Last November, Upworthy published a popular story about Chloe Sexton, a mother who went viral on TikTok for a video she made explaining “daddy privilege” or the idea that fathers are applauded for doing things that mothers are supposed to do.
“In my opinion, ‘daddy privilege’ is that subtle upper hand men sidestep into as parents that allows them to gain praise for simply…being a parent,” she said. “You fed the baby? What a great dad! You held the baby while mommy bathed? So considerate of you! You picked up something for dinner? What would your family do without you?! It’s all the little ways mothers do exactly what the world expects of them without a second thought and then watch fathers get praised for simply showing up.”
Sadly, the post resonated with a lot of mothers, because it’s true. Expectations for fathers are so low that men are commended for handling basic parenting tasks. But if a mother falls short of perfection, she faces harsh criticism.
Mary Catherine Starr, a mother living in Cape Cod who owns a design studio and teaches yoga, is getting a lot of love on Instagram for her cartoon series that perfectly explains daddy privilege.
In “An Illustrated Guide to the Double Standards of Parenting,” Starr shares this concept by showing that when a man comes home with fast food for his kids he’s the “fun dad.” But if a mom comes back with a bag from McDonald’s she is seen as a “lazy mom.”
In the comics, the same double standards apply whether it’s how they handle technology or parent at the park.
(Note: Click the arrow on the right-hand side of the image to see the slideshow.)
Starr was quick to point out in the comments that the target of her comics isn’t fathers, but society at large. “This is not a dig at dads, it’s a dig at our society—a society that applauds dads for handling the most basic of parenting duties + expects nothing short of perfection from mothers (or even worse, shames them for every decision and/or move they make!),” she wrote.
The comics resonated with a lot of women.
“This hit a nerve with so many women! I was a single mom living in an apartment,” an Instagram user named Saturdayfarm wrote in the comments. “Next door – a single dad. Neighbors felt so bad for him that they helped him with his laundry, brought over food, and babysat. For nothing. I just shakily carried on somehow. And I had so much less money and opportunities.”
“This is exactly part of the why I feel like being ‘just’ a mom isn’t as valuable. Being so run of the mill. But if my husband has the baby in a sling, the toddler in the pram and is out walking the dog, he’s superman for letting me have one hour for zoom work,” rebecca_lee-close_yoga wrote.
A father who understands his privilege completely supports Starr’s message.
“It actually annoys me when I get those types of comments / ‘compliments’ knowing it’s totally a double standard,” JonaJooey wrote.
Starr’s comics and Sexton’s TikTok videos won’t stop the double standards when it comes to parenting, but they do a great job at holding a mirror up to the problem. Where do we go from here? We can start by having greater expectations for fathers and holding them up to a higher standard. Then, we should take the energy we put into praising dads for doing the bare minimum and heap it on mothers who thanklessly go about the most important job in the world.
This is a question so many mothers ask themselves. Especially after giving birth, when life seems to expect them to take care of their newborn, get their body back, return to work and keep a clean house all at the same time.
It’s a question that had completely overwhelmed Monica Murphy, only one month into welcoming her third child, while still recovering from a C-section and taking care of her other children, who were also nursing, according to Today.com.
Luckily for Murphy, her mom had the perfect piece of advice to ease her troubled mind. And luckily for us, it was all caught on the family’s doorbell cam.
In a now-viral Instagram post, Murphy wrote her formidable to-do list, which included:
Working
Staying present on social media
Maintaining a clean home
Tandem breastfeeding
Being present with my kids
Eating a nutritious diet
Making time for my husband
Keeping in touch with friends
Making time for myself
Planning activities for kids
Frick decorate for Christmas
Followed by that burning question: “How on earth can one person do it all?”
Of course, Murphy hadn’t expressed any of these stresses to her mom, who had been visiting. But still, her mom knew something heavily weighed on her daughter’s mind.
So, as she was walking out, Murphy’s mom left her with these words of wisdom:
“They aren’t gonna remember a clean house, they are gonna remember how much you loved them and hung out with them.”
Murphy told Today.com that she “broke down” crying after her mom had left, and was instantly inspired to share the video for other moms who needed similar encouragement.
