Please, Meg and Pammy, don't make gardening 'chic.'
Holly Wainwright unpacks midlife with a Real Housewife, the Netflix series terrifying parents of teens, and an open letter to Aimee Lou Wood's teeth. Welcome to your weekly dose of MID.
"Why are you on social media dressed like that?"
My friend is on the phone. Serious voice.
"It's not okay."
"You don't look like Meghan Markle. Stop it."
My friend has a point. I had been on Instagram, asking for advice about what kind of plant I should grow up an ugly fence. Passionfruit vine, was the overwhelming response. And horror, from my friend.
I can see that this look is problematic, sartorially. It was a Saturday morning. I'm wearing an apron with big saggy pockets. And Birkenstocks (not even a safety choice, with those open toes). And ancient three-quarter gym leggings, and a hat that I undoubtedly got for free-ish somewhere. No make-up.
My friend also nailed that I do not look like Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, whose gardening fashion, on her TV show, With Love, Meghan, is extremely shoppable.
Or Pamela Anderson, who has an (actually very good) cooking show on Binge shot at her actual farm on Vancouver Island and apparently gets around the garden like this (see above).
Safe to say, there is game to be lifted here, on my part. White linen game, French clog game. But in my defence, both these women are wearing aprons, too.
I'm delighted that Meg and Pammy are all about the pleasures of gardening, but the way it's being presented in their shows and their promos makes me a little itchy.
Just the previous week, I had watched Roxy Jacenko plant out a raised herb garden wearing only a red bikini. On Instagram, not at her house.
And I'm not the Boss Of Gardening, but I got quite cranky.
You can feel the wave of aspirational gardening content building and cresting. And although that's not new, and things in gardens lend themselves perfectly to aesthetic pleasure — plants are beautiful, trees are beautiful, flowers are beautiful — the people in the gardens, often, are not. Not in the way social media means, anyway. It's muddy out there. There's literal s**t to spread. Attacking insects and rodents to fend off. There's sweat, lots of it, and smells, from you and the rotting compost. Everything's covered in a fine film of dirt…
🎧 Follow below to listen to this week’s new MID: We talk to Nicole about how midlife is going for someone who’s in the public eye in a very specific way.
Read and listen to more
LISTEN: Holly, Mia and Jessie unpack the ‘un-chic’ gardening fit on Out Loud
READ: Australian women do not feel well. Here’s what they said
LISTEN: MID EXTRA: When Three Couples Move In Together
'As a mum of teenagers, Adolescence was a sobering watch.'
This post contains spoilers.
Watching the awkward mannerisms of 13-year-old Jamie Miller in the new British crime drama, Adolescence, was like watching either of my own teen boys, or one of their friends, on any given day.
The range of dialogue, from barely audible grunts to enthusiastic, almost-childlike babble, the hand-fiddling, the switch in persona from little boy to young adult – Jamie could be any of our boys.
Lead actor, Owen Cooper's performance as Jamie is phenomenal. Disconcertingly so. Because Jamie, an ordinary boy from an ordinary family, has been arrested for murdering a female classmate.
The four-part series follows Jamie's father, Eddie—played masterfully by Stephen Graham—as he grapples with the horrifying truth: the little boy he loves so dearly has committed an unspeakable crime.
We watch with seat-shuffling discomfort as Stephen and his devastated wife, Manda (played by Christine Tremarco) ask themselves where they went wrong, if they went wrong.
How did their son, who wet his pants in fear as the police tore through the family home, end up stabbing a young girl to death?
We watch, with even greater discomfort, as the little boy who so often resembles our own sons, transforms from a nervous and confused teenager, to a rage-fuelled mini-man, standing over the psychologist who is there to assess him. It's a frightening switch. This is the boy we don't recognise.
We move from sympathy as Jamie talks about being ugly, about being rejected by girls and publicly bullied, to abject horror as he seeks to intimidate a grown woman in an attempt to maintain control.
