Updated on Nov. 26.
This week:
A history-making cruise will set sail, the presidential candidate students called “a kiss-up,” and a Q&A with actress Miranda Cosgrove.
Quick hits
Today’s featured news
Men are happiest when their wives make 40 percent of total household income
Recent research looked at men’s psychological distress when it comes to their wives’ relative income. It found that husbands’ psychological distress is U-shaped: It reaches a minimum when their partners make 40 percent of total household income, and is greatest when men are entirely economically dependent on their wives. Stress is also high when the man is the sole breadwinner. Patterns in women’s stress levels were not as pronouncedly U-shaped as those reported by husbands.
The results, study author Joanna Syrda writes, “reflect the stress associated with being the sole breadwinner, and more significantly, with gender norm deviance due to husbands being outearned by their wives.” In 1970, only 4 percent of women outearned their husbands; according to Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers from 2015, 38 percent of women do today.
Historic women-led cruise to set sail
In March, on International Women’s Day, 27 women from 17 countries will set sail on the Celebrity Edge. Women have historically been underrepresented in maritime academies; they’re only about 10 percent of graduating classes. Initially, Celebrity Cruises CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo had the idea to staff the ship’s control center with women, but then expanded that to include women in all the leadership positions on the ship, including captain, hotel director, doctor, food and beverage director and more. Captain Kate McCue, who became the first female American cruise ship captain in 2015, has been referring to the bunch as “Ocean’s 27.”
Protesters make noise at college football games
At the Stanford vs. University of California at Berkeley game in Stanford, Calif., on Saturday, a group of students hung a banner that read “40% of Stanford women experience unwanted sexual contact.” As the Stanford Daily reports, the approximated statistic comes from the recent Association of American Universities (AAU) campus climate survey. After hanging the banner, students were escorted out of the stadium by campus security.
And at the Harvard-Yale game, which took place in New Haven, Conn., climate protesters at halftime delayed the game for nearly an hour after flooding the field and chanting “OK boomer,” a rallying cry that has become popular among Gen Z.
Lizzo and Billie Eilish score with Grammy nominations
Breakout pop star Lizzo earned eight Grammy nominations — the most of any artist — on Wednesday, including for album of the year, best new artist and song and record of the year. Pop star Billie Eilish, who’s 17, won big, too. She became the youngest star to be nominated in all four of the top categories: record of the year, song of the year, album of the year and best new artist.
The 62nd Grammy Awards, which airs Jan. 26, marks the inaugural ceremony under Deborah Dugan, the first female president in the history of the Recording Academy. She took over the post from Neil Portnow, who suggested that women needed to “step up” after a lack of female winners during the 2018 awards.
From our staff writer
Caroline Kitchener watched the debate with students in South Carolina
For the fifth Democratic debate — hosted by MSNBC and The Washington Post in Atlanta on Wednesday night — Lily staff writer Caroline Kitchener traveled to Orangeburg, S.C., to watch with a group of college students. The women attend Claflin University, a historically black university in a state that is crucial for Democratic candidates to win among black voters.
Which candidate did they call “a kiss-up” and which did they say “was coming with the heat”? Read the full story here.
ICYMI
Five need-to-know stories in 100 words or less
1. The Victoria’s Secret annual fashion show, which debuted in 2001, has been canceled. As consumers move away from the brand’s narrow representation of female sexuality, L Brands, its parent company, said it’s “important to evolve the marketing of Victoria’s Secret.”
2. Two women won the top National Book Awards this year: Susan Choi’s novel “Trust Exercise” won the National Book Award for fiction, and Sarah M. Broom’s family memoir “The Yellow House” won in nonfiction.
3. Over the weekend, protesters in France drew attention to the alarmingly high levels of deadly domestic violence against women in the country, marching in the streets and gluing posters on buildings with the names of the more than 100 women who have been killed this year. Around the world, activists are planning events for Monday’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
4. Public hearings in the impeachment inquiry into whether President Trump pressured Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelensky continued this week, with nine more witnesses taking the stand from Nov. 19-21. Fiona Hill, the former top Russia adviser on President Trump’s National Security Council, was praised by many women for her forceful testimony.
5. Utah’s lewdness statute came under scrutiny after charges were brought against Tilli Buchanan, who may have to register as a sex offender after her stepchildren saw her topless in her home. Buchanan allegedly violated part of a state law that forbids women from showing their breasts in a private place under certain circumstances — a provision her lawyers say is unconstitutional because it does not do the same for men.
Powerful words
A quotable moment
On Sunday, millions took to the streets to vote in Hong Kong’s democratic election. As The Post reports, the record-high turnout could present a reckoning for the pro-Beijing establishment as months-long pro-democracy protests continue to rattle the city.
University student Sonia Ng is just one of the millions of people protesting Hong Kong’s government. She is the only protester who has accused Hong Kong police of sexual assault using her real name; in October, Ng told a university hall that a police officer hit her breasts while she was in detention after being arrested at a protest. Read her essay for The Lily here.
A quick Q&A
This week, we hear from actress Miranda Cosgrove
You may recognize Miranda Cosgrove from Nickelodeon’s “iCarly,” which she was the star of from 2007 to 2012. After taking some time off from acting to attend the University of Southern California, Cosgrove took a role in a movie that’s markedly different from her past projects. In the outer-space thriller “3022,” which is out in theaters, on demand and digital, Cosgrove is one of a small crew on a 10-year mission aboard a space station.
Her reflections on “iCarly”: “It’s starting to feel further away for me, just because so many years have passed. Still now, people come up to me and they bring up the show. I mean, I like that, because I appreciate that people enjoyed it. It makes me feel good.”
On what drew her to the “3022” script: “After I read it, I kept thinking for a couple days: How would I honestly feel if the Earth didn’t exist anymore and I was living on a space station and everything I knew and loved wasn’t there? I just kept thinking, ‘Would I want to go on?’”
How she spends her time: “I somehow kind of fell into fostering cats. I love animals, and even when I was little, I always wanted to be a vet. So that’s really fun, I’ve saved like 15 cats now.”
Lily Likes
Things we love but weren’t paid to promote
Have you ever tossed an otherwise fine piece of clothing because the fuzz ball situation has gotten out of control? This very affordable depiller can save these items from the landfill and keep your clothes looking fresh. I personally have used it to rescue a blazer and two sweaters.
—Neema Roshania Patel, Lily deputy editor
Baiku
[bye-koo] Saying goodbye with a haiku
This newsletter was made while listening to:
“High Time” by Kacey Musgraves and “Make America Great Again” by Pussy Riot
Listen to everything we’ve recommended here.
P.S. …
A quick, curated list of Team Lily’s go-to content this week
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article mis-attributed the network “iCarly” premiered on.