs?
Trump claims that a 10% tariff on all nations (and much higher rates of up to 50% on individual countries) will boost the US economy and protect manufacturing jobs.
What are the flaws?
Tariffs were popular a century ago, through the industrial revolution. But now, robots do most manufacturing, not humans.
Almost everything we consume relies on extremely complex supply chains involving lots of countries.
When Trump talks about the importance of bringing back manufacturing jobs, he acts as though the entire services industry - which now makes up about 77% of the American economy - doesn’t exist.
What are the impacts?
Economists say the odds of a US recession are 60% .
Americans’ retirement savings have been obliterated as the stock market has plunged back to Covid levels.
The Australian Government is considering taking the US to the World Trade Organization to accuse it of breaching the free trade agreement negotiated back in 2005.
The White Lotus finale: We’re not OK.
Some people died. A man pulled himself back from the homicidal brink. A woman got really, really rich, and a man did not get his oedipal sexual fantasy fulfilled.
All of these things happened in The White Lotus season finale on Monday and we’re not talking about any of that because a) we dedicated a whole episode to our analysis, b) we are going to avoid the MAJOR spoilers and c) none of it impacted us more than the genius reflection of female friendship.
Now in their 40s, the three high-school friends, Laurie (Carrie Coon), Kate (Leslie Bibb) and Jaclyn (Michelle Monoghan) are in very different places in their lives. Jaclyn is an actress living in Hollywood, Kate is married to a rich man in Texas and Laurie is a New York lawyer.
In a New York Times piece called ‘Why Old Friends Bring Out Our Worst Teenage Selves’, Alisha Haridasani Gupta writes:
“Sometimes you regress when you’re with the people you’ve known the longest. Being reminded of a long-tucked-away facet of your personality can be one of the upsides of long-term friendship. But old friends can also bring back long-abandoned self-doubt and unhealthy patterns that can leave you with that ick feeling.”
This regression feels all too familiar and has a lot to do with how you perceive that old version of yourself too. For many, our high school personas are ones we’d prefer to leave in the past.
But Kate’s final speech completely deconstructs the tension built up for this trio in a way we did not see coming.
🎧 Listen to us unpack the, now infamous, monologue below ⬇️
So petty, it’s criminal.
Everything you know about exercise is wrong.
We’ve always thought the world revolved around men – but recent research breakthroughs support our suspicions.
Dr Stacey Sims is an exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist from Stanford University, and recently appeared on Mel Robbins’ podcast to blow our minds.
Her mantra? Women are not small men. A seemingly simple sentiment that hasn’t quite penetrated the research sector yet. You see, everything you’ve been told about ice baths, fasting and cardio is based on the body composition of the male.
So, what DOES work for women?
According to Dr Sims:
Women don’t benefit from fasted workouts like men – we should get up and eat something small and protein rich before working-out to adequately fuel our bodies.
We need to prioritise weights over cardio: heavier ones, for fewer reps.
And the biggest shock? Ice baths are not ideal for women. Saunas and heat are much better for our bodies.
🎧 Got other health questions? Listen to the brand-new podcast WELL – for every woman with a body. ⬇️
The most hated woman on the internet.
The newest smear campaign has subjected yet another women to a wave of public scrutiny and this time, it’s Hailey Bieber who’s in the firing line.
Canadian influencer Francesca Farago went on Snapchat this week and revealed she was offered “a good amount of money” to contribute to a trend to hate on the Rhode skincare founder and wife of Justin Bieber, on social media.
Criticism of Hailey is not the point, it’s the suspiciously large wave of hate (including a seven-part docuseries) which exposed a larger issue: astroturfing.
These paid hate campaigns, or ‘astroturfing’, are where crisis PR companies craft public hate, blurring the line between authentic and manufactured content.
Sound familiar?
Other victims of the phenomenon include Amber Heard, Blake Lively and potentially even Meghan Markle. But why? And who’s behind this one?
🎧 Join the conversation below to find out who’s behind Hailey’s takedown. ⬇️
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The fashion formula to help you get dressed.
Friends, we’ve discovered the ultimate numerical fashion hack to give your jeans-and-a-nice-top some extra flare. We know, we’re virtual scientists at this point.
How The 7-Point Fashion Rule works
Each item of clothing is worth either one or two points, depending on how interesting it is.
Examples of one point items:
T-shirt
Pants
Jacket
Shoes
Examples of two point items – mostly statement pieces:
A checkered skirt
Knee high boots
A bright patterned T-shirt
Accessories count too. Hats, bags, sunglasses, jewellery, and socks are worth one point. A statement necklace might be worth two.
For your outfit to ‘pass’, it must add up to seven points. It’s as simple as that.
So, then. How many points are you wearing right now? Let us know in the comments below and yes, we absolutely will want to see a pic.
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