On Monday, the title of the next “Star Wars” film was revealed. “The Last Jedi,” as it’s now known, will hit theaters Dec. 15 of this year.

But the announcement tempts fans to look even further ahead to the still nameless “Episode IX.” What are the possible titles J.J. Abrams and company are tossing around for that?

I’m glad I pretended you asked.

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Black women showed out at women’s marches around the world on Saturday with some ridiculously profound signage. 

While some women of color expressed mixed feelings over the march and chose not to attend, those who did made sure to send powerful messages. From calling on white women to take accountability for the election’s outcome to reminding America of black women’s contributions, here are some of the striking signs black women held at the landmark protests: 

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Reports surrounding the upcoming film “A Dog’s Purpose” have quadrupled in the past week after TMZ released a leaked video from the set, which called into question the film’s treatment of animals. 

In the video, a German Shepherd named Hercules is seemingly forced into a pool of rough water by a trainer before being submerged and pulled out by another handler. The clip sparked outrage as many wondered what actually happened to the animal actors behind the scenes of the Amblin Partners and Universal Pictures film.

Now, the company that provided the trainers for the movie, Birds and Animals Unlimited, have released a lengthy statement to The Huffington Post, detailing what really went down in the leaked video. The trainers claim that TMZ “falsely edited” the video and that the dog was not harmed in any way. “Hercules, a two-year-old German Shepherd, had been in training for months to perform the swimming scenes for this film,” the statement reads. “He was chosen for the film based on his love of the water.” 

Read the full statement below:

Last week a falsely edited video was released to the media. It portrayed a dog being forced to enter a pool against its will and suggested that the dog was traumatized as a result. No such thing occurred, nor would it ever occur under the supervision of our animal trainers.

In one sequence, the videotape shows our animal actor Hercules appearing resistant to being placed in the pool. A voice can be heard saying “Just gotta throw him in.” Next, Hercules can be seen in the water, the false implications being that Hercules was actually placed in the water against his will and that the voice that can be heard belongs to someone supervising Hercules.

Here is what actually occurred:

Hercules, a two-year old German Shepherd, had been in training for months to perform the swimming scenes for this film. He was chosen for the film based on his love of the water.

The shot that Hercules performed began with his jumping from the end of the pool into the water as he’d been conditioned to do, then swimming out to a stunt actor and pulling her to safety.

After many successful takes throughout the day, a request was made to have Hercules perform the same behavior, but changing the point from which he was to enter the pool. As the camera started rolling, the trainer in the water began to call the dog. It quickly became apparent that Hercules did not want to enter the pool from this location.

After less that one minute of Hercules insisting on getting back to his original starting point, this plan was abandoned and he was brought to the end of the pool from which he’d been conditioned to enter, and he did so happily. 

We cannot identify the voice that appears on the videotape saying “Just gotta throw him in,” but there were many people on the film set and it was not anyone with any authority over Hercules’ welfare as some of the news coverage implied.

In the next shot, Hercules entered the pool from his rehearsed location.

While swimming across the pool, the current carried him closer to the wall at end of the pool than it had in previous takes. When the dog reached the wall, he was briefly submerged at which point the diver and trainer immediately pushed him to the surface. Trainers poolside then pulled him out of the water. Hercules shook the water off and wagged his tail.

During the filming, an American Humane Representative was present at all times, approving and documenting every shot. Whenever Hercules was in the water there were two trainers poolside, one trainer in the water, a safety diver, as well as stunt personnel.

The day before the scene was filmed, Hercules and his trainers did a comprehensive rehearsal at the pool location with safety and stunt teams to make certain that safety measures were in place to insure that the dog was not put in any danger.

These safety measures that were put in place worked flawlessly to ensure that no harm came to the dog (or the people) who were in the water during filming that day.

Birds and Animals Unlimited is currently reviewing available footage of these scenes and is evaluating its legal options. In the meantime, we strongly encourage the news media that receive such disturbing, defamatory and maliciously edited videotapes to exercise caution in their broadcast and characterization.

The movie’s producer, Gavin Polone, also spoke out about the clip on Monday, writing in The Hollywood Reporter that the scenarios filmed were “INEXCUSABLE and should NEVER have happened.”

