I always thought that I was pretty old when I had sex for the first time (19), but Alan Guttmacher Institute reports that I was completely average. It turns out that 70% of unmarried teens in American have sex by the time they are 19. (OK, fine I was on the older end of the spectrum, but whatever.) I waited, despite intense pressure from a boyfriend in high school, because I wasn't ready and I knew it. It was a good decision for me. Other girls may be ready earlier, and those are their decisions, too.

"Raise a glass to mend," scrawls Lady Gaga on a t-shirt she's selling for Valentine's Day, "all the broken hearts of my wrecked up friends." We've heard -- and heaven knows seen -- lots of over-the-top-rawness from this performer lately. But how much is designed to sell t-shirts and how much is actually real?

Welcome to Marketing 101! This is the first in a series of about some of the basics of marketing. The series is designed for everyone – whether you’re already a social media smartypants or you’re working on building your blog, your brand, or your business; whether you need to know more about all the marketers approaching you about your blog, or you’re just curious about the marketing jargon flying around the internet and the stories behind those crazy companies who try to sell you stuff.

I swear that I will one day get over the miserableness that was the previous ensuing decade, but for now I will continue to harp on yet another failure of the previous decade. In January 2009, President Obama started the year off right by signing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law. The Act righted a serious offense committed by the Supreme Court, which had ruled that discriminating against women by paying them less than men for doing the same (or even better work) was perfectly fine as long as companies kept it secret for a really long time.

Fashion Delivers Foundation was created in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita with a goal to organize the collection and distribution of new clothing and home items to hurricane victims.The group was able to collect and give over $4.5 million dollars worth of men's and women's clothing directly to people in the devastated areas.  

Ohhhhhhh, BlogHers. The time is nigh. Today we are announcing our BlogHer '10 Call for Volunteers!We’re looking for a few good women (hey men: we like you, too!) who are interested in working at BlogHer ’10. In exchange, we’ll give you free admission to the conference, which includes all keynotes, break-out sessions, breakfasts, lunches and cocktail parties ($300 value).

How do we know the truth of what is happening in Haiti - especially those of us who are in the global north and west, our perceptions shaped by a tragic history, largely unknown, in which our governments have often been complicit? As the immediate rescue effort becomes a sustained task of recovery how do we know when ideology and naked self-interest warp news accounts and recovery efforts? 

Hi everyone, We have exciting news: BlogHer's beloved hermoticon and logo are getting a new look this week. So is our tagline. Soon you'll see this logo and tagline on a brand-new BlogHer.com Web site. Voila!   

I graduated from college into a recession and, unable to find work, I turned to temping. My first assignment was two weeks of filing. When I finished the task in two-and-a-half days my boss said, "Maria, you're wicked smart" and he set about to find a way to keep me on.

Heather of MaternalSpark recently made an excellent point tab about commenting that I hadn't thought about for quite a while.  She says:

At the end of 2009, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was too young in the 1980s to experience the wrath of the backlash against feminist achievements, but the revival (and worse, implementation) of Reagan-era policies and ideas in the first decade of the 21st century shattered my faith in humanity. I know that the arrival of a new decade and political cycle doesn't mean that progress is back in terms of feminism and gender (history is a pretty good indication that another anti-woman, anti-gender equality shit storm will hit again), but at least the attack on women's rights and gender issues is not relentless right now.

Whether Apple's announcement of the tablet dubbed iPad made you long for one, scoff at how unnecessary they are, or crack jokes about the choice of name, you have to admit it was a huge announcement.