The only way to protect herself from her father was to erase him from her life, but she survived being his daughter by acting just like he did.
Personal Essay
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Last Popeyes Chicken Sandwich in America
Megan Reynolds tries the much ballyhooed (and at least temporarily unavailable) Popeye’s chicken sandwich and considers the minimum-wage workers exploited in responding to the frenzy for it, along with other problematic aspects of its popularity among bougie foodies.
Posted inEssays & Criticism
Better Late
From straightening her teeth to finding her true love, Summer Block has reached the milestones in her life later than most.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Dressing for a Wound: How My Body and I Reconciled After a Mastectomy
A personal essay in which Lisa Miller writes about coming to terms with her body, her image, and her personal style following a mastectomy and reconstruction.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Mysteries of Menopause
In this personal essay, Lesley Hazleton not only makes peace with menopause, she sings its praises as a source of liberation from “want,” aka sexual desire.
Posted inStory
Remembering Woodstock ’94
On the concert’s 25th anniversary, Steve Edwards reflects on the mud, the music, and the myths he lives by.
Posted inNonfiction
Finding My Father
At age thirty-two, after years working as an exotic dancer, the daughter of a mysteriously absentee father finally puts together the pieces that had been missing her whole life.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Serena Williams Poses Unretouched
To accompany her unretouched cover photo on the August, 2019 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, tennis star Serena Williams writes a moving personal essay about the harsh, sexist way she was penalized at the 2018 U.S. Open for defending herself to a judge, the apology she sent to her opponent that day, Naomi Osaka, and why […]
Posted inNonfiction
School for Girls
Years after recovering from anorexia, Jasmin Sandelson writes a letter to the high school friend she idolized, and explores how hunger, love, and envy shaped — and ended — their relationship.
Posted inNonfiction
Don’t Come Around Here No More
Tom Petty’s psychedelic Alice in Wonderland video reminded one woman of the way sexual harassment shaped her adolescence and made her want to disappear.