Polone believes the trainer, the American Humane Association representative and the individuals running the set that day should be held accountable for what happened. He also holds himself accountable, explaining that he could have done more to ensure all the animals were safe and comfortable.

“Though AHA is the standard guarantor of animal safety on all studio productions and I was not consulted when they nor the dog trainers were hired, I should have fought with the studio to come up with alternatives to serve those functions. I didn’t, and there is nothing to mitigate my inaction. I’m deeply sorry about that,” Polone wrote.

Polone does agree that the video originally posted by TMZ appears to be edited and is “highly misleading.” He also thinks PETA amplified the problem by sharing TMZ’s post on their website and calling for a boycott of the film.

“That PETA has an impossible agenda and that someone probably tried to make money by making my film look bad, does not excuse the mistakes made 15 months ago, irrespective of the fact that the dog in question was unharmed,” Polone wrote, concluding: 

Wouldn’t it be better to fix the problems that led to this unfortunate and anomalous event and ignore the manipulated media and half-truths disseminated by those with either financial or extremist agendas? I swear to you, whether I make another dime on this movie or not has no effect on my life. But if studios stop backing films like “A Dog’s Purpose” because they fear being attacked by groups like PETA, and kids who are now the age I was when I formed my understanding that animals are deserving of love and protection can’t see those movies, it will absolutely have a negative effect on animal welfare in the future.

The premiere of “A Dog’s Purpose” was canceled over the weekend following the outcry, but the film ― based on the 2010 novel of the same name ― is still set to hit theaters nationwide on Jan. 27. It tells the story of a devoted dog (voiced by Josh Gad) discovering the meaning of its own existence through the lives of the humans it teaches to laugh and love.

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A toddler has gone viral for her budding activism — and it’s ridiculously cute.

Jenny Sowry’s 22-month-old daughter proudly displayed a very original sign at the Women’s March in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday.

Sowry attended the march with her husband, toddler and 9-year-old son. 

“I marched because it was cathartic after a long and emotional transition, and it felt better than sitting at my computer,” Sowry told the Huffington Post. “I felt less alone.”

Sowry said she and her husband are trying to raise their children to speak up for themselves and their beliefs in a peaceful way, and they felt that the Women’s March was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate this to their kids.

She also noted that her son had recently watched the movie “Selma” and read Gracie for President, a book Sowry said opened up a discussion about how women have not always had the same rights as men.

“There were a number of causes championed that day, the concerns were wide and varied,” Sowry told HuffPost. “For my son, it was the idea that all people are equal and should be respected.”

Before the family hit up the protest over the weekend, Sowry and her son decided to make their own signs. They were sitting on their dining room floor finishing up their signs when Sowry’s son asked if his sister would have a sign and what it might say. They were tossing ideas around when Sowry looked over and saw her toddler scrawling all over a piece of cardboard with markers. 

“We decided that she clearly had something to share and that whatever it was, it meant more to her than anything we might choose on her behalf,” Sowry said. “She was proud of her work and marched around the house with it. When it came time for the March we took it along so that she would have something to hold if she wanted.”

“We didn’t really think much about it at the time.”

On the day of the protest, Sowry snapped a picture of her daughter proudly holding her sign.

Her colleague, Shawn Lent, saw the photo and shared it on her Facebook page deeming it the “best sign of the day.” The photo soon went viral, receiving over 12,000 likes and 20,000 shares.

It wasn’t long before Sowry’s picture made its way onto Twitter where it was shared under the hashtag #WokeBaby:

Preach, baby, preach

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It’s Donald Trump’s first week in the White House, and already there’s a documentary chronicling how he got there. Premiering this week at the Sundance Film Festival, “Trumped: Inside the Greatest Political Upset of All Time” outlines our new president’s path from businessman/celebrity to leader of the free world. 

The Huffington Post has an exclusive sneak peek at the documentary above, as well as the film’s poster. Produced by Showtime Documentary Films, “Trumped” will air on the network Feb. 3.

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Intersectional feminism was in full display over the weekend as Latinas took to the streets on Saturday for the Women’s March in Washington D.C. and its nationwide sister protests. 

