One of the most striking moments of Monday night’s presidential debate came in the form of an anecdote towards the end.

Hillary Clinton went after Donald Trump’s well-documented history of misogyny, including his penchant for calling women “pigs, slobs and dogs,” his distaste for pregnant women, and his concerning comments about equal pay. She also brought up one woman’s firsthand experience with Trump: former Miss Universe Alicia Machado.

“One of the worst things [Donald Trump] said was about a woman in a beauty contest,” recounted Clinton. “He called this woman ‘Miss Piggy.’ Then he called her ‘Miss Housekeeping’ because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado, and she has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet she’s going to vote this November.”

The Clinton campaign followed up the debate by releasing a video (seen below) of Machado talking about her interactions with Trump, and the way his body-shaming ― he invited reporters to watch her work out after she gained weight during her tenure as Miss Universe ― impacted her life after she left the pageant world. 

“I felt really bad, like a lab rat,” Machado says in the video. “Long after, I was sick with eating disorders. I wouldn’t eat, and would still see myself as fat, because a powerful man had said so.”

Machado’s story struck a chord. Within 24 hours, Cosmopolitan and The Guardian had profiled her. Cosmo declared, “Former Miss Universe Alicia Machado Won’t Be Defined by Donald Trump’s Fat-Shaming.” Fusion even dug into the media’s coverage of Machado’s public workout, and discovered the same sort of fat-shaming commentary that Trump subjected Machado to.

But instead of expressing remorse about his past actions, Trump went on “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday morning and doubled down on his body-shaming of Machado. “She was the worst we ever had,” he said. “She was the winner, and she gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem.” (Trump is nothing if not consistent about his distaste for women who don’t meet his personal barometer for female attractiveness.)

Historically, comments about women being ugly, fat or like an animal ― dogs, pigs etc. ― have been ways to keep women in line.
Amy E. Farrell, Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College

Words matter ― and Trump’s words about women and their bodies are no exception. After all, research has shown that not only does fat-shaming not help people lose weight, it can actually contribute to a myriad of psychological and physical health issues.

Amy E. Farrell, Professor of American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Dickinson College, and author of Fat Shame: Stigma and the Fat Body in American Culture, told The Huffington Post that there is a long history of powerful men using body-shaming as way to maintain the status quo.

“Historically, comments about women being ugly, fat or like an animal ― dogs, pigs, etc. ― have been ways to keep women in line,” Farell said. “The fear of not looking a certain way that is acceptable to powerful men has been a way to scare women into spending their lives worrying about their looks. That goes all the way back to the suffragists, who were painted as animals, painted as fat. These are ways to scare women into not speaking up.”

(Trump’s disdain for women who speak was on full display during Monday’s debate, as he attempted to manterrupt Clinton, finally resorting to spitting out the word “wrong” every time she made a factual statement about his past.) 

I asked women on Twitter whether Machado’s story had resonated with them ― and if so, why? Many said yes, expressing that Machado’s experience, rather than feeling unusual, felt disturbingly relatable.

“I can’t think of any woman I know, including myself, who hasn’t been body shamed by a man,” one woman tweeted. 

“Even with a masters degree, colleagues and clients often comment on my appearance before my skills/education/credentials,” wrote another.

And it’s that familiarity ― taken to an extreme ― that makes the prospect of a Trump presidency so abhorrent to so many women.

“If [Trump is] sizing up this accomplished woman that way,” tweeted a third woman, “how do we know he won’t treat women when he’s in office that way?” 

Trump’s consistent denigration of women based on their looks, body size and f**kability is horrifying to many women voters because he seems to embody an amplified version of the misogyny that women face on a daily basis. It’s not news to women that we are punished when our bodies deviate from a socially acceptable norm. But it’s frustrating to imagine someone who thinks so little of women’s worth determining the future of policies that impact American women’s lives on a daily basis.

Can women voters really trust a man who rates women’s looks on a numeric scale, has said it’s a mistake to give your wife any “negotiable assets,” and believes that parenting is only the purview of women to understand why the wage gap still persists? Or understand the complex, diverse reasons women choose to have abortions? Or understand the intersecting structural discrimination African-American and Latina women face? 

If the polls are any indication, maybe not. This election is shaping up to have the largest gender gap in American history.

Maybe that’s because the contrast between the two candidates ― especially when it comes to gender ― is inarguably striking.

“[Clinton is] gonna stand with other women who have been made to feel that they’re lesser, or that it’s dangerous for them to take up public space,” Farrell said. “Whatever one thinks about her politics, I think there’s a really important message there.”

Editor’s note: Donald Trump regularly
incites
political violence and is a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-911_565b1950e4b08e945feb7326"> style="font-weight: 400;">serial liar, href="http://www.huffingtonpost
.com/entry/9-outrageous-things-donald-trump-has-said-about-latinos_55e483a1e4b0c818f618904b"> style="font-weight: 400;">rampant xenophobe,
racist, style="font-weight: 400;">misogynist and href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-stephen-colbert-birther_56022a33e4b00310edf92f7a"> >birther who has
repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims — 1.6 billion members of an entire religion — from
entering the U.S.

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When “Clarissa Explains It All” first aired in 1991, it was, in at least one way, the first show of its kind.

It had all the qualities of a sitcom geared to younger viewers: an admirable, if sometimes irreverent, lead, and a moral lesson embedded in each episode. But unlike other shows of its time, “Clarissa” starred a young woman as its quirky, scrunchie-wearing heroine.

The year it debuted, the show was nestled among Nickelodeon’s otherwise dude-centric slate, which included “Doug,” “Rugrats,” “Ren and Stimpy,” “Salute Your Shorts,” and “Hey Dude.”

In a phone interview with The Huffington Post, Melissa Joan Hart, who played Clarissa, explained, “It was very much an industry standard. Women will watch men as a lead. And women will watch women as a lead. But men won’t watch women. So you lost half your audience. And I think ‘Clarissa’ proved them wrong on that.”

Although Clarissa is Hart in the eyes of fans, she said she narrowly landed the part, because the executive producer was opposed to casting a blonde.

“He thought blondes just instantly mean ‘airhead’ and all these other things. I was able to prove him wrong,” Hart said. “He wouldn’t let me audition, and finally he gave in, and fell in love with me.”

It was very much an industry standard. Women will watch men as a lead. And women will watch women as a lead. But men won’t watch women. So you lost half your audience. And I think ‘Clarissa’ proved them wrong on that.

And so did viewers. “I get a lot of men that remember that character, and loved that show,” Hart said, “men who loved watching her as a lead.”

The actress, who’s moved on, for now, to less comedic roles like the Christian drama series “God’s Not Dead,” said, “I love putting on hats, being different people, diving into different personalities. A little of it is playing dress-up, of course.” 

She’s not just being figurative about dress-up. Hart keeps a theater closet in her basement full of her favorite outfits from both “Clarissa Explains It All” and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch.”

“Anytime there was a Betsy Johnson piece on ‘Clarissa,’ I kept it,” Hart said. “I got rid of all my Dr. Martens, but I recently invested in some new Dr. Martens. Those were my favorite shoes to wear for, like, a decade.”

She’s been revisiting other ‘90s staples, too. Now a mother of three, Hart recently watched an episode of “Sabrina” with her kids.

“A few weeks ago, they were watching a show called ‘The Thundermans’ on Nick. It’s about a superhero family. I decided, hey, you know what, you guys should really watch ‘Sabrina.’ So I put on an episode, and they liked it,” Hart said. “They asked to watch it again. They watched the whole episode, all three of them. It was the first time I’d watched it, maybe ever.”

Hart ― who is currently promoting LiveHealth Online, a health care accessibility site ― also spoke about balancing her career with her role as a mother.

When asked whether she felt comfortable talking about her family life in interviews related to her work as an actress, Hart said, “Oh, I think it’s so important. You have mom-guilt that just runs rampant. If you have children and you’re working, you feel guilty that you’re not home. If you’re home, you feel guilty that you’re not participating in the workforce.”

She continued, “I’m just one of those people, I love to work. And I want to show my kids that work takes priority. It is a priority. My kids come first, but work comes second, and it’s a close second. I think it’s important to instill a good work ethic in our children.”

If that’s not a powerful lesson à la “Clarissa Explains It All,” what is?

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What do the guys you’ve dated have in common with some of DC Comic’s most notorious villains? Quite a lot, actually. 

The comics below, created for Dorkly by Justin Hall of JHallComics, show that dating in the DC universe is not much different than dating in the real world: Lex Luthor is one of those super competitive business bros who won’t stop talking about his work, Brainiac talks down to his date the entire evening and Parasite is of course the kind of guy who’ll rush to the bathroom seconds before the check arrives.

