A weekly look at sex and culture, by the numbers 

As a culture, we spend a lot of time watching TV. We also spend a lot of time thinking about sex, so it’s no surprise that the two go hand-in-hand. This week’s Sex By Numbers takes a look at this cozy cultural marriage.

150: Number of college students in a recent study that watched a variety of TV shows—including 7th Heaven, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and The Tudors—and then answered questions about their attitude toward women. The study found shows that with a strong female lead can “eliminate the negative effects of sexually violent media.”

38: When asked who or what influences them most in regards to sex, 38% of respondents said their parents were the main influencers; just 9% named the media or TV as the most influential.

24: Number of hours that a Japanese satellite adult TV channel aired a “breast squeeze” benefit to raise money for AIDs awareness.

1st: This week, Fatma Nabil became the first female Egyptian news presenter to wear a hijab on air. Despite the fact that 70% of Egyptian women wear the veil, it’s generally not seen on state television.

$15 Billion: Despite what TV coverage of the RNC might lead you to believe, Americans in conservative states are still getting frisky; a study found that the rate of purchase of sex toys (which generates $15 billion annually in the U.S.) was highest in states that are “generally considered socially conservative.”

25%: In a bold move by the Scottish government to increase the rate of early breast cancer detection by 25%, TV adverts showing the graphic and visible effects of cancer on breasts are now being targeted to Scottish women.

10: Number of installments in a new TV series which will seek to debunk common sex myths—like whether or not there is a scientific explanation for beer goggles. The self-proclaimed authority on all things sexual? Playboy TV, of course.

8: Number of years since HBO’s Sex and the City went off the air. Despite this, Newsroom creator Aaron Sorkin still felt the need to not-so-subtly lambast the series on his show’s season finale.

The post Sex By Numbers: I Saw it on TV! appeared first on EcoSalon.

A collection of famous sayings that doesn’t include “thirty and flirty.”

Thirty was so strange for me. I’ve really had to come to terms with the fact that I am now a walking and talking adult. -C.S. Lewis

When you turn thirty, a whole new thing happens: you see yourself acting like your parents. -Blair Sabol

The excess of our youth are checks written against our age and they are payable with interest thirty years later. -Charles Caleb Colton

30 is the new 20, unless you’re 20, then it’s the new 40. -Dane Peddigrew

Thirty – the promise of a decade of loneliness, a thinning list of single men to know, a thinning briefcase of enthusiasm, thinning hair. -F. Scott Fitzgerald

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits. -Hervey Allen

In my thirties, I felt I had hold of one of the reins some of the time. -Chaka Khan 

A poet more than thirty years old is simply an overgrown child. -Henry Louis Mencken

Men reach their sexual peak at eighteen. Women reach theirs at thirty-five. Do you get the feeling that God is playing a practical joke? -Rita Rudner

When you’re a teenager, all you want to do is buy beer. But once you hit 30 all you want to do is to get carded. -Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City

Time and tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty. -Robert Frost

After 30, a body has a mind of its own. -Bette Midler

I think anybody over 30 plays parents because it happens in your thirties and so that’s kind of a natural progression. But I’m definitely drawn to it. It’s probably the most intense, passionate thing that happens to you as you get older. -Jodie Foster 

The boy gathers materials for a temple, and then when he is thirty, concludes to build a woodshed. -Henry David Thoreau

I’m turning thirty this year. And you know the saying, a woman over thirty is more likely to get hit by a bomb than find a man. -Fanny Fink

I remember the day I turned thirty. I was getting out of the shower and I stood in front of the mirror and stared at myself for a long time. I examined every inch of my body and appreciated the fact that I finally looked like a grown woman. I also assumed that this was how I was going to look for the rest of my life. The way I saw it, I was never going to age; I’d just look up one day and be old. -Terry MacMillan

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty. -Georges Clemenceau

At age 30, one receives strength. -Talmud (Pirkei Avot 5:26)

A man thirty years old, I said to myself, should have his field of life all ploughed, and his planting well done; for after that it is summer time. -Lew Wallace

To my eye, women get sexier around 35. They know a thing or two, and knowledge is always alluring. -Pierce Brosnan

The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five. -Aristotle

Thirty five is a very attractive age; London society is full of women who have of their own free choice remained thirty-five for years. – Oscar Wilde

If at age 20 you are not a Communist then you have no heart. If at age 30 you are not a Capitalist then you have no brains. -George Bernard Shaw

Don’t trust anyone over thirty. -Jerry Rubin

There are no available men in their thirties in New York. Giuliani had them removed along with the homeless. -Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes in Sex and the City

Thirty-five is when you finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart. -Caryn Leschen

It is in the thirties that we want friends. In the forties we know they won’t save us any more than love did. -F. Scott Fitzgerald

My time has been passed viciously and agreeably; at thirty-one so few years, months, days, hours, or minutes remain that Carpe Diem ‘is not enough. I have been obliged to crop even the seconds-for who can trust to tomorrow? -Lord Byron

Life is islands of ecstasy in an ocean of ennui, and after the age of thirty land is seldom seen. -Luke Rhinehart

No one over thirty-five is worth meeting who has not something to teach us – something more than we could learn by ourselves, from a book. -Cyril Connolly

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Want to see more quotes? Go here.