The historic event included some incredibly creative and inspiring signs by Latina marchers. HuffPost Latino Voices asked our readers to tag their photos with #LatinasMarch and now we’ve collected some of the hashtag’s best images, plus a few other notable signs we found online. 

Take a look at 19 signs by Latinas that gave us life during the Women’s March. 

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There was a lot of goodness happening in various cities this past weekend at the Women’s March, but this particular moment is definitely one of our favorites. On Saturday, New Yorker Thomas “Tommy” Keane threw flowers into the unsuspecting crowd from a friends’ balcony and the marchers loved it.

The scene looked like this:

Keane, who spoke to Elite Daily about his decision to throw flowers over the NYC Women’s March, said that he bought the flowers en route to his friend’s place. He made a stop at a store to get “beers for his boys and some flowers to take to dinner for his mom” and sister. 

“Upon checkout, I realized that my mother and sister were not the only ones who deserved flowers, especially on a day like Saturday, so I decided to buy a whole bunch of flowers and hand them out to all the ladies who were patiently waiting in line and in the crowd,” he told Elite Daily.

Once he saw how big the crowd was, Keane changed his plan and decided that it’d be “much more fun” to toss them off the balcony. His friends even took a video of him from the balcony as he threw the flora. 

 The Women’s March crowd was really feeling Keane’s random act of kindness and so are we.

Keane told Elite Daily that he “wasn’t trying to send a message or make it about me,” adding: “I just did it to show my support, to provide some energy and enthusiasm and to hopefully make a few ladies laugh or crack a smile.”

Well, Tommy, we’d say you succeeded.

H/T Elite Daily

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Just days after people around the world marched for women’s rights and in protest of President Donald Trump, Ewan McGregor joined in with a new act of solidarity — refusing to be interviewed by Piers Morgan.

The “T2 Trainspotting” actor wrote on Twitter that he decided to skip an interview with morning program “Good Morning Britain,” of which Morgan is a co-host, once he learned the outspoken TV personality would be there. McGregor, who tweeted his support of the Women’s March on Saturday, cited Morgan’s comments about the peaceful protest as the reason.

Morgan had written a takedown of the event centered around Madonna’s comment that she “thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House” — a controversial statement that led Newt Gingrich to call for her arrest. The singer later clarified her speech was “taken wildly out of context.”

In his response, Morgan called Madonna a “bitter, cynical Vinegar Girl” and criticized her wording before assuring readers that he was indeed a feminist.

I support all women’s rights and have proven this point many times as an employer and promoter of women in the workplace.

But I can’t abide the feminazis, the radical, extreme feminists like Madonna.

Nor can I abide the likes of Kim Kardashian and Emily Ratajkowski when they hijack feminism to justify posting stupid, offensive bird-flipping topless selfies.

He goes on to write that feminism is “about striving to be so good at what you do that your gender is irrelevant, then making sure you are rewarded in the same way as a man.” Hundreds of years of gender inequality can just be attributed to the fact that women simply aren’t as good at what they do. 

Some on Twitter criticized McGregor for bailing because he disagreed with Morgan’s ideals, therefore ending any chance for productive debate. However, Morgan’s response thus far — tweeting out “Vainspotting,” implying that McGregor isn’t a “real man” and saying the actor had a “thespian tantrum” — does little to indicate that any debate would go beyond name-calling.

For his part, Morgan wrote that he hadn’t planned to bring up the Women’s March with McGregor.

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Let this headline sink in. Here, let’s repeat it: “Passengers” is now an Oscar-nominated movie.

Yes, the silly, rape-y, misogynistic sci-fi hooey is a contender for Hollywood’s biggest awards. Twice! The film netted nods for Thomas Newman’s score and Guy Hendrix Dyas’ production design. It’s Newman’s 14th nomination and Hendrix Dyas’ second. 

Deservedly eviscerated in reviews, “Passengers” is a star vehicle for Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence that Sony hoped would become a Christmas blockbuster. The box-office receipts weren’t as healthy as the studio probably hoped, relying on foreign sales to recoup its reported $110 million budget. No matter: The movie found fortune with Academy voters, surprising pundits, most of whom had not expected it to make the Oscar roster at all. 

