Come back, come back, vapidity (Photo: Associated Press)

GIRLY MEN: Slate's Greg Beato takes a skeptical eye to the new crop of men's publications selling a kinder, gentler masculinity: "Out with the chest bumps and in with the hugs. These are men's magazines that nurture, men's magazines that wrap today's downsized, outsourced, overextended, underappreciated males in a cozy but masculine fleece of understanding and sympathy. But such comfort comes at a price. In feeling the pain of today's beleaguered males, these new men's mags also co-opt the dog-whistle decree that has informed women's magazines for years: You're not good enough. Try harder. With these 13 steps you can be a better person."

Beato argues for a return to the vapid, hyper-masculine magazines of yore: "For decades, women's magazines have tirelessly evangelized on behalf of superficial, compliant ideals—'Curb Your Food Cravings!' 'Orgasm Noises He'll Love!'—and look how that's turned out. Women are earning more college degrees than men now. Their wages are rising. They're waiting longer to become wives and mothers."

Kinder, gentler men's magazine the Good Men Project responds: "It’s been more a source of amusement than consternation, watching people try to find a neat little conceptual package to cram us into. But in the context of these trend pieces, which make it out as though we’re running 'How to Be an Emasculated, Ponytailed Douche' stories every day, it does get frustrating.

YUCK: The California chapter of the National Organization for Women endorses Jerry Brown, excuses his aide for calling Meg Whitman a "whore": "[California NOW President Patty] Bellasalma said that while calling Whitman a 'whore' was a poor choice of words, the description was accurate. 'The very troubling issue that is embedded in that call is what prompted the description of Meg as a ‘whore’ is basically that she sold out Californians for an endorsement and a $450,000 independent expenditure campaign,' she said."

YEAR OF THE WOMAN? Politico's Marin Cogan details the high number of Democratic Congresswomen at risk of losing their seats this year. "Three Democratic women first elected to Congress in 1992—the original 'Year of the Woman'—are at risk. Nearly a quarter of the 56 female Democrats in the House are considered vulnerable, including once rising stars like Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona, Betsy Markey of Colorado and Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio. . . . But the impact will be more than just a gender numbers game: It could have broader implications for policy and the political culture of the Capitol in an era in which women have made a significant impact on the House and the Senate, ranging from passing legislation such as the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to establishing a Democratic Women’s Working Group and holding key committee leadership positions. The impact of more women in Congress has also trickled down to smaller, cultural changes, like installing breast-feeding rooms for new mothers on the Hill."

YOU KNOW YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT when Rush Limbaugh declares the work "feminazi."

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, which does not offer contraception on campus, has been deemed the 120th most sexually healthy school in the country, based on factors including the availability of HIV testing, anonymous advice, and sexual assault programs.