After scouting out polls and doing some background research of our own, here are 4 Mother’s Day gift ideas that seemed to tickle many women’s fancies on this annual day of honoring. Let us know if you agree or if there are other tangible or intangible gifts that you prefer to either give to or receive from your loved ones.

1. Breakfast in Bed! While it may seem like a fairly common suggestion, I think that many of us enjoy flipping the situation on the kids by having a healthy morning meal prepared for us rather than by us.

2. A Clean House! Okay, okay – most of us will settle for the kitchen. After you prepare that breakfast, we sincerely enjoy not having to return to a sink full of dishes. Moreover, if you want to go the extra mile, make sure to actually clean out the sink and discard any food scraps AND to unload the dishwasher rather than leaving us an extra surprise!

3. Quality Family Time! Life these days, to put it quite simply, can be extremely hectic for even the most organized families. Sometimes, we lack the familial balance that we seek and on this day request that the family gathers for table talk, a movie or a board game. We take pleasure in slowing down the pace of life and want to enjoy your company more than anything.

4. An Emotional Keepsake! While we’re sure that there aren’t many women that wouldn’t accept the opportunity to be pampered at a spa or by a fancy dinner or night out, it’s the personal mementos that mean the most. Frame a picture of the family or of a family vacation spot that holds a special place in your heart. We also enjoy poems, heartfelt cards and anything that is coming directly from you!

So, what do you say to all of the mothers out there? Do these items or gestures top your list? If not, what is that you actually appreciate the most on your special day?

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As April was ‘Stress Awareness Month’, there’s no better time to start preparing your mind and body for summertime relaxation. Sure, regulated stress can be beneficial as it can be a motivator and stimulate adrenaline, but in this day and age, we tend to put too much of it on ourselves.

We’re all constantly bogged down by daily routines and the stress that comes along with them. From work to preparing healthy meals to fitting in your exercise routine, managing your day to day life can become overwhelming. However, it’s important to allow your body to stop and smell the roses, to free your mind from its mental prison, and to jump on the relaxation train.

So, what can you do to relax and reap the health benefits that rest brings? Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean you’re going to be termed unproductive and lazy, or that you have to feel guilty for taking some time for yourself. Simply read a book, go for a long walk, take a yoga class or take a nap on the beach. Do whatever allows your mind and body to slow down and exist in the present.

Since we’re a results-driven society, what kind can you expect from your necessary relaxation? Here are a few benefits:

1. It protects your heart. You only have one, so why take any risks!
2. It boosts your memory; brain power is what fuels success!
3. It reduces the chance of depression; allow yourself to find time for enjoyment and happiness.
4. It lowers your risk of catching a cold; every minute counts, so give yourself breaks in order to forge on with your busy life!

These, of course, are just a handful of the many benefits that relaxation can bring to your life. How do you relax and do you have any stress relief tips that you can share with the rest of us?

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Presence and personality. Do these two concepts mean more than size and perception when it comes to being a force to be reckoned with on the runway? Well, it wasn’t always this evident to plus size fashion model Angelica Gray, but after taking some proverbial pages of advice out of her grandmother’s book, she realized that her fashion career was NOT over when she couldn’t maintain her expected weight.

Gray’s grandmother, Barbara Sinclair Thomson, was a Dior model in the 1950s and a significant influence in the plus size model’s career and life. Jump back to the first sentence of this post; these are the elements that Gray learned from her grandmother.

Gray had the following to say about the woman that has continued to inspire her: “She is very elegant and charming and it comes across when she is photographed. She can definitely ‘turn it on’ and it is interesting to watch.”

Because Gray couldn’t maintain a ‘skinny to really skinny’ figure naturally, she relied on her inner confidence to project her appearance on the catwalk. As she has expressed, “I felt a tremendous amount of pressure to lose weight and stay at a UK size eight…I was told I was fat and it started to make me feel quite bad about myself.”

Once she read an article about a plus size modeling agency, she was reinvigorated to pursue her true passion. She hopes that her efforts will result in positivity in the eyes of younger females. She strives to be the role model that she didn’t really have growing up and wants to demonstrate that conventional fashion modeling as we know it IS changing.

She believes that you don’t necessarily need to follow a strict diet or workout routine in order to make it in this industry; you simply need to identify a balanced diet and maintain an active lifestyle.

So, what do you think? Will the power of inner beauty and self-confidence eventually reign supreme over the strength of skinny?

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USA Today appears to be on board with the promotion of the ‘Curvy Revolution’. How do we know? Well, they recently published a vast 12-page insert from Media Planet, which was written from the perspective of a plus size woman. What exactly does this mean? Perhaps not shockingly, it’s essentially a first for any mainstream news publication. It seems that the times in the fashion industry are in fact a-changin’.