Abel Korzeniowski (”Nocturnal Animals”), John Williams (”The BFG”), Michael Giacchino (”Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) and Hans Zimmer (”Hidden Figures”) were among the favored candidates for Best Original Score, according to predictions on the awards handicapping bible Gold Derby. For Best Production Design, Jean Rabasse (”Jackie”), Dante Ferretti (”Silence”), Doug Chiang and Neil Lamont (”Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”) and Seong-hie Ryu (”The Handmaiden”) seemed likelier. 

“Passengers” boasts 31 percent positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the year’s least-liked nominees, critically speaking.

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Singer Dyllan Murray wants his new video, “No Wrong Way,” to offer some comfort to members of the LGBTQ community who are concerned about their future under President Donald Trump. 

Directed by Guy Shalem, “No Wrong Way” explores both a mixed race, young gay couple’s relationship, as well as a budding romance between a transgender girl and a cisgender boy. Both couples appear to navigate some rough waters early on, but fortunately, love wins by the conclusion of the video, which can be viewed above. 

In 2015, Murray, 18, teamed up with Meghan Trainor and producer Jason “Poo Bear” Boyd with the idea of creating a musical “Christmas gift” to his gay dads. During the collaboration, he decided that the inclusive message of “No Wrong Way,” which features vocals by Kira Kosarin, should resound beyond his own experiences. 

“I never really thought about having a social rights song ― I never saw myself ever doing anything like that,” Murray told The Huffington Post. Still, he added, “I was always bullied because [having two dads] was not the ‘normal’ of everyone else. It made me different.” 

Working with Trainor, who has been an outspoken advocate for the LGBTQ community in her own right, inspired Murray to channel his own feelings about queer issues into his music. “It was great to have her in the studio and collaborate, because [equality] is something that she really supports as well,” he said.

Citing Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5 and Justin Bieber as influences, the Los Angeles-based singer now “wants to start speaking out, and helping other people talk about themselves in general and be open with others.” To start, he’s decided to donate proceeds from the sales of “No Wrong Way” to GLAAD and The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth advocacy organization. 

“It’s a scary time right now, and people are really worried about what’s going to happen next. There should be some sort of comfort,” he said. “People should still be able to open and not afraid to show who they really are.” 

As painful as the next four years may be for the LGBTQ community, America’s young, up-and-coming artists certainly know what’s good. 

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After months of anticipation, the nominees for the 89th annual Academy Awards were announced on Tuesday morning. While front-runners like “La La Land,” “Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea” nabbed spots in major categories, other films and their respective talent didn’t fare as well. 

Here are the snubs and surprises of the 2017 Oscar race. 

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Tuesday is a memorable day for Viola Davis, whose remarkable performance in the film “Fences” has earned her an Oscar nomination. 

It is also a historic one: Davis is now the first and only black actress to have received three Oscar nominations. Davis has previously twice been nominated for Best Supporting Actress, in the 2009 film “Doubt” and for Best Actress in the 2012 film “The Help.”

Davis’s stunning performance in “Fences,” which was adapted from a play by August Wilson, has received widespread praise. She even took home the Golden Globe for her role in the film earlier this month, where she delivered a stirring and unforgettable speech (although, that seems to happen almost every time she speaks.)

Before Tuesday’s nomination, Davis and actress Whoopi Goldberg were tied for the most nominations earned by a black actress. Goldberg was nominated in 1986 for “The Color Purple” and again in 1991 when she took home the win for “Ghost.” 

Now, Davis, who recently received a star on The Hollywood Walk Of Fame, officially stands in her own lane. We congratulate her on all her success! 

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that Davis had previously been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in “The Help.” She was in fact nominated for Best Actress. 

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In the late 1970s, when artist Jenny Holzer was a student at the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program, she, like many students, wrote essays, which she described in retrospect as “hot, flaming, nasty things.” Only, unlike the average term paper, Holzer’s treatises bellowed in italicized, capitalized letters on neon sheets of paper, blatantly packed with quotes from Emma Goldman, Mao Zedong, Valerie Solanas, and Adolf Hitler.