Check out the comics below to see who our heroine ends up with. (Superman would be none too pleased with her choice.) 

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These babies are taking coordinated costumes to the next level. 

Jeremy and Ali Hynek are parents to 6-month-old Penelope, Ethan and Alejandra. The Utah parents call their triplets PEA (a combination of their first initials) or Sweet PEA and love to document their adventures together. As Halloween approaches, the fun is centering around costumes. 

“I’m a new mom and was really excited about dressing the babies up for their first Halloween,” Ali told The Huffington Post. “But I couldn’t decide which costumes to pick since there were so many things we could do in groups of three!”

Ali reached out to her friend Brittany Jepson, who owns a small DIY-focused business called The House that Lars Built, and the two ladies decided to work on a series of costumes for the triplets to give parents some Halloween inspiration. 

Drawing ideas from pop culture and traditional baby themes, Ali and Brittany put together the costumes through a combination of DIY and store purchases. 

“The most important thing to me was that we use a lot of pajamas since thats what every mom already has in stock,” Ali said. “I wanted to make costumes that other moms felt like they could make at home or at least would invest in the PJ’s and feel like they could use them afterwards!”

With the help of photographer Anna Marie Killian, the women documented their work and posted pictures of the triplets in their costumes on Ali’s Instagram and the House That Lars Built account. Brittany also put together blog posts that explain how to make each costume.

As for the babies, they “did beautifully” throughout their dress-up days, Ali said. “When you have triplet babies you have to be very organized so that everyone keeps their sanity, so I have very specific times that I was able to dress them up and change them so that they didn’t get to irritated,” the mom explained.

Ali added that her babies are used to being photographed because she likes to take daily pictures of them lined up in “PEA” order to track their growth and take note of little things that happened each day. “The idea was to use Instagram as a memory book for our family and then have the photos printed with Chatbooks as we go along,” she said. “I mostly want to create fun memories for PEA as the grow up and look back at their life.” 

As the photos reach more eyes, the mom simply wants her babies to bring others joy. “I hope people get a bit of a laugh at the very least and that it brightens their day!” Ali told HuffPost. “If they get some inspiration to make their baby a superhero or a ghostbuster, even better.”

Keep scrolling and visit Ali’s Instagram and The House Lars Built to see the triplet costume fun.

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Pepe the frog, a cartoon character that has long been used as a popular internet meme, has been declared a hate symbol by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) after its increased use by anti-Semites and white supremacists.

The initially innocuous character joined the ranks of the Swastika, Confederate Flag, Aryan Fist following its induction on Monday. The ADL created the “Hate on Display” database of racist terms and imagery in 2000.

Though exactly how Pepe turned from a goofy-faced drawing into a hate-mongering symbol is widely contested, many agree that internet users have simply taken advantage of the meme’s popularity as a means to make bigotry mainstream.

“Once again, racists and haters have taken a popular Internet meme and twisted it for their own purposes of spreading bigotry and harassing users,” said ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt in a statement. “These anti-Semites have no shame. They are abusing the image of a cartoon character, one that might at first seem appealing, to harass and spread hatred on social media.”

Pepe didn’t always have such a bad rap. He first appeared online in 2005 as a character in the “Boy’s Club” comic series, according to website Know Your Meme.

Over time, internet users began adding “feels good man” tagline to the image ― a reference to a scene in which Pepe relieves himself in the restroom. Users have also depicted him as Angry Pepe and Smug Frog. Eventually, people began altering the frog’s appearance to include racist and bigoted characteristics on websites like Reddit, 4chan, and 8chan ― all sites where users can post anonymously.

Pepe has been depicted as a Nazi soldier, a smiling Jew watching the World Trade Centers collapse, Hitler and a KKK member. Other images depict the frog with the caption “kill Jews man.”

Pepe’s creator, artist Matt Furie, spoke with The Huffington Post earlier this month about the meme’s popularity this election. He called the frog’s newfound reputation unfortunate.

“Maybe someday he’ll be a symbol for peace and love and brotherhood,” he told The Huffington Post, prior to the ADL’s announcement.  

Richard B. Spencer, the founder of the white nationalist group Alternative Right or Alt-Right, said the Pepe meme has come to represent the current mood of the Alt-Right.

“I think if I were to describe what people know about the Alt-Right, it’s probably some things they’ve seen online. It’s the Pepe memes it’s the parentheses, it’s the take-no-prisoners attitude on places like Twitter and things like that,” he said at a Sept. 16 meeting.

Spencer, who is also the president of the white nationalist think tank the National Policy Institute, went on to directly describe Pepe as “someone who is willing to speak the truth.”

Many people who have shared Pepe’s image, however, have apparently been ignorant ― by choice or otherwise ― to its increasing negative connotation.

Prior to Spencer’s statements, Donald Trump Jr. controversially shared a photo in which Pepe stands with Trump Jr., his father and several other men whose faces were superimposed on characters from the movie “The Expendables.” Its banner “The Deplorables,” was a mockery of Hilary Clinton’s comments that Trump’s supporters belonged in a “basket of deplorables.”

Trump Jr. joked in the post of having “made the cut” and wrote that he was “honored” to be among his father’s supporters.

A blog post on Hillary Clinton’s website criticized Trump Jr. for using the cartoon, calling it a “a symbol associated with white supremacy.”

“That cartoon frog is more sinister than you might realize,” wrote Elizabeth Chan, a senior strategist for the Clinton campaign. “In recent months, Pepe’s been almost entirely co-opted by the white supremacists.”

Trump Jr. later denied knowing that the cartoon frog had such a hateful alter ego.

“I’ve never even heard of Pepe the Frog. I mean, I bet 90 percent of your viewers have never heard of Pepe the Frog,” he told ABC News. “I thought it was a frog in a wig. I thought it was funny. I had no idea there was any connotation there.”

A request for comment from Pepe’s original illustrator, Matt Furie, on the ADL’s decision was not immediately returned Tuesday.

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What appear to be these superheroes’ weaknesses are actually their greatest strengths.

A new augmented reality comic book from Indian-American author Ram Devineni reimagines three acid attack survivors as superheroes. After surviving the brutal crimes, the characters confront their biggest fears: stepping out into the world and dealing with overwhelming stereotypes and judgments.

The comic book, which is downloadable and debuts at the end of the month at the New York Film Festival, aims to accurately reflect the struggles acid attack survivors face even long after their physical wounds begin to heal. They’re victims of gender-based violence, but they’re often re-victimized by society after the crimes are committed. 

“Often [acid attack survivors] were treated like the villains and the blame was put on them,” Devineni, who co-authored the comic with Paromita Vohra, told The Huffington Post. “Our comic book focuses on this and tries to change people’s perceptions of these heroic women.”

The comic book, “Priya’s Mirror,” is the second chapter of a stunning series Devineni helped launch last year called “Priya Shakti.” The central character, Priya, is a survivor of gang rape who challenges patriarchal views and urges victims to seek out help. 

In “Priya’s Mirror,” which is being funded by the World Bank, Priya meets women who have been attacked by a demon king who spews out acid and traps them in his castle. Once Priya shows the women their strength through her mirror, they’re able to escape, Devineni said.

The comic book characters are based on the real-life experiences of survivors Devineni interviewed in New York City, New Delhi, and Bogota, Colombia, which underscores just how widespread the issue is. Artist Dan Goldman studied images of survivors from around the world before he began drawing, he told the BBC. 

Every year, about 1,500 women globally are subjected to acid attacks, according to the Wall Street Journal’s India Real Time blog.

The assailants use products that are easily accessible from stores and leave long-lasting effects when used as a weapon. Victims’ appearances are permanently disfigured and their muscles and internal organs are often affected as well.

They face years of reconstructive surgery, bankruptcy, isolation and depression, Devineni added.

Society often wants little to do with these survivors as well. They often struggle to find work, and many are driven to suicide, according to the U.S. State Department.

Devineni aims to target teens and hopes that the use of augmented reality technology will help reach that demographic. The goal is foster an opportunity for teenagers to begin a conversation about these types of issues that predominantly affect women and girls.

“Teenagers are at a critical age when they are learning about relationships and developing their opinions of each other,” he said. “This comic book series is a powerful tool to talk about gender issues.”

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The ability to keep track of people, places and things in George R.R. Martin’s sweeping medieval saga is a point of pride for fans of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series. What is the name of Stannis Baratheon’s son? What color is the bear on the Stark family crest? How did the Mad Queen Aerys die?***

There is now an easier way to submerse yourself in the “Game of Thrones” fandom, at least for owners of Apple gizmos.

