On Watching Boys Play Music By Eryn Loeb Feature “With a drink in my hand and earplugs responsibly in place, I’m very aware that I’ve spent more than half my life essentially standing in the same spot: off to one side of the stage (close but not too close), eyes forward, shifting weight from foot to foot.”
Vivian Gornick on ‘Political Activism as a Path Toward a Coherent Self’ By Krista Stevens Highlight “But writing itself, living a life defined by work and intellect rather than love or marriage, became her primary feminist commitment.”
Elizabeth Wurtzel Made it Okay to Write ‘Ouch’ By Sari Botton Highlight Today’s memoirists and personal essay writers owe a debt of gratitude to the Prozac Nation author for rewriting an inhibiting rule.
A Woman’s Work: Becoming a Home of One’s Own By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson considers what it takes to recover from grief, build strength for the future, and become one’s own center of gravity again.
Checking in on the Masculinity Crisis By Kelli María Korducki Feature If masculinity really is in crisis — and that’s a big if — we should at least be able to agree that it’s not women’s responsibility to fix it.
‘I Was Being Used in Slivers and Slices’: On Feminism at Odds With Evangelical Faith By Jane Ratcliffe Feature “I wasn’t unified in my being. I wasn’t able to bring my whole self to the table,” says Cameron Dezen Hammon about her life as a worship leader for an evangelical megachurch.
Under the Knife By Margot Harris Feature Margot Harris grapples with guilt following a labiaplasty procedure.
Bikini Kill — and My Bunkmates — Taught Me How to Unleash My Anger By Longreads Feature While away at summer camp, Melissa Febos discovers the power of her generation’s rage and feminism.
The Martha Stewarting of Powerful Women By Ann Foster Feature How society disproportionately demonizes women after they’ve bent the same rules that men have always broken.
The Offer of a Two-Night Stand, When Just One Would Do By Suzanne Roberts Feature A guide in Puerto Rico inadvertently leads Suzanne Roberts to stop collecting men as if they were souvenirs.
First Contact By Longreads Feature Sarah Watts details how science fiction shaped her family, her religion, and her own self-image.
The View From 5-Foot-3 (and a Half) By Soraya Roberts Feature Maybe we can’t transcend height, but can we transcend the internalized misogyny that causes us to limit ourselves and judge other women?
Game of Crones By Laura Lippman Feature It wasn’t entirely Laura Lippman’s idea to become a mother in her 50s. But when it happened, she leaned in hard.
A Woman’s Work: The Inside Story By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson examines some of the inner workings of a woman’s body from puberty to menopause.
A Woman’s Work: The Outside Story By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson catalogues her efforts to maintain her appearance from about 1970 to 2018.
Did We Learn From Anita Hill? By Danielle Tcholakian Commentary Or will Democrats sell out Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser, too?
Take Two $275 Herbal Supplements and Don’t Call Me in the Morning By Michelle Weber Highlight Looks like you’ve got late-stage Patriarchal Medicine Syndrome. I’m so sorry.
Listening for a Way Out By Niya Marie Feature Growing up, Niya Marie sought refuge in Whitney Houston’s ethereal notes; as an adult, Marie found recognition in her silences.
The 17-Year Itch By Laura Jean Baker Feature Laura Jean Baker finds that being a feminist married to a progressive man isn’t a fail-safe against sexism occasionally intruding in their marriage.
A Woman’s Work: The Art of the Day Job By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson looks back on the many ways she’s tried to juggle work with her *work.*
She’s Not Just a Girl in the World By Michelle Weber Highlight She’s a rock star, and a mom, and a tomboy, and a wife, and a study in contradictions.
Gone Gray By Jessica Berger Gross Feature Jessica Berger Gross reflects on what letting her roots grow in at age 45 has meant, in terms of feminism and resistance.
Can the Political Override the Personal? By Michelle Weber Highlight “Harmful to Minors” author Judith Levine mines her past contradictions to sketch out the challenge of a being a young woman simultaneously burgeoning into her feminist and her sexual selves.
On Mourning, Learning a More Sober Fandom, and Letting Go By Danielle Jackson Commentary The death of popular rapper XXXTentaction raises questions of ethical consumption.
It’s Time for Hooters to GTFO By Aaron Gilbreath Highlight My recommendation: a complete rebrand, where all Hooters restaurants are converted into owl sanctuaries.
A Woman’s Work: Home Economics* (*I Took Woodworking Instead) By Carolita Johnson Feature Carolita Johnson tallies the costs and benefits of love and cohabitation as a woman artist living in a patriarchy.
Dorothy Allison on how Shame Defines Class By Krista Stevens Highlight “What seemed to me life-saving was that I couldn’t lie. I couldn’t put a candy-coated gloss on anything.”
A Woman’s Search for Salvation, Love, and Family By Danielle Jackson Highlight A woman searches for love and belonging inside and outside of the Christian church.
‘I Love What Human Voices Do Together’: An Interview with Neko Case By Will Hermes Feature Neko Case talks about collaboration, women warriors, women inventors, men with excellent falsettos, losing her home to a fire, and feeling lucky in ‘a great sea of loss.’