These papers, dubbed “Inflammatory Essays,” followed a familiar recipe. Each featured 100 words divided onto 30 lines and adopted an unusual voice ― somewhere between a batty dictator, a leftist activist and a sage prophet. They read like a religious zealot warning a nonplussed college campus about the impending apocalypse ― or, quite eerily, like our new president tweeting quasi-nonsense into the abyss.

“FEAR IS THE MOST ELEGANT WEAPON,” one of Holzer’s essays reads. “FORCE ANXIETY TO EXCRUCIATING LEVELS OR GENTLY UNDERMINE THE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE, CONFLICT OF INTEREST MUST BE SEEN FOR WHAT IT IS.”

Holzer took her essays to the streets, wheat pasting the multicolored creeds all around Times Square under the cloak of night. Part conceptual art, part street art, the “Inflammatory Essays” were a new breed of text-based work. Impassioned verses removed from sincerity or fact, they served to rile up the viewer and set her loose without direction, like a child spun madly before a round of Pin the Tail on the Donkey.

Todd Alden, the director of the Lower East Side gallery Alden Projects, began collecting Holzer’s essays in the early ‘80s. They were available for cheap, 10 for $10 at Printed Matter, according to The New York Times. Alden acquired 100 of them over the next few years, not knowing just how prescient the distributed posters would become. 

The day after the 2016 election, Alden looked at one of Holzer’s posters hanging on his wall and knew he had to curate a show around them. There was something so contemporary about the essays’ jumble of political ideologies, unchecked and gung-ho, secreting without consequence.

As Alden explained in an email to The Huffington Post, Holzer’s essays “were written under the different historical conditions of the nascent Reagan era, but nevertheless, these street posters, vital as ever, read today, as a nearly pitch-perfect responses to our own inflammatory times. They draw on, and combine extreme, manifesto-like rhetoric of both  right and left but which Holzer strategically distills into her own writing in an anonymous voice.”

In a time when fake news and “alternative facts” infiltrate the media landscape, and even the White House, Holzer’s shapeshifting and evocative words are as relevant as ever. “It’s an important time for people to examine what’s implicit in Holzer’s project,” Alden explained to The New York Times. “Questioning the way ‘the truth’ is generated, questioning the whole premise of Enlightenment culture, which is that if everyone reads, the culture will inevitably improve.” 

And so Alden curated a show around Holzer’s essays, dating from 1977 to 1982. Given the public nature of the works, he didn’t seek permission from either Holzer or her gallery, and the artist has no intention of intervening. The show is called “REJOICE! OUR TIMES ARE INTOLERABLE: Jenny Holzer’s Street Posters,” taking its title from one of the artist’s most well-known essays.

The spookily poignant piece continues: “TAKE COURAGE, FOR THE WORST IS A HARBINGER OF THE BEST, ONLY DIRE CIRCUMSTANCE CAN PRECIPITATE THE OVERTHROW OF OPPRESSORS.” It ends: “THE APOCALYPSE WILL BLOSSOM.”

Alden, for one, hopes Holzer’s works serve as an inspiration for the countless individuals who want to resist President Donald Trump’s ideologies and decrees. Holzer was, after all, only an art student when she took to the streets with a bunch of neon papers. “I’m hoping that people will see this as a model for political activism,” Alden said to Vogue, “and as a model for speaking out, both about our media culture today and our political situation.”

“REJOICE! OUR TIMES ARE INTOLERABLE: Jenny Holzer’s Street Posters, 1977-1982” runs until Feb. 12 at Alden Projects in New York. The posters will also be on view at Art Los Angeles Contemporary from Jan. 26-29.

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On Jan. 26, 1788, Royal Navy officer Arthur Phillip took formal possession of the colony of New South Wales, raising a British flag for the first time on the land now known as Australia.

For many Australians, Jan. 26 was henceforth honored as Australia Day, a time to commemorate the history of the country and continent Down Under and indulge in some national pride. For the many indigenous people, however, the date symbolizes the beginning of a violent dispossession of their native land and culture, as well as the loss of many loved ones. For them, the day is referred to as Invasion Day, Survival Day, Aboriginal Sovereignty Day or the Day of Mourning.