Beginning Thursday with Book 1 and ending in March 2017 with Book 5, iBooks will offer interactive annotated editions of each volume in the book series. At the very end of each is an excerpt of the highly anticipated Book 6, The Winds of Winter, previously shared on Martin’s blog.

With new covers in a specially commissioned typeface (called “Castle”) the books feature illustrations from many of the artists whose work is also seen in the Penguin Random House illustrated print edition slated for release in October.

But the eBook editions offer interactive resources for readers, too. Martin worked closely with Apple to provide notes ― 277 annotations and 278 definitions throughout Book 1 alone ― that are spoiler-free. Definitions and annotations were written carefully so as not to reveal information the reader hasn’t yet learned.

New characters (or ones that haven’t appeared in a while) are bolded in the text; tap them and their descriptions pop up. Annotations noting background information on thematic elements, Martin’s creative process and observations on characters’ perspectives are marked with gold crowns. There are a few per chapter, and they all expand with a tap, too. A glossary at the end lists terms to know, like “Iron Islands,” the inhospitable realm of House Greyjoy.

“Anything that confuses you, anything you want to know more about, it’s right there at your fingertips,” said Martin in a statement.

An appendix at the end of each book is home to more information, including maps documenting main characters’ journeys, information on each major house, their sigils, and an expandable map of the “Known World.”

This isn’t the first annotated edition of “Game of Thrones” ― writer Sean T. Collins and series editor Anne Groell teamed up with the reading app Subtext to offer an annotated edition in 2011 that’s no longer available ― nor is it the first illustrated edition. But the Enhanced Edition, meant for both fans and newcomers, is certainly the most helpful.

***Trick questions, all.

A Game of Thrones: Enhanced Edition is available for $8.99 on iBooks for Mac computers, iPads and iPhones.

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Stephanie Kurlow put on her first tutu at the age of 2. She donned her first hijab at the age of 9. When Kurlow first converted to Islam along with her family nine years ago, she feared her beliefs could never coincide with her artistic passion.

Now, at only 14 years old, Kurlow’s fears are behind her. The young dancer is en route to becoming the first professional ballerina in the world to don a hijab.

As these stunning photographs, taken at a dance studio in Sydney, Australia, clearly display, Kurlow is managing to combine her faith and her talent just fine. The images depict Kurlow, the daughter of Australian and Russian parents, in a striking blue tutu and matching hijab, as a dreamlike vision of discipline and poise. The stunning photos, starkly different from the ballet images that usually populate ballet reviews and Instagram feeds, present a preview of a more accepting and inclusive future for dance.

When Kurlow first began wearing hijab, she couldn’t find a ballet class that would allow her to wear the garment while training. Rather than back down, Kurlow launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for rigorous, private tutoring that would provide her with the training she needed to become the world’s first Muslim hijabi ballerina. 

Almost 700 people donated to make her vision a reality, raising a total of over $7,000. 

And like a good ballerina, she made it all look so easy. “I think it’s really cool and amazing how ballerinas never show pain,” she said in an interview with CNN. “We could be bleeding in our shoes and never show pain.”

Kurlow, inspired by ballet trailblazer Misty Copeland and hijabi Emirati lifter Amna Al Haddad, hopes her story will inspire other girls who feel disconnected from their dreams due to their religions, ethnicities or backgrounds. She plans to one day open her own dance facility specifically geared toward diverse youths. 

“This school will have special programs for specific religions, support groups for our youth and people who are from disconnected communities,” she expressed in her LaunchGood campaign. “I will provide for our future generations a chance to express and heal themselves and others through the magnificent art of performing and creativity.”

Still just a teenager, Kurlow is undeterred by the disapproval thrown her way, from both Muslim and ballet communities. “I’ve gotten those looks or those little whispers from people saying that I can’t do it, and there are some parts of the ballet world that only see me for the clothes I wear, or the beliefs I have,” she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“But this means everything to me. I think I can bring people together through dance and inspire some young people from different races that might be a bit disengaged.” If the ballerina is this tenacious and engaged as a teenager, we look forward to seeing the old school standards she overthrows and sashays across in the future. 

Kurlow, you got this. We’re just lucky to get a glimpse of the absolutely gorgeous process. 

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In addition to the first glimpses of cardigan weather, an annual harbinger of fall in Manhattan is the New York Film Festival. Kicking off Friday and running through Oct. 16, the cinematic gala picks up where September’s trifecta (the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals) leave off, ushering in prestige films from across the globe as Hollywood prepares for winter’s more art-house-oriented releases. 

This year’s NYFF opens with the premiere of Ava DuVernay’s new documentary about the 13th Amendment. Most of the lineup is peppered with standout titles from other festivals, including Sundance’s “Manchester by the Sea,” Cannes’ “Personal Shopper” and “Toni Erdmann,” and Toronto’s “My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea” and “Jackie,” among others. But a few other films will make their world premieres, and one of NYFF’s signatures is revival screenings (this year’s includes Marlon Brando’s “One-Eyed Jacks” and Barbara Kopple’s “Harlan County, USA”) and conversations with filmmakers (Jim Jarmusch, Kenneth Lonergan and others are on hand). 

But enough chatter. If you don’t live in New York, fear not ― much of the lineup is slated for theatrical release before the end of the year. Put these movies on your radar. 

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According to GLAAD, formerly the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, almost 90 percent of Americans say they personally know someone who is gay, lesbian or bisexual, but only 16 percent know someone who is transgender. That is where the power of storytelling comes in. 

“Representation is where acceptance and understanding begin,” transgender performance artist Zackary Drucker explained in an interview with The Huffington Post. “Film is such an integral component in creating empathy. It shapes how so many people perceive the trans experience.”

Drucker, who also works as a producer on the series “Transparent,” is the guest curator for the upcoming TransNation Film Festival, a three-day survey of trans films showing at Los Angeles’ The Cinefamily cinematheque. “I’m a huge film buff. I always have been,” Drucker said. “I’m especially fascinated by representations of trans people in cinema, to examine the ways it has impacted our perceptions in culture at large.”

The festival, which runs in conjunction with beloved trans beauty pageant Queen USA, features documentaries, narratives and shorts, ranging from cult classics to under-acknowledged gems. 

The series kicks off with “Major!” a documentary about Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, a veteran of the Stonewall Rebellion, former sex worker, community leader and human rights activist who has spent 40 years fighting for trans women of color, specifically those made to endure police brutality and incarceration in men’s prisons.

The final film, Wu Tsang’s “Wildness,” explores the past and future of an iconic LGBT bar in Los Angeles, a longtime safe space for Latinx that becomes a hotspot for queer art kids. 

In between are a sundry selection of films from the 1960s to present day, each offering a nuanced portrait of what it can mean to be transgender. “We’ve gone from being victims and villains to more sympathetic and realistic characters in films and representations made by allies,” Drucker said. “We didn’t have allies before. We didn’t have people looking out for our community. It’s those people who have inspired us, as trans people, to make our own content.”

As exciting as trans representation in film is, Drucker looks forward to the day when trans filmmakers, writers and actors are the ones telling their own stories. “I think that what will come next is the conversation about trans content,” she said. “Content that is created, written, directed, produced, by people who are trans.”

In anticipation of the festival, Drucker shared 10 of her favorite films that bring transgender lives to the screen. 

1. “Ma Vie En Rose” (1997) 

When 7-year-old Ludo announces to their parents that they are, in fact, a girl, the parents assume it is just a childish phase. Before long, however, Ludo is dressing up in princess dresses, wearing lipstick, and dreaming about the boy next door. In the enchanting and overall lighthearted film, Ludo’s family struggles to understand their self-described “boygirl” in a world that views difference as a threat. (Directed by Alain Berliner)  

2. “Trash” (1970)

The entirety of “Trash,” also known as “Andy Warhol’s Trash,” takes place over a single day, as Joe, a heroin addict struggling with drug-induced impotence, hunts for drugs with the help of his girlfriend and amateur trash collector Holly, played by trans actress and Warhol muse Holly Woodlawn. At once a deadpan parody and exuberant work of art, “Trash” captures the beautiful ugliness of countercultural life. (Directed by Paul Morrissey)

3. “Female Trouble” (1974)*

John Waters’ buzzy follow-up to cult classic “Pink Flamingos” follows high school troublemaker Dawn Davenport, played by drag queen Divine, as she runs away from home and gets carried away in a life of crime. The dark comedy, inspired by Waters’ prison visits with Manson family killer Charles “Tex” Watson, revels in gloriously bad taste, from tacky hairstyles to murdering someone with a butcher knife! Fun fact via Drucker: the film’s title is referenced in Judith Butler’s iconic treatise Gender Trouble. (Directed by John Waters.)

