Some folks might still care about doing things in the “right” order: getting married, moving in together, then getting pregnant. Emily Rapp is not one of them. The traditional family is no longer recognizable. You might not know this from the slew of holiday commercials and the endless, vapid holiday songs blaring from hidden speakers […]
Talking about our body image issues is how we get past them, not being silent about them, says Lynn Beisner. When I was in my late teens, Kellogg’s marketed their Special K cereal with an ad campaign that promised if you ate their magic flakes no one would be able to find an inch of […]
Emily Rapp once worked as a bra-fitter for Victoria’s Secret, and every single woman she fitted confessed how much she hated her body. From 1992 to 1996, whenever I was home from college visiting my parents in Denver, I worked at Victoria’s Secret in an “upscale” mall close to downtown. This was before the store […]
Emily Heist Moss discusses why we must acknowledge both the epidemic of obesity and the toll body shaming takes on our souls. Maria Kang continues to ride the wave of the dubious Internet fame she achieved with her “What’s Your Excuse?” photo shoot. A month ago, Kang posed with her three young children in minimal […]
Wouldn’t you want to be remembered when you’re gone? Wouldn’t you want to imagine that when people gather in the spirit of goodwill that rather than say nothing at all, they invoked what you meant to them? The holidays are problematic. Everybody knows this, and the complicated feelings around any “meant to be awesome” celebration […]
Overusing the word “privilege” implicates everyone who has some kind of advantage, even if that advantage was earned. A friend recently joked that heterosexual couples freak her out with their huge weddings and baby showers and over-the-top celebrations of partnering and procreation. She said she and her wife had a small wedding, but it was […]
This originally appeared on Everyday Feminism. Republished here with permission. I am five-foot-four, 125 pounds. My measurements are 36-28-38. I wear size medium shirts, size seven jeans, and (in case you were wondering) size eight shoes. I have never walked into a clothing store unable to find items in my size. I have never been […]
You are not fat, you are smart, it’s OK to be afraid, and have lots of sex. Dear Younger Self: I know you’re sitting in your basement room, or listening to melodramatic music in the rickety lofted bed in your college dorm room, or ruminating in a cracker box apartment with the heat or the […]
