As a curvy woman who got those curves way before I knew how to handle them in any way, I get this. It’s like, for some men, the line blurs when the 12-year-old has an adult bra size. I spent my high school years wearing oversized hoodies (which made no real difference) and trying to downplay them. It’s a weird…

I distinctly recall the night I decided, at random, to give a different name to each table I was assigned. I was bored and it was a slow night, so it was a way to amuse myself. Several hours later, a large party of drunk men insisted “Danielle” come home with them. They became obnoxious enough that my manager told…

I grew up in SD and every summer, my family goes to a cabin near Rapid City (Mount Rushmore area) in lieu of gathering for the holidays. I was guilted into it last year, over the 4th of July, and it destroyed any desire to maintain relationships with my family. Despite my misgivings, I took a brief and nearly-empty…

I struggle with this so much. If I come at you with sources and documentation and irrefutable proof and you respond with “God wants it that way”, there’s nowhere to go from there. A high school friend skipped college and got married because it was God’s will. I tried to talk to her about it and quickly realized that…

Even if the women/girls involved DID “know what they were getting into”, initiated, and continued sexual relationships with adult men in positions of significant power, it’s always on the person with the power to behave accordingly. I “blossomed early” and looked much older than I was as a teenager. I had massive…

I love her and support her on every level, but I have sometimes wondered what would have happened if AOC had been born in, say, Amy Klobuchar’s body but had the same experiences, politics, etc. I would hope she had the same platform/influence, but I honestly don’t know. Every straight man I have spoken about her with…

I was married for 5 years, divorced for 5. I met my ex-boyfriend a handful of months after I left my husband and we only hung out on weekends and Wednesday nights and lived separately. I didn’t realize how much I value my alone time until quarantine/WFH/dumping said ex and acquiring a new man who has basically moved…

My boss is a middle-aged white man who seems to continually fail up. He acknowledges that women and minorities have a much harder time in the workplace and claims to want to help. In reality, he pretty openly discriminates against women (especially trans women) and minorities (referring to a potential new hire as “the…

My Black partner asked if I considered myself “woke/an ally”. I responded that those are terms that have to be earned, you don’t get to claim them. The individuals you claim to support can determine if you are truly helping or just giving lip service. Any man who is crowing about what a feminist he is, is likely full…

Weiner was a true political heartbreak for me. And then he kept salting the wound. Also, if your last name is a childish anatomical reference... maybe don’t let that same appendage do anything newsworthy.

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Yep. A close friend of mine stopped attending swingers parties when she caught it and it was so hard for me to not say “I FUCKING TOLD YOU SO” every time she called to update me on her misery. I don’t blame someone taking reasonable precautions for catching COVID, but people being reckless is why we still have to take…

My close friends mostly have the same level of COVID caution as I do and we are all very careful to defer to the most cautious when there is any question. We keep to our homes/bubbles and go out minimally and are consistent with masking. “Heather”, however, has been attending swingers parties and taken her kids on…

The best moment of the documentary is when they smash cut from a discussion of how her signing to a major label introduced “unnecessary people” to Justin Timberlake. It was his introduction to the audience, and I DIED.

The Jessica Simpson deep dive is everything I want in my “just chilling” podcasts. I learned a lot and now have a huge soft spot for her.

It’s not blaming him for her illness; he has a pattern of being a dick to women. Regarding Britney and their breakup, she tried to keep things private and out of the tabloids. He went on a media offensive and smeared her—one of the big things she was marketed for was her virginity (ew), and he basically told the whole…

Have you seen it? I heard an interview with the creator beforehand, so I had context before I watched. The title is deliberate in that it examines the “frames” we have viewed Britney through. It delves into the culpability of the media and tabloid culture and puts the conservatorship into context. It’s not a…

I’ve come to reframe my (legitimate) complaints about high school teachers as I’ve grown. It’s not that I was trying to make their lives harder by asking to be assigned a book I hadn’t read instead of whatever the class was reading. I wanted to actually learn and not rehash something I read 2 years ago (I started…

My high school (tiny, rural town) had huge controversy when a female teacher’s car was seen overnight at her long-term boyfriend’s (also a teacher) house. As a student, I couldn’t understand how/why this affected her ability to teach (of course, she was the focus of the “concern”, not him). It reinforced to me A) I…

I understand his response on a gut level. I had a similar work thing and dodged my boss’s requests for a call because I would have gotten myself fired. I vented to my friends and partner and coworkers, but calmed down before I talked to him. I think this letter was a brilliant draft that he could have sent to his…