In the face of chronic pain, invisible illness, and medical discrimination, Talia Hibbert turned to tatoos to reclaim ownership of her body.
sexism
Menace Too Society
Cancel culture suggests we can change the world from the outside in, but the misogyny and racism are coming from inside the house.
Through a Glass, Tearfully
Maureen Stanton contemplates her history of crying in inappropriate moments, and considers tears from gender-based and political perspectives.
Whatever Happened to ______ ?
Envy over her success led her husband, also a writer, to become violent. She fights every day for her safety — and to avoid being relegated to obscurity like so many writers who are mothers.
Elizabeth Wurtzel Made it Okay to Write ‘Ouch’
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
Carolita Johnson considers what it takes to recover from grief, build strength for the future, and become one’s own center of gravity again.
Leaning In with Alex P. Keaton
Born with serious CEO aspirations, Nicole Cyrus found her role model in a white kid from an ’80s sitcom.
Woman Writes Story Challenging Gender Dynamics; Is Thwarted by…Long-Standing Gender Dynamics
How can we combat sexism in publishing if we’re so worried about damaging the reputations of offending men?
Party Girl
An essay in which Longreads contributor Monica Drake recounts learning that a young, white, male intern at a literary magazine she’d submitted to had publicly humiliated her by taking her story to a party to read aloud and mock a sex scene she had included — a scene in which gender dynamics are upended.
The Creator of the Shitty Media Men List Isn’t Done
Nona Willis Aronowitz profiles Moira Donegan, an emerging feminist author who once worried she’d be defined — and ruined — by the google spreadsheet she created as a safe space for women in media to anonymously share their experiences of sexual harassment and discrimination.