Indeed, the message struck an emotional chord with thousands of viewers.
“The way I would’ve just bawled if she said that to me,” one person commented.
Another added, “I needed to hear this today.”
Some shared how it was a sentiment they sadly would never hear from their own mothers, and how they are now re-parenting themselves.
“My mom would just nag I’m lazy and how am I supposed to leave my house a mess. So I’m just easing my anxiety with gentle words from other people’s mothers. As I’ve been doing my whole life. Clean house was above happy children,” one person wrote.
It can be so easy for moms to lose themselves in the never ending cycle of responsibilities and, frankly, unrealistic societal expectations. But hopefully this sweet message can help moms everywhere go a bit easier on themselves, and actually enjoy the time they have with their kids. That’s part of what family is all about, after all.
There’s a wide variety of summer camps out there with activities ranging from classics like bonfires and water balloon fights to the uber niche, ala putting on musicals or prepping for space adventures.
Still, even with the plentiful themes in existence, people are calling one mom’s unique but oh-so-practical camp idea pure genius.
Kaitlyn Rowe, mom of four and content creator in Utah, gave her kiddos a list of super basic, but very important life skills to learn at home throughout summer, in what she calls “How To Be A Person” camp.
The difficulty level of each task would be age dependent. Rowe’s 3-year-old son learned things like making the bed, safely using scissors and glue, introducing himself to a new friend and organizing his toys. Whereas Rowe’s eldest daughter, age 6, would learn slightly more complex things like scrambling an egg on the stove, blow-drying her hair and packing an overnight bag. There was also a list of skills the siblings would learn together, like putting away groceries, pool safety and talking on the phone.
As Rowe shared in an interview with Good Morning America, she actually got the idea from fellow mom Emily Ley, who created this alternative camp during the peak days of COVID-19.
Overwhelmed with homeschooling, Ley thought if she could teach her kids “some age-appropriate independence,” it would take the load off of her as well. Rowe borrowed the idea and the “How To Be A Person” camp title as she compiled her own list of activities in lieu of sending her kids to an actual camp. So far, her kids have loved it. And with her post currently having over 54,000 views on Instagram, it seems other parents are in love with the idea as well.
It’s no secret that many of us reach adulthood having learned obscure academic subjects and somehow skimming over the things we would actually incorporate into everyday life. Nothing against algebra and trigonometry, but it sure would have been nice to have learned about doing taxes instead, you know what I’m saying?
Plus, it’s well documented that kids genuinely enjoy mimicking adults, so having them engage in grown-up duties is not only a rewarding activity in the moment, it potentially creates a positive relationship with household chores that they can hold onto throughout their life.
Another cool thing about the “How To Be A Person” camp idea is that it’s fully customizable. It can be a list that parents create, or it can be child-led. It can be 100% practical or silly. A healthy mix is probably the best of both worlds.
Per some suggestions in the comments, it seems that Rowe will be changing the name to “How To Do The Important Stuff” camp to be more inclusive towards those with special needs. Point being: this camp can be for every kid. And honestly, probably should be.
To see Rowe’s complete “How To Be A Person” camp list, go to Instagram.
In early February 2024, Beyoncé rocked the music world by releasing a surprise new album of country tunes. The album, Renaissance: Act II, includes a song called “Texas Hold ‘Em,” which shot up the country charts—with a few bumps along the way—and landed Queen Bey at the No.1 spot.
As the first Black female artist to have a song hit No. 1 on Billboard’s country music charts, Beyoncé once again proved her popularity, versatility and ability to break barriers without missing a beat. In one fell swoop, she got people who had zero interest in country music to give it a second look, forced country music fans to broaden their own ideas about what country music looks like and prompted conversations about bending and blending musical genres and styles.
And she inspired the Gardiner Brothers to add yet another element to the mix—Irish stepdance.
Michael and Matthew Gardiner are professional Irish-American stepdancers and choreographers who have gained international fame with their award-winning performances. They’ve also built a following of millions on social media with videos like this one, where they dance to popular songs, usually in an outdoor environment.
People are loving the blending of genres and culture that the TikTok exemplifies.