4. “All About My Mother” (1999)

Pedro Almodóvar’s dizzying “screwball drama” revolves around femininity, artificiality, and the glorious overlap of the two. The film begins when Manuela, a nurse living in Madrid, loses her teenage son who is run over by a car while chasing his favorite actress for an autograph. The death leads Manuela on a journey filled with past lovers and friends, including rekindling a relationship with her son’s father, now a trans woman named Lola. Whether telling the stories of cis or trans women, Almodóvar captures how every woman is, in some way, an actress. (Directed by Pedro Almodóvar) 

5. “Wild Side” (2004)

Named after Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side,” the French language film stars trans actress Stéphanie Michelini as Stéphanie, a pre-operative trans woman working as a prostitute. When her mother ― who fails to recognize her child’s transition ― falls ill, Stéphanie returns to her small hometown to care for her, accompanied by her male roommates, an AWOL Russian soldier and an Algerian street worker. The two men both end up falling in love with Stéphanie, and a relationship that defies nearly every norm emerges between the three of them. (Directed by Sébastien Lifshitz)

6. “Free CeCe” (2016)

On the night of June 5, 2011, CeCe McDonald and her friends were walking to a store by her Minneapolis home when they were physically attacked by group of people hurling racist, transphobic and homophobic slurs. At the end of the confrontation, one of the attackers was killed with scissors that came from CeCe’s purse. CeCe was subsequently sent to a men’s prison in Minnesota, charged with second-degree manslaughter due to criminal negligence. Laverne Cox executive produced this documentary about race, gender and the criminal justice system, using CeCe’s incarceration and eventual release to examine the horrific nationwide violence, hatred and invisibility trans women of color face today. (Directed by Jacqueline Gares)

7. “The Queen” (1968)*

In 1967, Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick and Jackie Curtis served as judges for the Miss All­ American Camp Beauty Pageant, in which drag queens were judged according on their walks, talk, bathing suits, makeup, hair and beauty. In this glamorous and sentimental documentary, the precursor to “Paris is Burning,” viewers can glimpse behind the scenes at the substantive conversations accompanying the primping and priming, discussing issues ranging from sex confirmation surgery to racism within the drag scene. (Directed by Frank Simon) 

8. “Southern Comfort” (2001)

Trans man Robert Eads is the subject of this sparse and gut-wrenching documentary, set in the barren wasteland of Toccoa, Georgia. Eads was diagnosed with cervical and ovarian cancer, and denied treatment by over a dozen doctors who worried about whether treating a trans man would reflect poorly on their practice. When he was finally accepted for treatment, his cancer had grown so much that medical care was effectively futile. He died in 1999 at 53 years old. The film quietly follows Eads as he discusses his lifelong journey to overcome isolation from himself and others. (Directed by Kate Dries.)

9. “Wildness” (2012)*

”Wildness” tells the story of Los Angeles’ historic bar Silver Platter, which has long served as a refuge for Latino LGBTQ communities. The film is told from the point of view of the bar itself, with actress Mariana Marroquin narrating as a magical, protective party spirit. The tension arises when a younger group of queer artists of color (including the film’s director Wu Tsang) begin hosting a weekly performance art party in the space, as the two generations of queer party animals set out to see if they can share this sacred space. (Directed by Wu Tsang)

10. “Something Must Break” (2014)*

This Swedish film follows an electric and at times destructive love affair between transgender teen Sebastian/Ellie and Andreas, a sexually confused man torn between his feelings for Ellie and his refusal to accept his attraction to a trans woman. Transgender filmmaker Ester Martin Bergsmark’s combines signature love story tropes ― dancing on rooftops, running through dimly lit allies ― with lesser visualized aspects of gender and sexuality. (Directed by Ester Martin Bergsmark) 

*These films will be featured in the TransNation Film Festival.

TransNation Fim Festival takes place Thursday, October 20 through Sunday, October 23, 2016, at Cinefamily Cinematheque in Los Angeles. Buy tickets here. 

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Misty Copeland will never forget her first ballet class.

She was 13 years old when it happened. At that age, she was used to sitting in the bleachers overlooking a basketball court at her Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro, California, watching her brothers play. But on this particular day, she was invited to watch a ballet class on the court instead.

“The teacher called me to come down from the bleachers to join the class with the rest of the girls,” she recalled in a phone interview with The Huffington Post on Tuesday night. “I was so shy ― I never wanted to do it. I was in my socks and my shorts and my T-shirt. And it was terrifying and exciting all at the same time. And that was that. I never looked back.”

I wouldn’t be Misty Copeland, a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater, if it wasn’t for them.

Today, Copeland is a boundary-breaking ballerina: the first female African-American principal at the American Ballet Theater. She’s quick to credit her entire career to that Boys & Girls Club in San Pedro. “I wouldn’t be Misty Copeland, a principal dancer at the American Ballet Theater, if it wasn’t for them,” she explained to a video crew at the National Youth of the Year (NYOY) gala this week.

Copeland was at the gala honoring six women chosen as finalists for the NYOY award. They included Alexia Lewis, Melanie Webster, Raliyah Dawson, Arianna Skinner, Abria Franklin, and eventual winner Jocelyn Woods. Ahead of the ceremony, she answered a few of our questions on video and then hopped on the phone with HuffPost that night to talk about the importance of free youth programs, being a role model to President Obama’s daughters, and why the ballet world isn’t changing quickly enough.

On being a role model to President Obama’s daughters:

“Yeah, it’s pretty crazy. At the same time, he’s just so relatable and so human. He has two young girls and they’re African-American, so he absolutely understands what it is to be a black woman in America, just through his experiences with his wife and his daughters. It’s incredible for him to recognize me in that way. And it was amazing to be able to speak to him about these issues that are so important ― body image, especially, again, with black women. It’s amazing to even be acknowledged by him.”

On the importance of visibility:

“I think that’s kind of the first step into why I think the way I do ― understanding the importance of being able to see yourself and identify with people who have a voice and a platform. Especially with celebrities. It’s just important for a young child to be able to see themselves in every space and be represented.”

I think that it’s important for this generation to really accept all of themselves and what makes them unique and different.

On the obstacles facing young women today:

“It’s really difficult to exist in this time and not be persuaded and influenced by the imagery we see on social media. And I think that’s such a big part of what’s kind of seeping into our youth’s lives and affecting them. I think it’s important to be surrounded by people who are supporting you, to be unique, to own who you are, have a voice and not have to be like the person next to you.

“I think that it’s important for this generation to really accept all of themselves and what makes them unique and different. That’s something that I feel like is not celebrated when you turn on your phone and go to Twitter or Instagram or Facebook. We’re kind of being fed these images of these kinds of altered people and we’re supposed to think that that’s what beauty is. So I think what’s most important is that we accept who we are. That’s what makes us so beautiful as individuals.”

On using social media:

“Something that I’m definitely always thinking about [is] setting a positive example, especially through an art form I’m a part of that is so visual. I want to portray who I am and, of course, the hard work that goes into what it takes to be ballet dancer and to have a ballerina’s body. But it’s about taking care of yourself and respecting your body and feeding it and fueling it and keeping it healthy.”

On the advice she’d give to young boys and girls attempting to overcome shyness: 

“I think it’s so important to have mentors and have people in your life that are going to support you and are going to be there for you when you feel like, you know, you’re not capable or you’re not in the right place or mind space to be able to get where you want to go. To me, mentors have been such an important part of my success. I think you have to be vulnerable and open to asking for advice and accepting guidance.” 

To me, mentors have been such an important part of my success. I think you have to be vulnerable and open to asking for advice and accepting guidance.

On whether or not the ballet world is changing quickly enough:

“No. No. It’s just kind of how the ballet world has been since the time it came about. It’s something that is really slow to progress, being a European art form and just not ever really being accepting of anything that’s different or anyone outside of having pale skin. So I think it’s slow to progress, but at the same time, having the platform that I have to reach a broader audience ― it’s definitely waking up the ballet world. It’s forcing them to have to address the lack of diversity, and not just with skin color and ethnicity, but body types as well. I feel like the spotlight is being put on them and they’re having to address it. So, in that way, things are slowly changing.”

