We have about six subliminal sexy messages going on in this Muse Magazine Spring 2010 editorial of Eniko Mihalik by Greg Kadel. Normally, that would be about three too many, but it works. Anne

Watching video from last week’s Louis Vuitton show in Paris, I went looking for this photo, from the Marc Jacobs Spring 2008 collection. Jacobs took aim then at what I call New Eroticism and Smart Sensuality.

Conceptually, these trends express ‘sexy’ from a woman’s point of view. Writing about Marc Jacobs’ namesake collection here in New York, I said:

Jacobs was thinking out loud this spring… giving us insights into the surreal double bind that women find themselves in … living in a hypersexualized atmosphere that loves to condemn experienced women. Jacobs embraced these Elizabeth Taylor sensual prototypes.

Modesty on the front; revelation on the back. 

The Jacobs models appear older and more mature, sophisticated . .. and then totally irreverent, flashing their backsides walking by. This is the mystery of an older, seasoned woman … one more in control of her own presentation and packaging.

Design is frequently a continuum, in spite of the constant pressure for something new in stores. Seeds of Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton for Fall 2008 woman exist in Spring 2008.

There’s no irreverence for Fall 2010. Just a major celebration of updated womanhood.

I smiled looking at the Louis Vuitton collection, because an hour ago, I met these Gil Elvgren pin up girls at Voyons Voir.

Quite frankly, I’m mentally exhausted this week, and not because I had so many bedroom romps.

Anne, who is devoted to men, is struggling to keep up with this week’s hormonal insanity. I must go on a long drive right now just to regain my balance and I promise to surround myself with women all weekend.

Bibi Netanyahu’s government gave America the finger this week — again. I’ve been pouring my heart out over the problem, after watching Bibi’s friend Pastor Hagee do one of his ‘Armageddon can’t get here fast enough’ speeches.

They were together at a big dinner in Israel, and this is not an unfair association on my part. I knew the Israeli Prime Minister was a hawk, but my eyes and ears are really opened this week. The videos of Pastor Hagee kept me spellbound and legs together for days.

I know. You’re in Body| Beauty| Sex and I’m talking politics. Sorry. Call it my need to exhale.

‘The Queen of the NIght’ is an old Babylonian carving (1800-1750 BC) Fifteen minutes ago, I would have made the argument that the messed up state of the world is about sexual repression and not enough healthy release of male testosterone. Sex is a bad, bad distraction in Conservative circles from Texas to Tehran, unless the hormone’s used to kill people — for God, of course. Always for God.

Meanwhile, I’m one of the ‘make love, not war doves’, although I put up a mighty fight when trampled on.

via Flickr’s h.koppdelaney

http://bit.ly/cFl6gO

We’re in slippery-slope territory today, with this new report on aging and sexuality published in the British Medical Journal, abstract with link. As you might expect, men think about sex more than women.

I have no idea what these people are talking about because my libido is rarely in low gear. I’ve read all the science, know the facts and figures, and continue to be a cheerleader for sexy older women.

Researchers Dr. Stacy Tessler Lindau and researcher Natalia Gavrilova of the University of Chicago studied two representative groups of aging Americans:

• 3032 adults aged 25 to 74 (1561 women, 1471 men) from the midlife cohort MIDUS — the national survey of midlife development in the United States, 1995-6), and

Roughly 80 percent of men and 65 percent of women in the study were married or living with a partner.

Part of a Victoria’s Secret threesome, my first reaction on seeing Ambrosio is that the other Victoria’s Secret models Doutzen Kroes and Brooklyn Decker look pretty hefty — translated gorgeously healthy but visibly curvier.

In women’s relentless body-image self-scrutiny, it all depends on who you’re standing next to — or the image in the photo.

Talking about Victoria’s Secret, the Brazilian Yummy Mummy said recently:  ‘I’m very lucky to work for a brand (Victoria’s Secret) that wants women to be healthy. You need to be able to fill out the bra and the panties, so yes, I’m a curvier girl.’

Vanity Fair Magazine, Feb. 2009

“I’m not here to be perfect, L. That’s a psychologically destructive word for an aging woman. What happens if there’s a day when I can’t afford Botox? No longer ‘perfect’, I’m really screwed. Talk about more needless anxiety!”

Unable to justify the amount of money I was spending on ‘moderate’ upkeep of my face in this horrific economy, I’ve been Botox and filler-free for over a year. Yes, I see some differences in my face, but people still smile at me on the street.

I’m not Botox ‘perfect’ but still pretty. And the self-affirmation of building an online voice is far more beneficial to my psyche than seeing a lineless face in the mirror. Make no mistake, I support looking our best and will probably go back to Botox again.

After five years of ‘fixing flaws’ I’m glad that I faced the woman in the mirror yet again.

V Magazine #64 | Mirror MIrror by Inez & VinoodhAmerica is obsessed with youth and fixing flaws. Self-improvement is big business. While the economy thrives, our psyches take a beating.

In need of perpetual makeovers, it’s impossible to love our natural beauty and idosyncracies. When natural lines of aging become flaws and imperfections, our minds are moving into challenging self-esteem territory.

A charity known as the Essex Women’s Advisory Group has been set up by local ladies Daphne Field and Elizabeth Hart, chairman of Essex County Council, who says the teasing is beyond a joke. I’m not certain, but the Essex women may be disproportionately blonde, based on the website, and we all know what ‘blond’ implies: no brain, loose morals.

Apparently Essex women often lie about their heritage, saying they come from Kent or East Anglia. With Climategate happening in East Anglia, they may be forced to choose a new hometown and there’s none better than Essex, say members of the new charity Essex Women’s Advisory Group.

Singer Pixie Lott, left, and TV presenter Denise Van Outen are two celebs being promoted as positive role models for Essex girlsHistorians confirm that the Homeric poems decribes Demeter as blonde and Apohrodite as golden-haired. Athena, goddess of wisdom, was described as ‘glaukopis’ and ‘xantha’, making Athena a blonde. As the patriarchy became stronger in its governance of women, blondes became the official temptresses — more or less ‘slut girls’. 

Before exchanging many robust ideas about nudity in art and on Christopher Streert, David asked if I knew about the New Jersey snow woman. A friend tipped me when I returned home.

Maria Conneran and brother Jack Shearing’s snowman prompted an anonymous complaint to local police. Their Snowlady was worthy of starring in a Dove ‘Real Woman’ campaign and not some skinny Barbie doll.

In fact, Snowlady was modeled after one of the greatest muses in world history Venus de Milo. Created at some time between 130 and 100 BC, it is believed to depict Aphrodite (Venus to the Romans) the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

While pudgy snowboys lined the streets of Rahway, NJ, Snowlady got a makeover. Mom Elisa Gonzalez admits that the snowbabe was “curvaceous, bodacious and booty-licious” - but not obscene.