“Never thought I’d see Irish step dancing while Beyoncé sings country,” wrote on commenter. “My life is complete. ♥️”
“So happy Beyoncé dropped this song and exposed my timeline to diversified talent 👏🏽👏🏽,” wrote another.
“Beyoncé brought the world together with this song 😭,” offered another person.
“Ayeeee Irish Dancing has entered the BeyHive chatroom… WELCOME!! 🔥🔥🔥” exclaimed another.
“I don’t think I can explain how many of my interests are intersecting here,” wrote one commenter, reflecting what several others shared as well.
The Beyoncé/Gardiner Brothers combo and the reactions to it are a good reminder that none of us fit into one box of interest or identity. We’re all an eclectic mix of tastes and styles, so we can almost always find a way to connect with others over something we enjoy. What better way to be reminded of that fact than through an unexpected mashup that blends the magic of music with the delight of dance? Truly, the arts are a powerful uniting force we should utilize more often.
And for an extra bit of fun, the Gardiner Brothers also shared their bloopers from filming the video. Turns out stepping in the rain isn’t as easy as they make it look.
When viral marketing hits, it really hits. Such is the case for Neon’s Longlegs, which brought back Blair Witch Project levels of viral success by revealing as little as possible through a rash of unpleasant imagery. Withholding the specter of Nic Cage as a serial killer certainly helped, and the movie quickly broke the opening record for Neon, which has released not only Oscar-winning fare like Parasite but, more recently, Sydney Sweeney’s Immaculate.
If you missed opening weekend and then opted for Twisters over the past weekend, you might be wondering if it’s worth waiting for streaming, and when the Osgood Perkins’-directed movie will arrive in that format.
When Will Longlegs Come Out On Streaming?
The “when” of this question isn’t public knowledge yet, but the “where” is solid. As Deadline reported back in 2017, Neon entered a long-term licensing agreement with Hulu, which is where the indie distributor’s titles do stream exclusively once the theatrical window closes.
Since Longlegs only arrived in theaters on July 12, there will likely be a substantial wait ahead. Sweeney’s Immaculate, for example, released in March and hasn’t begun streaming on Hulu yet, but there’s a decent chance that the Halloween or Thanksgiving season will be the magical time. Because maybe this holiday season will have an extra splash of cheer when Satan invades this year’s party mindset.
As a consolation prize, that unsettling phone message is still available if you cannot wait and still can’t make it to the theater. But seriously, go watch Longlegs.
After releasing his new album Samurai, Lupe Fiasco will make like Zatoichi** and take his skills on the road for a national tour. Rather than worrying about potentially feuding with Kendrick Lamar or squabbling with Kid Cudi, the Chicago rapper is focusing on his own journey, which kicks off October 3 in New York.
Tickets for the tour go on sale on Friday, July 26th at 10 AM local time. You can find more information about Lupe’s Samurai Tour here. See below for the full run of tour dates.
** For those who aren’t into 60-year-old Japanese film franchises, Zatoichi is the titular character of a long-running film series. His classic identifying characteristics are: He’s blind, he’s really good with a sword, and he wanders. They’re fun movies.
Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco Samurai Tour Dates
10/03 — New York, NY @ Terminal 5
10/04 — Hartford, CT @ The Webster
10/05 –Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10/06 –Boston, MA @ Royale
10/10 — Columbus, OH @ Columbus Athenaeum
10/11 — Cleveland, OH @ TempleLive Cleveland Masonic
10/18 — Fort Collins, CO @ Washington’s FoCo
10/19 — Denver, CO @ Summit
10/24 — Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
10/25 — Ventura, CA @ Ventura Music Hall
10/26 — Pomona, CA @ Fox Theater Pomona
11/09 — St. Louis, MO @ The Factory at The District
11/10 — Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed
11/14 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
11/15 — Norfolk, VA @ The NorVa
11/16 — Washington, D.C. @ The Howard Theatre
11/21 — San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
11/22 — Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst
11/24 — Los Angeles, @ The Novo
Samurai is out now via 1st & 15th and The Orchard. You can find more information here.
Now, a Drake fan has fired back with Family Matters: The Game, which can be played in your browser, here.