On the importance of the Boys & Girls Clubs:

“It’s inspiring. I mean, I feel like it’s this cycle of ― I was once in their position of being a young person wanting to succeed and wanting to have opportunities presented to me. So to be able to look back and be inspired by them and what they’re doing and the obstacles they come from; me being in that position at one point. It’s so empowering. Especially this year, to see six women that are really supporting each other and given an opportunity to stand on the stage and speak their truth and share their stories with us. I know all of them are going to successful in their lives.”

On the most influential aspect of the Clubs:

“I mean, it’s just amazing to have a second home, which I know this is to all of these girls who are here tonight. And it really was a second home for me, when my mother was working several jobs. So besides just having a place to go, a place to be tutored, a place to really make connections and learn how to communicate and social skills and all of those things, I found ballet at my club. Which is so unique for that time. Now so many clubs have incorporated dance and have official dance studios. It’s just so amazing because I wouldn’t be here without having the support of my club and being introduced into an art form in this way.”  

That’s been a big part of my existence since I’ve become a professional dancer is just trying to create opportunities for people like me

On the importance of free Club services for kids:

“That’s been a big part of my existence since I’ve become a professional dancer is just trying to create opportunities for people like me, in the way that I grew up, and give them opportunities like I had ― which was through an outreach program through the Boys & Girls Club with a local ballet school. So I helped to create a diversity initiative called Project Plié, and it’s in conjunction with the Boys & Girls Club and American Ballet Theater. It’s amazing to be able to create something that is going to give kids opportunities in underprivileged communities ― give them the same opportunities kids who are exposed to these other programs have.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

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Warning: Mild spoilers for “Transparent” Season 3 below.

The third season of “Transparent” debuted last week with even more Pfefferman family moments ― both the warm-fuzzy and the tearful kinds.

While Maura (Jeffrey Tambor) continues to navigate her new life as a trans woman, her ex-wife Shelly (Judith Light) and children are absorbed in their own struggles. Josh (Jay Duplass) examines his ties to his own small family while Ali (Gaby Hoffmann) plunges into a relationship with an older mentor. Sarah (Amy Landecker), meanwhile, tries to mend fences between herself, her ex-husband, Len, and her Jewish faith.

The Huffington Post talked to Landecker about Season 3, including that intense interaction with her professional dominatrix, exactly why the show looks and feels so true to life, and where it’s going next season.

Sarah starts out in a good place in Season 3, exploring her religious beliefs with Rabbi Raquel and her sexuality with [BDSM worker] Pony, but we see those relationships break down midway through the season. Where does Sarah end up by the end?

There’s this dinner with the family to celebrate Maura’s birthday. And ― in kind of the same way that you go home for the holidays and it sets off a regression ― for me, that was a turning point where the frustration underneath unmoors her a little. That satisfaction of going from Pony and having this transactional pleasure doesn’t really work — she’s kind of bored with it — which leads to mounting frustration, which then leads to this spiritual exploration. But whenever she’s driven by a selfish desire, [such as] going for Raquel when, clearly, her brother is still in love with her and she’s still in love with him, it sort of backfires on her. And once again, she’s hurt somebody in an effort to find personal satisfaction. By the end of the season, I feel like she’s really feeling that in a more profound way. She’s yelled at her kids, Raquel has fallen apart, and I think she’s really thinking, “I need to change how I’m doing this.” She wants to be close to her family. She wants to be close to Len. She wants to be close to her sister.

You mentioned one particular scene, where Sarah explodes at Pony and forces her to leave town.

I love that Sarah is so “hard” that her dom has to quit. 

Right!

It was funny, because it was pretty out there, right? And we have all these writers. We have gender-queer [people], we have people who have been in the BDSM world, we have people who are trans, a lot of different experiences. And I was like, “Who wrote this! Who wrote this line?” And it was Bridget Bedard, who is our cis-gender female new mom. And I was laughing my ass off. OK, Bridget. This is your line about ripping a head off …? It was really funny that it came from her head.

But it was intense to do. It was hard to do. Screaming at people is still hard to do even under pretend circumstances. I was worried that everyone would hate me, but so far people seem to think it was a pretty powerful scene, and funny and weird and everything “Transparent” is. So I’m feeling OK about it. 

You understand how she got to that point, after meeting the spinning instructor that her husband is dating. You get why she blows up.

They were really careful about the placement of it, too. A concern of mine, and that the writers were really attuned to, was the sequence leading up to the event. We have a lot of storylines, and sometimes you don’t have a lot of time to tell what leads to something. But I think people can relate to that. She’s upset about something else, but she’s given an opportunity to express it, and it just gets out of control. She’s using this poor person as a scapegoat.

Did you know much about the BDSM community before Season 2?

I knew nothing! Nothing at all. I didn’t go do research or anything like that. Jill [Soloway] and I talked about that, [the fact that] I was totally green and scared and not in my element when I first met Pony at the women’s festival at the end of Season 2. Jill knew I was worried about it. I was scared. I’m much wimpier than I am on the show. I read the pages and I’m like, “Oh, god!” So she had the great idea of hiring someone for that scene who was from that world, so there was someone comfortable and you didn’t have two actors trying to act something out that they weren’t familiar with.

She was brilliant ― brilliant ― to hire this gender-queer actor from the adult film world, Jiz Lee. They are gender nonconforming and they do queer porn ― another world I have no familiarity with. But our writers do. And what I learned was that it’s a way safer world than anyone could possibly imagine. It sets major limits. So what I did in that scene, in real life would be completely unacceptable. I would be banished from that world if I behaved like that. It is not a place where you let out aggression; it’s actually a place where you can freely enjoy a type of stimulation with safety so that you feel free. You’re loose because you know things can’t go too far. The people that I met through the show were incredibly thoughtful, incredibly kind, incredibly normal and not at all like my image of scary people into S&M. 

There is a “scary” image associated with that.

Yeah. But, I mean, it makes sense. We all like a little hair-pull. [Laughs]

So I imagine working in an environment like that, on Jill Soloway’s set, feels way different from other sets you’ve been on.

Yeah, it’s totally different. We talk a lot about the difference when you come from a feminine, female perspective. And I don’t think it’s just about being a woman, because I think there are very feminine men. I think if we’re just talking about the binary ― which is something we try to stay away from, but it’s hard to describe this without invoking it ― a “masculine” set is one that favors the equipment, and a “feminine” set favors the emotions.

We don’t really ever wait for lighting. We spend our time making sure the emotional truth is there in every scene. We don’t spend a lot of time in hair and makeup; we spend a lot of time making sure everything feels genuine and authentic. And it’s just a different approach than most television and film productions, which can spend a lot of time on the aesthetics and the pace and the action. You don’t do a lot of sitting around, and then acting for two seconds, because you’re not waiting an hour for the best lighting. People are kind of shocked at how “human” we all look, but that’s what people look like on camera. I did an NBC sitcom and there was literally an air balloon of light up in the sky to shine on my face. It’s a different aesthetic. It’s a different goal. So when you watch it, it seems like this intense experience, and that’s because the emotions are the primary focus. And that’s all Jill.

Has anyone been talking about Season 4?

We’re going to try to do another trip, because we found ourselves on that cruise having the time of our lives. We’re such a family anyway in real life. This is a very, very, very, very, very close group of people, so we found ourselves really enjoying that ― getting away together. We’re all lobbying for another Pfefferman vacation or some kind of travel. I do think there’ll be some more exploration with Len, and I think [Sarah is] finding her way.

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.

“Transparent” Season 3 is now available on Amazon. 

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It’s said you can learn a lot about someone by looking at their bedroom.

And if that’s true, then John Thackwray knows about a lot of people. The traveling photographer has snapped portraits for his My Room Project in 1,200 intimate bedroom settings around the globe, from the heart of New York City to poor neighborhoods in Nairobi.

The photo series started as a casual way for Thackwray to study how young people live, particularly people born in the ‘80s and ‘90s. He started with friends in Paris and then moved around the world, using social media and nonprofit organizations to find his subjects, then taking photos of them and their rooms while chatting about politics, education and relationships.

“Bedroom” may not be the best term, Thackwray says, because some rooms often serve many functions for his subjects and their families. Each place has its own personality.

“I was impressed by spiritually in India, the hospitality in Russia and the craziness of the Japanese lifestyle,” Thackwray told The Huffington Post. “Every photo is a different story.”

