Pamela Paul

Add another trend piece to the ever-growing 'Internet Porn Addiction Ruins Relationships' canon. This month, Details' Em & Lo offer Jerking Off Is the New Infidelity (subhed: "Is your secret habit causing your marriage to slip through your fingers?"), in which we learn that, "While some guys store everyday images and encounters to fuel their imaginations, many go straight for the porn."

Sadly, the article was released too prematurely (tee-hee) to include this month's poster boy for self-love, David Duchovny.  read more »

PARENTING, INC.: HOW WE ARE SOLD ON $800 STROLLERS, FETAL EDUCATION, BABY SIGN LANGUAGE, SLEEPING COACHES, TODDLER COUTURE, AND DIAPER WIPE WARMERS—AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR OUR CHILDREN
By Pamela Paul
Times Books, 290 pages, $25

During my prenatal tour of Lenox Hill Hospital a few months back, the head labor nurse informed our group of nervous New York City parents-to-be that a private room would cost around an extra $600 a night—which isn’t covered by insurance. Those rooms are in high demand, nurse Terri said of the coveted real estate, “and we can’t promise you one unless your last name is ‘Brinkley’ or ‘Trump.’”

You could immediately detect sparks of anxiety flying among the couples on the tour, everyone performing a silent calculus like bidders at a Christie’s auction. How do we get the private room? Is it worth the money? Is this child going to bankrupt us?  read more »