Images: mylittlepinkbook, HBO, sasoc

The post 30 Famous Quotes About Being in Your Thirties appeared first on EcoSalon.

Vegan cupcakes based on Sex and the City’s famous Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake recipe.

From New York City to Dubai, we’re living in a sugar coated world of cupcake mania. Many reports (like this one from the UK Telegraph) put the addiction blame on the famed Magnolia Bakery.

What started 16 years ago as the tiniest of local cupcake spots on Bleeker Street in New York City’s West Village, has now become an over-heated sensation. Sex in City, followed by Saturday Night Live’s “Lazy Sunday” and The Devil Wears Prada, have all been accused of instigating and spreading the cupcakes-gone-wild craze. Flash through old episodes of Sex in the City and you’re sure to find the one where Carrie and Miranda munch on frosted treats outside the original Magnolia Bakery – back in the day before lines circled around the block.

“I have a crush,” Carrie confesses to Miranda, lips lined with pink buttercream frosting. Was it a cupcake crush? Tourists who happily fork over $48 and more than three hours of their time to take the official Sex in the City Hotspots Tour in New York City–  including a stop at this very spot – can answer best. Walk inside the flagship Bloomingdale’s, or simply follow the trend from New York to Chicago, LA to Dubai or the 120 new locations in the works, and you’ll see that a bad case of the Magnolia cupcake crush is taking the world by sweet-toothed storm.

My memories of Magnolia Bakery go back to those one-location wonder days, post Sex in the City. As a transplanted New Yorker, I recall once dedicating an afternoon standing in the Magnolia line – for what felt like hours – simply to snag a cupcake for a friend’s birthday. Five years later, I tasted a tiny crumble of the infamous Vanilla Vanilla Magnolia Cupcake.

Fast forward to today where I’ve masterminded a vegan, gluten-free edition – starting with the original Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake recipe, compliments of Magnolia Bakery and the Food Network. While this is no baking adventure for the weary, the results are well worth it.

If you’ve already tried your hand at vegan baking, eggs, you well know, can put you in a baker’s bind. Especially when it’s four eggs you’re substituting which serve as a binding agent for your wet and dry ingredients. Since I’m always striving to merge decadence with health, I used a flax seed mix in lieu of eggs?

Flax seeds, it turns out, have been traced back to human consumption since 3000 B.C., and for good reason. It’s even been reported that King Charlemagne, recognizing the incredible health benefits, enacted a law requiring his subjects to consume the tiny, golden seeds daily. Today, flax seeds have been studied and recommended as a preventative treatment for nearly all ailments – from cancer to heart disease to diabetes. Rich in omega 3 fatty acids, antioxidant-rich lignans and soluble and insoluble fibers, flax helps cancel out the sugar-high effects of these cupcakes, making them virtually guilt free and easy to digest.

The Original – Magnolia Bakery’s Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake Recipe

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

• 1 1/2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 6 to 8 cups confectioners’  sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

The Vegan and Gluten-free Vanilla Vanilla Cupcake Concoction

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

For a gluten-free, self-rising flour mix

• ½ cup sorghum flour
• ½ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup tapioca flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt

For the gluten-free all purpose flour mix

• ½ cup sorghum flour
• ¼ cup brown rice flour
• ¼ cup almond flour
• ¼ cup tapioca flour

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted vegan butter, softened
• 2 cups vegan sugar
• 4 tablespoons ground flax seeds blended with 12 tablespoons warm water (let sit for two minutes to meld)
• 1 cup non-dairy milk (For an extra creamy version, I made my own almond milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted vegan butter, softened
• 6 to 8 cups vegan confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cupcakes:

Line 2, 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake papers. In two small bowls, combine each of the flour blends, separately. When mixed separately, whisk together the two blends (self-rising and all purpose). Set aside.