Each photo in the project comes captioned with the name, age and occupation of its occupant, along with a “room number” in chronological order of Thackwray’s travels. A hundred of the photos will be featured in Thackwray’s forthcoming book, which is available for pre-order online, but even just a few make for a powerful peek at how the world rests at home. Take a look a few more:

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Imagine you’re a college freshman enjoying spring break on the rowdy beaches of Panama City, Florida. A middle-aged British woman approaches. She asks if you’d quite like to star in a film, something you ― a Texas-born psychology major working shifts at a Mexican chain restaurant ― have never considered pursuing. You can’t say no, right?

Less than a year later, you’re walking the red carpet at Cannes, where said film nets that British woman, whose name is Andrea Arnold, her third jury prize from the festival. (The others were for 2006’s “Red Road” and 2009’s “Fish Tank.”) And a few months after that French pageant, you and your castmates are having a pseudo spring break of your own at the Toronto Film Festival, where a party bus takes you around town and the after-party for your movie’s premiere, set at a country bar whose rowdiness rivals that of Florida’s beaches, becomes one of the week’s highlights. 

The movie in question, “American Honey,” which opens theatrically Sept. 30, befits the spirit of the stories that underscore its quick-paced history. An open-road odyssey that follows a merry band of young misfits on a quest for transient stability, “American Honey” is probably the only Toronto title where the sight of journalists dancing to Rihanna’s “We Found Love” and Rae Sremmurd’s “No Type” alongside the cast felt like an outtake from the film. 

As for the lucky spring breaker whom Arnold, as they say, plucked from obscurity? That’s Sasha Lane, the now-21-year-old first-time actress cast as the “American Honey” lead, a dumpster scavenger named Star who escapes her untamed family life by joining a traveling magazine sales team comprising itinerants with similar backstories. A lengthy 2007 New York Times article about these often lawless “mag crews” inspired Arnold to consider the types who would abandon home in search of a nomadic pilgrimage. They canvass suburbs to peddle subscriptions, sleep in run-down motels and bookend quarrels by partying nightly with their makeshift tribe. 

“The thing that I actually wanted to explore was the idea that all these kids from quite difficult backgrounds formed a surrogate family on this bus,” Arnold said, sitting in the café of a luxe hotel on the afternoon before the movie’s Toronto premiere. “That was essentially the thing that attracted me to it, this idea that all these kids from all over the place had difficult lives. I think it’s not so much that they’re selling magazines ― they’re selling themselves, although I don’t think they think of it that way.” 

A waiter walked up mid-interview to see if we’d like to place an order. He recognized Arnold right away. “Chardonnay?” he asked knowingly. Arnold laughed. “That was last night,” she told me. “We all met up last night, all the crew from the film. We hadn’t seen each other in months, so we all stayed and had a drink and ended up in some sports bar, dancing around the tables.”

This seems to be a theme of the “American Honey” experience. For all the partying that unfolds onscreen, often in booze-soaked fields near the mag crew’s motels, Arnold promised more occurred while the cameras weren’t rolling. She never told the cast ― mostly newcomers, and also Shia LaBeouf, who imbues Star’s rattailed love interest with a feral machismo ― their next destination. Starting in Oklahoma and traversing the Midwest, the “American Honey” actors drifted in real time with their characters. Despite having a finite script, Arnold often perched in the back of the mag crew’s large white van, alongside two sound recorders, and captured the action, vérité style. That technique accentuates the narrative’s free-spirited trek. 

Along the way, the brazen onscreen romance between Star and her gruff beau melded with real life. In a short-lived whirlwind, Sasha Lane reportedly moved in with LaBeouf after his breakup with “Nymphomaniac” co-star Mia Goth. Lane and LeBeouf became a minor tabloid fixation. Before I told her, Arnold was unaware that gossip outlets like Page Six and The Daily Mail had seized on the drama.

The whole thing is rather fortuitous, especially considering the laudatory reviews “American Honey” has seen. Arnold had cast someone else as Star, but that actress dropped out weeks before production was slated to begin, leading to Arnold’s mad rush through Florida in search of another unknown who captured the protagonist’s grubby restlessness. Had Arnold made the film two years ago, she said, Star would have been completely different ― but for reasons that are “quite hard to talk about” because the project’s evolution is “personal” for the director, a child of divorce whose work is fascinated with instability and self-discovery. (Arnold has also helmed three episodes of “Transparent,” and her Oscar-winning short film “Wasp” revolves around a struggling single mother.)

“American Honey” offers more than a miscreant utopia, though. Like the New York Times article that inspired it, the nearly three-hour movie (well worth its running time) showcases the violence and volatility that sometimes haunt mag crews. The group is managed by Krystal, a scowling overlord played by the magnetizing Riley Keough, whose prominent roles include “The Girlfriend Experience” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” In between pep talks and decrees, Krystal orders the group to pulverize the day’s weakest seller. None question where Krystal is sending the cash they earn ― part of it funds food and lodging, and part is inevitably delivered to a rapacious corporation unconcerned with its monopoly on these young people’s well-being. The mag crew, in some ways, eschews the capitalistic structures of ordained society, yet they nonetheless find themselves subjected to that system in a savage way. The movie, in all its raunchy glory, is distinctly American.

While writing the film, which could be seen as a companion to “Kids” and “Spring Breakers,” Arnold traveled the country, meeting mag crews. She found a young woman who joined one immediately after leaving jail and was raped three times. Arnold also met kids fleeing rotten family situations and discovering a limitless world on the open road. It was equal parts ugly and beautiful, and that is what “American Honey” captures.

During Arnold’s research, the titular Lady Antebellum song was a radio staple. She heard it constantly, soaking in the lyrics about a small-town girl who left home and later longed for the simplicity of childhood. The song forms a vital scene in the film, an “Almost Famous”-style singalong that cements the mag crew’s unity and offers hope for their future. It was an organic moment while shooting. One character was meant to sing along to the van radio, but the actress’ voice was shot that day, and the rest of the cast joined in to help. That spirit is exactly what Arnold wanted to convey, all the way through the “Honey” gang’s film-festival revelry. 

“They were just helping her, just supporting her,” Arnold said. “That absolutely encapsulated the reason I wanted to do [the film].”

Arnold imagines her characters stick together after “American Honey” fades to black. In 10 years, maybe they’ve abandoned the magazines for another utopia, the American Dream rolling forward with age and, hopefully, maturity. 

“I gave Shia a really beautiful picture of the South which had trees, and for some reason this picture had a real resonance with me to do the film, and I kept imagining they were going to end up in the woods somehow,” Arnold said. “They’re growing their own vegetables and they’re making furniture. They’re going to go join Star. They’re all together still, in the woods.That’s kind of what I hope for them.”

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The Romanian team behind the controversial “Orthodox priests” calendar is back with another 12 months of sin... and salvation!

(This article contains images that might be considered not suited for work.) 

As in previous years, the 2017 Orthodox Calendar features steamy images of hunky models striking homoerotic poses amidst religious iconography. Now in its fifth edition, this year’s installment is titled “P.I.L.F.,” or “Priests I’d Like To F**k.”

Tongue-in-cheek imagery aside, the calendar actually has a more serious aim. The creative team told The Huffington Post that the photos are not intended for religious purposes, but are meant as “an artistic effort to creatively protest homophobia” in the Orthodox Church, to which nearly 90 percent of Romanians belong, and a celebration of “diversity, equality and freedom.”  

“The [Orthodox] church has lost its way and is desperately trying to prevent hundreds of millions of people living in modern societies that respect human rights,” Magdalena De Iona, who is the press representative for the calendar, said. “We’d like to think that our art could empower people to question traditional forms of authority.” 

This year, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to Orasul Meu (or “My City, My Colors”), a local NGO focused on providing health care for disadvantaged youth, De Iona said. 

Steamy, thought-provoking and philanthropic!

Read more about the 2017 Orthodox Calendar here. 

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You can be highbrow. You can be lowbrow. But can you ever just be brow? Welcome to Middlebrow, a weekly examination of pop culture.

How does a New York City–born, Puerto Rican, theater-geek Wesleyan grad grow up to be one of the hottest names in show biz (and a dad)? 

We tried really hard to make that rhyme — we’re guessing that Lin-Manuel Miranda would have done a better job with the subject matter. It’s his life, after all.

Who could have predicted the smash success of “Hamilton: An American Musical,” penned by Miranda, or that it would spark nationwide interest in Founding Fathers, old-school hip-hop, and the status of Daveed Diggs’ hair? Perhaps Miranda could have, seeing as he graciously accepted the chuckles thrown his way when he announced at a 2009 White House Poetry Jam that he was working on “a concept album about the life of someone I think embodies hip-hop: Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.” Just you wait, chuckling White House crowd.