And we wonder, perhaps not if our sons are capable of murder, but if they too are experiencing any of the feelings this boy has described — the frustration, the rejection, the anger. And if they are, what are they doing with those feelings?
Raising boys, or children in general, has never been easy. But while once parents were a child's primary influence, today we compete with myriad outside forces when it comes to shaping our boys' minds, and raising them to be good men.
Adolescence lays this reality bare in a way that's both gripping and deeply unsettling. It also poses the question: how did Jamie get here?
The show refuses to offer easy answers, but it does shine a light on these external forces—forces that every parent, teacher, and mentor must pay attention to.
Because while most teenage boys won't commit murder, or even become violent, many of them are struggling…
🎧 Follow below to listen to The Quicky unpacking Netflix’s Adolescence
Read and listen to more
READ: The disturbing '80/20 theory' featured in Netflix's Adolescence
LISTEN: Unpacking the true story behind Adolecence on The Spill
READ: The heartbreaking final scene of Netflix's Adolescence, explained
'My open letter to Aimee Lou Wood's teeth (yes, really).'
Dear Aimee Lou Wood's chompers,
Well, haven't you caused quite the kerfuffle lately?
I can't escape you. Every news site I click on, every social media app I doomscroll on, there you are.
Because it turns out your owner — who is now starring as my favourite character in The White Lotus… but you know that, you were there — has made people lose their collective minds because she chose to keep you in your natural form.
No offence, but you're a bit of a rarity these days.
In a sea of veneers and crowns and Invisalign, you're an outlier.
Entire think pieces have been written about you. You've even been called “inspiring”. Yep, I told you we've all lost our minds. I mean, I'm writing a letter addressed to teeth for crying out loud.
As someone who has spent years feeling self-conscious about their smile and has been called 'horse face' by another grown woman… I feel overly qualified to say that you — Aimee Lou Wood's teeth — matter. You matter more than I ever thought little toothy pegs possibly could.
Because as ridiculous as it sounds, you've reflected a sad truth back at me that hadn't quite dawned on me until now: I could've just left my teeth alone.
While I managed to escape braces, I was so self-conscious about my teeth and their imperfections that I begged my parents to let me get veneers as a teenager. A privilege I very much realise is not afforded to everyone, and I used that privilege to change something about myself that wasn't broken…
Read and listen to more
READ: The 4 types of men you'll find in every season of The White Lotus
LISTEN: The 7 biggest controversies from Snow White on Out Loud
READ: A brutally honest review of the new Snow White movie
THE SCROLL 📱
5 things to feed your mind and fill your soul.
1. 16 years ago, the world lost Natasha Richardson. Liam Neeson still speaks to her every day.
2. We got 3 men to experience period pain. Here's exactly how it went.
3. The new question you have to ask before you get Botox.
4. The lesson we need to give our sons before it's too late.
5. Stephanie survived the White Island volcano eruption. This is her life now.
ICYMI 👀
Skinny jeans are BACK (but there’s a catch). We sat down with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, these are 3 things he wants you to know. Peter Dutton says he's not who you think. This is his pitch to you. Oh dear! Dakota Johnson is caught in a love triangle with Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal. Young women are overtaking the F1 fan base. Here’s why. Here's what Ellen Pompeo’s life away from the spotlight looks like. We now know what happened in the final moments of Lilie James' life.
MID-SPO STYLE 👗💄
Recently Holly caught up with Leigh Campbell on her fashion podcast Nothing To Wear to talk about Holly’s style and how she reinvented it after 50. It was a beautiful conversation and so this week we thought we would send you the video, so you can add it to your weekend watch list. Enjoy : )
Our pick of what’s new in beauty, home and style on Mamamia this week.
LEIGH CAMPBELL: 'The multi-tasking chemist cream for plumper skin.'
'I've rounded up all the best Afterpay Day sales in one place to save you scrolling.'
'The $6 hack I use to clean my shoes and sneakers.'
'I'm an over-50s makeup artist. This is how I keep a summer glow year-round.'
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