While love stories help us learn to relate to the individual struggle, I think it might be easier to win over certain conservatives if we started reminding people that marriage, to the state, is really about establishing legally-recognized family between people who are not blood relatives. Like, "Oh, these two people…

I wanted to play pretend hostage/kidnapping victim and tried to get people to tie me up/to a chair so I couldn't get out. I wanted to see what it would feel like to actually be restrained. No one would commit! Soon after, I felt like that was something I should be embarassed about, so I stopped asking.

French braid guru reporting for duty.

French braid queen of the 8th grade (who is cool again now that braids are in style) reporting for duty.

That's interesting! So, legally, how do conservatives view the marriages of trans people who identify with a gender other than their biologically presumed one? Particularly those who have transitioned and changed their sex on their documents, IDs, etc? If, for example, conservative politicians consider a trans woman …

You know, now that you mention it, I think so too! Kind of how when I was younger, in my teens, I remember finding a lot of women in their 30s, with the early signs of aging, like crow's feet and angular cheeks, to be very striking. Never understood why age and beauty had to be so negatively correlated.

Beautiful. Nude female imagery, femininity as depicted in art throughout all of history, the very works that have illustrated to us what "beauty" is through paintings and sculpture by the great masters...it's ALWAYS been through a man's lens. Imagine how our world would be different if Michelangelo, Boticcelli,…

God, can you even IMAGINE what the workplace would be like if men could breastfeed but women could not?

White girl with full lips here. It took me until I was 26 years old to start wearing any bold lipstick because I always thought it was way too sensual looking/suggestive, and I am self concious about looking like I'm trying to draw attention to myself by dressing sexy. I got my makeup done for a wedding as a…

I'd love a rundown on tones vs shades of hair color. The Beauty Department is the first I've seen to break them down well, but I need more! Also, I've been trying to figure out what the deal is with my "undertones" since I was a pre-teen reading my first issue of YM at recess and I still don't get it. I don't know…

No judgement, but honest questions: Will you find the work fulfilling? People do jobs they don't love for good money all the time, (see also: entry level investment banking) but the nature of sex work makes your situation a bit different - the line between personal and professional might not as clear to you or other…

I've done that process before, and it was like shopping for friends. It can be so fun.

I've always wanted to live by myself, and my very very good friend/roommate left our lease to move in with her boyfriend instead of re-signing with me. I was so sad as she is the best and I was bummed to not have my awesome friend to come home to for our eternal slumber party lifestye. I have a great apartment in my…

My god, she is so young. I can't believe we send kids her age to war. Maybe I'm so accustomed to seeing teenage boys in uniform that I don't immediately read them as "young," but for some reason, the fact that she's a girl makes her age more jarring to me.

My mom proposed to my dad in the early '80s. They otherwise have a relationship with pretty typical gender roles. She just happened to be the one who really needed to initiate it. They never made a big deal about the engagement story, I think it was more about deciding to get married. Then my dad went out and bought…

No one can exploit and manipulate you like a sibling can. Family ties and money can really complicate a toxic relationship. And it sounds like this one.

I have a similar story! But mine involves my rebelious little brother, a curious kid/avid reader getting pissed at the nuns who wouldn't let him into the "3rd grade and up" section to check out nonfiction history books. My 4th grade teacher mother RAISED HELL when she found out about that bullshit.

I HATE THAT SHOW. Have never read the book. Every time I babysit and they want to put that crap on I'm all...but it's time to make RAINBOW LOOOOOOM...

I agree. To properly parent a mixed race child in an all-white community takes more than just finding a hair dresser and online support communities. Even if your circle of friends and family members are accepting, it doesn't erase the burden placed on the child that comes with being a minority with no peers OR parents…

It's so sad and fucked up what they do to these kids under the guise of following the highest morals. Her father (and his wife, when she's not busy birthing humans) has dictated her every move and had complete control of her environment for her entire life, all in preparation to sign her adulthood away to a marriage…