Seven years later, and after about a year of wearing his hair long in order to convincingly portray ol’ Hamilton, Lin keeps popping up on our pop culture radar. First, we hear that he will have a hand in the upcoming “Mary Poppins” remake. Then the upcoming live-action version of “The Little Mermaid.” His first musical, “In the Heights,” is being adapted into a film. Oh — and he’s also done stuff for “Moana”! And now he’s hosting “SNL”! Look around, look around: There he is on the cover of G-freaking-Q. 

It’s raining Lin, and we couldn’t be more pleased.

The unusual thing about Miranda is that every ounce of hype that comes his way is unduly deserved. He’s worked hard, put in the hours, and is coming out on top. He’s a celebrity you can fawn over without feeling sheepish about our fawning celebrity culture.

Beyond his talent and smarts, Miranda also comes off in public appearances and on social media as incredibly kind. His Twitter page is a chronicle of daily (and nightly) encouragements to 814,000 followers, and he’s been outspoken about Puerto Rico’s debt crisis and the importance of arts education. He married high school friend Vanessa Nadal and still gushes about her like they’ve just met (and vice versa). He’s totally down with his image being used for a hilarious anti-Trump meme. Miranda, the son of an immigrant, is living proof that the American dream — the U.S. as a land of opportunity, not one lying in disrepair and needing to be made “great again” by some alt-right faction ― can come true for some.

And he made Broadway ― a cultural Mecca that still can feel niche, where the crossover from getting covered in Playbill to getting covered in, um, GQ is rare ― cool again. As Gordon Cox writes for Variety, Miranda and “Hamilton” “not only accomplished the seemingly impossible task of making musical theater hip again, but [they] also lifted Broadway into the cultural conversation of celebrities, politicians, and academics around the country.”

Based on recent interviews, it’s clear Miranda is aware of this unprecedented level of fame he’s experiencing. He told Cox, “I’m someone who really believes fame is what you make of it. I want to wear it lightly.” Meanwhile, in his GQ story, he said, “You think of artists who had that big thing, and then they go back to that well again and again with diminishing returns, but the world has moved on ... I am acutely aware of the fact I could spend seven years on a project that opens and closes in a night.”

To Miranda, success is “the gravy” of what he does, meaning that while it adds a nice flavor to everything, you can’t make a whole meal out of it. (We’d love to sit down with him and talk more food metaphors.)

As Miranda fans, we’re happy to keep riding this train of success with him. But if the “SNL” hosting opportunities and magazine covers go away, we’ll still follow along — mostly because he just seems to be really, really cool, regardless of who’s watching.

Follow Jill Capewell on Twitter: @jcapejcape.

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Like most 4-year-olds, Phoebe Dooley loves toys, animals and stories. She has a wild imagination, a great sense of humor and a wisdom beyond her years. Her favorite color is pink.

Unlike most 4-year-olds, Phoebe is battling an aggressive brain cancer that is notoriously difficult to treat.

With the help of an altruistic photographer, Phoebe’s parents want to shine a light on their daughter’s story and encourage people to donate to cancer research.

On March 22, 2016, Phoebe was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), a brain tumor that affects approximately 300 children in the U.S. each year. Her parents, both doctors, had noticed her eyes crossing and head turning slightly when she watched television and brought her to an eye doctor. Though the doctor felt nothing was wrong with Phoebe, he recommended a precautionary MRI, which revealed the tumor in her brain stem.

At their first consultation, Phoebe’s neuro-oncologist shared information about DIPG with her parents, Sarah and Cole. “It’s actually one of the worst kinds,” Cole told The Huffington Post. “It carries a vary grim prognosis. Phoebe’s doctor told us that there have been no significant improvements in the treatment of this disease since the 1960s.”

Because of the tumor’s location in the brain stem, surgery is generally not an option, so the standard treatment is about six weeks of radiation, after which many kids experience tumor shrinkage and decrease of symptoms. Cole explained that this “honeymoon period” generally lasts a number of months.

“Unfortunately, there is no known cure and the tumor will come back,” the dad explained, adding that there is little to be done once the symptoms return.

“Children affected by this tumor eventually lose the ability to speak, eat, swallow, move their limbs,” said Cole. “It grows in an area that controls the heart rate and breathing, and they eventually succumb to this disease. They are mentally aware of what is happening to them and must feel like they are ‘trapped in a body’ that isn’t working as it should.”

The average life expectancy for a child with DIPG is about 9 months from diagnosis. “We were now living every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Cole.

Following Phoeobe’s diagnosis, the Dooleys embarked on a difficult journey. Phoebe had an infusaport implanted in her body so that she could receive daily sedatives for her radiation treatments. She also started taking steroids to help decrease swelling in the brain, a common side effect of radiation. Soon after, she started her radiation treatments, five days a week for six weeks.

“This was a really difficult time because Phoebe got significantly worse during radiation initially,” Cole recalled. She experienced leg pain to the point of refusing to walk, stopped playing with her toys and spent most of her time sitting and lying down to watch TV or sleep. The steroids gave her a voracious appetite, and her body weight doubled in about three weeks.

“She essentially went from a little girl that loved to run and jump, endlessly played with her toys, and seemed to have no limit to a little girl that did absolutely nothing,” Cole said. “We were terrified that she was actively dying at this point in time.”

The dad said the whole treatment process was incredibly scary for everyone, especially Phoebe. “We would have to wake her up at 6:15 a.m. every morning. We would load her up in the car in her pajamas and she would cry inconsolably most days before her treatment,” he said. “She didn’t really know what was happening to her, but she would tell us she was ‘scared’ and did not like it when they gave her the ‘sleepy medicines.’”

After the family received Phoebe’s diagnosis, a friend put them in touch with Stacey Steinberg, a well-known family photographer in the Gainesville, Florida area, where the Dooleys live. Stacey has photographed kids facing heartbreaking medical circumstances for her “Shared Hope Project” and volunteered her services to the family. She photographed Phoebe on May 13 ― the last day of her radiation treatment at University of Florida Health. 

“It had been a pretty intense, dark time for us,” Cole recalled. “We would arrive at the hospital at around 7 a.m. daily for six weeks, she would be sedated and then have her treatment. We started to see improvement towards the end of the six weeks and wanted Stacey to capture the last day of treatment.”

By that time, Phoebe had started having energy again and wanted to play. “It seemed every day, we were seeing more of the ‘old Phoebe’ coming back to us,” said Cole. “We felt reassured that we had made the right choice to endure all that we had with radiation because it seemed we would get more time with her ― not just time, but quality time.”

After radiation, Phoebe started a clinical trial at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where she received an oral chemotherapy drug that targets DIPG tumors. Since June, the Dooleys have been traveling back and forth to Cincinnati for monthly visits.

“We went into this realizing that it would not likely be a cure, but maybe it would slow growth down to allow us more time,” Cole said. Being in Cincinnati comes with the added benefit of being closer to family, as all of their immediate relatives live in the Midwest. 

Phoebe continued to improve each day, with her post-radiation scan showing significant tumor shrinkage and her July MRI indicating the tumor was “stable.” Over the past two weeks, however, she started showing small signs of change for the worse. An MRI on Sept. 22 confirmed slight tumor growth.

“Although she’s still very active, happy, and playful, the news was devastating,” Cole said. “We have felt like we are racing against a ‘ticking clock’, and now it feels even worse knowing the tumor has had some slight growth. We know the statistics are not good.”

The Dooleys plan to continue the chemotherapy drug trial as long as they can in hopes of delaying further tumor growth.

Today, Sarah and Cole are on a mission to fight Phoebe’s cancer and to raise funds and awareness. They started an organization called Face Kids’ Cancer to encourage people to donate.

They want Stacey’s photos of Phoebe to play a role in the cause. “We really hope though that people see these and it makes them want to do something, to change something, and commit to it,” said Cole. “We hope that Stacey’s photos make people aware of this problem and help get pediatric cancer the attention that so many other types of cancers now have.”

Each year, approximately 16,000 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with cancer, and an almost 2,000 of those kids die from the disease. It is the leading cause of death by disease for children past infancy. Yet only four percent of federal funding for cancer research is allocated specifically to pediatric cancer.

“Pediatric cancer is not something that people talk about,” Cole said. “As we said before, our family story is every family’s worst nightmare. People do not want to realize that children can die from disease. So these photos do something invaluable … they get people talking.”

The dad also emphasized that no one is immune to the possibility of this devastating diagnosis. “We have tried to do everything ‘right,’” he said. “She only eats grass fed beef, organic food and loves fruits and vegetables. We avoided red dye, unhealthy carbohydrates, candy/juice and only give her whole grains. She is one of the healthiest eating children we have ever seen.”

