What Else?

Chappell Roan has been a big headline this week because of an interview she did with The Guardian (The Guardian landed two controversial ones in the space of a few days) and people got big mad because they interpreted what she said to mean that she’s voting for Donald Trump. So she went on social media to clarify her position, that one of the issues she cares most about is trans rights, and she made it clear that she’s not voting for Donald Trump. There are some people who think she did not go far enough. 

Chappell is going through some sh-t; as she has said, her entire life changed, pretty much overnight. She’s processing her fame, she’s figuring out how she can maintain her humanity through the mess of celebrity. Because she’s a celebrity now, she’s being held to standards she never asked to be held to. I feel for her. So I’m not here to judge her. Instead I’d rather talk about what I’ve been thinking about a lot in my own decision-making, in the choices I have to consider. And it goes back to what I believe is the most important part of Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention a few weeks ago. 

“So no matter how good we feel tonight or tomorrow or the next day, this is going to be an uphill battle. So folks, we cannot be our own worst enemies. No. See, because the minute something goes wrong, the minute a lie takes hold, folks, we cannot start wringing our hands. We cannot get a Goldilocks complex about whether everything is just right.”

Mrs Obama went on to talk about the impossible pursuit of perfection. In so many areas of our lives, we expect perfection, sometimes demand perfect, even though we know that perfection doesn’t exist. No one is perfect, and striving for perfection can harm us more than it can help us. So when it comes to building a future, together, why are we looking for perfection instead of… better? It’s not the perfect way of doing something, but the better way of doing something. It’s not becoming a perfect person, it’s becoming a better person. Who are people who want to do better? (Pajiba)

Jennifer Lawrence has endorsed a candidate and she’s produced two films, one of which is about an issue that’s on the ballot in America: abortion. Because, as she says, too many men are trying to tell women what they can’t do with their own bodies. (Celebitchy)

It took me a second to click on this article that celebrates Tracee Ellis Ross’s style. Angela Johnson is right: Tracee never misses. (The Root)

Shailene Woodley in two outfits while promoting her film Three Women. I hate those black boots but that’s just me – I generally don’t care for over-the-thigh boots that pull on like socks, it looks weird to be how it bunches. The jeans that she’s wearing lower down though… no notes. They’re amazing. (GoFugYourself)

I have soup for breakfast every morning. It’s soup made by my ma and it’s one of my beauty secrets. It’s more than westernised white-washed bone broth, it’s soup she spends a whole day making, with Asian roots and seeds and nuts and vegetables. Lately I’ve been getting a lot of lotus root because there’s “too much fire” inside of me from late nights and no sleep. Anyway, soup for breakfast in my culture, and rice too, isn’t atypical. And the recipe for this Thai breakfast porridge with shrimp and fish sounds incredible.  (Eater)