Of course, the violent colonization of Australia by white Europeans is not something buried in the past. Contemporary indigenous Australians are still fighting for land protection, sovereign governance and peaceful coexistence. They’re also finding ways to connect with a culture that was brutally uprooted centuries ago.

Frances Cannon, an Australian illustrator whose feminist-centric drawings convey the power of body positivity and self-love, chose to mark this year’s Invasion Day by honoring the indigenous young women who are very much a part of Australia’s artistic and cultural worlds today. Cannon posted a message on Instagram this week inviting women to send pictures and info about themselves for her to compile into black-and-white portraits.

The drawings translate the illustrator's subjects into earthly goddesses, dressed in flowers and emerging from bodies of water. Complete with body hair, tattoos, glasses and freckles, Cannon’s drawings communicate the simple mantra that women, as they are, are more than enough.

Each drawing also comes with a message from its subject describing herself and her relationship to Australian culture.

“I grew up knowing the Australian flag wasn’t mine, I grew up coping [sic] flack for being ‘abo’, but I grew up strong,” artist Hayley Millar Baker wrote, adding:

These days I make political photo-media work attempting to show the harsh truths about Australia after colonisation. I have been taught by my aunties and elders our culture, and have started weaving. I am also an educator and one day I hope to teach Aboriginal culture to all of Australians children. The First Nation people are important ― our history, our lives and what we offer should not be taken for granted.

See more of Cannon’s portraits, accompanied by the powerful messages of this generation’s badass Australian women, below.  

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Since June, U.K. mom and blogger Dominique Davis has been taking adorable photos with her two daughters, Amelia and Penny. In the images, the trio pose in coordinating outfits. 

Davis, who blogs at All That Is She, posts the pictures on Instagram with the hashtag #AllThatIsThree. 

She told The Huffington Post that the tradition came about by chance. 

“One morning, I’d unintentionally dressed myself and Penny in matching striped tops, then Amelia emerged from her bedroom wearing one too,” she said. “We’d laughed about it, and when I was struggling for an image idea later that day, we thought we’d share our joke with everyone else.”

The photo received 16,000 likes, which inspired Davis to post another mother-daughter photo ― this time with some watermelon. When that photo received similarly positive feedback, #AllThatIsThree became a weekly feature on her Instagram.

“The photos have become so special for me to look back on that we’ve just continued to create them every week,” said Davis.

The girls enjoy getting dressed up for the photo shoots. Amelia is 10 years old and according to her mom, has a “huge heart,” strong sense of passion and desire to change the world. She wants to be a wildlife conservationist when she’s older. 

Three-year-old Penny is a typical toddler, Davis said, noting that she’s “bossy, headstrong, inquisitive, full of character and has the ability to make you cry with laughter (or just cry) at any given moment.”

“As you can imagine Penny loves to be the same as her big sister, and Amelia is at an age now where she likes to delve into my wardrobe in the hope of fitting into my clothes,” the mom said. “I’m sure this won’t last forever ― Penny will develop her own sense of style, and soon it’ll be so uncool for Amelia to dress like her mother does ― but at the moment we’re going with it and having fun.”

Davis hopes people who see her photos get a sense of fun. “It’s just pure, simple, childish fun being had between a mother and her two daughters.”

Keep scrolling and visit Davis’ Instagram for more fun mother-daughter photography.

H/T BoredPanda

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Warning: This article contains erotic illustrations and may not be appropriate for work. 

In artist Jordyn McGeachin’s watercolor world, a woman lies alone in her bed, bathing in the glow of her laptop and cellphone. She’s dressed only in a pair of orange panties and she’s slipped a hand inside of them.

It’s an image that’s far too rare in the realms of both pop culture and art, of a woman experiencing pleasure for no one other than herself. While masturbation, especially for women, is too often a topic associated with shame, silence and taboo, McGeachin illustrates female self-pleasure as a sweet and mundane reality, as comforting and restorative a solo ritual as surfing Netflix or taking a bath. 