So, what and who can you expect to see in this 12-page piece? It kicks off with a welcome address from plus size supermodel Emme Aronson. Other famous names you can expect to see throughout the spread include America’s Next Top Model winner, Whitney Thompson and Plus Model Magazine’s Editor in Chief, Madeline Figueroa-Jones. Moreover, the candid insert is full of plus size fashion trends, insight and images.

The main goal of the spread, of course, is to highlight body confidence and to depict what some of the most famous names and voices in the plus size fashion industry are currently doing with their careers. It’s also imperative to note the importance of this being an authentic and honorable feature because it’s NOT coming from the perspective of a straight-sized fashion person!

So, what do you think? Is the Curvy Revolution gaining speed and on track to take its mission by storm? Is the USA Today publication only going to garner the interest and attention of other reputable mainstream news publications?

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On March 19th, Israeli lawmakers passed a law that prohibits underweight & ultra thin models from participating in traditional model activities, i.e. catwalks and commercials. Not only does the law ban both females and males from accepting modeling jobs if they’re under a certain body mass index (18.5), but also if they simply appear to be too thin.

What does this mean?

Well, with technologies like Photoshop often adopted when touching up covers or over-enhancing the thinner features of a model, advertisers are now required to admit whether or not these tools have been implemented to manipulate the outcome and final product that is presented to the consumer.

But why pass a law that appears to revolve around something seemingly “cosmetic”? Does that draw more attention to an already spiraling issue?

The primary purpose of enacting the law is to aim to minimize eating disorders. Models appear to have a large impact on the self-perception of younger females especially, so the hope is that this new measure will aim to support the power of a healthy body image. Per Rachel Adato, a lawmaker in support of the bill, “Beautiful is not underweight, beautiful should not be anorexic.” The more steps that we can take on a global front to promote health over size should help women from striving to attain the unattainable when it comes to pursuing beauty.

While modeling is likely a form of creative expression that will never reach extinction, it certainly has evolved over the past few decades. The goal here is essentially to highlight the dangers that becoming ultra-skinny can present. After all, according to Israeli fashion photographer Adi Barkan, “20 years ago, we shot models (sized) thirty-eight. Today, it’s twenty-four…This is the difference between thin and too thin. This is the difference between death and life.”

Do you think that Israel is onto something progressive here? Should the United States consider implementing lawful measures in regard to model weight too?

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This might arguably be the most gruesome and disturbing act of child abuse when it comes to the war against childhood obesity. A woman who has struggled with her own weight and body image issues for years, Dara-Lynn Weiss forced her 7-year-old daughter to lose 16 pounds in order to secure a publishing deal. She denied her dinner if she felt that her little girl had consumed too large of a lunch. She enforced this way of life on and off for the duration of an entire year.

Released by Vogue Magazine, the story has shocked thousands of parents across the country. How on earth could this woman place this kind of pressure and neglect on her growing daughter in her right state of mind? Not only has Weiss gained publicity through one of the most popular and widely read magazines of our time, but she has also landed a deal with notable book publisher, Random House. What does this say about how today’s media outlets view such disturbing and torturous acts?

How can we ensure that our children are properly educated about body image issues at a young age? And when did it become essential that we started talking to our children about such serious topics during their formative years?

Well, according to author Jessica Weiner, it’s imperative that you “create your own conversation at home so you can own this dialogue before someone else does. Define within your family what health means, how to listen to our bodies, how all bodies are different, how you can’t always tell someone’s health by the outside of a person, and how what we eat is fuel and helps us move faster, sleep better, and have more energy.”

It’s time to take a stronger stance against body-hatred; and against grown adults that pass along their personal issues to their children. How can we work together to eradicate the contagion that is body-hatred?

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Simpson has since gone on to star in movies, pursue a career as a fashion designer, and launched a fragrance line among many other ventures. However, she has also fluctuated in her weight over the years, which has garnered her some unfavorable attention in the media.

Most recently, the now pregnant real-figure icon posed nude on the cover of ‘Elle’… pregnant stomach and all. She has admitted that “bearing it all” was her idea and that she chose to do so because she loves the way that she feels in her 170-pound body. But has this gone off without a hitch? Of course not.

She has been criticized for being Photo shopped on the cover and not owning her true self. The real-figure icon has taken her fair share of heat over the years and has endured many struggles in the public eye, but that’s not to say that judging and remarking about her current figure is acceptable.

