American Women Greedily Win All the Gold Medals at the London Olympics [Olympics]

In case you haven't heard yet because you're one of those New York City tunnel dwellers or you're exclusively a Winter Olympics person, the U.S. women's teams at this summer's games have cleaned up, accounting for 56 percent of all Team USA's medals, and 66 percent of its golds. Their success is being touted as a big step towards even greater gender equality in sports, and, what's more, they've succeeded in sports traditionally dominated by men, such as boxing, an event the U.S. men, for the first time ever, failed to medal in.

Athletes and coaches credit the success of the American women to the Title IX, which, since its passage forty years ago, has dramatically expanded the pool of female athletic talent in the States. At the 1972 Munich Olympics, for instance, women accounted for less than 24 percent of of the U.S. team's total medals, but in 1992 at the Barcelona games, that figure had nearly doubled to 41 percent. With more young girls playing sports in high school, then later becoming college athletes, coaches and trainers have a larger group of athletes to work with.

Though women from other countries haven't experienced quite the same success as the U.S. women, the London Olympics have marked the first time ever that every country has sent a female contingent, thanks in part to the IOC putting pressure on holdouts like Qatar, Brunei and Saudi Arabia. China and Russia have also seen their medal counts boosted by the performances of their female athletes, a fact that helps foster more intense competition in women's sports among some of the larger Olympic nations.

Some athletes worry that there's still too much attention paid to how female athletes (especially the beach volleyball players) look, but Women's Sports Foundation CEO Kathryn Olson sees a whole generation of role models in our current litany of female medalists, something she thinks will inspire a whole new generation of budding female Olympians.

It's a golden age for American women at London Olympics [LA Times]

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Designer Clothes Help Parents Turn Their Toddlers Into Real-Life American Girl Dolls [Fashion]

As our economy slowly emerges from its torpor, affluent citizens are starting to become less abashed about spending exorbitant sums of money on anything from diamond-studded rollerblades, to cows fed with gold-plated blades of grass, to designer outfits for their toddlers. Marquee fashion designers like Oscar de la Renta and Gucci are turning their attention to the affluent toddler demographic, which is really just a way of saying that designers are targeting parents who want to dress their children up like little American Girl dolls and send them out into the world, exclaiming, "It's my very own miniature status symbol!"

According to CBS News, sales for luxury children's clothes still make up only a fraction (about 3 percent) of the $34 billion fashion industry, though that fraction is growing as economic conditions improve and the more affluent come out of their caves, sniffing around for places to spend lots of money. The research firm NPD Group reports that children's wear sales rose a total of 4 percent between May 2011 and May 2012, with the upscale children's clothing component rising nearly 7 percent. All of this, meanwhile, is happening amidst a 3 percent rise in the overall clothing market.

Designers are mostly targeting households with a total income of $350,000 or higher, appealing to parents who want their young children, in lieu of practicing math, perhaps, to sharpen their fashion sense because a kid falls behind real fast in the asshole arms race if he or she doesn't know at least twenty major designers by puberty. New York-based fashion consultant Robert Burke explains the trend in terms of the "mini-me phenomenon," adding that, for parents splurging on expensive clothes for themselves, "It [buying something for their kids] feels good. It's like one for me and one for you."

That kind of consumer palliative, however, can get to be pretty expensive, with boys shirts from Dolce & Gabbana running in the $190 range, and girls dresses starting at about $500. Stifle your gasps — I mean, you don't want your kid to look like some kind of poor, do you? Shuffling around the Upper East Side of Manhattan in a, gulp, J. Crew ensemble, smelling vaguely of syrup. And not maple syrup either, but corn syrup, like that Log Cabin of lies. Disgusting.

Anyway, parents spending serious coin on their kids' wardrobes (one New York mother planned on spending in excess of $10,000 on her 3-year-old daughter's fall wardrobe), don't care if their kids grow out of clothes in like three days or if they're instilling some nefarious streak of superficiality that will blossom (fester) in their kids until they're 22 and decide to rebel by doing Americorps for like, a month — these parents just want their kids to look good and receive positive reinforcement about looking good. "I really believe," says one fashion-forward mother about her 3-year-old's self-esteem, "when she dresses like this, she feels better about herself." That's probably true, considering that every time the 3-year-old girl gets stuffed into a Burberry jacket, her mother beams at her and says something she doesn't even realize is screwing with her daughter's value system, something like, "Mommy loves you when you dress pretty." Sad face.

Rich toddlers draw fashion designers' eyes [CBS News]

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Steven Tyler Thinks His American Idol Stint Was Just M’Okay [Dirt Bag]

Professional singer, judger of singers, author, and rumored (my rumor) amateur street musician Steven Tyler recently told Rolling Stone that his time on American Idol was just medium good, because, even though he made a whole pile of money from the TV gig, he hated having to shit all over contestants' dreams.