“Masturbating is fun and healthy,” the Melbourne-based artist expressed in an interview with The Huffington Post. “I love drawing sexual things, but my aim isn’t to sexualize them. I want to depict women being sexual without being sexualized, it feels important to do. It sucks [that] people still get weird about it.”

Self-love, body positivity and sexual freedom flow freely throughout the 22-year-old artist’s pastel-washed canvases, most of which take place inside the bedroom. Like many 21st-century young women, McGeachin’s subjects are often flanked by various gadgets, from iPhones and laptops to the occasional ball gag.

While older generations might be quick to lambast the current state of millennial love, McGeachin’s paintings explore the sweet strangeness of love in the digital age, visualizing the many ways technology heightens intimacy, rather than the other way around. “I think in this day and age pleasure and technology just fall together nicely,” she said, “especially when it comes to relationships ― platonic or romantic ― sex, or getting off.”

In some pieces, the technology takes center stage, as the subject poses sensually for what’s either an NSFW selfie or an erotic Skype session. In others, the devices are subtle details in the backdrop, charging in the corner or hiding under the covers. Like in real life, the humble machines are rarely far from their owners, even while they’re making love.  

For McGeachin, technology’s impact on sex and love isn’t necessarily positive or negative. It just is. It’s the omnipresent spirit in the sex lives of many young people, whether mediating between two people or providing the climax itself. Through soft scenes that spare no detail, McGeachen works to chronicle the odd love affair so many women find themselves in: The one between themselves and their virtual darlings.

McGeachin herself has plenty of personal anecdotes worth depicting. “Once I slept with someone and when I checked their phone afterwards,” she shared, “they had Tinder notifications and it was like, ‘Wow, yep, this is modern romance.’”

McGeachin posts around one image a week on Instagram, a fitting platform considering her subject matter, though it’s been known to enforce some disappointing, sexist double standards in terms of censorship. McGeachin recalled having her work taken down only once ― a drawing of a woman receiving head. Though, at the time, the censorship didn’t bother her much, the underlying message behind the erasure has taken its toll over time. 

“It just feels a bit defeating,” she said. “I want to be able to share what I spend hours creating without worrying if a stranger will report it and have it removed. Women are exploited and sexualized everywhere. Why do bodies make [people] so uncomfortable?”

“PS: My Mum saw the drawing and even she liked it,” she concluded, “so people need to chill.”

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Part of Karl Lagerfeld’s genius lies in his ability to tell stories through both exquisite design and elaborate settings. The story he told Tuesday at Chanel’s highly reflective haute couture Spring/Summer 2017 show at Paris Fashion Week was glitz, glamour and “you’re gonna lust over this clothing for the rest of your lives.”

Iconic Chanel suiting was woven through the collection, alongside bursts of sparkle and one absurdly beautiful pink gown worn by Lily Rose Depp. Lagerfeld said his latest looks were inspired by a spoon, of all things, but the resulting dresses are our ultimate couture fantasy come true. 

Now all that’s left to do is sift wistfully through the photos and wait for Emma Stone to show up on a red carpet in one of these pieces. Sigh.

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One black woman attended the Women’s March on Washington with an extremely important message for white women. 

Angela Peoples, the director of LGBTQ empowerment organization GetEQUAL, marched on Washington with a sign that was a little different from the go-to “This pussy grabs back” and “My body, my choice.” 

In a now-viral photo, Peoples is wearing a hat that reads “Stop Killing Black People” and holding a sign that says “Don’t forget: White women voted for Trump.” Behind her are three white women in pink pussy hats taking pictures. 

The image, taken by photographer, co-director of BLACK and Peoples’ boyfriend Kevin Banatte, highlights the ongoing issue in our shared resistance against President Trump’s administration: Intersectionality in feminism is integral, but so often ignored by white women.  

While we can assume that most women who attended the march didn’t vote for Trump, the photo serves as commentary on how important practicing true intersectionality ― not just social media feminism ― is in resisting this administration. It’s also a necessary reminder that many white women who attended the march have yet to face or even grapple with their white privilege and how it had a hand in electing Trump to the White House. 