How do you think that the curvy queen fashion icon should be regarded in light of her recent nude cover? It seems as though it should be viewed quite simply; as a beautiful woman posing in her natural state in perhaps the most treasured condition a woman will ever experience.

Does Simpson’s action make you feel proud and powerful?

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Ashley Judd, a 43-year-old actress, feminist, author and mother, was recently criticized for having a ‘puffier than normal face’ upon appearing on a Canadian talk show in late March. It was speculated that she’d had plastic surgery when in fact she’d been recovering from an illness and experiencing common symptoms that many of us undergo when under the weather. So, what’s the big deal? After all, she is a celebrity… And has essentially lost any and all rights to any form of private life, correct?

Well, while that argument may be true, that’s not what this powerful feminist has a problem with; it’s the fact that we’re living in a patriarchal society that has continued to degrade and assault women over the course of time. Patriarchy, as defined by Webster’s dictionary, is the: “control by men of a disproportionately large share of power.” Although the definition states that men may hold the control, the underlying factor is that women still participate in this type of society. Judd believes that females are as much to blame as our counterparts when it comes to demeaning and condemning women.

So, why did Judd decide to acknowledge her most recent critics? Per her refutation in TheDailyBeast

“I choose to address it because the conversation was pointedly nasty, gendered, and misogynistic and embodies what all girls and women in our culture, to a greater or lesser degree, endure every day, in ways both outrageous and subtle. The assault on our body image, the hypersexualization of girls and women and subsequent degradation of our sexuality as we walk through the decades, and the general incessant objectification is what this conversation allegedly about my face is really about.”

Is Judd right in placing the blame on the ongoing controversy about women and beauty on the media? Or should we, as a society, take responsibility for fueling the media fire and for demeaning our own kind?

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The fuller figure has trumped the ultra slim stature in the competition for the best beach body of all time. Ironic? No. Iconic? Yes. Although nearly 50 years have passed since Marilyn Monroe has graced us with her presence on this earth, her curvaceous legend has clearly survived the test of time.

Perhaps most interestingly on this list is the fact th at 50% of the top 10 appears to be women that would be classified as plus size figures. Monroe superseded the likes of supermodels such as Tyra Banks and Elle MacPherson, as well as sex symbols like Jennifer Aniston and Raquel Welch. Further, names like Victoria Beckham and Kate Moss didn’t even make the top 20.

Plus size or curvier females to join Monroe on this list included actress Helen Mirren and socialite Kim Kardashian.

What do these facts say about what society would prefer to see when it comes to females in swimwear? Well, according to Jenny Caven, the director of ‘Slimming World’ who produced the survey, “we think it sets a good precedent for women…This is a good example for young women to see that real women have real curves.”

It seems that even in a time where the media seems to project images of thinness more readily and comfortably than ever before, the curvaceous woman still holds a very treasured and nostalgic place in society today.

What do you think that Marilyn Monroe’s top honor means in light of the continuing plus size and curvaceous revolution?

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NBC’s legitimate vocal contest “The Voice” has been all the rage lately. Unlike FOX’s pop culture lyrical show “American Idol”, “The Voice” focuses on choosing contestants with pure vocal talent. How do they do this? By applying the experience and innate musical qualities of four successful judges who select contestants through a series of blind auditions. Who does this infamous panel include? The likes of Christina Aguilera, Cee-Lo Green, Adam Levine and country artist Blake Shelton.

An artist that hasn’t necessarily been out of the spotlight, Aguilera has regained momentum through her role as one of the mentors and voice coaches of the hit show. Unfortunately, with this resurgence of appearance comes the obvious: criticism and comments across various media outlets. Most recently, Howard Stern invited Aguilera’s co-coach Adam Levine to interview on his Sirius radio show. Much of the discussion seemed to focus on the changes in Aguilera’s body in comparison to when she was just starting out in her career.

Stern focused on criticizing her curvier figure, asking questions like: “Why do you think she’s got so heavy, is she upset? She used to be so [expletive] hot! And her clothes are too tight, am I right?…When you’re a plus sized woman, you can’t wear the tight clothes anymore.”

However, Levine defended his colleague by replying: “I wouldn’t go that far actually…She clearly likes to talk about being comfortable with being a woman…”

Despite Stern’s negative comments, Aguilera has always remained confident in both her appearance and her talent. The pop diva has proudly declared that “as long as I’m happy in my own skin, that’s all I need. I’m happy with where I’m at. I have a boyfriend that loves my body. I love my body.”

Perhaps the most important phrase in her statement is the final piece, “I love my body.” After all, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? As long as we’re happy and comfortable with ourselves, then we can exist with confidence and remain positive role models for those around us.

What is your take on Aguilera’s curvy confidence?

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