In The Buzz Cut, we bring you a round-up of all the weird, controversial, and wonderful stories we’ve been reading all week.
Ever felt like your skincare routine didn’t involve enough fire? The latest beauty trend in Vietnam involves ‘burning away impurities’ by setting flaming towels over people’s bodies. It’s the hottest trend.
*
A Russian Orthodox priest is being punished for posting photos of his favourite luxury items from Gucci shoes to Louis Vuitton handbags and luggage. Church leaders have criticized him for his “poor taste” and tbh we have to agree — those LV slides were terrible.
*
From The Favourite to A Star is Born, films in 2018 haven’t just featured female characters, they’ve actively centered women’s stories.
*
Hannah Gadsby once again puts into words how many of us were feeling for a while now, about the many male comedians on television — “the last thing I need right now, in this moment in history, is having to listen to men monologue about misogyny, and how other men should just stop being creepy … Rejecting the humanity of a woman is not creepiness. It is misogyny.”
*
Taking a deeper look at the history of sexism, Victorian ideals of femininity, and why you’ll sometimes see a couch in a public women’s bathroom.
*
Although the music industry has always had a bad reputation when it comes to women, rap is perceived as particularly sexist. But from Niki Minaj to Cardi B, women in rap are no longer waiting to be recognized.
*
An NGO is conducting a ‘healing experiment’ in Rohingya refugee camps — providing the children there with a place to play.
*
Margot Robbie plays Queen Elizabeth in the upcoming Mary Queen of Scotts, but the movie doesn’t answer why Elizabeth I used so much of that white make-up? And whether that ended up poisoning her?
*
The New York Times’s investigative piece confirms the startling extent of what we already knew — our phones are tracking our every move. Access to the data sets of 200 million mobile devices that businesses track, allowed the Times to find specific people’s travel details with ease.
*
Aptitude and IQ tests are used to objectively judge a young person’s potential, but they may not measure the things that actually count.