In an interview with The Root, Peoples explained that she brought the sign because she wanted “to be really honest about why we’re here.” She said that many white women were defensive, telling her “Not this white woman” and “No one I know!” 

In response, Peoples’ said: “[Fifty-three percent] of white women voted for Trump. That means someone you know, someone who is in close community with you, voted for Trump. You need to organize your people.” 

If you’re a white woman thinking, 'What’s next? Everything seems insurmountable,' welcome to the fucking party. Listen to a black woman.
Angela Peoples

She explained why the photo is so powerful and the reason it sparked such an important conversation: 

It tells the story of white women in this moment wanting to just show up in a very superficial way and not wanting to do the hard work of making change, of challenging their own privilege. You’re here protesting, but don’t forget: The folks that you live with every single day ― and probably some of the women that decided to come to the march ― voted for Trump, made the decision to vote against self-interests to maintain their white supremacist way of life.   

In arguably the most powerful part of her interview, Peoples’ addresses white women directly.

“I would actually say to white women, if you want to be a part of a powerful movement that’s going to get something done, you need to get behind and trust black women, trust black femmes, trust black trans women. Because we are making this way out of no way,” she said. “If you’re a white woman thinking, ‘What’s next? Everything seems insurmountable,’ welcome to the fucking party. Listen to a black woman.”

Definitely head over to The Root to read Peoples’ interview in full. 

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The 2017 Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday morning and, this year, at least, it features more nominees of color.

One group of nominees in particular stands out: Black actresses who dominate this year’s Best Supporting Actress category, earning three of the five slots featured. They include Viola Davis for “Fences,” Naomi Harris for “Moonlight” and Octavia Spencer for “Hidden Figures.”

Davis, who made history on Tuesday by becoming the first black actress to receive three Oscar nominations, delivered a stirring portrayal alongside her fellow nominee Denzel Washington in “Fences,” which was adapted from a play by August Wilson. Harris plays Paula in “Moonlight,” a drug-addicted mother who faces conflict as she tries to raise her son Chiron while he faces his own internal and external challenges. Spencer portrays Dorothy Vaughn in “Hidden Figures,” a film that powerfully chronicles the stories of three black women who worked at NASA and helped to put astronaut John Glenn into orbit. 

Rounding out the Best Supporting Actress category are Michelle Williams for “Manchester By The Sea” and Nicole Kidman in “Lion.”

Congrats, ladies! 

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Bradford Young earned an Academy Awards nomination on Tuesday for his work on “Arrival,” making him the first black American to be nominated for the Best Cinematography award.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 89th annual Oscar awards on Tuesday morning. “Arrival,” a science-fiction drama starring Amy Adams, was nominated for seven other awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.  

Young, 39, is the second black man to ever be nominated in the cinematography category. He follows in the footsteps of Britain’s Remi Adefarasin, who was nominated for “Elizabeth” in 1998.

Young’s history-making nomination comes amidst a more diverse field of nominees than usual, with films like “Fences,” “Hidden Figures” and Moonlight” vying for top awards. Viola Davis earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for “Fences,” making her the first black woman to be nominated for an Oscar three times.

The Academy has faced serious criticism over the last couple of years for lacking diversity in its nominees and its voting members. Following the viral #OscarsSoWhite social media campaign, the Academy made a push to invite hundreds of new members. 

Young’s nomination follows years of making critically acclaimed work. He has won the cinematography award for U.S. dramatic feature at the Sundance Film Festival for three films: “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” and “Mother of George” in 2013 and “Pariah” in 2011. He was the director of photography for Ava DuVernay’s celebrated film “Selma” and is working on the forthcoming “Star Wars” spinoff about Han Solo.

Young previously collaborated with DuVernay on “Middle of Nowhere.” In a 2012 New York Times interview about Young’s work on the movie, she described his visual style as “lush” and “full.”

“When I watch people of color in most films, the image is so often flat or partial,” DuVernay told the Times. “Nothing about what Bradford does is partial. Every frame is full-bodied and potent and robust. It’s so exciting because it’s so rare.”

Young is up against the cinematographers for “La La Land,” “Lion,” “Moonlight” and “Science” for the Oscar.

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