Ultimately, Cole said they do not want people to “just get sad” at the sight of Stacey’s photos. “A lot of people see these and are paralyzed,” he said. “I hope people will find a way to get involved, help a family that is struggling, donate to pediatric cancer research.”

In fact, Cole wants people to “get really mad.” He said, “I hope that they see the brave little kids fight these diseases with fewer resources. Frankly, I hope people get mad as hell.”

Cole and Sarah also support Stacey’s mission to capture some of the beauty in the dark circumstances of cancer. The dad explained:

“We hope they see how strong little kids with illnesses are. We hope they see that little kids that are sick don’t let being sick define them. When a sick child is faced with the same circumstances that would make an adult sleep or stay in bed, the kid will keep playing. They are stronger than anyone thinks, and a lot of time they are much wiser than you would normally see in the same age child. We hope that people see Phoebe’s strength, her beauty, her grace despite all that is happening.” 

For her part, Phoebe is still fighting and amazing everyone around her. “Our daughter is very tender-hearted,” said Cole. “When she looks at you, she has a way of looking into your soul. She has a way of capturing the hearts of everyone she meets. She has a beautiful soul and has been a fighter since day one.”

Admiring his daughter’s strength, he added, “We picked the name Phoebe because it means ‘radiant light.’ It turned out that it fits perfectly.”

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It’s time to welcome Wonder Woman to the DC Comics’ growing circle of LGBT superheroes. 

Writer Greg Rucka confirmed that Wonder Woman, otherwise known as Diana of Themyscira, is queer in an interview with Comicosity. Rucka said the decision to depict the character as such was only “logical,” given that her island home, Themyscira, is inhabited only by women, which can be interpreted by some as a “queer culture.” 

“It’s supposed to be paradise. You’re supposed to be able to live happily. You’re supposed to be able… to have a fulfilling, romantic and sexual relationship,” he said. “And the only options are women.”

As to whether or not Wonder Woman has been in love and had relationships with other women, he added, “As [artist Nicola Scott] and I approach it, the answer is obviously yes. And it needs to be yes for a number of reasons.” 

The news probably comes as little surprise to Wonder Woman fans, as there have been varying theories around the character’s sexuality for some time. In 2015, she presided over a same-sex wedding in Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman, Chapter 48. To date, however, no other DC Comics writer has gone on record regarding whether or not fans can interpret Wonder Woman as a queer character. 

It remains to be seen whether or not Rucka’s confirmation will play out in the DC Rebirth relaunch of the Wonder Woman series, which will include two stories featuring the character. It should be noted that Wonder Woman has traditionally been depicted as having a longtime, heterosexual love interest in Steve Trevor, who she often rescues in a gender-reversed take on the “damsel-in-distress” motif. It appears as if 2017’s hotly-anticipated “Wonder Woman” film will maintain the heterosexual relationship, with “Star Trek” hunk Chris Pine starring as Trevor opposite Gal Gadot in the titular role. 

Still, major kudos to DC Comics, which hasn’t shied away from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues in recent years. In 2013, the DC Universe introduced the first openly transgender character in a “Batgirl” comic. Meanwhile, Selina Kyle, the character formally known as Catwoman, was confirmed to be bisexual.

Welcome to the family, Wonder Woman! 

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In October of 2011, I sat at work with my colleagues in our basement office in London’s Bloomsbury neighborhood, listening intently as BBC 1 anchors announced the acquittal of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of Meredith Kercher. The mood in the room full of my British colleagues was one of disappointment: Kercher was a British university student whose violent murder was almost completely overshadowed by her “foxy” roommate’s alleged involvement in her death. The release of Knox felt like an incredible blow. 

Five years after that acquittal ― following another appeal and Knox’s ultimate exoneration ― a Netflix documentary examines the whole story: the murder itself, the characters involved in the investigation and prosecution of the case, and the hurricane of press that accompanied the trial.

(Watch the trailer below.)

Featuring footage of the crime scene and original interviews with Knox, Sollecito, lawyers, detectives, prosecutors and one journalist who capitalized on Kercher’s murder and the mystery surrounding it, “Amanda Knox” offers a fascinating look at the way we demonize women perceived as “slutty.”

“I was quirky and I was OK with that,” Knox says in the documentary, about the young woman she was before studying abroad in the medieval Italian town of Perugia. “I thought of myself as a warrior princess...I remember thinking ‘OK, I’m different. I’m my own person, but I’m gonna find my place.’”

Shortly after moving to Perugia and moving into an apartment with Kercher, she met the handsome and romantic Sollecito, with whom she began an intense and passionate relationship. Five days after they first got together, on Nov. 2, 2009, Kercher was found dead.

Sadly, even years later, there is still no clear public consensus on who murdered Kercher. Despite Knox being exonerated (twice) by the Italian criminal system, as well as overwhelming evidence of Rudy Guede’s involvement and his eventual conviction for Kercher’s murder, many are still convinced of Knox’s guilt ― including Kercher’s family. 

But one thing, regardless of who committed the murder, is absolutely certain: The case, and the subsequent public interest, was influenced by media coverage that focused more on Knox’s supposedly scandalous sexual history than the facts of Kercher’s murder. 

The documentary shows that much of the speculation surrounding Knox’s involvement with Kercher’s death began with Italian Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini. From the onset of his investigation, Mignini appeared to revile Knox. He decided almost immediately that she was, at the very least, in part to blame for Kercher’s murder. No amount of evidence ― or lack thereof ― ever has convinced him otherwise. 

Knox’s behavior in the immediate aftermath of Kercher’s murder was admittedly abnormal and arguably inappropriate ― what Knox might call “quirky”: as police investigated her home, she and Sollecito stood outside kissing and comforting one another. From this point on, Mignini ― a middle-aged Roman Catholic man ― never wavers in his unfavorable opinion of Knox. In fact, much of the evidence against Knox seems to stem from Mignini’s personal opinion. He believes that Kercher’s killer must be a woman, because “no man” would ever cover up the body of the woman he murdered. It was also Mignini’s conclusion that Knox, Sollecito and Rudy Guede (the man ultimately convicted of murdering Kercher) had killed Kercher because she was a prude and they were violent, enraged sexual deviants.

“Amanda was a girl that was very uninhibited,” Mignini says in the documentary. “She would bring boys home...If you could imagine a girl different from Amanda in every imaginable way, it would be Meredith.”

For Mignini, the fact that Knox enjoyed dating and having sex was enough to make her the bad guy. This would, of course, be the image that was painted of Knox in the press for years to come. 

London-based reporter Nick Pisa covered the murder and trial for a number of British tabloids and fed into this narrative. A brief sampling of his headlines on the case included “Weeping Foxy is freed to make a fortune,” “Foxy Knoxy protests innocence and details her many lovers - and her fan-mail - in prison diary,” and “Sex crime? Foxy Knoxy and her boyfriend ‘just young lovebirds.’”

“A murder always gets people going,” he says in the documentary. “It was a particularly gruesome murder...what more do you want in a story?” The answer, apparently, was Knox: an attractive, young, blonde, white woman who put Pisa on the map for his coverage of her.

Pisa took the prosecutor’s theory of a “sex game gone wrong,” and ran with it. “To see your name on the front page with a great story that everyone’s talking about...it’s just a fantastic buzz. I’d like to say it’s like having sex or something like that, you know?” he said of the rush of reporting on Kercher’s death. 

Murder cases involving female perpetrators (alleged or otherwise), are heavily sensationalized ― see Aileen Wuornos, Casey Anthony and Jody Arias. But considering how many men murder women ― each day in the United States, three women are killed by their intimate partners ―  the disparity in how we talk about “bad men” vs. “bad women” says a lot about how much society enjoys the thought of a woman gone bad. In Knox’s case specifically, an alleged female murderer was significantly more interesting to the public than the young woman who was murdered. What does that say about us? 

“I think people love monsters, and so when they get the chance they want to see them,” Knox says in the documentary. 

In some ways, she’s right. People do love monsters. And they especially love when those monsters are (white, conventionally attractive) women.

On Thursday morning, Knox sat down with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” to discuss the upcoming Netflix documentary. “When you think about Meredith’s family,” Roberts asked, “do you think about how this is for them?” 

“That’s the really sad part about this tragedy,” Knox responded. “As soon as the prosecutor made it about [me], they took away the fact that this case is about her and what the truth was about what happened to her. She’s been lost in all of that.” 

“Amanda Knox” will stream on Netflix starting Friday, September 30.

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