Once you start the game, on-screen text reads, “Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go feed him a Grammy right now. Tap the Grammy to feed Kenny. Don’t miss or he’ll be sad.” From there, the gameplay is simple: A moving arrow determines where the Grammy will be thrown when you click/tap, but a pixel art rendering of Lamar is also moving side-to-side. If you miss, Lamar grimaces and makes a sad sound as a tear runs down his face.
The theme of the game is a reference to the “Family Matters” lyric, “Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a Grammy right now.”
Last Friday, customers at Third Man Records stores in Detroit, Nashville, and London received a free 12-inch vinyl record with their purchases. The LP was packaged in an all-white sleeve with only the words “No Name” printed on the cover. No artist was credited, and no songs were listed. Only the A and B sides were given titles — “Heaven And Hell” and “Black And Blue,” respectively. Within hours, it was revealed that the vinyl was actually Jack White’s sixth solo album, after which Third Man encouraged fans to rip the songs and share them online.
If this is the first you’re hearing of this news, it’s through no fault of your own. After all, there’s all this (waves hands) happening in the country. But there is also the much smaller matter of Jack White’s solo career. The man has been mired in an extended musical midlife crisis for the better part of a decade now. Boarding House Reach, Fear Of The Dawn, Entering Heaven Alive — these are hardly records that have set the world on fire. And I say that as one of thelonely critics who actually stood up for those albums, though admittedly my praise was qualified. Famously a hardcore Bob Dylan devotee, White has experienced his own “’80s Dylan period” in the late aughts and early ’20s, in which the iconic ex-White Stripe has responded to middle age by halfheartedly embracing modern technology and steering his music away from the primal garage-rock simplicity that has long defined him. While I appreciate White’s recent work more than most, I must confess that I find it more fascinating than, well, enjoyable. Even White himself has at times appeared disinterested in new Jack White music — during the album cycle for Fear Of The Dawn, he said he stopped making music for a time and instead focused on one of his other pastimes, building furniture.
When word spread of the new “surprise” Jack White record last week, I can’t say I was especially intrigued. A vinyl-only release literally given away to customers? My assumption was that it would be even more convoluted and scattershot than Boarding House Reach or Fear Of The Dawn, only this time with somehow less cultural relevancy. Instantly forgettable, in other words. But then a friend slipped me a Google Drive link over the weekend, with the promising if seemingly credulous disclaimer that it was “his best solo album.” Huh, I thought. Am I going to fall for this? I downloaded the files, imported them to my Apple Music account, and pressed play. And I have kept pushing play ever since.
“No Name,” as we’ll call it, isn’t exactly Jack White’s best solo record. (I still ride for Blunderbuss, his solo debut from 2012, a quasi-Blood On The Tracks about the end of The White Stripes and White’s conflicted emotions about his prodigal partner Meg White.) But it’s the record that people who still check out new Jack White albums in 2024 have been waiting for. And it might even by the album that brings estranged listeners back into the fold. Simply put: It’s Jack White in a room with his crackerjack band, playing extremely loud, on a collection of riff-y rock songs that sound like they were written five minutes before they were recorded. It’s raw, it’s direct, and — this is a compliment — it’s not all that thought out. But the adjective that most applies hasn’t appeared in a Jack White album review since possibly the mid-aughts: Great. “No Name” is actually pretty damn great.
Take “Track 8” — none of the songs have titles, though some listeners have made guesses for the YouTube streams — which opens with a quick count-off before a galloping drum wallop enters along with a staccato guitar riff that can only be described as “unabashedly Zeppelinesque.” After about 100 seconds of that, White rips out a solo that can only be described as “unabashedly Jack White-esque,” a strangled squeak that sounds like a dolphin choking on a fuzz pedal. (Again, complimentary.)
The rest of “No Name” finds White operating on a similar sort of muscle memory. Sometimes, he borrows from himself – the relentless stop-start riffage of “Track 3” evokes “The Hardest Button To Button,” and the testy punk rock of “Track 11” bears more than a passing resemblance to “Girl, You Have No Faith In Medicine.” But overall, “No Name” indulges in the sorts of classic rock moves that White normally reserves for side projects like The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, though with 65 percent less slickness. When he’s not leaning hard into the Jimmy Page-worshiping side of his musical personality, like the “straight from side one of Led Zeppelin II” closer “Track 13,” he’s tipping a cap to other Page worshipers. (Like “Track 5,” which cribs from the riff for Heart’s “Barracuda.”)
