Are “Do-It-Herself” workshops and “Puzzles For Her” really necessary? Or are they only creating a deeper divide between women and men? The sections of a popular clothing website are labeled “T-shirts” and “Girls’ T-Shirts.” The aisle in the pharmacy says “Deodorant” and “Women’s Deodorant.” In the toy store, there are “Puzzles” and “Puzzles for Her” […]
In her quest to swing a big dick, Miley Cyrus made other women the objects, says Emily Heist Moss. On Sunday, Miley Cyrus wracked up all the headlines a fame-pursuant 20-year-old could ever dream of with an epically awful performance at the MTV Video Music Awards. Her segment has already been picked apart from one […]
Without at least some level of fondness between consenting adults, sex is just biology, and it is boring and detached and empty, says Emily Heist Moss. But is that true for everyone? On my list of sexual partners, I have exactly one regret. I was in college and I picked a willing classmate, someone I […]
Tired of adhering to someone else’s idea of what is “sexy,” Emily Heist Moss finally got rid of all the itchy, lacy, barely-there underthings she never really wanted to begin with. I threw away all my underwear today. Scratch that. Today, I threw away all of my underwear that would be classified as “lacy little […]
Declaring that “strong is the new skinny” is simply replacing one unattainable body obsession with another. There’s a promotional email in my inbox offering a “Get-skinny playlist.” Sigh. This again? There’s an endless scrolling wall of “thinspo”—short for “thinspiration”—on Pinterest, drowning out the foodies and crafters. There’s the story of my friend who, days before […]
Emily Heist Moss discusses how certain words we use to insult someone say more about our prejudices than they do about the person we’re insulting. I’m on an arbitrary crosswalk on an arbitrary Sunday in Chicago when it happens. He’s in his early 40’s, nicely dressed. As we head in opposite directions, elbows almost bumping, […]
Emily Heist Moss asks: Why is the Way to Succeed in Business to adopt traditionally masculine behaviors? Is there an alternative? A few months ago, during salary negotiations for a new position, I finally had an opportunity to take my own advice. In the past, I’d told female friends that, when confronted with professional hurdles, […]
Black men are not responsible for your fear, just as women are not responsible for your desire, says Emily Heist Moss. Here’s the thing about privilege, it’s like oxygen: constant and life-giving and the fundamental enabler of everything else. It’s the net that catches you when you’re irresponsible. It’s the comforting blanket of knowing that […]
Emily Heist Moss debates a controversial claim recently presented in The Atlantic that said disempowered men street harass women as a means to feel more powerful. In last week’s Atlantic, cultural commenter Ta-Nehisi Coates penned an essay on masculinity and powerlessness in the face of eviction and racism. In broad strokes, he argues that certain […]
One in three women will terminate a pregnancy before she turns 40, but without real women sharing their stories, abortion will stay a political issue rather than a personal one. Senior year of high school, between French and Stats, in a fluorescently lit, poorly tiled bathroom, my friend huddled our small group around her and […]
Until her gay friends and family members can hold hands with their loved ones without fear of discrimination, and book wedding venues in the town where they live, Emily Heist Moss will not stop fighting on their behalf. I don’t remember the first time I met a gay person. Instead, I remember sitting around a […]
In the wake of her ridiculous comments about the Steubenville rape victim, tennis great Serena Williams issued an apology, but it only seemed to make matters worse. I was upset on the bus this morning, and I couldn’t figure out why. I ran through the mental list of things that might be the root of […]
