Shame. It may be the single most corrosive force of our time. When my husband and I were in our final year of the MFA program where we met, we were each responsible for producing a book-length thesis. Jason and I had started dating in our first year and moved in together quickly, realizing that […]
From murder to poverty to housing discrimination, these communities face staggering violence. Earlier this month marked the eighth annual International Transgender Day of Visibility, an occasion aimed at pushing back against the exclusion and isolation this community has been forced to endure. Indeed there are signs that transgender people—particularly those who are wealthy and white—are gaining […]
Black women are known in our community for being back-breakingly strong. We are expected to pray the sadness away while still supporting the whole race and making it to work on time. We are not allowed to be depressed. My depression has been debilitating at times—coping with the accompanying anxiety is significantly more difficult when […]
When it came to breastfeeding my son, it seemed it would be him or me. I chose him. The thing people never tell you about when it comes to breastfeeding is the pain. I suppose if you search through enough breastfeeding blogs and recommended products, you would start to get the hint. There are endless […]
When I retreated to online feminist spaces — supposedly safe spaces — looking for community, what I found was endless discussions of the ubiquity of street harassment. Within feminist spaces, it’s assumed that #YesAllWomen experience street harassment. The ways in which that harassment manifests — the age it starts, its intensity or form, the consequences of speaking out — may vary depending on […]
While there are broad aspects of male privilege that male children may experience, there is a high price to pay for being bad at being a boy. Recently, in an auto parts store in Columbus, Ohio, I was called a “faggot” for the first time as a newly out, non-binary femme. I am a 600-pound […]
This is the great irony of our live-to-work culture: We are actually less productive and less efficient when we don’t make an effort to wind down. Earlier this month, the Internet was rife with outrage over this subway ad from Fiverr. It features a young woman with hollowed cheekbones and matted hair, and praises a […]
If someone tells you they’ve had a miscarriage, and you want to be supportive towards them, tell them that. Gently approach them and let them know you’re there for them. Starting to heal after pregnancy loss is far from easy. As someone who’s miscarried before, I know that having support can be indescribably helpful. After […]