In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar, and beat until fluffy, for about 3 minutes. Slowly add the egg mixture, in 4 small doses, beating well after each addition. Add the dry ingredients in 3 parts, alternating with the milk and vanilla. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated. Be careful not to overbeat. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl to ensure the ingredients are well blended.

Carefully spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.

Cool the cupcakes in tins for 15 minutes. Remove from the tins and cool completely on a wire rack before icing.

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Add 4 cups of the sugar and then the milk and vanilla. On the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat until smooth and creamy, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Gradually add the remaining sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating well after each addition (about 2 minutes), until the icing is thick enough to be of good spreading consistency. You may not need to add all of the sugar. If desired, add a few drops of plant-based food coloring (like beet juice) and mix thoroughly.

Because vegan frosting tends to melt easier than it’s dairy counterpart, store in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Yields approximately 2 dozen cupcakes.

Images: Jennifer Barckley

The post Vegan This: Vanilla Cupcake Recipe From Magnolia Bakery appeared first on EcoSalon.

The new Sex and The City 2 movie delivers two hours of fashion-packed drama with witty interludes and an exotic getaway – pretty much fulfilling every woman’s fantasy. It comes as no surprise, then, that this week the fashion industry is literally obsessed with the SATC 2 motif. It goes without saying that the fabulous four each exhibit their strong sense of style, that usually involves a plethora of dresses and an equally extravagant shoe and accessory wardrobe.

With easy dresses and interesting prints incorporating statement accessories, it looks like SATC stylist Patricia Field nailed it once again, giving women everywhere the inspiration for a steamy summer. The new collections from Suno, Jonano, and From Somewhere are fit to take the order of these sexy summer essential.

Finish off your look with a pair of blue-toed shoes from the vegan line Cri de Coeur, and a pair of eclectic earrings made from girls rescued out of human trafficking in Vietnam. Sexy summer style has never done so much good while making you look good.

And don’t forget to take a peek at some fashion lessons we’ve learned from Carrie Bradshaw!

The post Sexy Summer Style Inspired by SATC2 appeared first on EcoSalon.

Carrie Bradshaw is back on the big screen this month and while it’s unlikely she’ll be sporting eco-fashion in the SATC 2 movie, the ultimate fashion-loving gal offers you, the eco-chic dresser, some great insight into creating a look you’ll love and that you won’t want to throw away.

I must be kidding, right? Surely, her piles of shoes and expensive designer flaunting symbolize all that is wrong with our society’s promiscuous shopping ways. She seems the epitome of what the conscious consumer wants to avoid”¦ I agree. At a certain point (around season 5, when she lands her book offer) her look indeed tipped into a parody of excess and shameless high fashion advertising. But, back in the early days (while a writer with a modest income), Carrie’s stylish kitschy wardrobe was created mainly from vintage and thrift store finds and punctuated with some much cherished high heeled shoes and a large dose of fearless creative spirit. Wasn’t it the way she thought and related to getting dressed that we connected to, rather than the increasingly beyond-our-means outfits she indulges in now?

I couldn’t help but wonder if the original Carrie’s fashion insights could apply to those of us seeking to change the world by reframing the way we consume fashion one recycled, organic, locally made, fair trade piece at a time.

Accessories

Carrie knew the importance of a well-placed accessory to both transform and give an existing outfit further mileage. Remember the signature huge corsage that was pinned on everything from ball gowns to t-shirts? Try her trick of using a statement-making pair of shoes to offset and modernize a simple thrift store dress.

Dress in character

Which one were you? Edgy, offbeat Carrie or the demure garden-party princess Charlotte? Either way the point of glamor is the act of becoming someone different. Carrie is an incredibly mercurial dresser, always dressing appropriately for her mood or the occasion, using fashion as a tool of self-expression. With all the negative things going on in the world, fashion is the place you can still have fun!

To thine own self be true

Carrie is a trendsetter rather than being a slave to fast-fashion’s fickle trends. The best way of maintaining a wardrobe that always feels current is to create a signature look that keeps your carefully selected pieces in constant rotation.

Follow your heart

To avoid a closet full of clothes you don’t wear, it’s important to fall in love with each piece you buy.  A lover of both heirloom and street treasures, such as the gold Carrie necklace, Carrie forms a deeply personal attachment to both her clothes and to the process of getting dressed.

Ironically, Carrie Bradshaw’s fashion message is the ultimate eco-chic statement. That is cycling back the idea of fashion as an act of fun and creativity rather than an act of consumption. Now that’s something worth sharing with your girlfriends!

Image: SATC 2

The post Fashion Lessons Learned from Carrie Bradshaw: Yes, We’re Serious appeared first on EcoSalon.