Have you noticed how often I have used the word “riff”? I so rarely get to use that word in reviews anymore. If nothing else, “No Name” confirms that White remains a modern master of catchy and kinetic guitar parts, if and when he decides that he wants to be. And that’s actually valuable real estate to occupy in a musical landscape where so few bands are interested in writing memorable guitar licks. Once the backbone of rock music, simple but indestructible riffs have given way to plucked acoustic guitars, gloomy synths, cinematic strings, and countless other atmospherics. And yet public appetite for new riffs remains. It’s not as if our international fan populations for athletic competitions can subsist only on “Seven Nation Army” forever.
If “No Name” had been given a proper release, I suspect unsympathetic critics would have described it as “low stakes.” But for Jack White, it feels like the opposite of that. This is an artist who needs to remind the world of his greatness. Recent attempts at resetting the modern musical canon have given him short shrift. The recent Apple 100 list — an imperfect metric, I know, but also a much-discussed and visible barometer — didn’t include a single White Stripes record. (The tiny cohort of 21st century rock bands instead included The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys.) The more comprehensive Rolling Stone Top 500 albums list from 2022 managed to squeeze the consensus choice for best White Stripes record, 2003’s Elephant, in at No. 449. But that’s still pretty underwhelming for a band — not that long ago! — rightly considered one of the best in the world.
In that context, “No Name” feels like an uncommon act of humility from White. I doubt that this artist, who has never been short of bravado or hubris, is unaware of how good this album is. But like a lot of artists his age, he might feel unsure that the audience is there to appreciate what he’s produced. So, allow me to make a case for “No Name” in the same raw and direct terms that this record operates musically: You know those other recent Jack White solo records? Those are the ones that should have been given away for free. “No Name” meanwhile is worth all the money in the bank.
Severance is the crown jewel in Apple TV+’s (underrated) library of shows. It’s also very expensive. Bloomberg reports that every episode in season two of the Emmy-winning series costs roughly $20 million, “making it one of the most expensive projects on TV.” That’s as much as House of the Dragon, but Severance doesn’t have any dragons (yet?) — why is the budget so high?
According to Forbes, Severance executive producer Ben Stiller planned to make a movie for Amazon between season one and two, and he asked House of Cards creator and Andor writer Beau Willimon to assist with the upcoming season and possibly even oversee season three. But “plans for the Amazon movie fell apart… Stiller decided to remain in charge of Severance (alongside [creator Dan] Erickson). Apple ended up paying Willimon millions to contribute to a few episodes.” The WGA and SAG strikes cost a pretty penny, too.
The company is now in the middle of discussions about future seasons of Severance. Apple can’t wait to make more of the show, but management has a request for Stiller and the show’s studio, Fifth Season. They need to bring down the cost.
It’s a big week for comic book movies. For awhile there, this was seemingly true every week, but the rate of Marvel and DC movies has (mercifully) slowed down. Or as James Gunn put it, “They’ve gotten too generic.” However, there’s nothing generic about Deadpool & Wolverine, which hits theaters on Thursday, and Joker: Folie à Deux, which doesn’t come out until October, but Warner Bros. just released a new trailer for the Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga film.
Here’s the official logline: “Joker: Folie à Deux finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.”
You can watch the trailer above.
There should be no doubting Lady Gaga’s talent as an actress, not after A Star is Born, but she really stepped up for the Joker sequel. “She’s going to blow your mind,” said casting director Francine Maisler. “I saw it and I was really surprised. I mean, we all knew what she could do in A Star is Born, but I thought, ‘Oh, well, that’s kind of in her wheelhouse.’ Something she could do and just be real. But this… Man, she’s good. Joaquin blows your mind, but that she could keep up with him, and be real — and not just wiped off the screen by what that role is and what the performance is — shows she’s good.”
Directed by Todd Phillips, Joker: Folie à Deux opens in theaters on October 4.
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