"It was something to do while the storm blew by," said Tyler, explaining how he took a spot on the judges' panel so that his Aerosmith bandmates could mellow out after he announced that he'd be taking a hiatus. "I loved it and hated it," he added. "It was a great job, I sat next to J.Lo and I made a ton of money. It was a moment in life and it became larger than life." Tyler really took issue with the workload (it was heavy), and with the way producers encouraged him to amp up the mean when judging Idol hopefuls. "The show's about kids and what you do to nurture their talent. They wanted me to take the piss out of the kids and I don't have that in me. That's not what I'm about. That's more about that other guy [Cowell]. Not me." [L.A. Times]

Psst, want to know Kelly Ripa's amazing beauty secret? Botox, lots of botox, or at least that is what she was overheard telling a fellow beachgoer in the Hamptons on Saturday. "I work out absolutely every day," Ripa reportedly revealed. "I don't overeat. I try to drink water but I prefer wine, and when all else fails, I get Botox injected right here, right into my forehead, as much as possible." That sounds like a pretty rigorous regimen, but the parakeet I've taught to infiltrate the homes of celebrities so it can repeat all of their darkest secrets also mentioned something about Kelly Ripa gradually absorbing what remains of Regis Philbin's life force as a way to maintain her youthful look. [HuffPo]

21-year-old Scout Willis, of the Bruce Willis Willises, has been sentenced for not-so-deftly flashing a fake I.D. in New York so she could drink while it was still dangerous and exciting back in June. The ne'er-do-well Willis will have to complete two whole days of community service and stay out of trouble for six months according to a deal she worked out with prosecutors who really had a chance to bring the hammer down on underage celebrity progeny drinkers. [TMZ]

Months after Cuba Gooding, Jr. walked into an Albuquerque bar and allegedly started groping women faster than a lascivious octopus, the actor has apparently gotten into some more barroom trouble. New Orleans police say a warrant has been issued for Gooding Jr.'s arrest for allegedly shoving a bartender Tuesday morning at a bar in the French Quarter. Gooding Jr. is in New Orleans shooting The Butler, which is a movie that presumably doesn't call for punching fine purveyors of booze, and also to work on his new Urban Outfitters book of jokes, Cuba Gooding, Jr. Walks Into a Bar... [AP]

So where is Robert Pattinson, anyway? He's definitely not partying in London, despite what some misleading photographs from 2011 would have you believe. [Us]

It looks like Kate Middleton and Jessica Chastain are finally getting the recognition they're probably pretty tired of getting for their sartorial prowess. [VF]Speaking of style, Brad Pitt makes the best stoner-cowboy ever. [E!]Nina Dobrev may be engaged to Ian Somerhalder and everything, but she's not in a rush to get married, unlike some people she won't mention, cough, cough, Miley Cyrus, cough. [Us]The media really needs to know whether famous kitten-owner Taylor Swift is dating Patrick Schwarzenegger or Conor Kennedy? The better question, of course, is: Why can't she be dating both? [Extra TV]Kim Kardashian and Kanye West enjoyed a romantic zipline excursion in Mexico wearing what appear to oven mitts. Kim's gloves were orange, which means that they were probably made out of extremely rare muppet fur and PETA will be on that shit any second now. [Us]Drew Peterson was apparently quite a jocular defendant on this, the first day of his murder trial, probably because he thinks he's, bum bum buuuuuuuuum, Untouchable. [Radar]In his bid to become favorite parent, Tom Cruise splurged on his daughter Suri's love by taking her to Disney World. [USA Today]Michael Douglas is starting to look an awful lot like Liberace... [NYDN]Brace yourself for the Vince Vaughn-produced Brady Bunch reboot, coming to CBS sometime after an asteroid vaporizes all of humanity living beyond the studio lots in Burbank, Calif. [Deadline]Angelina Jolie reportedly wants a role in the moviefication of Fifty Shades of Grey, and Angelina gets what Angelina wants. [Examiner]Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olsen is out of contention for a Fifty Shades role. [Bullett]Emma Watson might take that Fifty Shades role as a way to scrub away all the Hermione Granger residue. [OMG]Chris Brown has no problem with Frank Ocean or his sexuality, and proved it by tweeting, "My Opinion on the whole Frank Ocean subject is ......... Love who u wanna love. It's ur decision. People stop searching for BS." [E!]Peter Frampton blames his car accident on a woman who was, gasp, texting while driving, rather than on the probable fact that he was singing along to his own music. [TMZ]Natalie Portman got justifiably pissed when a paparazzo got too close to her daughter at LAX. [E!]

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